The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (VO)

Blood of Eden, Book 1

Synopsis: In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Melliane’s review: I was so curious to get into this new novel written by Julie Kagawa. Indeed, I really enjoyed her Iron Fey series and I was wondering what I would think about this one as well. I confess I didn’t really know what I could expect about it, maybe something sweet like her first series, but for sure, I didn’t expect that. However, I think it’s one of my favorite book by this author.

I think once we enjoy the Julia Kagawa’s writing style, it’s really easy to read each of her books. Indeed, the whole story is fluid so we are hooked since the beginning and it’s very difficult to put it down mainly when so many things happen in the plot.
We discover a whole new world in this first volume. The vampires reign over humans despite some don’t accept this fact. Here, we meet our heroine Allie, a young and brave girl who would do anything for her friends. But everything will change when one day she becomes a vampire, a creature she despises so much. She would like to be normal, to not have to feed from humans, but her old life is really finished and a new one is here for her now. Like that, we will understand her new way of life that is finally more difficult than we would have thought at the beginning. It’s a world full of rules and constant treats. It was really interesting to have the opportunity to follow Allie all along the book, and like that to learn with her the advantages and the disadvantages of her condition.
We also meet two other important characters: Kanin and Zeeke. These two protagonists have nothing in common but they will have a significant impact on the life of our heroine. I have to say I was really intrigued by these two mysterious men, we don’t learn a lot about them and we have to wait some chapters to understand who they really are. We like Zee as soon as we seen him, It’s a cute and nice guy who will do everything to save the persons he lives with.
The plot is really interesting and it’s true that I’m now curious to know what will happen to Allie in the follow events. So many things are initiated in this first volume and everything seemsso complicated. We expect some new meetings and we hope to have some others. We still have so many things to understand now, about the vampires or their way of life. Some things are really fascinating to discover. Because, finally, everything is new to us and we see this world by our heroine.
This book was a beautiful surprise and I think the fan of the Iron fey series will be happy to discover this new novel. A great first volume for I’m sure a great series as well.
Inessa’s review : Julie Kagawa’s really one of my favorite authors. I loved The Iron Fey series and I couldn’t wait to read her new novel. So when I saw my request on Net Galley accepted, I’ve literally exploded with joy! I’m a big fan of dystopian books, so I expected a lot for this one. Well… I must say that I wasn’t disappointed! The Immortal Rules is wonderful, undoubtedly one of my favorite books since the beginning of the year. It’s completely different from The Iron Fey series but it’s also captivating. The novel is divided into 4 parts. From the first pages, we discover with horror the post-apocalyptic world where Allison Sekemoto (Allie) lives: a world both dark and fascinating. 
Allie is a teenage girl who tries to survive in New Covington, one of those vampire cities that were created after that a virus has decimated some of the world’s population. In New Covington as in all other cities of this type, vampires decide for everything. Humans are divided into two categories: those who are registered in lists and those who are not. The registered humans get food and some small benefits in return for total submission and they must give their blood to vampires once a month. The unregistered meanwhile, are free but deprived of food and therefore forced to steal to survive. Those who are caught are sentenced to death. Our heroine is part of this second category. 
I immediately liked Allie. She’s a strong, fierce and brave heroine, as we like them in this kind of novel. She’s a rebel at heart and wants more than anything for things to change. Despite all she went through, she carries with her hope and dream of a better world without vampires or at least, a return to the world before the spread of the virus. She hates the vampires from the depths of her being but unfortunately, the circumstances and her highly developed survival instincts force her to become one of them. 
So we follow Allie who gradually learns to survive as a vampire with the help of Kanin, her mentor. And she doesn’t stop learning! The vampire rules are very complex. We learn a lot about the vampiric society and its functioning in a hierarchical perspective. Surviving was her daily lot when she was an Unregistered but quickly, Allie will realize that becoming a blood-sucker hasn’t made her so far untouchable! We also discover many things about the Red Lung virus, the appearance of the rabids and Kanin’s past. I really liked this character. Despite being cold and impassive, we feel that he cares about Allie. I hope we’ll see him again in the next book because I must admit that I missed him in the last two parts of the book. 
But Kanin isn’t the only one who crossed the path with our heroine. In her long trip, Allie meets a group of humans and a young man named Ezekiel Crosse (or Zeke). What can I say about him except that any girl would kill to have him! He’s kind, honest and always ready to help and protect the others. But his hatred of vampires is such that we wonder if he will manage to overcome it. Their romance is really touching although it’s complicated. However I didn’t like Jebbadiah (or Jeb) who appeared to me to be a fanatic guru. Ruth meanwhile, is a real pest unbearable and our heroine must show a lot of patience and self-control to not kill her! 
Allie’s evolution throughout the story is quite striking. We see her becoming attached to people, caring about them, something she wasn’t when she was alive. She knows she’s a threat to these people but she doesn’t leave the group. She insists on staying with them while her nature prevents it. In fact her transformation made her much more human than she was before. For sure things would have been easier if she had accepted her new condition from the start. But it’s precisely her determination of not to become a monster that makes her so charming. 
The end was pretty predictable, it couldn’t be otherwise. However I was very intrigued by this mysterious city called “Eden” as well as the possibility of an eventual cure. I look forward to learn more about it. Then there’s Jackal who hasn’t finished getting himself talked about. In short, I think the sequel will be very interesting and I’ll read it with pleasure!

20 thoughts on “The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (VO)

  1. Oh great review! I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy of this book! I’ve been seeing a lot of really good reviews for Immortal Rules and now I’m even more excited. Only a couple more weeks 🙂

  2. I LOVE how you guys had such similar thoughts on this book — especially about the awesomeness that make up Allie, Kanin, and Zeke — but still pointed out different aspects of this book as well. I just loved this whole book from start to finish, and I’m so glad that you guys did too! 🙂

    Mel: This book definitely isn’t sweet like The Iron Fey series LOL! And Inessa: I know what you mean about Ruth — I couldn’t stand her at all! x)

    Awesome double review, you two! 🙂 <3

  3. Yay! I have this one and plan to read it really soon! I would never have picked this one up if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s JULIE KAGAWA! I’ll read anything she writes. I just don’t love the cover and maybe that’s part of why I wasn’t sure I’d like it. But everyone seems to be saying this one is completely awesome and she doesn’t let us down. Glad you guys loved it!

    • I agree with you. It’s always very intriguing to have a new series like this. I hope you’ll enjoy the story as well. You’re it’s an really different cover but it’s a very different story too. I’ll wait for your review.

  4. I AM SO HAPPY YOU ENJOYED THIS, Melliane! I am so dying to read The Immortal Rules after reading so many positive reviews and I hope I can read it soon. I absolutely loved The Iron Fey series so I’m hoping The Immortal Rules is as good or yet even better than The Iron Fey series!

    Awesome review, Melliane! ♥

  5. This is coming up on my list from NetGalley. I love the Iron Fey series, one of my all-time faves. Julie Kagawa is a fantastic writer and I can’t wait to sink into this one! Melliane–I just got The Prophet from NetGalley, too 🙂

  6. I’m really glad both of you loved this one that much 🙂 !! I love The Iron Fey series and I can’t wait to read Julie Kagawa’s next book !! I love dystopian and vampires I’m sure it is amazing!

  7. Hey there! I read The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) and didn’t like it. :/ The writing spoke to me (awesome), but the whole fey-theme just wasn’t for me.
    I thought about requesting this one on NG (different theme after all. love me some vampires), but didn’t.
    Having read your glowing reviews I’ve become even more curious lol. I really like a fast-paced plot and the two male protagonists…let’s just say it seems like a winner.
    _yay_ at BookthatThing

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