Sunday 2 September 2012

Review: The Immortal Rules

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Released: 24th April 2012
Rating: 4/5

First of all, can I just say: that cover rocks. I love the font, I love the red, plus the eye and tear look awesome. It is suitably creepy, though I’m not disturbed by it myself (unlike some others I could mention. Hehe.).

Anyway. I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to read something of the famous Julie Kagawa. I can’t tell you how happy I am that for once I can fall into the hype and exclaim with everyone else what a fantastic author she is. With perfect ease, she disproved my – and doubtless countless others’ – conviction that the vampire genre has been exhausted. In The Immortal Rules, vampires are the evil, soulless bloodsucking creatures they started out as. Not even Allison Sekemoto, reduced to living her life as one of the very creatures she loathes, can completely fight her inner demon, though God knows she’s going to do her absolute best to try. (Or, not God, but...you know what I mean.)

The plotline was most definitely engaging; my interest was held right from the beginning. I mean, what better way to start than with an execution? I loved that we were immediately shown the type of world the book is set in and what it is like. In fact, despite the vampires, in some ways it is still a dystopia, making it an addictive blend of genres. I was fascinated when I found out about the cause of the rabids and about Eden, a supposed island where there are no vampires. This is not, I have to admit, the first time I’ve come across the concept of Eden in a book, but the overall world-builind was well done. I was very curious to learn about the Red Lung virus (a.k.a. the plague that killed millions of people years ago), and it is something I hope to find out more about later on – how it started, where it started and indeed, how it earned its name.

Allie is a wonderfully tough heroine. Seriously, this girl knows how to kick butt – with or without her katana and vampire abilities. Yes, that’s right. This particular vampire learns how to wield the sword of the samurai. Apt, isn’t it? Shame she doesn’t get the joke when her vampire creator and mentor chuckles at her choice of weapon. Allie is not only tough, she’s independent and she’s realistic. It’s very easy to see how her life as an Unregistered before becoming a vampire, at the very bottom of society, affected her. I loved her sarcasm and dark sense of humour. Her struggle to hold on to humanity rather than let vampire instincts consume her was evident and more than commendable.

Of course, is it really possible to talk about the protagonist without mentioning the love interest? I don’t think so, which brings us to Ezekiel Crosse. Don’t laugh. I happen to think it’s a very cool name. But fine, call him what he’s known as in the book: Zeke. Zeke is not the typical bad boy. This book doesn’t even have a bad boy. No, for once the love interest is a good guy. He’s generous, selfless and kind. His only flaw is that he’s prejudiced when it comes to vampires; his principles there, believing every vampire to be a soulless demon, are made of steel. But with Jeb as an adoptive father, you can’t really blame him. When I found out about Jeb’s secret treatment of Zeke, I was both horrified and saddened. But Zeke isn’t mindless, and he does allow his mind to open, making him willing to hear Allie’s side of the story. The relationship between them is realistic and endearing.

Generally, Kagawa has created a wonderfully diverse set of characters. To name a few, there’s the infuriatingly weak Stick; adorable six year old Caleb; spiteful, suspicious Ruth; and typical villain Jackal. Seriously, he has the whole we-can-rule-together-side-by-side-no?-then-let-me-talk-for-ages-before-I-kill-you thing down. Kind of like in James Bond or Alex Rider, but he was evil enough to almost succeed in killing Allie. I still can’t decide whether that worked for me or not, but I did like the action at the end of that scene.

Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that delighted me with the refreshingly different world it brought. It took me a little while to get really get stuck into it but once I did I just kept turning the pages. I loved how it wrapped up nicely at the end. Hopefully in the second one we find out more about Kanin, Allie’s creator. This was a character who intrigued me from the start and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of him. Kagawa has left a wonderful first impression on me so I can’t wait to see what she brings with The Iron King, which I shall be reading soon.

12 comments:

  1. Very enjoyable review Aa'Ishah! I love how you described the villains from Alex Rider and Jackal. I am always surprised at how much they talk, on and on. Jackal is definitely and enjoyable villain. I really liked the other characters too.

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  2. I just finished reading this! It took me months to get through it though I enjoyed it as much as you did. :D I love the name Ezekiel Crosse. It's so vampire hunter-y. XD Wonderful review, Aa'Ishah!

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  3. Awesome! I only hear good things about Immortal Rules. I loved Julie's Iron Fey series and I have no doubt that this is as amazing as Iron Fey. So glad you loved Allison and Ezekiel (sorry, I laughed at his name) and the other characters too. But I think, after getting used to Ash in Iron Fey, I might be a little hard toward this Zeke dude, but let's see. I already have this book and am planning to read it soon. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Aa'Ishah!

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  4. God, Stick. Any mention of him makes my blood boil. I could not stand his character. But anyway, great review! I'm so pleased you finally read a Julie Kagawa book. I'm eager to see what you make of her Iron Fey books. :)

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  5. Oh yeah! So glad you enjoyed this, A! Allie is indeed a kick-ass heroine especially with the katana and deadly fighting skills! Just awesome. I adore Zeke and I love how the romance developed too. Brilliant review, A! Hope you enjoy The Iron King as well! :D

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  6. Nice thorough review! I agree, I hope the sequel goes into more detail about the disease and how everything came about.

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  7. I adored Zeke too! This was a refreshing take on the vampire tales we normally see. I actually liked this better than her Iron Fey series. I'll be interested to see what you think of those books. Great review Aa'Ishah. :)

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  8. Great review! I've been meaning to read this book for awhile now. I really like it when the love interest is a good guy, and Allie sounds like an awesome heroine. I think the blend of dystopia/paranormal would be interesting to read about. Very intriguing.

    * New follower :) *

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  9. You write wonderful reviews! :) I've been meaning to pick this one up for a long time now but I'm not sure why I haven't yet. :( I love my bad boys, but I always love it when good boys are done well! THE IMMORTAL RULES seems like a wonderful book. Vampire + Dystopian=the bomb. Great review honey! <3

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  10. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Aa'Ishah! :) It was a fantastic read and I especially loved the unique take on vampires. I wasn't a huge fan of Zeke, but I'm glad he didn't fall into the typical bad-boy trope, so that was refreshing. Fantastic review, dear! :D

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  11. Yay, you're officially a Kagawa fangirl!! Like Keertana, I wasn't a huge fan of Zeke. I mean, I LIKED him, no question, but he wasn't making me swoon over the romance. I..... I'm one of those few (potentially disturbed given he's kind of her vampire daddy if you think about it?) who was initially intrigued by a Kanin/Allie romance haha. I honestly thought he was the love interest when we first met him! And then realised he wasn't. And sad Brodie :P

    The first part of the novel was actually my favourite, I loved exploring the world where Allie was an Unregistered. Anywho, love your review!! Can't wait to see what you think of the Iron Fey series :)

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  12. Oh I absolutely adore this book! I think Julie Kagawa can do no wrong :) She changed my mind about fey in her previous series and when I was feeling weary about vampire novels, she made me see them in a new and different way :)

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