Quickie Book Review: The Immortal Rules


I find that I'm not always able to give a full-blown, in-depth review of all the books I read. But that doesn't mean they aren't worthy of a proper review or shout-out. It just means my time is limited. So I will be doing the occasional QUICKIE REVIEW, providing my thoughts in a few short but sweet sentences on some of my reads, because I still want to honor these books in some way. I hope you find these helpful.



The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
April 24, 2012
Harlequin Teen
485 pages
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Personal purchase 

Book Blurb:

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in 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 dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

My Review:

I love Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, so I was excited she was writing another series. And I like a good vampire story, so with the combination of Julie's writing and paranormal elements, I was looking forward to the Blood of Eden series. Now, the start of any series can be a little tricky, depending upon how the author approaches world-building. For me, The Immortal Rules had a slow start. It did not initially grab me the way I had hoped it would. By around page 150 I finally decided I had to take a break from it because my interest level was swiftly waning. But friends who had read it encouraged me to push through and that it would get better. Well, a week later, I picked it up again, and fortunately the pace started picking up and my interest was renewed. In fact, my second attempt at reading the book was a complete success and I flew through the remaining pages.

What I liked: The world of vampires, rabids, and human cattle - the bleakness, the rawness of it all. This is not a unique situation, but I loved Julie's approach to it and the direction she took. She took the commonplace fashion of vampires and created her own uncommon storyline. The characters were also quite fascinating. I loved Allison's uniqueness as a YA heroine, both in determination and physical appearance. Though personality-wise she takes some getting used to, I found her approach to life compelling and wanted to know more about her and her choices. Kanin, the mentor, was so mysterious and fascinating and I loved him. Zeke was also a unique male hero with a compassionate side and I loved that Julie tried to branch off from typical stereotypes.

What I didn't like: The slow pacing in the beginning. While the main characters themselves are not stereotypical, the vampires in general are. But we still lots of information about them and that combined with a lack-luster start made the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book drag a bit.

My rating is an average of 4 stars - the first 1/3 was 3 stars while the last 2/3 were 4 to 5 stars. So despite my lack-luster feelings in the beginning, by the end I was completely captured by this story and started reading the second book, The Eternity Cure, right away (which, by the way, I absolutely loved). I definitely recommend this series.

4 STARS

Book Links:

AMAZON   *   GOODREADS