The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #1
Release date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Format: Egalley
Pages: 485
Source: Publisher provided through Netgalley
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

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.

So I pretty much worship at Julie Kagawa's feet. It's a fact I'm just completely unashamed about. Needless to say, I was beyond pumped about The Immortal Rules. I loved what she did with the fey and was hoping she'd work the same kind of magic with vampires, especially since I'm pretty fatigued with them at this point. Boy did she not disappoint!! I don't have the same love for this book as I do for the Iron Fey books, but I love it more than a lot of other things. (So that's good, I guess...)

One of the thing I disliked about Julie Kagawa's former protagonist, Megan, was that she was rather whiny and wimpy in the first two books. Our new protagonist, Allie, nips that worry in the bud almost immediately. She is hardcore and takes no nonsense. After she becomes a vampire, she wields a katana, for goodness sake! I liked her general willingness to own up to the fact that she wants to keep living, she's a fighter through and through and will not lie down and die, even if it means becoming what she hates most. Sure, a martyr is nice, but someone who just will not give up is refreshing. Having Allie become what she abhors lets us explore our own lines and wonder if we'd do the same thing.

It pretty much goes without saying that Julie Kagawa can write a swoon-worthy love interest. She does not slack in this series. Zeke is different from what I expected, but so sweet and a perfect complement to Allie. She's all aggression and passion, whereas he's sweet and sensible.

I was so happy to see a new twist on vampires, as well. I've seen humans treated as "blood cattle" in other interpretations but not in a YA book for sure. They're also just not very nice people, even Allie, who tries as hard as she can to not become a monster, finds herself giving into the nature of a vampire. Awesome.

As a whole, I really enjoyed The Immortal Rules. I didn't love it like I love Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, but it was a solid introduction and has the potential to become just as good.

Risk a paper cut? With all those vampires lurking around, it's definitely a big chance you'd be taking, but one that is ultimately completely worth it. Just make them let you finish reading first!