Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA/Dystopia/Romance/Paranormal

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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.

My Thoughts: My review will never come close to doing this book justice. I will never find the words to try to tell you amazing it is, or the right words that will make you go pick up this book right now and read it. You definitely should. Right now!

Yes, I know, vampires. There is a ton of vampire YA out there, that's for sure. I know some people will try to shy away from vampire related things simply because it's the big thing right now and they don't want to be just "part of the fad". But this book is definitely the best vampire book I have ever read, easily. If you are at all into vampires in any way this book is a definite must read for you! If you have been staying away from the vampire thing because of all the hype, may I suggest you give it a try and start with this book, I'm pretty positive it will change your mind.

This is the first book I've read by Julie Kagawa, but you can be assured it won't be the last. I have found another writer who rocks my world. This story rattled me to the core. Even after it was over, my thoughts and emotions were still aflame with traces of the characters and events. There are very few books I've read that have taken me to the places that this one did.  I was sucked in with no chance of escape, not that I wanted to get away. If I could have crawled right into the pages I most likely would have. Kagawa created the perfect vampire. They were crazy scary, but still just a smidgen alluring. They were real, raw, dangerous, without the glamour and softness and friendliness you will find a lot in vampire stories. These are vampires to be feared.

Despite the vampires in this story being real monsters, Allison is determined to be just the opposite. She is a brand new vampire and is dead set on keeping her humanity. The internal struggle, power, determination, and strength she displays is incredible. Fighting the constant urge to feed, when it is so easy for you to take whatever you want, is no simple task indeed. I fell completely in love with Allison. My heart ached, and broke and swelled for her, following her every emotion. She was in pain, and my insides clenched, her heart broke and I cried right along with her. Closing the last page on this book gave me physical pain. I laid there and held it and tears streamed down my face.

Waiting for the next installment will be borderline tortuous. I hope to find more awesome stories to tide me over until it comes, but I feel like the bar is being set pretty high by this one. You have to read this, you just have to. YA fans, vampire fans, dystopia fans, paranormal fans, heck, if you like books at all then you gotta put this on your TBR! I wish now that there was a higher ranking than 5/5.