Review: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure

Author: AJulie Kagawa

Publication Date: April 30, 2013

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Genre: Paranormal / Dystopia

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Synopsis:

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally. Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

My Thoughts: Once again Julie has done it. I loved The Eternity Cure. I honestly don't think it's possible fore her to write something I'll dislike. I have enjoyed everything that I've read by her so far, which is everything she has out, I think. If I've missed something, I'm pretty sure I'll have to read it soon! All I can say is I did see what happens at the end coming, well not all of it but one thing! I'm pretty sure I need the next book like yesterday.

I liked Allie's character again. She is pretty kick butt and has a lot of self control. She is still trying to avoid being a monster and wants to make Kanin proud of her. She has a lot of loyalty for her maker. She is still in love with Zeke, even after she's left him behind at Eden. She is a decent vampire, only goes for "bad" guys. She doesn't like to hurt people if she can help it, but occasionally the monster will poke it's head out (which totally just made me think of A Game of Thrones and Dany's physcotic brother telling her not to wake the dragon). Regardless, I think she is an awesome character.

We get to see Jackal again. And he's not a complete jerk all the time! Only most of the time. Stick is back too, he's a complete jerk and I didn't like him at all. Even someone you won't expect shows up. Oh and let's not forget Sarren. He is still a creepy and crazy vampire.

The Eternity Cure is a great read overall. I absolutely loved everything about it. The story line flows pretty quickly for the most part. There are some slow bits but they didn't really bother me at all. Julie Kagawa just has this writing style that I can't seem to get enough of. I love this series and can't wait to see what happens next!

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.

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules
(Blood of Eden #1)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: Paranormal / Dystopia

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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: Dystopia + Vampires = win! This book was so good I don't even know where to start. I absolutely loved it and had the hardest time putting it down. Julie Kagawa has once again created an amazing world and a cast of characters that you just have to love. I was a little worried going into this one because I was  worried that there was too much hype for it, but it definitely deserves the hype.  

Ok, so first of all, look at that cover! When I first saw it all I can wonder about is why she is crying. What could possibly make a vampire cry? Well, it just made me want to read it. Although something I don't understand is why her eyes are red. Yes, I know vampires in some books have red eyes, but in this  world vampires can easily pass for human, so you would think their eyes would be normal. I mean, if they're red the humans can just look at their eyes and know. I know, it's just a cover, but it just doesn't make sense to me. 

So basically, the story revolves around Allie and her struggles with being a vampire. Allie HATED vampires with a passion, but when faced with a choice of either becoming a vampire or dying at age 17, Allie opts to become one of the walking dead. Honestly, I probably would have made the same choice. Allie is forced to leave the vampire city she grew up in and finds a group of humans travelling in the wild, so she pretends to be one of them and joins them. How is she going to be able to resist drinking their blood? She doesn't want to drink from them and possibly hurt them, but if she doesn't feed,she could lose control and someone could die from her blood lust. All the while, they are searching for Eden, a vampire free city. They are being per sued by Jackal's gangs, Allie has no idea why. Will they find Eden? Or will their group die one by one from the hardships of the wild? This is definitely a plot that keeps you glued to your book. 

Allie, the protagonist is an extremely kick ass, katana wielding vampire. She doesn't want to be a monster and hurt people by drinking their blood, but she needs to feed and she needs human blood. I found her to be a somewhat emotional vampire, she grew to care for some of the humans in the group she travelled with. Most vampires wouldn't care in the slightest, except for keeping the humans alive for an easy meal. Allie is a character that I came to care for and look forward to seeing what happens next to her. It's interesting to see how someone who despises vampires copes with being one. 

We do have a love interest for Allie, but it's not a love triangle! His name is Zeke and he has been raised to despise vampires. We can't help but wonder what will happen  when he finds out Allie is a vampire, because it can't be good. You can't help but love Zeke because he always sees the good  in everyone. Everyone gets a chance to prove  themselves and he is just so nice to everyone. He was orphaned at age 3, thanks to a nasty vampire, and was raided by Jeb. Jeb is a preacher and trained Zeke to hate vampires and how to fight. I just can't believe how well Zeke turned out after being raised by crabby Jeb. 

Overall, The Immortal Rules is an amazing story that everyone who loves vampires or dystopians must read. Julie Kagawa is a wonderful author who seems to know exactly how to make a world we can imagine and crave more of. She's created monsters that freaked me out to even read about, the  mindless rabids. The Immortal Rules had me glued to the pages, too enthralled to put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next for Allie. Would I recommend it? Definitely. I'll be buying myself a copy to enjoy. It really is a great book, a must read in YA literature.

Thank you to HarlequinTEEN and NetGalley for the review copy!