**REVIEW** The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

  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 ofthem—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.

Release Date:  April 24, 2012

Published By: Harlequin Teen 

Review Copy: Hardcover, 485 pages

**Purchased

Review

  Being a die hard fan of Julie's Iron Fey series I sure took my sweet time starting this one.  I'm not sure why I was so hesitant because honestly I started it in the morning and had it finished by just before dinner time and I would have been sooner if I did take time to clean, workout and stuff but sadly they consumed some of the reading time for this.  Despite that I can now admit that whatever hesitations I had and whatever the reasons for not pickin this up sooner are long gone.  I adored this book to be end!

  I'm really not sure how I would class this one.  Is it a post apocalyptic, a dystopian or a paranormal/fantasy read.  I think mostly it is going under the dystopian category and I get why but it could be subcategorized under the others as well.  Julie has really outdone herself with the world she created in this one.   A world that is run by Vampires and people that are reduced to no more than cattle, living in their pens...I mean sectors and being bled for food but only if you register.  Life outside of the walls is no easier though, with rabids (something I envision as like a vampire zombie) lurking around after dark and lots of them it's just not safe.  The rabids are a product of the disease that also wiped out much of the human population and why the vamps took control of what was left.

  Alison despises the vampires and the control they have over people and lives as an unregistered struggling to survive.  Then just when things seem to be looking up she is forced to make a decision: die or become what she hates.  I can't say I blame her for her choice, it would be so hard to knowingly pass up the chance to live.  Something to appreciate was the struggle she did continue to have throughout the book with her change.  She didn't want to be a monster but it is what she is, but as her sire told her: it's up to her what kind of monster she is.  And she does fight it, she fights to retain as much of her humanity as possible, something that I admire because it isn't easy.  Alison has the dark in her but that is what a true vampire is and I can't express how much I appreciate that.

  Out of necessity but also out of want Allie joins up with a group of humans but she wasn't expecting was Zeke.  He is far too trusting and it isn't for his own good.  You know the type of people that will say the glass is half full when it's damn near empty?  That's Zeke.  He was without a doubt a sweet guy with good intentions but there was nothing about him that just grabbed at me.  I get that Allie seen a selfless boy that cared so much about the people around him that he would do anything to protect him.  It is the attachment to him and the rest of the group that kind of keeps Allie in check.

  With a great plot and pacing that will keep you glued to the pages, Julie has nailed this one.  Though it is a far cry from the Iron Fey series I fell in love with many years ago I can honestly say I am glad she broke away and wrote something different.  I loved the inner battle and the fight to remain humane even when it goes against every bone in your body.  If you want a vampire novel that goes back to the darker roots and doesn't shine them up this read is for you.  Julie may not write sparkling vampires but her writing sure sparkles and I am glad I have The Eternity Cure in my hands because I'm not sure I could have waited.

Quotes

Because here's something interesting I've learned about the human race: we like to hoard.  Call it stockpiling, call it paranoia, call it preparing for the worst--the houses were far more likely to have food stashed away in cellars or buried deep in closets.

So.  I'm a vampire now.  I bristled, trying not to dwell on it--it was either that or die in the rain.  Kanin was right, it was my decision, after all.  I'd chosen this.

  Now that I'm one of them.  That was a disgusting thought.  I'll never be one of the, I promised myself.  Not completely.  I'm not like them.  I won't sink to their level, won't think of humans as nothing more than animals.

  I could hear his heartbeat, sense the blood pulsing in his veins, right below the skin.  For a moment, I wondered what Zeke tasted of, how it would feel to draw him close and sink into that oblivion.  It scared me, and I drew back.  If I had been the slightest but hungry....