Giveaway and Review: "The Immortal Rules"

"The Immortal Rules"
by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 24, 2012

Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
 

Summary from goodreads.com:

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 Review:

After having really enjoyed the author's Iron Fey books, I couldn't help but be disappointed in "The Immortal Rules." I felt like the Iron Fey books were truly original, with a story like nothing I had read before. With "The Immortal Rules", I felt like I had read this story many times before. Yes, the combination of dystopian with vampire novel is something new, but the dystopian aspects (especially at the beginning) were identical to dystopians that I have read or seen in movie/television form. The same with the vampire facets, nothing felt new here to me.

I know that many, many other readers truly loved this novel, so I know that I'm in the minority. The book just felt reminiscent of other stories, and was also a bit too dark for me personally. I didn't really connect with the heroine, she was a little too hardened and world-weary for me, even in the beginning before she turns into a monster.

I did enjoy the romance in this story because it was one thing that felt a little new, and I really liked Zeke's character. Some people had mentioned that there is not very much romance, but I felt differently. Yes, it does take half the book before we even meet Zeke, which is a little disappointing, but after Zeke and Allison meet, they are together for much of the rest of the book. Just because there aren't a lot of kissing scenes, didn't mean that their story wasn't romantic, in my opinion. I thought the things they did for each other were very romantic, even if not in the traditional lovey-dovey way.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line:  I'm partial to the author's Iron Fey series, because it's so original. But the writing here is still great, even if I felt like I had read this story before.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

The publisher and publicist have generously provided a finished hardback copy for readers of my blog!

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Rules:

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• Ends Tues May 1

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If you think this book sounds good, here are some reviews of other books that I've read by this author:

"The Iron Knight" Review