Book Review - The Immortal Rules

The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #1
Genres: Paranormal | Young Adult
Release Date: 24th April 2012
Publishers: Harlequin Teen
No. Pages: 443
Source: Gifted
Rating: 
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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 of them - 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.

When it comes to popular, well loved and generally favoured beyond belief books, I'm pretty open minded about them. I've learnt the hard way in the past not to have too high expectations nor to think that just because other people enjoyed a book, doesn't necessarily mean I will, but nothing in my reading experience could have prepared me for The Immortal Rules and overall feelings of both complete and utter annoyance and disappointment in not enjoying this book much at all, however, this book had it's benefits - it's clear I do actually enjoy vampire stories.

So what happened for me to dislike this book so much? That's the most difficult part about this entire review, because nothing happened and I didn't dislike it, I just couldn't have given a single damn about the characters, the plot, the world, any of it, because I wasn't in the slightest bit connected. Usually, along the lines, even in books I've disliked, there's been something that's kept me reading, and The Immortal Rules was no different; be damned if I was going to read 500 pages and not have anything encouraging me, no, what kept me reading this book throughout the entire boredom that burnt through my skull was the vampire aspects to this novel. Yes, you've heard me, that is what kept me coming back. Maybe I'm a little bit nutty, but I simply adore the unhinged nature of humans and the fine line between human and monster, both normal and paranormal and Kagawa fed the greedy beast in me with this novel. Rabbids, Vampires, diseases, cities ruled by Vampires, the savage nature of human and monster, both together and separated, it was fantastic, and in all honesty, was the only thing that saved this book from the depths of hell. Give me more crazy, unhinged monsters creeping in the night, jumping out of fields from the ground up, clawing, ripping, biting, destroying people, give me a real good look and insight into how the vampires in this world worked, the fantastic smooth moments of utter power they possessed, but also the utter horror in their attitudes and reactions. Yes, I was in love with these features, I found myself enjoying Allisons attitudes as a vampire, I enjoyed the interaction between vampire and human and even the touch of crazed Rabbids, but that sadly is as far as enjoyment for The Immortal Rules got.

I've found that lately, I'm character orientated. I enjoy a good world and wonderful descriptions, but first and foremost, I am a character person. If I cannot connect, the entire story flops down to a 3 before the rest of the story has a chance to show itself and that's exactly what happened here. Allison was a strong character physically and emotionally, she had a firm belief in friendship, in alliances and in being partners, she believed in herself, in that she would be a vampire but keep what makes her human, like her emotions, her faith and her thoughts, she was, as many people have stated before, a very good leading lady, a heroine, but that didn't help me connect to her. I don't know why I didn't, but I just couldn't. I couldn't hold onto anything about her, I couldn't relate to her, I thought her attitude sometimes was placid and aloof but most of all, it felt like there was personality to her whatsoever - sadly, sniggering a few times at sarcastic phrases doesn't equate to a personality and Zeke, oh do not get me started on him, lets just say I felt even less towards him than I did Allison, and the romance? Please, give me a break, two of my bedroom walls have a better connection than these to did, honestly, I didn't believe in them, in their characters, in their personalities, or what they had of them, or their romance, whatsoever. I confess, there is one character I did enjoy and that was Kanin; broody, dark, alluring, mysterious, now he's a character I wouldn't mind getting to know, but alas, he vanished and left me with Allison and her band of merry men, and women, and children, but you get the idea.

You're thinking 'but Amanda, the plot, wasn't it good? And the battle near the end, that was really good, right, right?' Yes yes, the final battle at the end was great in a cinematic point of view, if it was on a screen in front of me, I would have been absorbed, completely taken and in love with that battle and rescue, but the plot, there wasn't one, I mean, not really. There was a lot of tents, a lot of travelling and a lot of 'no, I can't bite them, jeez Allison, get a grip, it's not your a vampire or anything- oh wait..' and that was both boring and repetitive. There wasn't much of anything that really warranted 500 pages worth of a beautiful tree and printer ink, there wasn't much that really entertained me and if it wasn't for the fact that this book was a read-a-long read and I have the sequel coming at Christmas, I would never have finished it. That means I will be continuing the series, hoping, praying, begging for it to improve, for me to become attached, but let us not hope too far. Alas, I am one of very few people who disliked this book and I can guarantee that there are people out there who would highly enjoy this book, so do not be put off by my review, I'm just a cranky, disappointed reader who really wanted more.