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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This review can also be seen on The Book Belles.
This book to me seemed like… The Walking Dead , but with vampires instead of zombies.
I had read other Julie Kagawa books before, and I’ve got to say I was not impressed. So imagine my surprise (and delight!) when I was absolutely DEVOURING this book in search of answers.
I think what made this book for me was the fact that we finally get the perspective of the “monster” in question: the main protagonist is a vampire, recently turned at that.
Allison Sekemoto had to fight every day of her like to survive on the streets of this dystopian world enslaved by vampires. To beat them, she actually became them . I loved seeing Allison’s inner struggle. I loved seeing her trying to battle her inner demons, her need to eat versus her need to hold on to her “humanity”. Allison is also completely badass by the way. She carries a katana and TOTALLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT! (Can I be Allison when I grow up?)
In this book, vampires aren’t misunderstood. Vampires are the villain here ; they are not kind, they are not humane, they are not tame. Vampires only see humans as their food source (which is basically the only reason they enslave the humans vs just killing them outright).
I loved all the different aspects of vampirism that were explained as well as the way Allison herself transitioned from human to vampire. I loved the unexplained fear humans felt for the vampires…. I JUST REALLY LOVED THE WAY THE VAMPIRES WHERE WRITTEN, OKAY?
There was a bit of a romance here, just enough to make it cute, not annoying. I actually really liked the love interest; it was difficult not to like him.
The pacing of the book was so great . It never felt like it dragged on for me, in fact sometimes I couldn’t help but pass the pages faster.
Overall this book was a refreshing dystopian . It takes vampires and vampire lore and gives them a whole new point of view. It gives us an absolutely badass female protagonist, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Definitely recommend this book!
My Amazon Review.
This book to me seemed like… The Walking Dead , but with vampires instead of zombies.
I had read other Julie Kagawa books before, and I’ve got to say I was not impressed. So imagine my surprise (and delight!) when I was absolutely DEVOURING this book in search of answers.
I think what made this book for me was the fact that we finally get the perspective of the “monster” in question: the main protagonist is a vampire, recently turned at that.
Allison Sekemoto had to fight every day of her like to survive on the streets of this dystopian world enslaved by vampires. To beat them, she actually became them . I loved seeing Allison’s inner struggle. I loved seeing her trying to battle her inner demons, her need to eat versus her need to hold on to her “humanity”. Allison is also completely badass by the way. She carries a katana and TOTALLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT! (Can I be Allison when I grow up?)
In this book, vampires aren’t misunderstood. Vampires are the villain here ; they are not kind, they are not humane, they are not tame. Vampires only see humans as their food source (which is basically the only reason they enslave the humans vs just killing them outright).
I loved all the different aspects of vampirism that were explained as well as the way Allison herself transitioned from human to vampire. I loved the unexplained fear humans felt for the vampires…. I JUST REALLY LOVED THE WAY THE VAMPIRES WHERE WRITTEN, OKAY?
There was a bit of a romance here, just enough to make it cute, not annoying. I actually really liked the love interest; it was difficult not to like him.
The pacing of the book was so great . It never felt like it dragged on for me, in fact sometimes I couldn’t help but pass the pages faster.
Overall this book was a refreshing dystopian . It takes vampires and vampire lore and gives them a whole new point of view. It gives us an absolutely badass female protagonist, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Definitely recommend this book!
My Amazon Review.
This book was so enjoyable. I was hooked and I hated having to put the book down. It was fun and kickass. I haven't read a vampire book in years. I cannot wait to dive into the next one.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Immortal Rules read to me as an attempt to course correct how romantic and sparkly vampires had been made by YA. It's a dystopian fantasy that doesn't focus much on romance or being fun, instead showing how brutal its world is. And quite frankly, its a snoozefest for the bloodsuckers.
First of all, I do think the criticism at the time of vampires being romantic instead of horror figures wasn't actually necessary. Vampires have been around for hundreds of years and have always been fluid. Twilight didn't "ruin" them, it simply had its own take that caught on culturally. This isn't to say you have to like this type of vampire, I personally prefer horror ones, or that there weren't worldbuilding issues with YA paranormal romances, but let's not pretend there isn't a place for romantic vampires or that they were poorly written simple because they werefor girls and society hates anything girls like less monstrous.
I say this to contextualize these vampires. They're certainly more blood-thirsty, but that doesn't make them more interesting. They're watered down to core logical traits; bloodsucking, weak to sunlight, near-impossible to kill, super strong. It's such a dull, uninspired take on them. I'll take vampires that sparkle over these any day without hesitation.
The dystopian element isn't much better either. This genre of YA isn't really notable for its worldbuilding, but at least most of the other books had high concepts (a lot of them admittedly pretty dumb but high concepts nonetheless) like Divergent's factions or The Darkest Minds's superpowers. On the surface, The Immortal Rules should slide into these high concept novels with a world ruled by vampires. Unfortunately, vampiric rule doesn't look much different from any other YA dystopian world. Maybe if the vampires were more interesting, vampire society would be too.
It's worldbuilding being so uninspired is a massive problem as this book has nothing else going on for it. The plot is meandering and inconsistent, initially set in a city segregated between vampires and humans, it switches to the wilderness about a third of the way in and follows a new cast of side characters. Allison is a complete wet blanket as a protagonist, lacking compelling motivation and personality. There's also some weirdly racist remarks around her like the love interest calling her "exotic" or her mentor saying "I figured you'd chose that" when she grabbed a katana.
Although The Immortal Rules feels like a book that tried to bring some teeth into YA dystopia and vampires, it lacks any compelling narrative. I can't help but compare it to how much better YA there was at the time, like even beyond The Hunger Games, in 2012 there were books like Cinder, The Raven Boys, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Fuck even Divergent, which has not aged particularly well, is leagues better than this (Allegiant is not though, one good thing I can say about The Immortal Rules is it's only the second worst YA dystopia partially set in Chicago).
First of all, I do think the criticism at the time of vampires being romantic instead of horror figures wasn't actually necessary. Vampires have been around for hundreds of years and have always been fluid. Twilight didn't "ruin" them, it simply had its own take that caught on culturally. This isn't to say you have to like this type of vampire, I personally prefer horror ones, or that there weren't worldbuilding issues with YA paranormal romances, but let's not pretend there isn't a place for romantic vampires or that they were poorly written simple because they were
I say this to contextualize these vampires. They're certainly more blood-thirsty, but that doesn't make them more interesting. They're watered down to core logical traits; bloodsucking, weak to sunlight, near-impossible to kill, super strong. It's such a dull, uninspired take on them. I'll take vampires that sparkle over these any day without hesitation.
The dystopian element isn't much better either. This genre of YA isn't really notable for its worldbuilding, but at least most of the other books had high concepts (a lot of them admittedly pretty dumb but high concepts nonetheless) like Divergent's factions or The Darkest Minds's superpowers. On the surface, The Immortal Rules should slide into these high concept novels with a world ruled by vampires. Unfortunately, vampiric rule doesn't look much different from any other YA dystopian world. Maybe if the vampires were more interesting, vampire society would be too.
It's worldbuilding being so uninspired is a massive problem as this book has nothing else going on for it. The plot is meandering and inconsistent, initially set in a city segregated between vampires and humans, it switches to the wilderness about a third of the way in and follows a new cast of side characters. Allison is a complete wet blanket as a protagonist, lacking compelling motivation and personality. There's also some weirdly racist remarks around her like the love interest calling her "exotic" or her mentor saying "I figured you'd chose that" when she grabbed a katana.
Although The Immortal Rules feels like a book that tried to bring some teeth into YA dystopia and vampires, it lacks any compelling narrative. I can't help but compare it to how much better YA there was at the time, like even beyond The Hunger Games, in 2012 there were books like Cinder, The Raven Boys, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Fuck even Divergent, which has not aged particularly well, is leagues better than this (Allegiant is not though, one good thing I can say about The Immortal Rules is it's only the second worst YA dystopia partially set in Chicago).
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Yes, I loved this! It was even better than I remembered! Now you see people, this is how you do a vampire book. And a dystopian book. This is the right way to do it people. Read it and take notes for the future.
I'm just going to dive right into it and I'll keep this short. This book is awesome. The world Julie Kagawa created is dark, gritty and there's no real hope for a better future. I loved the writing and the world building. A lot. Alison is a fantastic main character. She's just very, very, very awesome. I also loved Kanin, he's so handsome and mysterious and I love him to bits. Zeke is also great. All of them are great. The romance is sweet and it doesn't take over the story.
Some might find this a bit boring at times, but I didn't. I was hooked to the story from start to finish and I loved every single moment of it. Now I must start the next book in the series.
Between 4 and 4.5.
_________________________________
The Immortal Rules Review
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review at link above.
I continue to be a fan of Julie Kagawa's fantastic writing, action packed plots, and memorable characters.
Allison Sekemoto is no weak pushover, she is brave and strong, even before she became a vampire-the thing she hates most in her world. Vampires rule her city, keeping humans as living blood bags in exchange for safety inside the city.
But the city isn't so safe either. Allison promised herself she would never answer to the vampires, so she lives on the outside, where life is rougher, but at least she has her freedom. At least until one day her bravery gets her killed and her perseverance gets her turned into a vampire.
“We are vampires, Kanin had told me, on one of our last nights together. It makes no difference who we are, where we came from. Princes, Masters and rabids alike, we are monsters, cut off from humanity. They will never trust us. They will never accept us. We hide in their midst and walk among them, but we are forever separate. Damned. Alone. You don’t understand now, but you will. There will come a time when the road before you splits, and you must decide your path. Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight your demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?”
It is getting more difficult to find a good vampire story. Kagawa gets my vote, she doesn't take the easy way out and romanticize vamprism. Vampires are monsters, bloodthirsty and evil-and she never forgets that. Allison is written not to forget that either, but she is trying to be a different kind of monster. Her struggle is genuine, and the reader can really feel how hard she is struggling not to lose herself. Allison is definitely one of my new favorite heroines.
The relationships were very well written, Allison has restraint, and does not let anyone get too close. She cares about people, and it would kill her if she ever hurt someone she loved. The urge is there, though, to kill. I'm glad the author always kept that in mind: Allison is a vampire.
I loved this dystopian world, there was action on every page and death around every corner. I wish more information and explanation was given to how it got that way, because I found myself trying to make connections in my mind that just weren't adding up. I hope more is talked about in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading!
If you are a fan of Julie Kagawa or Dystopia in general, this isn't one to miss.
_________________________________
The Immortal Rules Review
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review at link above.
I continue to be a fan of Julie Kagawa's fantastic writing, action packed plots, and memorable characters.
Allison Sekemoto is no weak pushover, she is brave and strong, even before she became a vampire-the thing she hates most in her world. Vampires rule her city, keeping humans as living blood bags in exchange for safety inside the city.
But the city isn't so safe either. Allison promised herself she would never answer to the vampires, so she lives on the outside, where life is rougher, but at least she has her freedom. At least until one day her bravery gets her killed and her perseverance gets her turned into a vampire.
“We are vampires, Kanin had told me, on one of our last nights together. It makes no difference who we are, where we came from. Princes, Masters and rabids alike, we are monsters, cut off from humanity. They will never trust us. They will never accept us. We hide in their midst and walk among them, but we are forever separate. Damned. Alone. You don’t understand now, but you will. There will come a time when the road before you splits, and you must decide your path. Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight your demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?”
It is getting more difficult to find a good vampire story. Kagawa gets my vote, she doesn't take the easy way out and romanticize vamprism. Vampires are monsters, bloodthirsty and evil-and she never forgets that. Allison is written not to forget that either, but she is trying to be a different kind of monster. Her struggle is genuine, and the reader can really feel how hard she is struggling not to lose herself. Allison is definitely one of my new favorite heroines.
The relationships were very well written, Allison has restraint, and does not let anyone get too close. She cares about people, and it would kill her if she ever hurt someone she loved. The urge is there, though, to kill. I'm glad the author always kept that in mind: Allison is a vampire.
I loved this dystopian world, there was action on every page and death around every corner. I wish more information and explanation was given to how it got that way, because I found myself trying to make connections in my mind that just weren't adding up. I hope more is talked about in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading!
If you are a fan of Julie Kagawa or Dystopia in general, this isn't one to miss.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was nice seeing Kagawa delving into another realm of fantasy besides fairies. I loved The Iron Fey series so I was curious to see how this book was going to turn out and I wasn't disappointed. Vampires is a topic that has been written about countless times, so when writing a vampire story I think its hard to be unique because everything has pretty much been said. But this book introduced something I hadn't seen in vampire stories before, true this book had a bit of a hunger games plot to it, the whole being locked in this society, but the difference is that vampires are the one running the world now. If my invisible audience has read any of my reviews before, I usually have problems with the female protagonist in stories because they annoy and piss the hell out of me, but Allison Sekemeto is pretty bad ass in this story and I enjoyed her character. Like all other stories, it ain't a story if there isn't a love interest and thats where the human Zeke comes in, that was pretty weird, I'm use to the female being human and the vampire being male (Twilight, Anne Rice) so it was different seeing the roles reversed with this story, and though I like Zeke and whatever...I kinda got the impression that Allison and the vampire Kanin (who turned her) were going to have something going on, but thats why this is a series and I'll see what happens when the next book comes out....which is when?