Absolutely AMAZING!!!! Julie does it again. I'm addicted to this series already. This is one of the coolest dystopian books I've read. I loved the mix of vampires with the dystopian world. Once you pick up this book you won't want to put it down!!

Title: The Immortal Rules [Blood of Eden 1]

Author: Julie Kagawa

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Dystopian, Vampires, Post-Apocalyptic

Rating: 5 Stars

Description/Synopsis: 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 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.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

WARNING - SPOILERS MAY ENSUE BEYOND THIS POINT - REVIEW BELOW

I ADORE this book. I know, I know, everyone wants to whine about how vampire books are overdone, but I really don't care. I love vampires - and this isn't a vampire tale like any other. The vampires in The Immortal Rules are ruthless, savage, sometimes even rabid, beasts. There's no seductive, sparkly vampires here. In fact, the closest we come to a "nice" vampire is the main character, and even she'll admit that you should never trust a vampire.

I really liked Allie ... and well... all the characters. They each had distinct personalities and depth to their characters. I even liked the villains.. and usually I don't. I think my favorite part of this book though, was Allie's struggle with humanity. She came from a background where even the humans were barely human and had to decide to become the one thing she hated more than anything - a vampire. Even up until the very end though, she struggled to maintain her humanity, not just in the "I'm going to show compassion" way we normally see... no, Allie took the more complicated route.. She still didn't trust people or vampires, but she did her best, struggling with her nature, and the nature of those around her in order to protect what little humanity she could still find in the world. I came away from this story with a great respect for this tragic individual who was willing to sacrifice everything in order to save just a handful of humans even though she knew in the end she'd have to leave them. Allie may be one of my favorite book heroine's. She was naive at times and often made bad decisions, but she wasn't a whiny, helpless heroine. She sucked it up when it mattered and did her best to atone for the mistakes she made. The girl had guts.

I also really appreciated Zeke. It would have been so easy for him to become a character much like Stick -  a helpless, naive human that depended on others. Instead, despite his horrific situation in the group (I hate you Jeb - in a loving way.), he tried his best to see the good in the world and help every person he could - even when it turned out the people he trusted betrayed him. Despite his deep-seated hatred of vampires, he struggled to hold on to that hope, and eventually was able to see Allie for what she was : Just a girl that made a hard choice and struggled to be what everyone said she couldn't be... a vampire that retained some semblance of humanity.

I thought the ending was perfect.

I feel incredibly blessed to have been given a chance to read the sequel on NetGalley directly after this one, and I can't wait to get started!

I was very pleased with this.  I didn't think the overall direction of the book was that new (following a character as they turned, etc.) but I think the execution was well done.

I loved the world building though.  I liked the whole idea of vampire cities ruled by vampire princes and humans being caught in the middle of it all.  It was interesting to see how Kagawa built a world with vampires as the ruling class and how she managed the interactions between humans and vampire.

I liked Allie quite a bit.  I understood her and her actions, even though some were harsh.  I thought she was a well written character that was easy to follow through the journey.  

I was a little peeved with Zeke though.  He was far too perfect for the world that Kagawa built.  No one, and I mean no one, gets to be 17 in that environment and is that precious.  It just doesn't happen.  They either become hardened/jaded/etc or they die.  That character, though integral to the plot, was a bit of a bummer for me.  And the interactions between Zeke and Allie seemed a bit forced.

However, this book was saved and gets a full 4 stars for the other great characters.  Jackal was a fun villain and I am hoping the series continues with that.  Kanin was a great tutor to Allie but I am more interested in his history and exploring that path farther.  Luckily that seems to be where we are heading for the rest of the series.