Review - The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Series: Blood of Eden #1
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Synopsis via Goodreads

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.

My rating:

If someone asked me what I thought of this book, this would probably be my reaction:

Typically, when I see a book that I might want to read, I head straight over to Goodreads. I size up the synopsis and then read a few reviews from the people with similar tastes to mine. And maybe a few who don't have the same tastes, because it's always good to get multiple perspectives.

Anyway, that's what I did with The Immortal Rules. And everyone swore up and down that it was the best dystopian/vampire novel out there. (Or maybe the only dystopian/vampire novel out there, therefore making it the best. I don't know. I've yet to come across any others.) So, I gave it a chance and went in with high expectations.

That was my first mistake.

I expected way too much. I thought it'd have all of the aspects I generally love in a book--an intricate plot, relatable characters, a healthy dose of romance. But that wasn't what this book was about. In my haste to dive into it and make it a new favorite, I compared it to my other favorites.

That was my second mistake.

I enjoyed The Immortal Rules. I didn't love it. Maybe it just wasn't for me. After all, I tend to crave more wit and romance as opposed to the adventure and coming-into-oneself stuff. Still, I liked it enough.

The main character, Allison Sekemoto, was interesting to read about. I found myself wanting to know more about her life and why she lived the way she did and where she came from. She was tough and jaded. While the jaded part did get annoying a few times, her other characteristics made up for her flaws. I liked that she was strong-minded & opinionated & had her own morals, but still possessed that rebellious-with-a-cause flair. Except, something was missing. I could never pinpoint it, but something kept me from relating to her fully. I understood her motivations, but that was about as deep as it went.

I felt the same about the secondary characters, which consisted of a small group of wanderers. Well, I don't think they counted as wanderers since they had a destination in mind. That aside, I don't know if it was the sheer size of the group (11 people, not including Allison) that kept me from caring or what, but I found myself only giving a crap about whether they reached their destination out of curiosity. Zeke, the love interest and member of the group stood out a little bit more. He was heroic and determined and loyal and handsome--but boring. The same thing that happened with Allison happened with him. Something was missing. I didn't care enough about him.

The plot itself was basic. Easy to follow & predict. It balanced between Allison surviving and wandering around, and that was it. Nothing quite new, but the writing was decent enough to keep me reading. The beginning intrigued me but it got old quickly, so I was glad when things picked up during the later half. A few times, the setting was obscure, so I couldn't grasp what the characters were doing as the story progressed, especially when they went to the city that was partly underwater.

Despite being both paranormal and dystopian, the realism was astounding. Once I overlooked the lack of incessant humor or heart-wrenching drama and recognized the story for what it was (the struggle of a new vampire's acclimation to an unfamiliar lifestyle), I realized that I liked the jadedness. I liked that people died and it sucked. I liked that Allison struggled with both being a human and then a vampire. I liked that everything wasn't easy and required sacrifices.

The Immortal Rules is a book that I'm glad I read, but it will probably be a while before I read the next one--even with that slightly cliffhanger-y ending.