The Immortal Rules
Blood of Eden #1
By: Julie Kagawa
Published by: Harlequin Teen

Publisher’s Blurb: 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: I sat down to begin this book … well, not really …

See, lately, my reading has tended to take place at the gym on the treadmill, so I definitely wasn’t sitting.

But anyhoo, I began reading this book, never having read anything by Julie Kagawa, not knowing what it was about, what to expect; nor having read the official blurb, so it was all a surprise to me – a very pleasant surprise.

In fact, I truly walked and jogged a lot of miles while reading this book and never felt a bit of pain because the book was so great. It didn’t matter how many miles I’d accrued, or how hot and sweaty I was, I always had that feeling of “just one more chapter.”

That said; this is not a quick read, like a lot of the books I tend to read. The book comes in at just over five hundred pages and is broken into four parts, and it is far from light and funny. The subject matter is actually quite serious and dire, throughout; although, there are a few funny little moments, romantic moments, and sentimental moments placed in, here and there, to balance it out.

Given the dystopian theme, I also found that although it’s classified as YA and was published by Harlequin Teen, it is a great book for anyone of any age. The kids in the book are all more mature than their actual ages, for the most part, due to their circumstances, but not too mature, which allows both teens and adults alike to relate to it and enjoy it.

Now, that I’ve covered the basics, I would like to take a moment to talk about Allison, our main heroine.

It’s very interesting to me – the choice that Allison made to become a vampire. I haven’t ever read a book with a heroine who’s been faced with a choice like that – to become exactly what she’s hated and feared her entire life.

That decision alone is why Allison, to me, may be one my favorite heroines to date.

No matter her personal feelings, her love of life came first and in my opinion, it was very reminiscent of the scene in True Blood, where Godrick offered Eric the chance to live.

Then, once all was said and done and she was faced with the consequences of her decision – becoming a monster -- she chose to make the best of it, to live her life, and to strive to remain herself at her core and to never give herself over to the monster inside her.

As I’ve already stated, this was a great book; in fact, I gave it five out of five stars and I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment, The Eternity Cure, which is due out in May of 2013.

If you like books that are epic in nature, books about vampires, or books set in a dystopian future; then this book is definitely for you.

Disclaimer: An electronic galley of this book was provided to me, by the publisher, through netgalley.com and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion. I have not been paid to review this book.