A review by rallythereaders
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

5.0

Also posted on Rally the Readers.

The Immortal Rules was my first YA vampire read of 2013, and I couldn’t have started off the year with a better vampire novel. I feel really, really guilty for allowing this book to collect dust on my shelf since last summer, when I first bought it. Apparently, I didn’t even get around to reading the jacket blurb because I was surprised to discover that The Immortal Rules is also a dystopian novel, and it is an excellent one at that.

I like the dystopian genre a lot, but it takes just the right combination of elements to make a dystopian novel work for me. I need to know the ins and outs of how the world I’m reading about came to exist. If the explanation is sketchy, I’m probably not going to enjoy the book. On the other hand, if the details are laden with scientific jargon, I’m lost there, too. At first I was a bit nervous when I began reading The Immortal Rules because I wasn’t quite grasping the world. There was a virus and these creatures called rabids which did not sound pleasant at all, but I felt like the how and the why behind these things hadn’t been explained. I’m happy to say that all is revealed eventually, and I ended up appreciating the manner in which Julie Kagawa drew me into this world piece by piece. Her descriptions of dilapidated skyscrapers in the vampire-controlled cities and the surrounding woodlands taking over any former traces of human habitation really give you the sense of a broken, desolate civilization. Toss in the aforementioned rabids rising out of the ground at night to devour anything in their path, and this book is absolutely terrifying in places. The rabids are vampires born of scientific experimentation gone afoul, and they follow a single instinct—to satisfy their hunger. In that sense, they reminded me of zombies. The tone of The Immortal Rules is dark, bleak, and sometimes flat-out scary, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I loved how richly drawn the characters were, with Allison and her vampire creator, Kanin, being the standouts. Allison is a fantastic heroine; from the opening pages, you get the impression that she’s a fighter. It’s her tenacity that makes her choose life, albeit the life of a vampire, over death after a rabid attacks her. As a human, Allie despises vampires and what they’ve done to humanity, but I can’t fault her for her decision to become one of them. She’s facing imminent demise, and she’s not ready to lie down and give up. I have to admire her resolve. Allie’s transition to her new immortal life isn’t easy, but she doesn’t become bogged down in self-pity. And any heroine who can take down rabids with a katana as fiercely as Allie does is all right in my book.

I was really intrigued by Kanin, the vampire who turned Allie. He acts as a mentor of sorts to her, teaching her what she needs to know to adapt to her new life. I love how unreadable this guy is; most of the time, he maintains a cool demeanor, yet there’s a part of him that seems to genuinely care about Allie’s well-being. Kanin also has quite the interesting past, which looks as though it will continue to play a major role throughout the series.

For me, the most riveting aspect of this novel was Allie’s constant struggle to retain a connection to her former human self and not turn into a savage killer. Kanin warns her that taking human lives is an inevitable part of her nature now, but Allie battles to keep her predatory instincts from consuming her. She’s tested again and again, and there are low moments when she can’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just give in. It’s heartbreaking to watch her scorned because of what she is first by Stick, a member of the group of humans she used to scavenge with, and then by Zeke, who is part of a human traveling party in search of a city rumored to be run by humans. Zeke’s revulsion is particularly hurtful to Allie because if there was anyone who she hoped would be able to see the good in her, it was Zeke. Allie’s trials are punishing, both physically and emotionally, and I won’t forget about them any time soon.

Simply put, this book blew me away. It’s a winning combination of vampires and a dystopian world, with a kick-ass heroine whose inner conflict is one of the most haunting ones I’ve read about in a long while. When the sequel, [b:The Eternity Cure|13581990|The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden, #2)|Julie Kagawa|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355512342s/13581990.jpg|19167673], is released, I will definitely buy a copy. I will not, however, leave it sitting on my bookshelf for months like I foolishly did with The Immortal Rules!