Review and Giveaway: IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa

Reviewed by: Baby Sister Brittany

ARC received from: Media Masters Publicity

The Sisters say: Bloody, Bold, Bad A

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.

Julie Kagawa is an artist. Nay, she’s a master, no a genius.

Strike all of that.

JULIE KAGAWA MUST BE A FREAKING WIZARD BECAUSE IMMORTAL RULES WAS PURE MAGIC!

Too cheesy for you guys?

Let me rephrase—Julie Kagawa’s fresh and inventive take on the flooded vampire market is nothing short of inspired. I admit—I cringe every time I open a vampire book because it’s just so overdone, but I shouldn’t have ever doubted Julie! She has a knack for taking tired, overwrought mythologies and bringing them to life in a way that is at once both a reflection of the old and a push towards the new. She did it with fairies first (Yes, by the time I read Iron Fey I was sick of Fairies and she proved me wrong), and now she’s done it with Vamps.

Dear Ms. Kagawa,

I hearby hope, NAY BEG, for you to tackle every trendy and stereotypical paranormal creature there is. I shall never again doubt your prowess and your, erm, wizardry. I will follow you into the worlds of werewolves or zombies or witches or angels or mermaids or even freaking hobbits. I’m all yours. All Hail Julie!

Sincerely,

The One Who Doubted, and Deserves a Swift Kick in the Face Because of It

Now lets get down to specifics.

IMMORTAL RULES is a combination Dystopian/Paranormal—my two favorite worlds!  Essentially—Disaster befell the Earth and humankind’s number began dwindling rapidly. This = Bloody Awful News for the Vamps who had been secretly living among us the whole time (Pun intended). So, to prevent Vamps from dying out, they had to prevent human’s from dying out.

*Julie waves her magic wand*

Vampire cities are created. Human’s are kept in walled cities, protected from the outside world in exchange for their blood.

Genius, right?

Well… then there’s Allie—chalk up another hella awesome heroine for Ms. Kagawa. She lives in the outskirts of the vampire city, and has refused to pledge herself to the vampires and give up her blood. Unfortunately, that means she’s left to fend for herself, and food is almost as scarce as safety. But she doesn’t care… she despises the vampires, and refuses to give in to them.

Then her hatred for vampires is tested by her own will to live when she is attacked and she faces a choice—die or become a vampire (which is also dead, so it’s more like die or die 2.0).

Allie’s character is fierce and complicated and loyal and naïve and flawed and above all—RIVETING. I couldn’t get enough of her world and her life.

Luckily, this first installment in the Blood of Eden series is epic—and I mean that in the sense that it is both awesome and long! Can’t get much better than that, can we?

Allie isn’t the only fascinating character.

I love me some Kanin, Allie’s sire. He has all the broody self-hatred of reformed vampires, but is simultaneously at peace with his life as a vampire and his role as predator. He’s broody and bloody. Imagine Stephan and Damon from Vampire Diaries all rolled into one fabulous character. I will admit… I was more interested in Kanin than I was in Zeke (the love interest in the book), and I can’t wait to see more of him in later books.

That’s not to say I didn’t like Zeke—son of a religious leader hell bent on destroying the vampires, who falls in love with girl who just happens to be a vampire. Now that’s some DRAMA, kids. And trust me, as a theatre teacher—I KNOW DRAMA.

EDIT: And.... I can't believe I forgot to mention this. *Bad Brittany* Thanks to Misa for reminding me in the comments. Allie is Asian! Only the second Asian MC I've seen in YA lit! Huzzah for diversity in YA lit! Huzzah for Julie! 

All in all, I loved this book. I love Julie Kagawa. Crap…. I even love vampires again (for a little while at least). So give this book a chance, maybe you’ll love again too!

In fact, we’re giving you a chance to win a copy of this book (which hits stores April 24^th)! Check out the rafflecopter below for more info! 

Julie Kagawa Weekend: Author Q & A

That's right, kids! We're celebrating the awesomeness that is Julie Kagawa this weekend! We've got a Q&A with Julie today, then come back tomorrow for our review and giveaway of Julie's latest IMMORTAL RULES. Trust me, this is one you don't want to miss! If you're unfamiliar with Julie, please check out our reviews for her other series, The Iron Fey. 

A Q&A with

New York Times Best Selling Author Julie Kagawa

After writing the Iron Fey series for so many years, how difficult was it to immerse yourself in a futuristic world filled with vampires, rabids and an enslaved human race?

            It was...very different.  I think the hardest thing for me was the fact that this story does take place in the real world -- a futuristic, vampire-infested world, but the real world nonetheless.  Things had to make sense, for example: how far can a large group walk in a single day if there were no roads, they were going through thick woods, and there were children in the group?  I had to have logical reasons for everything; I couldn't just make something work "because of faery magic," lol.

Just like Meghan Chase in the Iron Fey series, the main character in The Immortal Rules, Allison Sekemoto, is a “take charge and kick butt” kind of girl.  Is this intentional? What woman – real or fictional, alive or deceased – do you look up to or admire?

            Yes, Allison comes from a very different world than Meghan Chase.  Meghan's upbringing was pretty normal; Allison grew up among vampires and monsters, where every day was a fight to live, so she couldn't afford to be weak.  While Meghan had to learn to "take charge and kick butt," Allison's first impulse is stab first, talk later.  

            As for female role models, the first that comes to mind--when it comes to kicking vampire butt, anyway -- is Buffy Summers.  Thank you, Joss Whedon, for making me love feisty, snarky, heroines who can dust all sorts of nasties but who also look good in a cheerleading outfit. ;) 

You mention in your acknowledgements in The Immortal Rules that at the beginning of your writing career you promised yourself you wouldn’t write a vampire book.  What changed your mind?

            Well, there were already so many really good books about our favorite bloodsuckers, so many stories and ideas, I thought I didn't have anything new to add to the masses.  I was actually toying with a post-apocalyptic YA novel when my agent mentioned I might want to try writing a vampire series.  I wasn't intrigued with the idea at first, but then I thought about combining vampires with the post-apocalyptic novel and then rest sort of fell into place.   

Allison claims she hates vampires and believes they are monsters yet when faced with a choice of die or become one, she becomes a vampire.  Would you have made that same decision? 

            Me personally?  No.  I'm like Zeke in the belief that there is something better waiting for me beyond this life, and I just have to do my best until it’s time for me to go.  Besides, I love pizza and Mountain Dew too much to give it up.

Who do you think the most complex character is in The Immortal Rules?

            Probably Kanin, Allie's sire.  He's a vampire who has made his peace about being a monster, yet chooses to live by his own set of moral rules.  He warns Allison about getting too close to humans, yet he does not kill unless he absolutely has to.  He is tormented about something in his past that he refuses to share with anyone.  He is certainly the most mysterious of all the characters, if not the most complex.

How many books will be in the Blood of Eden series?  When will the next book be coming out?

            At the moment, there are three books planned, with the second coming out sometime next spring, after the release of the new Iron Fey series this fall.

Before you starting writing full time you were a professional dog trainer.  Do the professions share any similarities?

            Lol, well you have to think on your feet a lot.  And some of the small dogs could be compared to tiny snapping goblins, but writing requires less dodging skills, though perhaps the same amount of creativity and problem solving.

When starting a new series, like Blood of Eden, do you have the entire series mapped out in detail or do you let the story develop book by book?

            I have a high point that I write toward in each story; I know this and this has to happen, but getting from point A to point B usually develops as I go along.

And for the speed round:

What book have you read and re-read, and read yet again?

            Any of the Harry Potter books.

Favorite song to play when writing a fight scene?

            My "favorites" change daily.  Right now its "Awake and Alive" by Skillet.

Worst job?

            Working a kiosk in the mall during Christmas.  It sold glass figurines, and the maneuvering space around the hundreds of very breakable merchandise was quite small.  I was like a bull in a china shop.

Best vacation spot?

            Walt Disney World

Sweets or salty?

            Sweet.

One thing most people don’t know about you – and would never guess!

            I used to play the flute when I was a kid.  I was really good at it too, but my instructor stopped teaching to have a family, and I never went back to it.