The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)

by Julie Kagawa

[celinenyx]

This is the first book I read by Ms Kagawa, and I have to say that I'm impressed by her writing. After finishing The Immortal Rules I picked up another book and I just had to stop reading it because the writing felt way too choppy in comparison. Not only does this book boast wonderful writing, it also has an interesting plot.

Allison, or Allie, is a Fringer. She has to fight to survive as starvation is a real threat on the borders of a Vampire city. But then Allie is turned in the one thing she hates most - a vampire. She will have to choose what kind of monster she wants to become.

To sum it up, The Immortal Rules is a dystopian vampire story with zombies called rabids. I was really glad to see that it didn't feature the lame sparkly kind of vampires, but super strong killing machine vampires that can suck you dry in a few seconds. Ms Kagawa found the right balance between monstrous and human in her vampires, especially Allie.

When Allie is turned, she leaves the city and comes across a band of humans searching for the vampire-free city of Eden. The major part of the story revolves around this band of humans and their interactions with Allie. They don't know she's a vampire and she has to do everything to hide her nature. For me the journey to Eden had a bit of an epic fantasy feel - a string of small interactions that will later unfold into a much bigger picture. I personally wasn't bored by this, but I can see why some people might call this part slow.

I really liked the story, but I felt it was a bit lacking in some parts. The rabids felt inconsistent. At one point Allie is afraid she has turned a human into a rabid person because she has bitten him, and at another point she bites someone and it doesn't even cross her mind. Maybe there was a reason for this and it wasn't an inconsistency problem, but it was most definitely under explained. Sometimes there are rabid animals, sometimes there aren't. Rabids can't cross water, but Allie still considers rabid fish.

This is a long book, and there is more than enough room for world-building, but for me there wasn't enough. The whole Red Lung virus thing gets rushed over and there is no explanation at all how, if pretty much every building is crumbling, the vampires were able to make massive towers. Did they put the stones on top of the other themselves? I highly doubt that. I hope there will be more insights into how this world works in the next book of the series.

I did like all the interactions between the characters, and Zeke was one of my favourites. I'm looking forward to see how his and Allie's relationship will develop in the next book. I'm getting a double point of view vibe from the end of this one. Or maybe Ms Kagawa has something completely different for them in mind.

The Immortal Rules is a great book that I would certainly recommend for vampire/dystopian lovers, but I do hope that the second book in the Blood of Eden series will contain more explanations on how this world came to be. Still, a big thumbs up for Ms Kagawa's amazing way with words.