The Immortal Rules: Review
Genre: Dystopian, Horror, Young Adult
Review:
I used to LOVE vampire books and movies. Some of my faves were anything by Anne Rice, Dracula (duh), Salem’s Lot, 30 Days of Night… okay, you get the picture. Then the sparkly vamps came to town and the market was so over-saturated that the scary bloodsuckers lost their appeal. When I saw this book on NetGalley, I almost passed it over simply because I didn’t want yet another tale of housebroken vampires. Then I read the description and I was intrigued, so I decided to give it a shot. I’m really glad I did!
I will admit that I’ve never read the Iron Fey series, mainly because of my aversion to anything faery related, so I was unfamiliar with Ms. Kagawa’s writing style. She hooked me from the get go. The book is very well-written (though I did notice A LOT of “sideways glances” passed amongst characters), and the action perfectly paced.
As a main character, Allison is tough. She’s a survivor. She hates the vampires and their regime and will do anything she can to stay out of their clutches. When she is viciously attacked by a group of rabids (they’re kind of like zombie vampires) while scavenging with friends, she is faced with a decision: die, or become a vampire. Not ready to let go of life, she makes the decision to become the very thing she hates the most, vowing to not be a monster like all of the other vampires. What she soon discovers is that it’s not as easy as she thought it would be. While Allison is left with memories of her human self, I loved watching her struggle with what she wants to hold on to and what she must now become.
The world does seem slightly familiar, but that doesn’t mean it is not interesting. The addition of the “rabids” and the “raiders” add to the tension. It really reminded me of a vampire version of “The Walking Dead” in a way, and Allie somewhat reminded me of Selene from “Underworld”.
All in all this is a good read – especially for those of you who like their vampires dangerous and their books fast-paced.
