Friday, April 20, 2012

A-Z, Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules Book Review & Fred

For my A-Z Challenge, the letter is “R,” and today, I’ll be doing a "Review" filled with engrossing characters that should entice those interested in hot YA fantasy literature.  Are you familiar with Julie Kagawa, the author of the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fae Series? Well, if not, she’s about to launch Book I of the Blood of Eden series.  It's a book about vampires titled, The Immortal Rules. And boy does it rule! (Some spoilers mentioned.)
The Immortal Rules is a wicked novel about a post-apocalyptic world where vampires rule in various vampire city destinations around the country and enslave humans for blood.  Within the city walls, there are registered humans: those that donate their blood in exchange for food, shelter and protection. And then there are the unregistered humans: those that refuse to conform and that live on the “Fringe—the outermost circle of the vampire city.” They survive by hiding from hunting vamps and scavenging for food.  The novel begins with a young 17 year old human girl, Allison Sekemoto, who is unregistered and fighting for that very survival along with her gang mates.

Since food is always the underlying concern, Allie finds the mother lode in an area outside the city called the ruins. Venturing in this forbidden place can get you killed, which is exactly what happened to our heroine. Turning from human to a vampire was probably the worst thing that could happen to Allie. Still, intuitively she is a survivor. Her sire, Kanin, is like her vampire sensei. He teaches her everything she knows about being a vampire and of course about the immortal rules. She learns about the vampire hierarchy, how the world morphed into a post-apocalyptic nightmare and sadly, how she can never trust humans again.

The Immortal Rules reminded me of hodgepodge of other bestsellers including I am Legend and The Hunger Games. Allie is so likable simply because she is a quick learner and excels at surviving.  Her human beginnings were incomprehensible
a mere child with no family, starving at every turn. And then of course she dies and is forced to experience a whole new level of hunger.  I loved Allie’s spirit, her innocence and her strength—not to mention the world Kagawa built. And the ending…was like a movie. Thrilling. This novel will no doubt be another successful series for Kagawa.  In fact, for those that don’t know, Palomar Pictures just purchased the film rights for The Immortal Rules and Blood of Eden series

The Immortal Rules was easily a 4 for me. If you like YA books and you’re in need of a great vampire one, then this is hands down your novel.   Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules releases April 24th. 


And now....Fridays with Fred

Fred is taking break today.  In his place is one of his friends, Achilles. And like Fred, Achilles is an staunch Heat fan, which is a good thing because right now the heat are hot, hot, HOT! Go Miami Heat!



Remember to stop by and say hi to Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too. 

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.

14 comments:

Clint said...

I think that I will have keep a lookout for this one. It sounds interesting and down my alley.

Lisa said...

Yeah for Achilles - we need to have another dog park playdate with Fred. Thanks for including the little guy. Love, LB

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Does he bark at the players during games?

Unknown said...

Thanks for an interesting review. makes me want to look up this book.

Unknown said...

I just posted a review of this yeterday! Also enjoyed it. Cool that there may be a movie :-) There were quite a few scenes that, while reading, I imagined would translate well to the big screen.

Cynthia said...

Thanks for the recommendation. It's interesting how we have genres crossing each other here, with the paranormal mixing into dystopian lit.

Claire Hennessy said...

Nice review. Sounds like an interesting book - will have to add to my TBR pile. Gosh, if only I could actually READ one of them!

Elise Fallson said...

Sounds like a good read. The Iron Fae Series is also on my TBR list. The list keeps growing! (:

Nick Wilford said...

Nice review. Post-apocalyptic stuff is great if done well.

Carla said...

Nice to meet you Achilles! Any friend of Fred's is okay by us!
Your A-Z Challenge is fun to read every day Mina!
Have a great weekend!

Grover said...

Sounds really interesting. I'll add it to my reading list.

Cecilia Robert said...

Great Review. :) I saw this on netgalley, but didn't have time to grab it. Will definitely check it out.
Oh, he looks mighty comfy :)

Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Another book to add to my list of books I must read! I love reading reviews and yours was awesome. You gave just the right amount of info to make a person decide yea or nay. Nice balance.
Thanks!

Mina Burrows said...

@Geeky Daddy - It's pretty cool.

@Lisa -Love you too Lis!

@Alex J. Cavanaugh - Yes. He's a pretty big fan/

@Damyanti- I liked it.

@Rachel Morgan - I think it will translate well too.

@Cynthia - I agree. The crossing genres is interesting.

@Claire Hennessy - I hear ya with the TBR pile. Geez.

@Elise Fallson- I haven't read the Iron Fae either.

@Nick Wilford - Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool.

@Carla - Hi Sweetie! XXOO to Sophie & Darcy!

@Grover - Let me know what you think when you're done.

@Cecilia-Netgalley is pretty cool, huh?

@Magical Mystical MiMi - Thanks, sweetie!