Tagged: kanin
The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of (un)Conventional Bookviews.)
VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS
Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?
With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.
MONSTER
Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.
In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I seriously had my doubts about Julie Kagawa being able to end her Blood of Eden trilogy well. It’s a very complicated world with more problems than you can count so how could she possibly come to a satisfying conclusion? Even when reading it I had my doubts but I didn’t need to. Julie Kagawa pulled it off once again.
I’m seriously impressed. With that horrible cliffhanger at the end of The Eternity Cure I was very anxious about getting my hands on the final book. Allison is still brooding from Zeke’s death and she’s turning into the monster that her brother Jackal is, the kind of vampire Kanin tried to prevent her from becoming. I can’t go into much detail without some major spoilers but let’s just say Allie’s true colours show through when she finally decides what kind of vampire she wants to be.
The plot is insane. There are so many twists and turns that I could barely keep up. Some were completely unexpected whereas others were fairly predictable but overall it was an exciting, surprising plot. The ending wasn’t abrupt in the way that some authors end trilogies, but instead there was a nice detailed epilogue that gives you an idea of what will happen to this horrifying world of humans, vampires and rabids. There is, of course, a little ambiguity left but I was satisfied by the fact that most loose ends were tied off.
As usual, the characters were amazing. Allie changed so much over the course of the story and we learned quite a bit about Kanin and Jackal. All the characters that the plot centered around were well-developed and I really connected with them on a deeper level compared to the previous books. I was honestly very surprised about how connected I felt to the characters because I haven’t been emotionally involved in a book for at least a month now. It was a nice change.
Basically, if you’ve read the previous two books you’re going to love The Forever Song. I know I did. So go ahead and pre-order it! It releases on April 15 of this year.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
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.
(Summary courtesy of Amazon.)
Finally, a real vampire story!
I can’t tell you how ridiculously happy Julie Kagawa’s version of vampires made me. Vampires are stone-cold killing machines; they’re designed to kill humans. They don’t sparkle in the sunlight and they certainly aren’t century-old virgins. And vampires are powerful, so they naturally end up ruling the world, rather than being in hiding like they are in so many modern books.
Allie is a great protagonist. She’s strong and accepts being a vampire relatively well, even though she got off to a pretty shaky start. Kanin is an awesome vampire and I suspect we’ll learn a lot more about his mysterious backstory in the next book. Or at least I hope we do because there’s a lot of hints about his past.
The plot is fast-paced, the characters are amazing and the world-building is nothing less than I would expect from an author like Julie Kagawa. Blood of Eden looks to be a promising series and I honestly can’t wait for the next book. Even if you don’t like vampires in general, you will love this book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.