Tagged: blood of eden
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 Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.
Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Well, I must say that I enjoyed The Eternity Cure even more than the first book in the Blood of Eden trilogy, The Immortal Rules. And considering how much I liked the first book, that’s really saying something.
The Eternity Cure includes betrayals, new revelations, old friends (and enemies) and one of those villains that is just unable to die. Julie Kagawa never was one for sparing her characters any pain, but wow, poor Allie really does go through a lot in this second installment. This is definitely not a case of Book 2 Syndrome. Allison has matured quite a bit and become more accepting of her life as a vampire when the story starts out and she has changed even more by the time it ends. Her search for Kanin certainly isn’t an easy one and it brings her into contact with an old friend and more than a few old enemies.
As for the plot, all I can say is that it takes more than a few twists and turns. There were even some I didn’t see coming, especially that heart-wrenching cliffhanger ending. It was incredibly difficult for me to tear my eyes away from my computer screen the whole time, even for nourishment or sleep. If you loved The Immortal Rules, I guarantee that you’ll like The Eternity Cure even more. So go ahead and pre-order your copy! It releases on April 30 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.
Latest YA News
Well, I was right! Some ambitious director has picked up the rights to Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series. According to Wikipedia, it is to be directed by Burr Steers and it will be a trilogy. The first film will attempt to combine Emperor: The Gates of Rome and Emperor: The Death of Kings. This actually makes sense because the first book is very slow and could easily be condensed and added to the second book. Apparently this has been news since May 20, 2010, but I just found out about it and I wanted to spread the word. So, Conn Iggulden fans, you’re in luck! The movie will apparently be called Emperor: Young Caesar, which is a title so horrible it makes me want to gag. Could it be more predictable? Oh well, with the name “Caesar” in the title, it will draw a larger crowd.
Blood of Eden by Julie Kagwa was just released on April 24 as well. So if you love Julie Kagawa, or real blood-sucking, human-eating, stone-cold killing machines that don’t sparkle, check it out. I haven’t read it yet, but I plan to get my hands on it as soon as humanly possible. For more information, check out the official site here.
Kristin Cashore is an amazing writer and the third book in her Seven Kingdoms series is coming out on May 1 of this year! I mentioned this before, but after it got an excellent review from a reviewer who managed to obtain an ARC, I am even more anxious to read it.
YA Release Dates to Look Forward to
As you can probably guess, I read a lot of YA books, which by extension means I’m reading a lot of in-progress series at once. But, I’ve made this helpful list for myself and for everyone else to keep track of some of the exciting new releases this year.
1. The Enchantress by Michael Scott
Anyone that is a regular reader here knows that I love Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. The Enchantress is the last book in this series and I’m really curious about how Michael Scott will end his series. With more Elders being forced to take sides and immortals constantly switching sides, the final book is probably going to keep me reading into the early morning hours. After years of waiting, The Enchantress is going to be released on May 22 of this year, according to Wikipedia. Continue reading