Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 The Immortal Rules is set in a future post-apocalyptic world where vampires run the show. 
 Allison Sekemoto - Allie for short - is an Unregistered orphan in the vampire city of New Covington. Unregistered humans are people who do not agree with or participate in the monthly bloodletting that Registered humans must, as they serve the vampires. Being Unregistered is risky for multiple reasons, but it's a matter of principle. Allie and her small group of Unregistered friends live in the outermost area of the city in a place known as the Fringe. They spend nearly all of their time scavenging for food just to survive. 
 During one such scavenging, Allie and her friends are attacked by Rabids; the nastiest form of vampire, you could pretty much say they're equated with zombies. After watching her friends get torn to pieces, Allie makes a run for it only to end up being taken down by a pack of Rabids herself. Allie knows she is about to die when, all of a sudden, the Rabids tearing at her body are pulled off of her. She's been saved, sort of... Her savior offers her a choice: Die, or become a vampire like him. 
 Allie chooses life in any form she can get it, and that means becoming the thing she hates most. 
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 This is my very first read by Julie Kagawa. I've been meaning to get to the Iron Fey series, but it keeps getting the bump on my TBR list. I can say, now, that I'll probably be moving it up. Julie is a wonderful writer and I was so very impressed with this novel. With all the vampire books floating around out there, it gets old. Right before reading this book I told my husband it'd been awhile since I'd read a vampire book. I believe the last one I read was over 6 months ago (not counting The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda, which - off topic - was a great read, but very different from this one). Anyway, I said to him that I was betting it'd be just like all the rest of 'em. I mean, how many times can the story be told before there's nothing unique left? I was wrong, totally and utterly wrong. I am so glad I read this book when I originally hadn't planned to. Truthfully, I only read it because it popped up on NetGalley. It was sort of a whim, you know? Impulse read, or whatever... The point is that I almost missed out! I'm very glad I did not. 
 The plot is unique. I like that Julie combined dystopia and vampire fiction together. I like that she didn't turn her vampires into something friendly and non-threatening. They were monsters, for the most part, and even our protagonist murdered people and had to fight very hard to keep even the tiniest bit of her humanity. It's somewhat of a horror novel. There's gore and spook. I appreciate that it wasn't all about the romance. It's there, sure, but it isn't the main focus of the novel. This book is not of the Twilight variety (I like Twilight, but let's face it: it's all about the L-O-V-E). 
 Allie was a truly inspiring character. She was human (at first, anyway) and flawed. She hated vampires and during the short time we did see her as a human, I'd of never imagined someone such as her would choose the route that she did. When faced with ultimate death or a second chance of sorts, as a vampire, she took the way that I'd imagine 90% of people would - whether they hate vamps or not. Her journey through learning what it is to be a vampire was interesting and what I would call realistic. She had the proper amount of denial in the beginning; the proper amount of horror at what she'd become. Through the entire book, every single day was a struggle against the demon inside of her. She made mistakes, she fell, but she also got right back up and ultimately kept her humanity intact as much as she could. Allie was an easy protag to like and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. 
 Julie's world-building is remarkable. The entire setting is very atmospheric and her attention to details is impeccable. The world and it's characters are very well developed and full of life (and death, in some cases!). It's not just the world that's impressive, either. This author really knows how to back up her story; to fill in all the blanks you may have. How did the world come to be as it is? Why hasn't it gotten any better? Who? What? When? Where? It's all there. The whole shebang! 
 This book is really fantastic.. so fantastic, in fact, that I almost forgot to mention why I didn't give it a 5-star review. Well, here is my reason: too much. What do I mean by that? Too much going on. Just when I would get used to something, she'd change it up on me. I was getting used to Kanin being around and she takes him away (I was loving him!). I was used to Allie traveling on her own and she throws the human group into the mix. I was used to that group and then she took them away. It's like she didn't give Allie enough time to get used to anyone or to get close to them. I appreciate that the book was never boring, but I was a little disappointed, mostly that Kanin was taken out so early. I definitely can't wait for book 2 so I can have more! 
 Overall, The Immortal Rules is excellent. Kagawa has an original take on vampire fiction. This is a story about right and wrong, and that small grey area in between. It's about loyalty. It's about choices. It's about doing what needs to be done even when it's not easy. It's thought provoking and emotional. It's full of multidimensional characters with a whole lot of personality and color. It's set in a ruthless world packed with dangers - and Kagawa brings it all into perfect focus with her wonderful storytelling. If you think vampires are old, stale, totally yesterday - you need to read this. It's a huge refresher and a compelling read. I'd recommend it for any paranormal fan out there. I'll definitely be reading some more from Ms. Kagawa in the near future! 
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 Book source: NetGalley 
 Publisher: Harlequin Teen