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Coucher de soleil's Reviews > The Immortal Rules

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
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really liked it
bookshelves: young-adult-teen-read, favorites

I am adding a note here regarding the later books in the series, because I was disappointed with this in the end.

NB: Please note that the final book proved that the science behind this series is, unfortunately, crap. I really liked the series up until that point. Also, the science in question dealt with the actual cause of the apocalypse they had all lived through so... yeah. It was a major plot point in the arc of the series and rather jarring that the author got this so wrong -because I have difficulty accepting the notion that a non airborne (i.e. spread by being bitten) virus could spread more quickly than an airborne virus without any kind of credible explanation as to why this would be the case.

So all in all, while I enjoyed the earlier books, I was really disappointed that the arc of the series was not entirely well thought out.

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I really enjoyed this one -it was good YA with a good dose of urban fantasy. Highly enjoyable.

Good points:

-World building: The world building was quite detailed (and very well done). It was also provided throughout the book in such a way that the reader was not faced with the 'infodump' feeling. ;) As an example, the author described how the world/universe of this series came about as a result of the end of the world we know today when humans were faced with a deadly plague. This plague resulted in the death of much of the world's human population -which fact changed the relationship between vampires (who had largely hidden themselves from humans) and their food source (i.e. us). The author describes the setting of this post-apocalyptic world throughout the book, partly through the use of images such as when characters, almost without thinking about the implications of it, frequently pass by the rusted hulks of cars and the remains of buildings, both frequently containing the skeletons of humans who tried to escape the apocalypse). The ways in which humans survived in this new world, often at the expense of one another, felt very realistic.

-Character development: I loved the main character, Allie. She was a person who had so little and yet who somehow managed not to give in to humanity's baser nature -a trait retained once she became a vampire. She was both moral and strong. The dilemma she faced (before and after becoming a vampire) of hating vampires and what they stood for in her world (i.e. the enslavement of humanity) while eventually having to come to terms with the fact of being one herself was quite powerful.

I also loved the secondary characters, including in particular Ezekiel (i.e. Zeke), who was another human who managed to retain his humanity despite the horror of the world he lived in, and who fought to save his people.

-The plot: The plot moved along really well -for instance the end where Zeke and Allie rescued his group from Jackal was truly gripping (and also left me wondering how the other humans would feel about her after all she had done for them), as was Allie's earlier sojourn with (unknowing) humans who didn't suspect she was a vampire. (The difficulties she faced while trying to hide that, simply because she wanted to remember what it was like to be human and because of Zeke himself, was really powerful.)

Bad points/constructive criticism: I don't have anything to say here really, except for one thing which I don't really feel is a fault of the book.

I will say that this series is somewhat dark. Things aren't always happy. OTOH, this is a post-apocalyptic universe where people are desperately struggling to survive, so this shouldn't come as a massive surprise. :-) (I mean, what were you expecting, fluffy bunnies and tea cosies and pedicures while dancing the prairie in a tutu??? LOL.)

I highly recommend this one. 4.5 stars.
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PS: Some more recommendations to really good series in the urban fantasy genre (PPS: I have no link to either the authors below or the author of the current book -I simply read and liked them quite a bit after despairing of this genre, quite honestly):

(1) This Case if Gonna Kill Me, by Phillipa Bornikova.

(2) Generation V, by M.L. Brennan.

(3) Nice Dragons Finish Last, by Rachel Aaron.

(4) Nightshade, by Michelle Rowen.

(5) Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig.

(6) Wide Open, by Deborah Coates.

(7) Dragon Bound, by Thea Harrison.

(8) Unholy Ghosts, by Stacia Kane.

(9) Written in Red, by Anne Bishop. (For a neat dark fantasy read, make sure to check out this author's Black Jewels series, also.)
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Reading Progress

Started Reading
January 25, 2016 – Shelved
January 25, 2016 – Shelved as: young-adult-teen-read
January 25, 2016 – Finished Reading
February 6, 2019 – Shelved as: favorites

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