Series: Blood of Eden (Page 1 of 2)

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

*Spoilers for The Immortal Rules & The Eternity Cure*

The Forever Song was an epic conclusion to the Blood of Eden trilogy!  It was filled to the brim with devastation, peril, hope, and I cherished every single page.   Even if I had tears in my eyes through parts of those last few chapters.  But I didn’t want it to end since it contained so much of what I loved in the first two books.  Luckily, I know that this series will continue to infiltrate my thoughts for a long time to come.

Humans meant nothing to me, not anymore. They were food, and I was a vampire. I was done pretending that I was anything less than a monster.
But I would kill Sarren.

Allie is a broken, dark, devastated mess, and the ties to her humanity have been shredded.  With the death of Zeke, she can no longer be the same girl she was in the past.  While refusing to mourn, she gets on the road with her brother, Jackal, and her sire, Kanin.  Because while they listened to crazy vamp, aka Sarren, torture Zeke, they heard Zeke give away details to Eden’s location.  And with Sarren already on the road headed towards the humans safe haven, they have to hurry.  If he gets there before them, all hell will break loose and no one will be safe.  But the road to Eden is filled with horrors only Sarren could create.  And none of them contemplated how much more sick and twisted he could get, because they haven’t seen anything yet!

“Hey, vampire girl,” Zeke whispered, his voice slightly choked. “I knew…you’d come for me.”
* * *
This…can’t be real.

The thing I was the most excited about, because it gave me hope and I need hope,  was that Allie and Zeke had to meet again.  Well, I at least hoped that much was true.  Their love stuck with me because it was pure, dangerous and oh so sweet.  I fell madly in love with Zeke and I flew through the pages trying to get to him.  But I was scared for their future.   Because do you remember the last line in The Eternity Cure?  I sure couldn’t forget it, and it haunted me.  I tried my hardest to figure out what Sarren was up to, and while I got part of it right, I wasn’t even close to the other part.  Sarren was the perfect villain and while I appreciate the crazy twists he took this story, I kept hoping he would die a miserable death.

“You are so bloody frustrating!” he roared, back fisting another rabid with the axhead. “Do you really think the cure is worth this? You think I’d be here now if that’s all I wanted?” He turned and sliced his weapon through the air, beheading one rabid and sinking it into another. “Get your damn head out of your ass, sister!” he seethed. “And give me a little fucking credit. That’s not why I’m here.” – Jackal

But ironically, one of my favorite things about this book was the family aspect between Allie, Jackal and Kanin.  I started out the series only liking Kanin and loathing Jackal, but while in the midst of this book I found myself caring for both of them.  Deeply.  You see, while Jackal and Allie spent time together in The Eternity Cure, he would make me laugh and smile.  I didn’t want to admit it, but I slowly warmed up to him and his charismatic self.  And I loved how him and Kanin treated Allie like family throughout the story.  Jackal would bicker and pester Allie, as an older brother should,and Kanin was the parent who would threaten or reprimand them to get along.  I can’t believe how much their little family made me so happy and warmed my heart.  But then I wanted to kick myself because now I cared deeply for Jackal and Kanin and I was terrified what their fate could be!

“It is…a very heavy weight to carry, Allison, the damnation of a world. I want you to be very certain, before we go any further. Is it worth it? Is he worth it?”
His words chilled me, but I already knew my answer. It was selfish, it was unreasonable, and I knew it was the wrong choice. But I looked up at Kanin, into his impassive face, and whispered, “Yes.”

I’m so sad to see these characters go, but thankfully each of them got the ending they deserved.  No matter how heartbreaking or happy it made me, I was thrilled with the way the story ended!  This is the second series I have fallen in love with by Julie Kagawa!  So it’s safe to say that yes, she has become one of my favorite authors.  And an author that is now on my auto buy list because her stories are emotional, devastating, heartwarming and I can’t wait to see what all of her future books hold!

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

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Synopsis:

In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood

She has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever—and possibly end human and vampire existence.

There's a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago—and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time.

Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make.

Review:

*Spoilers for The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)*

Eternity Cure was hauntingly dark and I found myself easily lost in this twisted world that had me terrified for what was to come. Because let me tell you, I love to guess how a book is going to proceed, and I came nowhere near close to a few of the unexpected events that happened.  So I’ll clue you into a fun little fact before you venture into this book – while Eternity Cure was addicting, it was also devastating at times.  It honestly felt as though someone reached into my heart and crushed it until there was nothing left.  And while it hurt so bad, my dark side loved the utter perfection of how the story proceeded.  Because the peril and that ending?!  Oh my gosh, this is the type of story that will undue me every single time.

“Come on then, bitch,” the man beside me said, and grabbed my other arm, his face mean and eager. “Let’s do this. I can go all night.”
I smiled. “Can you now?” I said quietly.
And lunged at him with a roar, sinking my fangs into his throat.

What I want to talk about the most, sigh, I really can’t spoiler – View Spoiler »Zeke! He became an equal to Allie! Not only does he still have his beautiful heart but his love for Allie and his bravery made me fall for him even harder! I mean just read this quote, sigh I love this side of Zeke:

“Does it worry you?” Zeke’s voice was soft, menacing. “That the human you’ve been pushing all night will be guarding your dead body while the sun’s up? Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you started talking about my father.”
Jackal stared at Zeke, appraising. Zeke put a hand on one of his stakes and stared back. I tensed, ready to jump in if either of them went for the other.
After a moment, Jackal bared his fangs in a savage grin. “Well, color me shocked—the human actually has a pair. He might survive the Inner City, after all.” ohhh and this…..I could read this line over and over again!

“Why didn’t you stay in Eden?” I asked roughly, glaring at him. “You were home, Zeke. It was what you were looking for, what you always wanted. Why did you leave?”
He met my gaze, unwavering. “It wasn’t home without you.” « Hide Spoiler.  So much of this book contains spoilers, but those spoilers are so insanely good!  So I’ll stick to what I can talk about, like Allie.  If you loved her in the first book, she is even better in Eternity Cure.  She has grown and learned so much from all of that life has thrown at her.  Allie is still the smart, compassionate, kick-ass heroine that I love!  While she tries her hardest to stick to her human morals while fighting her vampire demons, it was fascinating watching her struggle to hold onto her morality!  And she is tested time and time again because she embarks on a journey that seems almost impossible at times!  She’s on the hunt for psycho vamp (best nickname ever…well besides the one she earns later on in the book) aka Sarren because he is holding Kanin captive.  But in her search for Kanin and Sarren, there are twists thrown at her. Such as a character that I easily despised at first.  But when my feelings changed from black and white to grey I was livid.  Because I started to laugh and even smile towards this character, and I didn’t want to at all.  The characters she creates are so multi-faceted and real, it’s easy to grasp their many sides unfortunately haha!

I didn’t want to be in this underground labyrinth of death, with this vampire I didn’t like and certainly didn’t trust. Because watching him fling himself at the rabids, grinning demonically as he tore them limb from limb, reminded me too much of myself. That thing that I kept locked away, the beast that goaded me into raw animal rage and bloodlust. The part that made us dangerous to every human we encountered. The part that kept me from ever being with Zeke.

Probably one of my favorite things about this book, besides the characters I dearly love, was the jaw dropping peril.  I couldn’t believe some of the things that happened.  Many times I would pause staring at my kindle thinking no way.  No way she took the story in that direction.  I thought I had to have read it wrong.  But nope, she did take it in those directions.  I got to a scene where I desperately tried my hardest to turn off my feelings.  But it was too late.  I was too invested, and I went right along with Allie and her feelings.  Because Julie Kagawa dangerously weaves together despair and a beautiful story.

Zeke was a brilliant light that cut through the evil and darkness and bloodlust, down to that tiny part struggling to stay alive. I’d been clinging to his memory, that small piece of hope, ever since I left Eden, and I couldn’t let it go.

Oh, I couldn’t let it go either!  So yeah, I am officially addicted to this series.  I love the world that she has created that is ruled by vampires.  And I love all of the characters who invoke such strong feelings in me!  Well love is too strong of a word for a character I definitely despise.  I kept hoping that fate would deliver this character a brutal case of death and you probably will too!  So if you haven’t read this series yet, it’s a definite must!

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

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Synopsis:

To Survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in 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 dies…and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what—and who—is worth dying for…again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

Review:

Dark and enchanting, The Immortal Rules pulled me in quickly and held me in a death grip through parts of the story.  It was so easy to slip into this messed up world.  The writing had a way of making me become easily lost in the pages and caring for our heroine and the companions that she finds.  But I honestly had no clue what I was getting myself into.  Reading the blurb over a year ago, I decided to step blindly into into this series.  My only knowledge was that it contained vampires.  Julie Kagawa already made me fall for her Iron Fey Series, and I was hoping that I would fall in love with this series too.  I never should have hoped.  I should have known it was inevitable, and that I would be left begging for more!

Vampires had no souls, no emotions and no empathy to appeal to. If the bloodsucker wanted to drain me dry and leave me here to rot, there wasn’t anything I could say that would stop him. But I’d give him one hell of a fight.

Allie lives in a world that is run and owned by the vampires, whom she loathes.  They have walled off the cities to protect their human cattle from the mindless despicable creatures that  wanders the land, looking for their next kill.  In exchange for a “safe” place to live, they have been branded and are forced to supply blood to the Vampire King and his followers.  But Allie is one of the people who refuses to be branded and in exchange for living in the Fringe, between the city and the wall, she has to search and scavenge for her food.  And each day is a fight to stay alive.

“All we have left is our faith.” His voice dropped even lower as he looked toward the horizon. “And sometimes, I wonder if that will be enough.”

Upon the beginning scene, I knew that I liked Allie Sekemoto.  She had to be tough to survive this type of life, which I respected, but she had such an amazing heart and conscience.  She also scavenged for her friend, Stick, who was too terrified to search for his own food.  And as her daily struggle became something I absorbed with a morbid fascination, I watched and listened to Allie be extremely blunt and realistic (at times) to herself.  I couldn’t help but love her voice!  She was someone who had me rooting for her to beat the odds.  But life in that world could be horrific at times, and Allie was forced to make a choice.  Die or become a thing that she despises with her whole heart.

Nothing lasted in this world; it was everyone for himself. Allie the Fringer knew that; Allison the vampire just needed the reminder.

This story became brutal in the last third. But the best kind of brutal!  In case you’re not familiar with her work, she writes such a well crafted novel filled with peril so horrific that it makes me want to curl into a ball and sob.  And, well, I did just that.  But it’s worth every single tear and held breath!  Because it feels as though I’m watching my friends go through these moments.  I swear they are real!  And here lies the real danger in her writing – she makes me care for people that I should just write off.  Yet I don’t.  And then I am left struggling, making incoherent sounds, finding myself caring for too many of these characters and scared out of my mind for their fate.  Bad move on my part.  Bad, bad move.

As I smiled back and followed him to where he had set up watch, I couldn’t help thinking that this boy—this helpful, friendly, genuinely nice human being—was probably going to get me killed.

There were a few slower parts in the middle of the book, but after reading and falling madly in love with The Iron Fey Series, I get it now.  I am sucked into the beginning of the first book and it’s ending left me clutching my heart wondering if I safely made it through all of the angst, grief, and horror.  But the middle part that runs a little slower, it works.  Because I found myself being pulled further into the hearts of all of the characters.  And do you remember what I said above?  That’s dangerous territory.

“I’m not like you. I’m not like the vampires in the city. I might be a monster, but I can be human, too. I can choose to be human.” Reaching back, I gripped my sword and drew it out, a bright flash of steel in the darkness.

So yes, please devour this book!  Even with my heart in a holding pattern and knowing that the future events will most likely have me freaking out for who she will graciously spare and keep alive, it’s a must read.  You must meet Allison and the future characters that I want to scream my head off about.  Ok I will for just a tiny second….there’s this human named Zeke, sigh doesn’t it always end up with me and falling for a guy, and he made me want to sneak into this horrific world to see him for myself.  He was that beautiful of a person inside and out. I could write paragraphs about him and his little group, but I won’t because that’s something you must learn for yourself. Now don’t mind me as I try my hardest to shake off the sadness that is stuck to me and jump head first into the second book!

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

I could choose what kind of people I preyed on, but in the end, I had to prey on someone. The lesser of two evils was still evil.

Wow. Just wow. What a book. What a journey.
What an ending.
I am speechless, stunned, shocked into oblivion…..and yet here I am trying to write a coherent review and nothing but, oh dear lord, fangirling for this novel comes to mind. Let me just try here.

*Spoilers for book one ahead*

Okay. So. The book starts where we left off, but four months later. Kanin is being held and tortured by Sarren and Allie has left Zeke and all the others she helped get to Eden behind to track Kanin down and save him. It’s no joke that book one wasn’t my favorite, but by the end of it I was really excited about what might happen in this second installment. I was skeptical that the author would take the book in a direction where I would fall in love with it, but after finishing the first book, I immediately looked at ratings and reviews for book two (as I ALWAYS do) and saw the drastic difference in both my friends’ ratings and the other GR members. So, I decided to give the second book a chance to change the course of my thoughts towards this series, and I am so eternally grateful that I did.

And just like that, my traitor mind shifted to a lean figure with jagged blond hair and solemn blue eyes. I remembered his smile, that lopsided grin meant only for me. I remembered his touch, the heat that radiated from him when we were close. His fingers sliding over my skin, the warmth of his lips on mine…

There really is nothing I can say to express just how amazing book two was. For starters, all the characters (well, most of them) that annoyed the shit out of me were gone, the timeline and progression of the story was so much quicker and fast-paced, and the goody two-shoes we knew as Zeke is gone. In his place was a fierce, badass motherfucker who let no one stand in his way. I mean, if you knew Zeke in book one you’d realize how true of a statement that is. Yeah, he’s not what most of you alpha loving ladies would call a ‘badass’ as I previously stated, but gone is the puppy who trusted and loved everyone. I gained new respect for him and I cared immensely about what would happen to him in the end.

He smiled. A cold, dangerous smile, his eyes glittering with dark promise. It sent a chill through me as I realized I didn’t know him anymore.

Which brings me to my next point. THAT ENDING. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ending?! It was epic, raw, gritty, and I am still shocked. Yes, for the fiftieth time-SHOCKED. I LIVE for that type of ending-that is precisely what made me fall in love with reading again and why I named myself thusly here on GR. Those are the endings you remember, the ones that stick with you after you have read 100 more books. This will be a conclusion that will never leave me and I am so, so happy the author took it there. She has gained my following as a reader and I already have another book in another series by her sitting on my reading device. I loved it and she has gained a forever fan.

Zeke cupped my chin and gently tilted my face up. I resisted a moment, then gazed at him defiantly, feeling the blood trickle from my eye, expecting him to recoil. But he smiled and lightly touched my face, wiping the tear away.
“Both eyes open,” he whispered, and brought his lips down on mine.

I FELT what the characters were feeling, I CRIED with them, I panicked and felt adrenaline course through me just as they did, and, inevitably, I felt crushed as they did. If ever I am too dramatic I will say so: there’s no shame in being excited and exaggerate, but what transpired at the close of this book was so heartbreaking and so desperate and so CRAZY that I won’t admit to being dramatic. It is what it is folks, and that was perfection. We didn’t have ONE crazy ending, but TWO. Yes, this author was on the verge of making me rate this 4.5-“Oh, that was a crazy ending. Hm that was good, better than I expected-I hope the next book is goo…wait…what? What did that fucker just say? WHAT’S HAPPENING??? OH. MY. GOD. No. Effing. Way. THIS. IS. AWESOME.” But with a simple twist of words, I fell to my knees and I now bow to this author. Thank you for that-truly.

Nothing lasted in this world. The harder you held on to something, the more it would kill you when it was gone, so it was best not to get attached to anything.

Allie is smarter, harsher, stronger, and she is willing to risk it all for her sire and now Zeke. I really related to and loved her character even more and felt she grew as a person, er, vampire, and I loved that she gave her heart and soul to the two people she now loves most in the world. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking to see her struggles from within and desperation to not become the monster she’s destined to be. And then there were returns of other not so great characters-one I was surprised to find became a favorite because of the witty banter and hilarious personality, and then the other character…..I still want to strangle. But each character brought such emotion to the story and only added to the intricate web that Kagawa has weaved.

“There are no good choices, Allison,” Kanin offered in a quiet voice. “There are only those you can live with, and those you can work to change.”

Fantastic plot, fun and dangerous journey, and a love that could never work, this book had it all. I got everything that was lacking in the first installment in this one and, as I had said, it totally changed my opinion of the series and made me crazy with want for the finale to this stunning trilogy. I am so, so pleased this paranormal dystopian reached its full potential, because now I don’t have to write it off as the first P/D I’ve not liked. *Phew*

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
The Immortal Rules #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Eternity Cure #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	The Forever Song #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea