Tag: Fantasy (Page 70 of 121)

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