Review: The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: April 23, 2013
Pages: 446
Source: For Review from Harlequin/NetGalley
Rating: 3.5 Stars

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.

In short: Though The Eternity Cure wasn't as strong as its predecessor, it was still a welcome return to Julie Kagawa's brutal and elaborate dystopian world.

The Immortal Rules proved to be an exciting and elaborate paranormal dystopian when I read it last year and so I was eager to return to the grim world of Allison Sekemoto in the sequel, The Eternity Cure. Though I can't say I liked The Eternity Cure as much as its predecessor, I did appreciate getting the chance to return to the characters, the darkly atmospheric setting, and the involved action scenes that I remembered from The Immortal Rules.

Admittedly, the first 100 pages or so of The Eternity Cure were rough. The plot is meandering and tedious and I found I had a hard time re-engaging with the characters and the storyline. The one thing that I did like about the beginning, however, was Julie Kagawa's recapping skills. She does a fantastic job of rehashing the forgotten events of The Immortal Rules in a subtle and proficient manner. And after this beginning lull, the action does start to pick up thankfully and reading became less of a chore from that point on. Julie Kagawa raises the bar for gore and violence in The Eternity Cure and the resulting blood bath was an entertaining and welcome change (as morbid as that sounds...).

I do still like Allison for the most part, though her constant internal wrestling with her conflicting feelings about her humanity does get a bit irksome. I get it, it's hard being a vampire and struggling to maintain your humanity. I don't need to hear it again and again. I was hoping that we might finally get to see some development in Allison's character and finally, at the very end of the book, we do and it's absolutely welcome. By far the most interesting character though is the cocky and silver-tongued Jackal, who I admit I don't even remember from The Immortal Rules, but he definitely leaves an impression in The Eternity Cure.

Overall, though The Eternity Cure wasn't as gripping as its predecessor, it was still a strong sequel and a welcome return to Julie Kagawa's involved and brutal dystopian world. The ending was especially high-impact and exciting and I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Blood of Eden series now.

Previously, my review of The Immortal Rules.

Other Reviews:
Blkosiner's Book Blog
Ink Skies
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Review: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Published: April 24, 2012

Pages: 504

Source: For Review from Harlequin Teen/NetGalley (Thank you!)

Rating: 4 Stars

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.

In short: Julie Kagawa brings freshness to a tired genre in The Immortal Rules, by pairing it with an expansive dystopian world and a heroine who is a survivor before all else.

Confession: I haven't read a vampire book since Twilight. With the plethora of vampire related books, movies, and tv shows, I quickly became burnt out on vampires and have been avoiding most vampire-related media ever since. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I decided to read The Immortal Rules. But I'm so glad I did. Including the dystopian genre into this vampire book made The Immortal Rules infinitely more interesting for me to read. And in fact, the vampire element really didn't play as huge a role as I was expecting even though protagonist, Allison, is one herself.

The Immortal Rules is the first of Julie Kagawa's books I have read and she quickly won me over with her expansive world building and involved action scenes. I read a ton of dystopians and as such, many of them have a tendency to blur together and certain recurring plot elements seem unoriginal and boring. But though it is true that some of these recurring dystopian plot elements appear in The Immortal Rules, combining them with the mythology of the vampires and rabids kept The Immortal Rules fresh and interesting. It is no surprise that The Immortal Rules has already been optioned for film as the numerous and involved action scenes could make for a great action-packed blockbuster. In particular, the image of Allison battling rabids with her katana is one that sticks with you and would be good for a poster or something - just like the image of Katniss with her bow.

I liked Allison for the most part, though questioned some of her decisions and motivations at times. Still, I can't help but root for someone who remains a survivor and maintains her morals even after being dealt a pretty crummy hand in life. I'm so used to reading vampire fics where the heroine is human and being wooed by the dangerous vampire, so to turn that around and have the vampire heroine who is struggling to maintain her humanity and not lose control in front of the boy she likes made for a fascinating, unique read for me. I also liked that Allison was Asian, which is something of a rarity in YA. But I am confused as to why the model used on the cover and in the book trailer is not. How hard would it have been to have found and used an actual Asian model?

I will say that I felt it took The Immortal Rules a while to get going. A good chunk of the beginning was bogged down with exposition that I felt could have been more smoothly interwoven into the text. But the plot really does picks up about halfway through and doesn't ever slow down. If there was one thing that I was able to appreciate from the experience of reading The Immortal Rules, it is that I feel like I am finally able to embrace vampire books again. I think I'm ready. Vampire Academy - I am finally coming for you (-any other recommendations?).

Other Reviews:
The Bookish Type
Supernatural Snark
The Unread Reader

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