Title: The Forever Song

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden, #3

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication date: April 15th, 2014

My rating: 3.5 of 5

(Book read on June 17th to June 18th, 2014,  from a review copy received from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.) 

 

Summary:

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, her triumph will be short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

 THE FINAL HUNT IS ON.

   

My Thoughts on the Book:

As you probably know, The Forever Song is the final book in the Blood of Eden trilogy. Overall, it is a nice conclusion to the series.

First of all, I have to mention, that I have a thing about post-apocalyptic stories. There's just something about the danger in a post-apocalyptic world and the survival of the characters in it, and the run-for-your-life moments, as well as the fight-for-your-life moments, that I find completely addicting & thrilling. For me, this trilogy was a mix of good, and not so good. If I have to choose, the best book was definitely the 2nd one, but in this final book there was both something missing, and something was too much, that became boring.

In the first two books, there was just something compelling about Allie's voice & PoV, that made me to not want to stop reading, but unfortunately, that was missing in this final book. And the whole book was same-old, same-old. It's action-packed, with lots of fighting in it, but it was too repetitive, and around halfway through the book, I was starting to get bored. Every time they encountered new rabids, I was like "Come on, enough already!". I'm all about the fighting & the action & the running-for-your-life scenes, but I want for it to be balanced with the rest of the story, and here, it was too much, that it became boring. So, this definitely diminished my enjoyment of the story, and I kept reading only so it will be all over already.

That being said, overall, I still liked the story. Although once again it was too predictable, it was still fun (ok, I admit, Jackal is the one that made it fun). The characters were ok, Sarren is really crazy, and it's a nice conclusion to the series. Nothing mind-blowing, but it was ok. Some parts I really liked, some I didn't, but it is what it is ;) I'm trying not to think too much about the things I didn't like, because I might start to rant, so yeah.

If you enjoyed the previous two books in the trilogy, be sure to read The Forever Song. And I recommend the Blood of Eden trilogy to every fan of post-apocalyptic stories!

  

  
 

Challenges: 

2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge

2014 Series Enders Reading Challenge 
2014 Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2014 Fur & Fangs Reading Challenge

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden, #2

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from June 9th to June 14th, 2014.)  

Summary:

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.

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

The Eternity Cure is a great sequel to the pretty good The Immortal Rules. I enjoyed it quite a lot from the beginning, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed it, so before this book was over, I was loving it.

Slowly, all the characters got under my skin, and now I can't wait to read the next book, so I'll see how it will end. 

There was still something compelling about Allie & her voice, so I couldn't stop reading. And despite the predictability of the story, it was quite an interesting & cool read, and definitely better than its predecessor.

Allie is awesome character, I love how she doesn't give up when it comes to those she cares about. Jackal is interesting character, and he's a funny one. Sarren is still crazy, and I actually warmed up to Zeke, I quite like him now. I also loved getting a close glimpse to the vampire cities & their princes.

 

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic reads, then I recommend the Blood of Eden series.

 

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

2014 Fur & Fangs Reading Challenge

Title: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden, #1

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from March 15th to April 3rd, 2014.)  

Summary:

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.

My Thoughts on the Book:

The Immortal Rules is an interesting post-apocalyptic YA novel. In it we meet Allie. She's a survivor, and to stay alive as long as she did, you have to be able to get by & to be smart about it, but she's also an amazing friend & person.

But, soon, her world turns upside down. She doesn't want to die, so she accepts an offer from a vampire to become one, because obviously, she still wants to live, even as one of the monsters she hates.

The world-building is done quite well. I loved how through Allie's eyes we got to learn about her life as a human (and all the human) in a vampire city, and then about her life as a vampire. There's just something compelling about Allie as a character & about her voice, that made me want to read more.

I also quite liked Kanin as a character & I wish there was more of him. He was interesting one, even though I knew immediately who he is.

The story at times was often quite predictable, but still it didn't diminish my enjoyment, there's just something that will make you want to read more. So, yeah, great characters + good story + great world-building = pretty good book.

Zeke was such a nice & sweet guy. I mean, he's just so good, and hopeful, but almost naive. And than there's Jackal. To be honest, I don't think he's an evil one, but not quite good as well. I'm kinda afraid that there's a love triangle on the horizon, and even though the romance between Allie & Zeke didn't quite work for me (and I didn't really care about it, it was more like I felt sorry for Zeke, and a tiny bit about Allie), I don't really want a love triangle, but still I will continue the series, because I'm interested in seeing what will happen next, especially with Kanin.

Also, I have to point out how different this book is from The Iron King. I wasn't a fan of that book. The idea of the Iron Fey was quite interesting, but the not so interesting story & unlikable characters didn't do it for me, and if you felt about it the same, still give The Immortal Rules a try, because it's much, much better, so I recommend it!

 

 

 

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

2014 Fur & Fangs Reading Challenge