The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


From the cover: "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.


I am a big fan of Julie Kagawa. I loved her Iron Fey series, and I am looking forward to reading the spin-off, but I couldn’t help but compare The Immortal Rules to other popular books. This book was great and I thought the characters were complex but I couldn’t stop making comparisons.

Here are the issues that bugged me the most:

1. Any fan of the Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine will immediately relate Kagawa’s blood bank/vampire society to the Morganville Vamps.

2. The idea of scavenging and finding the hidden underground food cache is eerily reminiscent of a scene in The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

3. The new female vampire who ends up being a Type-2 in the vampire hierarchy, and wields a katana reminds me too much of Merit from the Chicagoland Vampire series by Chloe Neill.

With that said I’ll probably read the next book in the series because I did like the characters, and I am interested enough to want to find out what happened. I think Zeke is my favorite. He has some pretty strong false fanatical ideas that were practically beat into him and I love the way he came to trust Allie even though she represents everything that he is against. Even though this story wasn’t completely original I liked it enough that I will read the next book.




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Awry by Chelsea Fine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From the cover: Sometimes love is meant to be. But sometimes...love is the death of you....

Seventeen-year-old Scarlet has just died. Only, dying isn't unusual for a girl under a centuries old curse that left her semi-immortal.

This time, though, she comes back to her current life instead of awaking in a new one, and she realizes the curse is changing. Together with the immortal Archer brothers, Scarlet must piece together her life and try to break the curse before her impending death comes again.


Scarlet and the Archer brothers, Gabriel and Tristan, were all born in the 1500s. Because their mother drank from the fountain of youth when she was pregnant with the twin brothers they are immortal. Because Scarlet has some of Tristan’s blood in her heart she is semi-immortal. She dies, but is reborn decades later. The first book ended with a huge cliffhanger and Awry picks up where Anew left off. The friends are searching for the fountain of youth to save Scarlet from the never ending cycle of dying and rebirth. They are hoping by drinking from the fountain she will be fully immortal. So many of my questions were answered in this book. We finally learn why Scarlet is attracted to both brothers, and what happened in the first lives together. This book was awesome. The author really knows how to twist a good story. Plus, Scarlet finally chooses a brother, and I am definitely happy with her choice. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!



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Borrowed Ember by Samantha Young

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From the cover: Everything in Ari’s life until this point has been borrowed.
Her human life with a man who wasn't her real father.
A love for a boy who needed more than her to be strong.
Kisses with a Jinn who refused to do anything but lend them out in moments of weakness.
And even her resolve, which seemed to fail her whenever she needed it most.

But Ari is done borrowing. She finally feels strong enough to make hunting Jinn not just a hobby to get her through her dismal situation, but to make hunting a permanent and necessary career. Her friendship with Charlie might finally make it onto real and steady ground if only she can save him from the trial on Mount Qaf. And her love for Jai could be eternal, if only she could gain control over the darkness of the Seal within her.

Ari believes all of this is doable. That finally she will truly own the relationships in her life and to a certain extent have ownership over her future.

But none of that matters when it isn't up to her…

…For high in the emerald mountains of Mount Qaf, the Sultan Azazil has been keeping secrets.
Even from the Jinn Kings.
Secrets that will change everything… and bring Ari to the crashing realization that once again…

… she’s borrowed something that will never truly belong to her.

Something that is desperate to be unleashed.
Something that could destroy them all.



Samantha Young has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I've read everything she has written so far, and enjoyed every bit of it. Borrowed Ember is no different. This is the third book in the Fire Spirits series. It's packed with action, tragedy, and romance. Jai and Ari's relationships finally takes a more personal twist; it's not just about work anymore. They have some issues to work through, mainly Jai's family, but they are a great couple! Ari is confident, and resourceful just like in the past but now she has Jai to rely on. Of course Charlie is still around irritating the crap out of me. I understand Ari has an emotional attachment to her childhood best friend but he drives me crazy in this book. Plus, he's involved with Fallon. Yes, they make sense as a couple but I really have this dislike for Charlie (is it obvious?) and I hate the outcome of their relationship. All in all this story is engaging, and the characters are amusing. It's another gread read by Samantha Young, and I seriously can't wait for the next book. Especially, with the way she ended this one. It's not a cliffhanger, but it left me with a smile on my face and desperate to read the next in the series!



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