Tuesday 13 August 2013

Book Review: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa


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.

“You're still beautiful and dangerous and incredible, and I'll keep telling you that for as long as it takes you to believe it. But right now, all I want to do is kiss you, except I'm terrified that if I try you might throw me off this balcony.”

Sequels are a hard thing to master, middle books in a trilogy even more so. I cannot count the amount of times I have been burned reading a sequel to a book I really loved. The Eternity Cure made me nervous. It made me nervous because I thought The Immortal Rules was one of the best YA books I have ever read, it made me nervous because I wanted it to be amazing and I was terrified I wouldn’t be. I really shouldn’t have worried, Julie Kagawa has never let me down in the past and she didn’t start now. The Eternity Cure was not like The Immortal Rules, it was different and I loved it because of those differences.

It is quite hard to pin point what Kagawa does right with these books. What is it that makes me love them so much? I think it is a combination of everything the story, world building and writing but I think it is probably the characters that make this series one of the best.

If I thought about an alter ego for myself and what I would like her to be like someone like Allie would come to mind. I often find female YA characters a little annoying even if I adore them but not Alison. She is loyal, loving and fierce.

She grows up a lot in this book and becomes even more likeable. I love everything about her, I love her honestly with herself, her desperation to remain human whilst trying to feed and contain the monster within. She is willing to sacrifice, willing to die for those she loves and what she believes in and she does so quietly. She isn’t throwing a massive pity party about how cruel life has been to her, she isn't sulking or moaning, she just accepts it because it cannot be changed. She is strong and heroic and I absolutely love her.

The men in this series are just as likable and to be honest Julie Kagawa really needs to stop

creating male characters that I want to procreate with. I am only human and these men are slowly killing me.

Zeke was a bit of a revelation to me in this. I really did like him in The Immortal Rules and I think he is a perfect love interest for Allie but I was not interested in him myself, that changed in The Eternity Cure. It appears that Zeke is growing up, in The Immortal Rules he was still a boy in The Eternity Cure he is turning into a man and I like the adult he is becoming. He spends most of his time in this book around vampires and it takes a lot of courage to do the things he does but he does them for Allie because he truly loves her. It is one of those situations where you don’t need to hear him say it, you just know it and can see it in everything he does.

Next up is Jackal who came straight out of left field. In The Immortal Rules he was a villain and he was awful. There was nothing to like about him but in this things changed…at least I think they did. I found myself surprisingly and disturbingly attracted to Jackal and I liked him…a lot. For a guy who professed not to care about anyone or anything he sure did a lot of caring. I suspect that under the cold and sarcastic exterior there is a heart of gold. I am not really sure if adoring Jackal was the author’s intention or if it is just my twisted mind but I loved him regardless.

Then there is my one true love Kanin. I loved Kanin from the first page he appeared in The Immortal Rules and I still love him now. He is one of my all-time favourite characters ever and is in my top 5 book boyfriends of all time. If something ever happens to him I will never forgive Kagawa, if something happens to any of them I will have a hard time but Kanin more than most.

It wasn’t only the characters that had changed. The Eternity Rules is a lot darker than its predecessor, with a lot more peril and danger thrown in. It was about relationships, trust and sacrifice. The ending was harsh and I think I sat in my bed with my mouth wide open in shock for at least twenty minutes after I finished. I actually don’t know how I will wait for the last book in the series but I am scared of getting to that point as well because the thought of this series ending is pretty scary because I like it so much.
 



Dark and dangerously delicious, The Eternity Cure is a book that will be hard to match in YA this year.
 

 5 stars


Published May 3rd 2013 by Mira Ink in the UK & Published April 30th 2013 by Harlequin Teen in the US.  A free copy was provided for review.  Images courtesy of Goodreads.

Review by Kate Phillips


1 comment:

  1. I really liked Zeke a lot in this book-I read quite a few reviews where the blogger just adored Kanin and/or Jackal so I was glad to see you give him his due here too!

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