Review: The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3), by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "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 Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've never tried to hide the fact that I think Julie Kagawa is a god, or goddess in this case, and she didn't disappoint me with the end of this trilogy! All of the loose ends were tied up beautifully and the characters remained true to themselves to the end. Jackal was at his snarkiest, Kanin was his usual stoic self, and Allie was as confused as she ever is, although more so after she lost her beloved Zeke. When she realized that remaining human would mean being in pain constantly, and rethinking her choices that led to his demise over and over and over again, she decides to take a page out of Jackal's book - she in essence turned off her humanity and embraced her evil side, much to Kanin's chagrin. But Kanin being Kanin, he didn't exactly call her out on her wicked behavior, he just acted "disappointed" in her, and who among us can say that when someone we look up to more than anyone else in the world, and whose values we strive to meet ourselves, gives us the "disappointed" look, we wouldn't feel the same. Although in Allie's case, acting out means killing vamps willy-nilly and not caring at all what havoc she wreaks as a result! Eventually Allie does see the error of her ways when she feels like she is becoming what Zeke hated most in vamps, so she decides to go after Sarren to get the cure for the disease that is killing both humans and vampires alike. She also vows to finally take Sarren out for killing Zeke, as she hopes that that will finally allow her some closure. But along the way she is in for some huge surprises, and yes my little opinionators, you will have to read the book to find out what those surprises are, and what they mean for Allie personally. I will tell you that they are total game changers for everyone on the canvas.

As usual, I can find no fault with Ms. Kagawa's writing. The pacing is perfect and the characters continue to grow and change from beginning to end. The amazing world they live in is written so that you feel you are there with them, which means it's very easy to escape your daily troubles and get totally immersed in the story. 

In summary, I loved this book and thought it was a fitting end to an awesome series. I highly recommend it to all lovers of YA paranormal books about vampires. I give it a very enthusiastic 5 stars :D

Review: Rogue (Talon #2), by Julie Kagawa

Title: Rogue (Talon #2)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant. 

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. 

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?"

My Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am in total awe of the amazing Ms. Kagawa, as I've mentioned before, but even I wondered how she was going to take dragons and assimilate them into the everyday contemporary world as sleeper agents, even if they had learned how to look, talk and act human. The catch is, dragons can mimic humans, but they don't have the emotions to back up the feelings. Until Ember Hill, that is. She embraces life 100%, both her dragon side and her human side, and finds the constraints of the dragon hierarchy in Talon (the group of dragons all over the world who work together to prevent the extinction of their race), too much to accept. At the end of the first book, Talon, she goes rogue with the very sexy dragon Cobalt, human name Riley, and vows to break her human boyfriend, Garrett, out of the worst place a dragon can go: into the belly of the beast, which in this case is a compound crawling with soldiers from the Order of St. George, an order put in place hundreds of years ago with the sole purpose of eradicating all dragons from the face of the earth. As Garrett got to know and love Ember, he realized that the Order had been lying to him all of his life about how all dragons were evil, even hatchlings, and had to be killed, and as Ember learned more about Talon from Riley, she realized that they were doing the same thing, only with humans. Because Garrett helped Ember, Riley and two young hatchlings escape from a much older dragon, Lilith, who was a Viper, which is a dragon assassin sent out to hunt and kill rogue dragons, he was caught by his own Order, and scheduled to be put to death by firing squad because he maintained that the soldiers were wrong about all dragons, which was considered treason. And while Riley would love nothing more than to get rid of the annoying human who had feelings for his Ember, he goes with her to break Garrett out before he is executed,  Yes, people, this is exciting stuff!!!

I haven't even mentioned Ember's twin, Dante, who is team Talon through and through, and who turned Ember in when she was leaving to go rogue and asked him to join her, but in his defense, he doesn't see Talon for what it is and honestly believed that Lilith would bring Ember back alive and he would be able to make her see the light and drink the Koolaid and join Talon 100%. But you guessed it, that doesn't go down quite as planned and he ends up scrambling to save face and come up with a new plan to bring her back. He is determined to become one of the executives of Talon eventually, and maybe even run the organization one day, but will he sacrifice Ember to do it? 

Once again, Ms. Kagawa has proven that she is a master storyteller by weaving romance, both between two dragons and an unheard of human and dragon, intrigue, action, and much, much more. I already love this series and can't wait to read more. I give this book a very, very enthusiastic 5 stars!!!!!

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

Title: The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "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."

My Opinion: This book has reinforced what I thought after reading The Immortal Rules, and that is that Julie Kagawa is a Goddess!! I didn't think she could impress me any more than she already has, but she did! In The Eternity Cure we get to know Allie a lot better than we did before, especially since she's traveling by herself at the start of it, trying to find and rescue her maker, Kanin. We get to delve into her psyche, which is such an interesting place to go! Allie is not a black and white character but that's what makes reading about her so awesome. And speaking of awesome - Eternity has something no other book has, and that's Allie's blood brother, Jackal! I swear, I could read about Jackal from now til the end of time and never get bored with him! Yes, he's evil and selfish and just plain incorrigible, but in The Eternity Cure, we get to see a side to him that we haven't before - his loyalty to the maker that he hates with a passion, and his sister, Allie. I think Allie is the only one who could bring this out in him. They have such a complicated and emotional relationship, and it's a joy to read. Besides that, Jackal is just plain hilarious! I found myself laughing out loud at some of his comments and antics, which was a nice break from the desolation and violence of the world in which the Blood of Eden series is set. This second book is even more bleak with the introduction of the new strain of the Red Lung virus which is killing off humans and vampires alike. The personal relationships and the search for the cause of this new strain and a possible cure are woven together flawlessly so you don't feel like one aspect supersedes the other in importance. 

Speaking of personal relationships, I enjoyed Zeke so much more in this book because he has really grown up and come into his own since his father's death. He has had to toughen up and become harder to protect the people he loves, and this makes it much easier to relate to him. He is still fighting his attraction to Allie but the magnetic draw between the two of them is hard for him to ignore.

I felt like we got to know all of the major players so much better in this installment of the series, and that's what makes Julie Kagawa's books so great to read - you find yourself drawn into this absolutely foreign world and you don't want to leave when you've finished the book! Because the books are so well written, you fly through them, and The Eternity Cure is no exception. 

I'm giving this book a very enthusiastic 5 stars and recommend it to all lovers of young adult post-apoc/dystopian stories, vampire tales, and Julie Kagawa!! I can't wait to read the next book and will be first in line when it comes out :D

Review: The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1), by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.
Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten."

My Opinion: I've heard such great things about Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, even though for some strange reason I've never read it myself (don't hate me! I kept meaning to but never found the time), and I loved her book The Immortal Rules, so I jumped at the chance to read The Lost Prince. I was really hoping that I would be able to follow it since I hadn't read The Iron Fey books, and I wasn't disappointed. If anything, The Lost Prince has made me determined to go back and read the other books because if they're half as good as this one (and if the reviews are to be believed, they are), then I'm going to love them too! The Lost Prince was wildly enjoyable, and the world of the Fey has never been as enticing as it is in Ms. Kagawa's very capable hands!

I loved that the book was told from the male POV, and that said male was Ethan Chase. He was the kind of guy that you want to get to know so you can break him out of his outwardly tough shell and find the gooey, soft center that you just know is hiding in there. Enter one extremely nosy reporter for the school newspaper by the name of Kenzie who, no matter how many times Ethan tries to bully her into staying away from him (for her own good of, course), doesn't take no for an answer, add a good sized dollop of major chemistry, and you have a couple to root for! I'm not kidding - they were so cute together! I think it's mostly because Ethan had always had to push people away because the fey are notorious trouble makers, and anyone who gets close to him could, and usually does, get hurt, and Kenzie just refused to accept that, because she saw something in him that was worth fighting for. She was also tough as nails when she needed to be, and Ethan was able to finally let her in because she proved to him that he could trust her and count on her not only when things were easy, but when they were very, very rough. She also rolled with the punches when she found herself in the fairy realm face to face with a sarcastic talking cat, who agreed to lead her and Ethan to the Iron Realm to talk to his sister Meghan, the queen of the Iron Fey, whom he had hadn't seen or spoken to since she left the family behind when he was just a kid to become the queen. He had to find her to let her know that outlaw fairies and half-fae were disappearing from the human realm and that he was being chased by some type of fairy that he had never seen before, and who were really, really bad news. 

I have to say that I absolutely loved this book and my first glimpse into Never Never, and after reading about the Iron Fey, along with all of the other interesting characters, I can't wait to find out more! Not only am I waiting impatiently for the next book in this series to come out, but I'm definitely going to get my hands on a copy of the books in the Iron Fey series so I can find out more about Meghan, Ash and Puck, and find out just what happened to Ethan when he was a young boy to make him hate the Fey as much as he does! This was a very exciting book with likable characters, lots of character growth, and a plot that moves along at a great pace and keeps you wanting more! :D

Review: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1), by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Format: eGalley
Source: I received a copy free of charge from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion

From Goodreads: "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."

My Opinion:  When I got approved by NetGalley to read and review The Immortal Rules, I think it's the first time I actually cheered out loud to get an ARC of a book! I even did my own version of a happy dance, which luckily only my dog saw since I tend to look a bit spastic when I'm dancing all by myself! I haven't read Julie's Iron Fey series yet,  but I'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard how awesome it is, and I couldn't believe I was getting the chance to read The Immortal Rules because I LOVE vampire stories! Then I got worried because maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself to like the story, and maybe it wouldn't be able to live up to the hype - but I shouldn't have been worried, because it was everything I had hoped it would be ... and MORE! I loved it! I actually read it about a month ago but life got in the way (it has a way of doing that, doesn't it?) and I wasn't able to write the review until now. I have a bit of a review list going on, but as soon as I got word I'd been approved to read it, I jumped on it and started reading it right away - and I didn't put it down until I was finished! Yes, it was that good! You know how sometimes when you're reading books for review, you keep checking to see what page you're on because no matter how much you're enjoying it, you're trying to get through each book as quickly as you so you can mark it as read and move on to the next one? Well, I definitely kept checking to see what page I was on, but not because I wanted to get it finished quicker - it's because I kept hoping that I wasn't very far in because I didn't want it to end! I even tried to read slower so it would last longer, but the writing was so well done that I couldn't read it slowly if I wanted to! The characters were well developed, and there was definite character growth from start to finish, the pacing was excellent, and there was just the right amount of action and emotion. I felt like I was invested in the story from the get go, and I really cared about the characters.

One thing that I really loved about this book was the fact that not only is it a vampire story, but it has a dystopian/post-apoc setting as well. A virus has swept through the human world, wiping out a fair number of them, which allows the vampires to come out of hiding and take over. Humans now have to register to donate blood regularly, and they work for the vamps. Some humans try to stay off of the grid and live in hiding, including Allison Sekemoto, who harbors a strong hatred of vampires after watching her mother die and blaming the vampires for it. Unfortunately, one night she's out after dark and is attacked by a band of rabid vamps. Another vampire finds her and offers her the choice: die there and then, or be turned into one of the things she hates most in the world. Her survival instinct kicks in and she opts to be saved, even though being a vampire goes against everything she believes in. The vampire who saved her, his name is Kanin, is a loner who agrees to teach her what she needs to know to survive. In time she finds out that there's a lot more to Kanin than meets the eye! Allie sets out to learn what it means to be a vampire and what her place is in the world now, and she ends upon a quest that will take her far from her home and way outside her comfort zone!

I can't say enough how much I loved this book! After reading it I've decided that I'm definitely going to read Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, and I will be waiting impatiently for the next installment in the Blood of Eden series, which can't come soon enough for me :D