The Immortal Rules

Blood of Eden, Book 1

By: Julie Kagawa

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Julie Kagawa (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

BEST VAMPIRE STORY EVER!!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Immortal Rules to be better than the print version?

No. Each version has it's own unique experience. While I have not read the print version of "The Immortal Rules" I would expect a very good but different experience.

What other book might you compare The Immortal Rules to and why?

The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series would be a similar experience. While the subject matter isn't exactly the same it does feature a well written story with a great performance!

It also contains a very well fleshed out world with a solid basis on mythology. It just focuses on Greek Mythology over Vampire. So it may not appeal to those who are looking for a well written series about vampires. However, it will appeal to anyone interested in a good Fantasy series. And with it's solid voice acting, you will have weeks of entertainment!

Which character – as performed by Therese Plummer – was your favorite?

Well, that would have to be the title character of Allison. I love strong female characters. I love even more that she is simply a strong character without having to justify why she is so strong. She just is. That's nice to see.

I also love how she struggles with what to do now that she is a vampire. "What is right? What is wrong? How should she be a vampire?" All nice to see in a character. She struggles with what is right and in the end chooses good.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I like how different this book is from many other Vampire stories. I haven't really seen a character struggle with morality so much. Allison tries to figure out what to do with this new "life" she has been given. How to deal with her "inner demon."

And as she encounters more and more "faces" of humanity, you begin to realize that there more demons out there than just her and the Ravids. Will she become a demon with a human face or become something completely different. This struggle reminds me of the struggle within us all. How we really aren't that different. Julie Kagawa shows us the best of our nature and our worst. Something we may not be willing to face on our own.

Interesting

This is a book i wasnt too sure about. I really like Julie Kagawas writing style so i figure I'd just take a chance. Ended up listing to the first few minutes and changing my mind, but once i decided to finish the first chapter it was pretty good. Actually Great. This is one of the best book ive listened to this year. Once you get into this book it will be hard to put down. I highly recommend this book, and the second book in this series is even better. I will be listening to this book again.

Such potential, but...

Would you try another book from Julie Kagawa and/or Therese Plummer?

I like a strong female lead charactor, and this book started out this way. Sadly, the author didn't keep the story true to this end. After Allison's life alterning event, the author failed to have her use the powers she had, and consequently failed to kick butt like I would have thought she would. Additionally, the story developed into a semi-romance, causing the author to write other events that didn't seem to be logical (relative to the story).

Amazing

Would you listen to The Immortal Rules again? Why?

Yes, I've read it twice already. Julie has just became my favorite author, I love her writing style and interesting stories. The iron series was great and I wasn't sure if this could live up to it, but this is just a great book and I can't wait for the next book. I'm so excited about this series.

What does Therese Plummer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I like her voice and the way she brings the characters to life.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was amazing and my heart just kept wanting more and more. The excitement and the anticipation was great. There was a scene where my heart just melted, and then there were parts I got mad and sad and just crazy emotions. This book has it all, its a must have.

Interesting Twist on the Teen Vampire Tale

I really enjoyed Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, and I wasn't sure what to expect with this new(ish) series about a teenaged vampire protagonist. After finishing The Immortal Rules, I think I might like the Blood of Eden series better than the Iron Fey. The post-apocalyptic take on the YA vampire concept is an interesting and refreshing spin. The heroine is smart and tough. There is action and suspense. This is nothing like Twilight, and that's a good thing.

Therese Plummer does an amazing job as narrator. She reminds me of Khristine Hvam, who narrates the Iron Fey audiobooks. I wonder if Julie Kagawa has any say in who narrates her books, because both series have top-notch narrators.

All in One...

Post-Apocalyptic, vampire, zombie-esque, light romance, with a sword-yielding heroine that reminded me a bit of Buffy...this one has it all. Engaging tale and the story-line does have some unique twists for an over-saturated genre. The narration was very well done and, thought there are slow areas, I found this to be very entertaining.

The ending came too soon and I was glad to find the second book after a bit of searching. Dawn of Eden appears to be a prequel and The Eternity Cure follows this book. As of today, Audible does not have it linked here and it is a new release. So, if you are like me and looking for more then you are in luck.

overly dramatized narration

What did you like best about The Immortal Rules? What did you like least?

The plot might be OK, but the narration is to dramatic, 1.5 hrs into the story, and I listened to 1.5 hrs of the narrator making ever thing dramatic, no rest periods, just a narrator trying to be creepy and scary with her narration or her voice, she just is trying to act creepy all the time, every sentence, and paragraph becomes the same. its like look out, beware, oh shit, run, stand your ground, fight, run etc..., almost like a comic book, to much vocal drama, if it continues this way, I will die of over dramatic narration. its ruining the book..

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Tell the narrator to read the story not dramatize every sentence, and I mean ever sentence, ever thing is not dramatic, for god's sake, save me

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Therese Plummer?

She has a good voice she just needs to tone it down. one scene out of every 15 minutes shoud be dramatized, not every scene needs to convey fear, scary, etc...

Do you think The Immortal Rules needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

not if it continues this way, but would be a good book for follow.

Any additional comments?

Keep Theresa as the narrator but control her overly dramatic sense of drama, she even trys to dramatize a argument scene rather the focus on reading the story and dramatizing key areas, NOT THE WHOLE STORY.FORGIVE ME GOD, TOO MUCH DRAMA IN HER VOICE, NEEDS TO TONE IT DOWN.

Mad Max meets Sookie Stackhouse - FANTASTIC

Any additional comments?

I've probably gone through 40 to 50 audiobooks in the past five years and this is my favorite out of all genres. I was so disappointed when this book ended, and came here to download the second one before realizing it isn't out yet. What an amazing thrill ride. Loved it!

Just "ok" with characters lapses of reason

The Vampire/Zombie Post Apocalyptic world was set quite nicely. I enjoyed the world she paints in her story (a bit too floral and waxing too poetic at times) and would actually buy a sequel based on the overall storytelling. Julie Kagawa paints a very entertaining Vampire/Zombie post apocalyptic world - but populates her story too liberally with unbelievable and naive characters.

Much of it was an interesting retelling of a frequently done theme. Human survivors live somewhere between conditions of "The Hunger Games" , Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and Justin Cronin's "The Passage". Actually the book feels like a blending of the three.. The situation's brutality of "The Road", the monsters and cities from the "Passage' and the teen/young audience writing of the "Hunger Games".

What annoyed my enjoyment of the novel, was the repetition of unbelievable reactions/behaviors of the main characters. The characters behavior felt dishonest and downright, lemming stupid at times. Instead of acting like people brought up in a dog eat dog post apocalyptic world where stupid gets you dead - they act like kids taken from a modern mall and dropped into this world for a few weeks.

Example -

the main characters run into many gangs of rapist cannibals who try to.. well do what they do to the female lead. Our heroes born in this dog eat dog world get the upper hand and decide it is unethical to kill these cannibal rapist bad guys. Carefully leaving them alive to preserve their own humanity. Really? In this kill or be killed world.. please..

Or better yet

- veteran scavengers on a planned mission, just happen to get caught outside in the dark in the worst known territory of undead monster activity after dark. Oops. Gee. Who could possibly predict when the sun would set? Please. Come up with some other way where your characters get in trouble - couldn't a patrol have stopped and kept them pinned down in forbidden territory, something other than just eye rolling carelessness.

Children and people mildly walk out of shelter in unknown territory into a throng of man eating zombie/vamps.. Its like the cast is TRYING to earn a Darwin award for stupid deaths. Natural selection would have weeded this sort of behavior out long ago.

So, if you can tolerate a story where the author clearly pulls her punches, and is obviously writing for a younger audience, then you'll get through this book just fine. And if you can't, well stick with novels by the likes of Justin Cronin, Cormac McCarthy, or even Suzanne Collins.

Delicioso!

Where does The Immortal Rules rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobook gave me hope on YA books. It opened this category for me and I really enjoyed the narrator and I've become a "fan".
What I liked the most was that the author took her time and developed the story...Why she became a vampire? Why can she hold off the hunger? Why does she want to be "good"? I really enjoyed the "rules".
There were times that I wondered, "wow, what would I do if this really happens?" or "I can understand why she doesn't know what a lawnmower is"
I really loved it and I cannot wait for the next book.
Thank you J.K!