Remember when vampires were cool and sexy? Aren’t you glad that’s pretty much over? Well, I am. I remember from my youth vampires being the bad guys. The ones you hid from and tried to kill before they killed you. Sure, there were the sympathetic ones whose ability to restrain themselves was admirable, but for the most part, vampires were monsters. I mean, I was raised on early-90s Anne Rice, Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so seeing them as the bad guys is something I’m inclined to do.
But there are exceptions to that, of course. I’m not completely without a heart. Louis in Interview with a Vampire, Angel in Buffy… heck, even Spike in Buffy, they all got my sympathy and were able to retain something of themselves, even though they had become creatures of the night. Then we come to Allison in The Immortal Rules…
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.
We first meet Allison as a human, trying to survive on scraps on the outskirts of the nearest vampire city with a group of equally starving and dirty kids. Then, one day, she finds herself faced with a moral dilemma — die or become one of them. A vampire. The very thing she hates more than anything else.
From the little preview included at the end of The Iron Knight, I was excited for the story. It’s different than Julie’s Iron Fey series. The tone is darker, as is the action. Allison is one of those heroines who starts out scared and helpless, but becomes kind of a badass. I liked her. If faced with the same decision, I honestly don’t know if I could go through with it. But not only does she go through with it, but she makes it her mission in afterlife to learn everything she can to take all the other vampires down. I liked her voice and could respect her decisions, even after she’d turned.
This book goes into a much deeper plot than the summary lets on. A LOT happens throughout the book, and there are several things happening at once toward the end with certain revelations that will, hopefully, be expanded upon in the next book.
The parts with Zeke were lessons in frustration because on one hand, you know Allison’s a vampire and nothing can come of them, which she knows as well, and on the other hand, Zeke’s so nice and they get along so well that you can’t help but hope for them. And the ending. ARGH, the ending. I know it’s near impossible for what I want to happen to actually happen, but I still hope for it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great start to the series. It was gripping, a little gruesome and 100% fascinating, and I can’t wait for the next one! Highly recommend it, even if you like your vampires soft and squishy.