~|VIVISI AT#67|~ CLOSED~ - Page 94

Honestly, this is the BEST surprise EVER! I LOVE the bookmarks and the postcard! And my very own copy of All Spell Breaks Loose!

Thank you Lisa for being such a generous person! Can't wait to hear more news about your new series!

Book blurb: 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.

60 years ago a virus spread through the human population, killing almost everybody. At the same time vampires came forth and tried to save their foodsource by gathering the survivors in the cities and building walls around the cities. See, when the virus spread it didn't just kill. Sometimes it created something else. Rabids. Rabids are functioning with their basic needs at the forefront, which means all they care for are blood. They're mindless monsters and threaten not only humans, but also vampires and the wildlife. That's why the vampires built one wall around the city and another one around the inner-city where the master vampire (the Prince) and his minions, pets (humans) and his harem live.

Most humans have a mark on their body showing they belong to the Prince which gives benefits, but there's a price to pay for those benefits. You have to show up regularly and let the pets take some of their blood for the Prince. In return for the blood the marked one gets food, clothes ' not much, but enough so they can make by. Then there are the ones who don't want to be blood cattle. Everyone with different reasons, but they all have in common that they don't like the vampires (are afraid of them), they all starve in periods (since they can't get any food, other than stealing ) and they're all in danger of dying early ' either by starvation, cold, vampires or rabids.

These are the times Allison is born into. She lives on the Fringe, she's a street rat, a non-marked human and hates the vampires. They took everything from her and damn if she ever would give ANYTHING to the vampires. But when a trip for food ends badly for Allie and her friends, Allie is left with a choice; to die for good or become what she hates the most. Guess what she chooses?

Allie is a survivor, a fighter, it's something she learned being a street rat. She takes this skill with her when she becomes a vampire and starts her training with her master, Kanin. (Kanin actually means rabbit in Danish.) Kanin is looking for something, but it's only later Allison realizes WHAT he's looking for. Whatever he's searching for sure hasn't made him any friends. And when these enemies find Kanin and Allison all hell breaks loose and they're forced to flee. During their run they're surrounded and Kanin makes sure Allie gets the hell away from there, which makes her survive (again), but alone outside the city she grew up in. When Alli runs into a group of people who are travelling towards a place called Eden and tags along, she got to make a choice to what kind of monster she really is and wants to be.

I really liked the Iron Fey series, so I was excited to see if Julie Kagawa could create something just as amazing. I'm going to lay it straight out there: I thought the beginning was a bit tough to get through. I understand the background must be laid out there, but it didn't grab me by my throat instantly. I had the same feeling when I started with the Iron Fey series, so maybe it's just me. But Julie Kagawa really shows how unique an author she is when the story continues and gets going and suddenly you have read half the story, it's dark outside and it all happened without you noticing anything going on around you. I found myself being dragged into the story, biting my nails, turning page after page, wondering what would happen next. There are times when I stopped and thought; "plu-ease!! How thick can you be?! Don't do that, just'ARGH!" There are things in this book you see coming a mile away, but it doesn't make it bad. I loved to see Allie's evolvement from being the cocky, slightly afraid street rat, to the vampire who is protective against the weaker ones, determined to not be a monster and who fights for her friends, even if they're not like herself.

Now, I just can't help myself, but I like two authors, who are coming off of two very successful series,and starting new ones with new release debuts this month. Having just finished both, I keep comparing this new series, Kagawa's Blood of Eden and Vicki Petterssons new series; The Celestial Blues. Let me be clear; they have NOTHING in common other than they both are new, both by established authors and both are books I just read in the Urban Fantasy genre.

The feelings I get when I read each one of these new series are VERY different. Vicki Petterssons The Taken was enjoyeable, I liked the main character, the concept was excellent although in my opinion the way she described the whole Rockabilly culture was' a bit disappointing, where are the guys (the Greasers?), and more importantly, where are the hot rods. A car or two and a handful of girls in their grandmother's dresses, does not a scene make. It is a fascinating subgenre of life, and I felt it was under utilized as part of the background tapestry of the story. I hope Pettersson amps up the Rockabilly culture in the next book.

There are things I'm not thrilled with in The Immortal Rules by Kagawa as well; scenarios that almost made me physically cringe, but when I look at the two different series, I'll have to say I like Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden more. It's darker, more edgy, but it's also better in making me feel, see and believe in the story than Celestial Blue, The Taken. The Taken has a lot of potential ' both series have, but I feel that Julie Kagawa got more out of the potential than Vicki Pettersson did with hers. and I hope she can amp up the excitement in the next installation like Kagawa did with hers.

When I closed The Taken, I was curious to know where Vicki Pettersson would take the series next, but when I closed The Immortal Rules I was WAY beyond curious. And when I get to that point I'll always have thousands of questions I would love to get an answer too. Laurie knows how I get, and I think I can hear her groan already. .