The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 504
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Format: ebook
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  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.

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.

 Vampires, Undead, romance, hatred and blood...This book has it all.

I must admit that I had a really hard time getting into this book.  It wasn't until 150 pages or so that the tempo started picking up for me.  I didn't really like the story up until that point, but other bloggers had warned me about so the slow start, so I knew it was going to get better.

Allie is one of those characters that grows throughout the story.  I felt like I really got to know her through all the trials she's been through and I liked the type of person she turned out to be.  She had a hard life before the start of this novel and then during it things got infinitely more complicated.  She was a strong individual and I think her inner strength is what made her a survivor. 

There is a lot of action and adventure crammed into The Immortal Rules.  As slow as the first part went, the last part really flew.  I almost wish that we would have got to spend some more time with Allie as a vampire and the predicaments she got into.  The part of the story covered in this book alone could be a trilogy by itself, that is how much action happens.  There are sword fights, gun shots, blood and death.  But never fear, because there are also sweet moments and a bit of romance. 

While I'm not much for cliffhangers I'm happy about the ending of this book.  Some loose ends were tied up, but there are still enough mysteries left to hook you for the next book.