Review Detail

Okay, I'm a big enough girl to admit two things to you right now. One, I'm a book cover lover (But honestly, I don't think that's a secret to anyone at this point.), and I was instantly drawn to this book because this cover is pretty freaking fabulous. (Although, after reading the story, Allie is Japanese so...?) Two, I was all, WOMPWompwommmp, another vampire book. This was probably the biggest reason I've waited so long to read it. Now, I could kick myself. Ms. Kagawa took a cliché-ridden paranormal entity and completely recreated it in my opinion.

I've had Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series on my TBR list for the longest, but I've yet to drop everything and read them. Nevertheless, I've heard nothing but amazing things about her writing, so when this came out, my interest was definitely piqued. I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint either.

This story is set in a world where a large amount of the human population was wiped out by a disease called Red Lung or turning into vampire-like creatures known as rabids. With the vampires' food source dying off, they came out of hiding to offer a solution. They'd protect them from disease and being slaughtered from the rabids as well as providing them with food and shelter, if they became "registered" and freely offered their blood on a monthly basis. Most complied, and vampire cities sprang up all over. However, there were the few like our main character, Allie, who refused to become donor bloodbags and lived in the impoverished districts on the outside of the main city, but still within the protected outer wall. Life for the "Unregisters" was hard. They fought for food, shelter, and basically survival. Denying the vampires access to their blood meant they had to fend for themselves, and this is how the major plot device unfolds. On a trip outside the wall in search for food, Allie and her friends are attacked by rabids, and when her unlikely hero, a vampire, offers her the chance to live, she becomes the one thing she hates the most.

There were several aspects in this story that I truly appreciated. Even though Allie loathed the vampires and blamed them for her mother's death, when she was knocking at death's door, she chose to survive, even if that meant becoming "a monster." Then, despite all her claims to hold on to her humanity, Allie really struggled with it, showing just how challenging it is to cage the beast, no matter how horrified she was once she realized her thirst for blood. I enjoyed Kagawa's writing of Allie, and how sometimes no matter how much you want want to behave in a certain manner, instinct and survival can inherently change a person.

“Sometime in your life, Alison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. Accidentally or as a conscious, deliberate act. It is unavoidable. The question is not if it will happen, but when.”


I also enjoyed all the scientific reasoning thoroughly explained throughout this book, making all the situations more plausible. I'm not really "in the know" about genetics and DNA, so for all I know, the author could have been filling my head full of crap, but it read like really good crap. For instance, she goes into detail about why vampires couldn't go in the sunlight, and it wasn't because of some lame excuse like "because we sparkle and that's a dead giveaway that we're vampires."

"Despite the legends, he explained we wouldn't immediately burst into flames, but our body chemistry had changed now that we were, technically, dead. He likened it to a human disease called porphyria, where toxic substances in the skin caused it to blacken and rupture when exposed to ultraviolet sunlight. Caught outside with no shelter, the direct rays of the sun would burn our exposed skin until it did, eventually, catch fire."

I also loved all of the characters, especially because they all had depth and flaws. I loved Allie for her realistic approach to her life, and boy did this chick have some bite (I'm not sure if I intended this pun or not, hmmm...). She was no pushover, she questioned everyone and everything, and when push came to shove, you can bet your behind she was pushing. Kanin was the perfect sire, hard and unrelenting when he needed to be, but he also had a caring side about him that showed not all vampires were lost to the monster within. Lastly, the love interest, Zeke, and his traveling group, were all perfect in their own way. Zeke, particularly, was someone that I found myself drawn to because of his optimism and gentle nature in the darkest of times.

My biggest complaint and the reason I couldn't give this the full five stars was because I felt like it was missing something. I'm not sure if it was because I wanted more time with Kanin and his training or more time with Zeke. Just when they finally allowed themselves to entertain the idea of a relationship, their time was cut short, and I was a little disappointed. All in all, this was a great setup for a great second book, and maybe that was the overall problem. This read more like the beginning of a new series rather than a complete stand-alone. All that being said, I can't wait to see what the next book has to offer, and I'll be waiting in line when it comes out.

*An e-galley was provided by HarlequinTEEN via Net Galley.