The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 446 Pages
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Narration: First Person: Allie
Genre: Paranormal/Dystopian
Challenge: Paranormal & Dystopian
Source: Netgalley

Blood of Eden Series:
Book One: The Immortal Rules
Book Two: The Eternity Cure
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

My Review:

I really really wished the publishing company stuck to the original cover for The Immortal Rules, but despite all my constant begging and pleading, they ended up changing it anyways. And now, since they decided to change the entire theme for the series, we were left with this...

I guess it actually isn't too bad as far as covers go, but I have a difficult time seeing how it pertains to the dark and savage world in which Allison resides. All I see are a bunch of knobby trees, which in no way makes me think of bloodthirsty vampires or dystopian novels. Whatsoever. The other reason I don't like this particular cover is because it's so plain and bland. If I was just some random teenage girl who had never read anything from the fabulous author known as Julie Kagawa, I would've never given this cover a second glance. Which would've been quite a pity, considering that Blood of Eden is one of the best vampire series out there, rivaling even that of the renowned Vampire Academy.

The Eternity Cure pretty much begins where The Immortal Rules leaves off. Allie is on the search for Kanin, her sire, the one who gave her a second chance at life and taught her how to survive as a vampire. However, finding Kanin isn't exactly an easy feat to accomplish, considering the fact that Kanin is being held hostage by the sadistic, psychotic, creepy as hell vampire, Sarren. To make matters worse, instead of feeling one distinctive pull to her sire like she's supposed to, she feels two. Unsure of which lead to follow, she decides to choose the pull that's stronger and closer to her current location. 

Unfortunately, she chooses wrong. Instead of finding her sire, she stumbles across Jackal, her blood brother. The vampire who enjoys watching humans kill each other for sport, who wholeheartedly believes that vampires are, and always will be, the superior race, and the one vampire Allie just happened to stab in the eye. Needless to say, there not exactly the best of friends. However, since they both share the same goal and need each another to reach it, they create an alliance, albeit an unstable one considering the circumstances. Together, they embark on a treacherous journey, finding unlikely faces along the way, searching for their sire and the rumored cure that has the ability to save them all.

Allie, short for Allison, was a great character to read about. In The Immortal Rules, she desperately clung to the last vestiges of her humanity and struggled to remain human by starving herself, hoping that she wouldn't have to become the monster that everyone claimed she was. However, in The Eternity Cure, she has come to terms with her vampiric side and has finally accepted the fact that she was a monster. However, she took comfort in the fact that although she was a monster, she had the power to choose what kind of monster she would be. Allie wanted to rip the throats out of her enemies a countless number of times throughout the novel. But the one thing that made her different from other vampires was that she chose to fight against the demon within, instead of succumbing to her primal instincts. 

Jackal....was a very intricate character. At first, I had absolutely no idea who he was, because I read The Immortal Rules a pretty long time ago. But Julie saved me the hassle of having to dig out my old copy by recapping the most important details of the last novel. I really tried my best to hate him because of his immoral actions in The Immortal Rules, but I just....couldn't. Although he did act like a arrogant jerk the majority of the time and made no effort to conceal his "ulterior" motive, I still fell in love with his sarcastic attitude as well as his attempts to lighten the mood with his own unique type of humor. Along with Allie, I found myself trusting him more and more as the story progressed. I hope he changes his opinions sometime in the future and doesn't turn out to be one of the bad guys. >.<

The first fifty or so pages focused more on recapping the past than furthering the plot. From the reviews I've read, it seems like a lot of people found this section slow moving and tedious. Although I wasn't gripping the edge of my seat or bouncing up and down in excitement, I really enjoyed the way Julie helped us remember characters and significant events in the last book, in subtle ways. If she hadn't done that, I would've probably been confused for the rest of the book, because I would've been to lazy to reread what I forgot. However, once I passed the 50th page, the plot picked up and once again I found myself caught up in the violent Dystopian world Julie created.

I really hoped that there was going to be some sort of romance between Kanin and Allie, but after reading The Eternity Cure, I'm pretty sure that that's not going to happen. The way Allie interacted with Kanin reminded me of the way a daughter would act with her father. And if that's not enough evidence for you, she also stated several times throughout the book that she saw Kanin in a fatherly light. I know I'm probably heartless to say this and that I'll be bombarded with angry emails after this review is published, but I don't really care for Zeke. I mean sure, he's a great guy who sacrificed a lot to be with his one true love, but their relationship never brought butterflies to my stomach and never had me screaming, "Just kiss him, you idiot!" Don't get me wrong, I think Zeke is an awesome character with a whole lot of depth, but as a love interest? Meh.

Overall, The Eternity Cure was a worthy sequel to The Immortal Rules. Although this installment had a slightly darker feel than that of it's predecessor, Jackal's sarcastic, blunt, and sometimes downright sadistic humor lightened the otherwise gloomy atmosphere. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading up on the Paranormal and is attracted to books with darker themes.

*An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.
Favorite Quotes:
"I don't believe in fate," he said carefully, "but... I do believe everything happens for a reason. That there is some plan, some meaning to this darkness we live in."  -The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
Cover- 2/5 
By itself, it's alright. Compared to the previous cover, there's no competition.
Heroine- 4/5

Romance- 3/5

It was a well written romance, but I didn't care for it, because I had hoped it would be with a different person...
Action- 4/5
Comedy- 4/5  Those 4 Stars are for you Jackal. xD
Overall- 4/5