Sunday, June 17, 2012

DNF: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Did Not Finish Explanation




Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Read pages: 154 of 485

I didn't dislike this book, I just didn't like it enough to read 485 pages on my computer. I also didn't like it enough to rush out and get a hard copy ASAP. I probably will finish it at some point, but it will be through the library and whenever I eventually get around to it.

Allie is NOT welcome in my post-apocalyptic survival posse

Oh, Allie. She just doesn't make sense to me. I don't see how a person like her would develop from the world and situation the author created for her.

Allie is very much a girl from our world. She is sensitive. She's a defender of the weak, even if her actions endanger the strong. You know that meme "First world problems" where frustrations and complaints experienced by people who only experience the luxuries of first world countries are highlighted? Allie is like that. She's a "First world emotional reactions" kinda girl, but she's been raised in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It doesn't make sense, and I couldn't get over that logical clash.

She's also impulsive, stubborn, and, in my opinion, has a knack for making dumb decisions. I didn't hate her, though. She's definitely not getting an invite to any kind of sleepover party, but I don't think I'd kick her out at my lunch table.

I wanted to baste him and serve him up at a vampire buffet

Maybe I'm heartless. The thing is, if I were raised in a post-apocalyptic vampire dystopia where my entire species is treated as little more than cattle and I had been living on the outskirts trying to eke out an existence, I don't think I'd have much sympathy for a useless deadweight character. As unsettling as it was to see Gene from Andrew Fukuda's The Hunt, easily sacrifice heper children, it was a heck of a lot more believable.

And that character! His name is Stick and HE is who I really can't stand and why, through her sympathy, I ended up totally disgusted with Allie. He's like an overgrown child—completely incapable of taking care of himself in even the most basic ways. Curling up in a fetal position and freezing in terror like a dumb deer in the headlights are his two main modes of operation. He is useless and had zero qualities that redeemed himself in my eyes.

Even worse, his uselessness was a gigantic liability for Allie and her group. Occasionally she would snap at him to get his butt in gear, but she doted far too much for her minor slips of the tongue to really count.

To put it bluntly, he needed to die. Not just because I didn't like him, but because it made no logical sense that a person that weak would have ever survived in the brutal world Julie Kagawa was trying so hard to make me believe in. You can't tell me the world is super deadly and scary and then toss in a character like that and expect me to still quake in my boots. Sorry, but the existence of that character and his continued survival automatically reduces the danger of the world to Sesame Street levels.

I closed my computer in disgust and finally decided to DNF when I found out that character had unbelievably managed to survive yet another situation he should have died in AND Allie decided to do something incredibly stupid because she missed her stupid friend. That was the end of the road for me.

Why I might actually pick it up again

The world-building suffered from the same problems as the world-building in Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, that is, it was basically a mash up of a bits and pieces from a bunch of other books and movies. At first I was delighted at the apparent uniqueness of a vampire post-apocalyptic dystopia, but then I realized it was pretty much Amelia Atwater-Rhodes combined with I am Legend and a few other similar books.

That's ok though, because even if it's not totally original, it still makes for a darn good premise. Julie Kagawa included a backstory that was pretty interesting and I am curious to find out more of the details. I like how she made the vampire society almost like a fantasy kingdom with various courts, nobles, and factions. 

This is my main reason for wanting to get a copy from the library at some point. I want to dig deep into the history, culture, and current in-fighting amongst the vampires, as well as the plague history that decimated the human population, and I have a feeling Julie Kagawa will deliver on this.

Hi Ash, thanks for stopping by!

Maybe I didn't read far enough into the book, but where were the scary vampires? I kept hearing praises about how they were "Yay! No sparkling vampires!" but, um, they so were.

Ok, so they didn't actually sparkle, but they were totally the "insanely beautiful, graceful, sure-drain-all-my-blood-'cause-it's-better-than-sex" kind of vampire. Allie even gets mistaken as a human on multiple occasions and last I left her she was trying hard (and mostly succeeding) at controlling her blood lust so she could be besties with humans. And I hear her eventual love interest is a human? That is NOT what I consider a no-sparkle dangerous vampire.

But I can be cool with that (hello Damon and Stefan Salvatore!). And I was pretty cool with the Tall, Dark, and Handsome mysterious vampire mentor Allie picks up with. Though he was a little *too* "Ice Boy" ala Ash from Julie Kagawa's other series, but a touch blander.

But, I think that's mostly because he's all tortured and mysterious and I'm hoping as the story goes on he'll grow a personality beyond the Keanu Reeves emotional development level he was sporting thus far. The mental image of him IS nice. Though I hear he pulls a London and disappears for a good part of the book? That's disappointing if true.

Ok, ok, to be fair, some vampires were zombies

So, fine, some of the vampires were mutated, mindless, rotting feeding machines and those were pretty scary. The scenes I read with them were tense, exciting, and everything I was hoping this book would be. Julie Kagawa really wrote these scenes with punch and verve. These vampires were a lot like the Freaks in Ann Aguirre's Enclave, which were pretty much like hoarding zombies. If there are more scenes about fighting these vampires, then I definitely want to read them.

Bottom line

Eh, there's a lot I liked, a few things I really liked, and a few things I hated so much I don't know if I can get beyond. I'm going to try though, because I am intrigued. The whole book reads in a really easy breezy way that does make the 485 pages seem a lot more manageable (just not on a computer).

I did order a copy for my library though, because if you don't get hung up on the same things I did, then I think The Immortal Rules will be a hit among fans of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series and fans of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.


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40 comments:

  1. Even though I really loved The Immortal Rules, I also really loved this review of it. I can totally see where you're coming from, and I think you make some really valid points, especially concerning Allie and the world-building, that I really didn't see before.

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    1. Thank you! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the book though. I think I would have been a lot less picky if I were reading it as a real book and not on the computer.

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  2. Oh, well, I'll take the warnings as I got this book to read too. I'm really put-off by the size of it but we'll see.

    Thanks for being honest and lowering my expectations, I might be able to get into the book now :P

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    1. The size was a bit of a problem for me, but it wasn't terrible. It was kind of like the plot would move a lot and be great, and then it would stall a little, and then it would move again, then stall again. I don't know if that carries through, but I heard the second half has a faster pace than the first half.

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  3. Hahaha I'm laughing so hard at this review because I agree with absolutely everything you said. I also did not finish this book but I did make it a little farther than you. I kept looking at the page number I was on and thinking "how am I not even HALF WAY THROUGH THIS BOOK YET??" and getting made because it was too damn long. I gave up after 240 pages. I'm so in love with the Iron Fey series that it just about broke my heart when I hated this book :(

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    1. Too bad! I liked the Iron Fey series enough that I was expecting more from this one. At least more action, though I hear the second half has more.

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  4. Oh I've heard good things about this one! It's good to get another point of view so my expectations are a little more balance :) Thanks for your brill DNF review

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    1. You're welcome! Sometimes I like reading a few 1 star reviews of a book I've seen hyped like crazy. I can see why people like this book though, though I think some of the glowing reviews I read set my expectations a little too high.

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  5. The Immortal Rules is my favorite read of the year so far but I can totally get on board with your issues. I get what your saying about Stick and how it screws up the world-building for you, but from my perspective, Stick is placed in the story to show us Allie's humanity, and it is something she struggles with throughout the story. I get that this makes her almost-sparkly but then we have the "zompires" to make up for it. heh.

    By the way, your reviews always knock my socks off.

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    1. I agree with you about Stick and Allie's humanity. I guess, I'm not sure, I don't really understand why she would have that level of humanity in the first place though. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the book so much—I envy you!

      Zompires! *snort* I love it! That is the perfect description of them. They were so cool.

      I'm so happy to hear you like my reviews! Thank you :)

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  6. I've given up on Julie Kagawa's writing after her Iron Fey series so I'm not surprised this book isn't a hit with some people. I've heard it's a lesser version of Angelfall by Susan Ee. (Btw, have you read that yet? It's AWESOME!)

    Not that I would have read this anyway because I sort of... hate paranormal books.

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    1. Noooooooooo! I was hoping you would read this one. Actually, when I decided to DNF I went to your Goodreads profile and tried to find your review because I knew you'd make me laugh.

      I haven't read Angelfall yet, but I've read the previous on Amazon and I am SO tempted to buy it! I'm waiting until the paperback version comes out.

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  7. I've been reading so many great reviews, I was surprised you DNF-ed it. But THANK YOU for the honest review. I still haven't' read the Iron Fey series, as I'm still on the fence about it, but I definitely won't pick this up until I finish her first series.

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    1. I liked the Iron Fey series more, for what that's worth. It had more action and the tone was lighter. I hope you enjoy all of these books :)

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  8. I also loved this one, but you make some excellent points here. I think this is one of those 'love or hate' books with very few people falling in between.

    As Smash also said, I believe Stick was there to show that Allie isn't all hardcore all the time, but I have to agree that he was irritating. But I like the inclusion of a love-to-hate character, I actually find it irritating when I like all the characters haha.

    Maybe you'll fare better with the paperback version - I can't even begin to imagine trying to read such a long book on a computer, so well done to you for making it that far!

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    1. I agree, it does seem to be a love or hate kind of book. Haha I hear you on the love-to-hate characters! They can be so much fun.

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  9. Yep, I loved it too, but you do make some valid points. Stick was detestable to me. I wanted to kill him to put us out of our misery for having to read about him. But it did show her protective instincts and that also helped her hang onto her humanity, something her mentor told her to let go of. If you had read on, you'd know why her mentor disappeared for a good portion of the book. And her humanity let her hang around her human gang. She actually protected them, though they weren't aware of it most of the time.

    And those freaky zombie things, they would just stay buried in the ground and wake up at night and dig up from the ground right underneath you. FREAKY! I had nightmares about them.

    Heather

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    1. "I wanted to kill him to put us out of our misery for having to read about him."

      ahaha! It's a good thing I swallowed my water before I read your comment otherwise I would have had a very wet computer right now!

      Detestable is such a perfect word for Stick.

      Those zombie vampires were SO creepy! I think they were my favorite part of the book.

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  10. Small, the first half is pretty hard to get through, especially once she's on her own. I was like when she is going to meet the humans? Come on!

    Stick was so useless! I couldn't see what redeeming qualities she saw in him and then to see him anyway after being told not to ... *shakes head* I would have ditched Stick the minute I realized he was a liability. Lol, of course I would be a Stick :)

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    1. I've heard that about the beginning, so that's why I think I'll pick up a paperback copy sometime instead of straight up DNF-ing it forever. I'm not sure I want her to meet and protect the humans, but I am definitely looking forward to some katana-zombie slaying!

      "I would have ditched Stick the minute I realized he was a liability. Lol, of course I would be a Stick :)"

      haha, very true for me too, on both counts!

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  11. I thought the beginning was pretty slow but once Allie was changed, I got really absorbed in the story. I also liked Kanin a lot but he does disappear for the most part-hopefully the second book will have more of him.

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    1. Another guy we both like! I'm very curious to find out more about Kanin's history.

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  12. My thoughts exactly! It frustrated me to no end that Allie pretended to be so tough and smart about surviving, but then she'd go off and make the most stupidest decisions ever. It made no sense.

    Also, I couldn't stop wondering why Stick didn't just become one of the "cattle" already. At least then he would have been feed by the vampires. He didn't really carry the same convictions as Allie about how evil and nasty vampires were. Again, it didn't make sense.

    I liked Ash, so I like Karin, but yeah, they were very similar.

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    1. Yes! I totally wasn't buying that she was tough and street-smart because all of her actions pointed to the complete opposite.

      Heh you're right about Stick. I didn't think of that, but now that you bring it up I find it very surprising that he didn't choose the cattle path. Great point.

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  13. Really excellent review. You made it very clear why Allie's character was frustrating. (And I love your reference to 'first world problems') I just bought Kagawa's first book in the Iron Fey series and I hope I like it despite world-building issues. We'll see.

    Lauren @ Hughes Reviews

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    1. I hope you like it too! It took me a little while to hit my stride with the Iron Fey books, but the third book made it all worthwhile for me.

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  14. EEEK! 485 pages, tucks tail and runs away fast, really fast!

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    1. TOTALLY agree with you. I was really feeling those pages, too.

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  15. Awwww...I absolutely loved this book! I liked Allie's weaknesses. I thought they made her, dare I say, human. Sorry to hear this one didn't work out for you! But hey, not everyone has to like the same book.

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    1. hehe I think I'm a secret ruthless meanie at heart :P I apparently want all my post-apoc characters to be cutthroats. I'm glad you enjoyed this book more than I did!

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  16. After being bombarded with glowing review after review of this book, I got a bit scared and moved it further down my pile of books. I am curious, however, of the author's writing since I haven't read her fey series yet but I also am interested to see what grabbed people's attention. I wonder how I will fair with this book. :?

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    1. Hm, I'm not sure, but I'm curious to read your take on it. I hope you end up on the loving it side of things. It's no fun being on the side that didn't love it :(

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  17. OMG..this review is awesome...! I enjoyed The Immortal Rules...it did not blow me away but I thought it was a solid read. I've not read the Iron Fey series and thus can not make comparisons there.

    I do agree that Allie made some annoyingly stupid decisions (and that Stick was a useless human being)but I can see that Julie was trying to show Allie struggling to maintain her humanity after turning.

    Great Review...hope when you finish it the 2nd half makes the book at least more palatable.

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    1. Thank you! I think my problem with Allie's humanity is that I don't understand why she would have it in the first place. It's possible, but I needed more convincing that Julie Kagawa gave, at least so far as I read.

      I'm glad you enjoyed the book though! I'd definitely recommend checking out her Iron Fey series then, especially if you liked Kanin.

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  18. Very nice review! I didn't enjoy this one that much either. I loved the iron fey, but i felt this one had a lot of 'been there, done that' about it.

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    1. YES, very been there done that! That's not always a problem for me, but there wasn't anything that really grabbed me about this one.

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  19. I really really liked this book, it was one of my favorites this year (mostly because it combined two of my favorite themes, dystopia and vampires). This being said, I also appreciated your review of it, and I absolutely agree with you about Stick. It made absolutely no sense to me why Allie had to keep him around! He had no redeeming quality, none.
    There's more of the mean vampires later in the book, although they aren't the meanest vampires I've read about. For me, they are somewhere in the middle between sparkly and evil.

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    1. Wasn't the combo of vampires and dystopia setting great? I love that genre mix. Thank you for the heads up on the vampires later on. I'm curious enough to meet them that I'm pretty sure I'll be picking this up at the library at some point. I'm very happy you enjoyed this book more than I did (though it's also nice to see another person disliking Stick).

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  20. I definitely agree with you about Stick, he was a character I hated and just wanted him done with. It was definitely a bad choice to have a character like that in this kind of world. But I did really enjoy this one, especially after Allie meets the humans. It's definitely one of those slow going type of books. Hopefully when you do try again it's better for you. Love your review though, great explanations, I can understand your issues completely.

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  21. Heh, yeah I definitely thought that Allie had a few TSTL moments, but on the whole I did like her. For me, the first part of the book really didn't grab me all that much, but the second part made up for it a bit. So I'll be interested in hearing if you felt the same or if you were just as annoyed as your were with the first bit.

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