I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.
"After a mysterious
Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors
assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the
Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in love
with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when
another tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure to the
Sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip to save
humankind.
The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes
cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central
Park...and discovers truths they could never have imagined."
My copy of The Young World is an ARC Copy. Just FYI.
Well, this is yet another book of the possible future of today. Although the apocalypse has yet to happen (or maybe it is happening right now and we don't know it yet), readers love those types of books. A new world of violence and chaos. A world with characters and their questionable moral compasses. They murder just because they want to. Why do they do that? "Why not?" is the scary answer Weitz (the author of this book) provides.
Anyway, in The Young World, there are no adults. They are all dead from a mysterious virus/Sickness. (That sounds like zombies, but it isn't). The world only contains young people with minor flashbacks before the Sickness happened. (Sounds like people who haven't gotten over their past yet). Oh, and some people (children or teens, to be more specific) goes insane. Which sounds so family, doesn't it? (Lord of the Flies or Gone. Gone is technically an adapted version based on Lord of the Flies. Okay, I'll stop being so nerdy and weird. Oh, wait. I already a nerd).
Told from two POVs, The Young World tells the scary tale of future New York City. In that new world (Future New York City), there are cannibals, crazy lions on the loose (plus some free carnivorous animals from Central Park Zoo), gun makers (a bit complicated), pimps (no lies), hookers (I'm not joking), and insane people dedicated to protecting books with their lives (That is my crowd right there) who are also cannibals (the very same cannibals I originally mentioned; this is no longer my crowd). Yes, these are all teenagers. At least the nerds are still alive. With guns. Machine guns, stun grenades, regular grenades, and also possibly, bombs. Which is frighteningly possible due to these teenagers' high amount of violence. But let's hope that NYC will never turn out like that and a deadly virus will never appear. Needless to say, that is a high amount of world-building. Weitz spread it out well enough throughout the book. The readers are constantly learning from Donna and Jefferson's point of views.
Jefferson (whose race I'm not able to determined) is a polite boy. According to Donna, he seems to be of Prince Charming type. Always kind, a perfect gentleman. But he has a dark side. He is very brave and smart and excellent at persuading people. Even though he worries he isn't a good leader, he is a good leader. He might have blood on his hands, but he is an good character. His thoughts aren't as jumbled as Donna's and his POV is easier to read.
Donna, on the other hand, speaks in script. Well, not exactly in script. No, she speaks like Facebook chat. Yes, that is a very good description of how her thoughts appear in her POV. The difference is quite surprising but also very refreshing. It takes about two chapters to get used to, but I think it fits her well. Donna is more sarcastic and observing than Jefferson. Her guts are obvious while Jefferson uses more tactical means to get what he wants.
Overall, I think The Young World is a great story. It may not be a classic, but it is a great story to escape into. There is a good amount of action.
Rating: Four out of Five
"Vengeance will be hers.
Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.
Monster.
Allie
will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the
psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and
long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions -
her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading
straight to the one place they must protect at any cost - the last
vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock
in store for Allie.
In a ruined world where no life is sacred
and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her
darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in
the face of surviving forever alone.
THE FINAL HUNT IS ON."
Blood of Eden. That is the name of the trilogy. Finally. I had no idea what the name is until now. Anyway, let me start on this review of The Forever Song.
A curial character dies unlike The Iron Fey series. Hey! Ash's former love wasn't even that surprising. I mean, seriously? She was dead all along. She died in the first place. Accidentally killed by Puck. And Ash hadn't let her go, but Meggie was taking the place of where she was. Okay, I'll tell you that isn't major spoilers. Anyway, I won't tell you who dies in The Forever Song, but it certainly wasn't Allison. What? She is a vampire for goodness' sakes. And two, she is the main character. Thank goodness, Kagawa didn't pull off an Allegiant. One is already bad in this world.
Now that I got most of my personal feelings out of the way, let me start by discussing (monologuing) about The Forever Song, the third book in The Blood of Eden series.
The Forever Song is a thriller of vampires and blood and humans to the end. There is redemption (for more than one character, by the way), romance, young love, and a lot of humor from the hilarious Jackal (whose real name is even a joke; James). I still can't get over his real name. It is way too funny. So ordinary and different than "Jackal."
The book goes by too quickly. I managed to finish the entire book in one sitting. Or two sittings. It is a bit hard to remember the exact amount of time it took for me to read this. Anyway, The Forever Song consist about 400 pages. A tad less, but it is close to 400. Kagawa paces the long story quite well. Boredom is never in sight.
The conclusion to it all is stunning and sadly also confusing. It took me a bit to understand Kanim's words. That guy always speaks in difficult puzzles, layered with meanings and double meanings. After much consideration, I ultimately think the ending to The Forever Song to be sad yet also hopeful. And still stunning. At least, Jackal, Zeke, and Allie gets a happy ending. Whoops. That was kind of a spoiler, if you are thinking about that miss.
Overall, The Blood of Eden trilogy is very exciting. Kagawa strays far from Twilight's sense of vampires and goes towards the more traditional version of vampires. I enjoy the entire book and series from cover to cover.
Oh. A last word. Don't you think Zeke is wonderful after all this time? And two, don't you hate Kanim because he always seems so deep and wanting more from Allie?
Rating: Four out of Five
"The Heists were only the beginning.
Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot
expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core:
A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers
blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.
Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in
search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world
built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or
enemy—is truly what they seem…"
Well, well, well. It is the sequel.. Finally. I kind of liked the storyline and the plot in the first installment, but it is always the sequels that go down hill. If the series go downwards at all.
Frozen is a crazy rollercoaster from the beginning to the end. It has nothing to do with snow, by the way. This isn't Elsa's story. Anyway, we start off with a full house. Gray's dad, Gray, Emma, the other girl, etc. This group will obviously lose someone. Or most of them. Come on! Any group this large will have somebody dying. unless they are trios. Go for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. It goes on strong to the very end. It meaning the book, Frozen. No Percy or Annabeth or Grover. Anyway, let's move on. I have much to talk about.
Gray is on a search for more answers. Of course, that means there are more questions than answers. With his heart torn into two directions (two girls, in other words), he struggles (as always) to find the truth behind all the questions. His curiosity always gets him into terrible amounts of trouble. Including girls. His love and loyalty sadly blinds him to weaknesses like traitors and betrayals. And of course those kinds of things happen. No specifics though. Sorry, guys. No spoilers, remember?
The enemy is the Order. For those of you who haven't finished the first book or even read this series, you should stop reading right now. Major spoilers ahead! If you don't care or have no plans to read Frozen or its prequel, then continue right on. Carry on. That is the better order. Anyway, the Order is cunning. It adapts with every move Gray and his team makes. It is everywhere. >They are one enemy that is formidable. But that is the most obvious enemy. Traitors (Miss. Benedict Arnold) are what Gray and readers have to look out for. They hide among us, remember?
The ending leaves off strong. It is the end of the middle game. Soon, the end pieces will come and attack! Alright, I"ll stop talking in chess terms. By the way, I'm quite horrible at playing chess. Just not good. Always excellent at the beginning but never the end.
I'll stop talking now. Or typing. I'm going way off-topic.
Rating: Four out of Five
"In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood
She
has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast
out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will
follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic
vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New
Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever—and
possibly end human and vampire existence.
There's a new plague
on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of
humanity generations ago—and this strain is deadly to humans and
vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin
carries, if Allie can get to him in time.
Allison thought that
immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the
balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and
Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to
make."
The Eternity Cure is the second book of its series which I can't name still. I'll find the name. Soon. Sooner or later. I hope.
Kanim is tortured under a lunatic's watch. The psychic backlash goes against Allison and Jackal (real name: James), because they are his children. That means there is sadly no chance for Allison to get involve with Kanim though there were some strange moments of doubt.
Anyway, The Eternity Cure is as good as The Immortal Rules. Both sequel and first installment does an excellent job of keeping readers on toes. It has the perfect among of action, intrigue, mystery, and la la la. It is the best I'd read in a long time.
Allison's limit to torture and her loyalty to her "family" is tested. Oh, I should had mentioned vampire family, not just "family." My mistake. But some of her old family does come out of the dead closet. Again. After shew as kicked out of Eden (because she is a vampire and Eden is full of humans), Allison leaves Zeke and his religious group to find her creator, Kanim. Along the way, she finds her sociopath brother, Jackal (James). Think of James like Puck (Robin Goodfellow). He brings in the laughs. For a vampire, he is very funny.
I believe the book is as long as The Immortal Rules. 400+ pages. And every bit is a treat. Honestly, I wish that Kagawa wrote 400+ pages for each book of The Iron Fey. No one (except for Puck fans and Sing Meggie fans) can't get enough of good old Ash, the Winter Prince. Swoon!
The ending leaves pretty much everyone angry. Including me. And plus, I totally don't believe that guy's death because he, like Allie (Allison's nickname) is a toughie. He can't die now! No, kill off... I don't know who else. I don't want Kanim or Jackal to die. It is like killing off Ash or Puck. Imagine that. Death makes everything nasty.
Overall, I totally agree with my original conclusion. The Eternity Cure is just as delicious as The Immortal Rules. Kagawa does a wonderful job again!
Oh, last installment. The finale. Here I come. I will eat it up and chomp it as loudly as I can. I think it will be as good as Kagawa's previous books. Kagawa has an excellent reputation at delivering.
Rating: Five out of Five
"To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…
Allison
Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in
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 dies and becomes one of the monsters.
Forced
to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group
of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the
disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the
bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon
Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.
Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins."
Well, I'll tell you that it is nothing like The Iron King of Juliet Kagawa's The Iron Fey series. Because I enjoy this first book of her new series, I'm trying to decide which is my favorite one out of the two. Hmm... Let's see. The Immortal Rules is about vampire while The Iron King is about faeries. The Immortal Rules has Zeke and Kanim (though he doesn't really count). The Iron King has Puck and best of all, Ash. Really, no one can beat Ash. That is why The Iron Fey wins. Go Ash! (I don't really care about the spinoff series about Ethan other than the fact Ash is there).
Yeah. The Iron Fey is more awesome than this series. What is the name of this series? Damn. I'll find it. Sooner or later.
Allison is definitely Asian.You can tell by her last name. It is just irony that she chooses to wield a Kantana. Totally agree with Kanim, by the way. Anyway, she is definitely a toughie. She isn't afraid of breaking noses to protect herself and the things she has. She loves her friends to the point that they are her weaknesses (like Percy Jackson). She is wild as a vampire, but she also posses a very strong will to not drink human blood as a vampire. Oh, animal blood doesn't work. And she was surrounded by tons of humans. Humans that are very religious. But that doesn't matter. Actually, it does. Zeke is one of those religious nuts. Still, he is adorable, which makes up for nearly everything.
Zeke, Allison's love interest, is a religious nut. Not as much as a nut like his foster father and not as nutty as Dorothy (long story) or Sarren (another long story) or Jackal (another long story). At least, this is one guy who is cute. And Allison's love interest.
And Kanim doesn't count as a love interest. I wish that too, but no. Then again, if he was, he would be Edward Cullen-ish. He is at least 100+ years older than Allison. And we don't even know his true age. But that doesn't matter. The guy is so full of sadness that I' surprised he didn't off himself by the end of this book. But he is crucial to the vampire species arc.
The Immortal Rules is a 400+ pages book. I really enjoyed it even though it was so long. Kagawa uses her story-weaving skills so well that I had to finish it off in one sitting. It is a great story of action and the vampire-ish future. It is as good as The Iron King but with less romantic heat and more exposition. Kagawa does a lot of world building. It isn't as terrible as it sounds, guys. She makes it fun. Like The Iron Fey series fun. Though there is no Puck here. Or Ash. Or Grim the cat. ("I'm a cat.") Gosh, I can't believe I miss them so much.
Rating: Five out of Five
