Review ~ The Eternity Cure ~ Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Published: 3^rd May 2013

By: Harlequin Teen

Source: netgalley

First line:  I smelled blood as soon as I walked  into the room.

Last line:  Sorry – potential spoiler!!

Fave line: “Only death will take me away from you vampire girl” he whispered.

Eyes down then for a review of yet another of my most anticipated reads for 2013! The Eternity Cure is book two of the Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa, a vampire series which brings with it a unique dystopian element that makes this series stand out from so many others that reside in this genre.

When we left Allison at the end of the Immortal Rules she, together with Zeke had found Eden and leaving him and his family there in safety had left to find Kanin, the vampire that had Turned her and who was now in danger himself. A hostage of Sarren’s, Allison sees him calling out to her in her dreams as he is tortured by his captor and she uses the blood ties that bond them together to track him. 

The plot in The Eternity Cure is seamless and the detailing of the journey that Allison goes on is not an easy one. She is unwittingly dragged off course by Jackal, her blood brother, who for reasons of his own joins her to find Kanin and in the course of their search they discover that the red lung virus has mutated and things are looking pretty bad for humans and vampires. Their mission in the end is to find a cure for the disease which threatens to kill those that Allison cares for most.

Where to start? Allison is the perfect female protagonist.  Yes, she is totally kickass and yes she can kick the crap out of anyone or anything that gets in her way but there is so much more to her.  Even when she’s fighting for what is right she’s fighting against her own inner demons and she’s still determined to stick to her own beliefs irrelevant of those around her and I love her for that!

As for the rest of the characters? There are tonnes of familiar names here but boy have they changed!  As the story has evolved so have the needs of some of the major players and the switches in their personalities and their behaviour really flip things on their heads.  Jackal who I thoroughly detested in the last instalment became one of my favourite characters and his sarcasm injects a lot of humour into this read.   I have to say there was more than one occasion where his one-liners reminded me of Puck in the Iron Fey series and for me that can only be a good thing! Sarren is a fantastically evil individual, not just because of his behaviour within this story but because of his intentions for the future.  His world view is totally warped and I think it’s those beliefs that make him as unnerving as he is.  In short the guy is a fruitloop! There are other characters who I won’t name here as I don’t want to be spoilery but let’s just say there are some individuals who have changed beyond all recognition and really need a serious thrashing!  As for the lovely Zeke, he brings a few surprises of his own to this tale and I’m so pleased that he was back as I love the role that he plays and the impact that he has on Allison’s character. He returns a stronger character with an even greater resolve to revenge the death of those he loved as well as to be with Allison and I totally love him!

There is a tonne of action in this book and I was thoroughly addicted from the minute I started reading.  There were also a couple of occasions when I actually thought I might need CPR. Oh and a word to the wise Ms Kagawa – the first line of chapter 19? Yeah, please don’t do that to me again.  That was just plain cruel!  The ending left me speechless to say the least and the potential repercussions in book three are huge! The most frustrating thing about this whole scenario is that I now have to wait for what seems like forever to get my hands on the final instalment.  One thing is for certain and that is it’s already on my most anticipated for 2014.

5/5 Seriously, do I actually have to wait a whole year for the final instalment?! I loved, loved, loved this book, but then was I ever going to be of the opinion that Kagawa could actually do any wrong? Um, that would be a no.