ARC Review: The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa

Publication date: 30th April, 2013
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | The Book Depository
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4.5/ 5 stars

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.

REVIEW

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa exceeded expectations last summer as I tore through the post-apocalyptic vampire awesomeness that it was. It was
Clever
Fast paced
Well characterised
Insightful
Gave me the right kind of kick!
Not your average in-season vampire book

The Eternity Cure, book two in Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series was equally engaging in every way. Most second books end up being more of a filler and a watered down version of the first part, but not The Eternity Cure!  There's enough conflict and adventure to keep things going.

Of course, initially, I got the feeling it was just going to be Allie Going Places in search of Kanin, her Master with minimal Zeke flashbacks... but thankfully, no. Rescuing Kanin, the vampire Allie owes her life to, from the clutches of Totally Deranged Sarren, isn't just a series of carefully-constructed obstacles. Jackal, Allie's blood brother... yes, the Prince character who wrecked havoc in the climax of the first installment, breathes life into the first half of the novel! You want to hate him, just like Allie does... yet he is so... three dimensional, I guess. Slippery, manipulative and yet his witticisms make you laugh and somehow, he earns your sympathy and makes you root for him!

There's also a search for the cure from the Red Lung virus, made worse by the new strain of the virus that's twice as deadly as far as survival of the human AND vampire races are concerned. This, again, is enlivened by wonderful character-centric plotlines. The Zeke-Allie relationship is as heartwarming and heartbreaking as ever (Zeke: must you always be such a saint?) and Stick's reappearance is a totally baffling yet brilliant touch to the plot! It was by no means a conventional turn of events and I loved how what Allie and Stick shared all those years was never in anyway forgotten. It added so much depth to the layers of hurt, desire for growth and much more that had disturbed Stick all along.

All in all, just like the first part of the Blood of Eden series, The Immortal Rules, The Eternity Cure is one heck of an adrenaline rush! I was constantly eager to know more, get to the bottom of the characters, the plot, the VIRUS, all while wondering about the fate of the characters we got to know so well in the previous part but don't really make an appearance here. As an amazing bridge book, I am not just waiting for the next book in the series but I'm no more uncertain about the Blood of Eden series having all the elements of an epic saga!!

As I said in my review of the previous part, it's post-apocalyptic dystopian vampire YA! If the genre itself has you excited, this is definitely a series you must check out. I wasn't the biggest fan of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, but in this series, she has nailed it!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

If you liked The Immortal Rules, you will love The Eternity Cure! Definitely preorder-worthy!