Review: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) 
Author: Julie Kagawa 
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: April 15th 2014
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Dawn of Eden - here,  The Immortal Rules - here & The Eternity Rules - here

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, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

The Forever Song is an incredible conclusion for the amazing Blood of Eden trilogy! Julie Kagawa is an excellent story teller and I really love her writing and and the way she tells Allison Sekemoto´s story and this time she had a surprise up her sleeve, yes! I was surprised and confused, but it was a good twist in the story.

This book picks up where The Eternity Cure end, Allison along with Kanin (her creator and mentor) and Jackal (her vampire brother whom enjoys to banter with her) are on the trail of the psycho vampire Sarren, he´s on his way to Eden, the last city not dominated by vampires and where all residents are humans, with the purpose of launching a deadly virus that affects both humans and vampires. Since Sarren envisions or dreams that the world needs healing and for this to happen it is necessary to annihilate humans and vampires alike for a fresh start. So Allison and company are trying to intercept Sarren before he gets to Eden, but Sarren has many surprises and roadblocks in order to delay them or stop them.

At the beginning of the book Allison has only one thing in mind ..... REVENGE ....no matter the consequences .... she´ll kill Sarren, and if by killing him she saves Eden, good for her, if not ... is not her problem any more. Because of what happened at the end of The Eternity Cure, she no longer see the world with the same eyes and the internal battle she had since the first book ..... her struggle to not to lose her humanity, to not let the monster inside her win, it doesn´t matter to her anymore, that´s why in the first part of the book we see a darker Allison that´s trying to embrace her vampire nature (to Jackal´s delight and Kanin´s disappointment).

Something that enjoy very much was the interaction between Jackal and Allison because they spend fighting and arguing all the way to Eden and I loved when Kanin intervenes (since he is a vampire of few words and usually just says "Allison" to stop the discussion), I applaud Julie´s achievement in making me liked the villain from the first book (I really hated Jackal in the Immortal Rules) and I ended up waiting for his sarcasm, funny moments; and that without him being the good vampire of the story , because Jackal never hides what he thinks of the human and shows no remorse for his actions. And because I don´t want to spoil anyone that is all I´m gout to say about the plot.

Overall, The Forever Song is an AMAZING book! I loved everything about this book, the twists and turns, the emotional part of the plot, the funny parts and I LOVED the ending (I´m very happy with it). The Blood of Eden trilogy has become one of my favorites of all time.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

Waiting On Wednesday (109): The Forever Song

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa 

Release date: April 15th 2014

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, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links

Review: The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: October 29th 2013
Source: Netgalley
Format: egalley

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of The Lost Prince - here

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for; his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, normal simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.

This is the second time this year that Julie Kagawa made me suffer with a mega cliffhanger ending and I end up crying like a baby and saying that I´m dying for the next book is an understatement .... but either way, I'll wait a whole year to know what will happen to the main characters.

As a fan of The Iron Fey series, The Iron Traitor was one of the books that I had to read this year and I was waiting impatiently for it and it didn´t disappoint me because I really enjoyed it and there were times when I felt it a little slow or maybe was my desperation to know what was going to happen next.

In The Iron Traitor, part of the plot is to seek out Kierran, because he´s missing and apparently everyone is looking for him, so when Annwyl, the girl Kierran is in love, requests Ethan help to find him before he do something desperate to save her (because she´s fading), like make some kind of deal that could endanger him. And later they must seek or find something that will keep Annwyl alive because Kierran is willing to do anything to keep her alive.

I must say that before reading this book, I read Iron 's Prophecy, a short story that has a lot to do with what happens in this book, since there is a prophecy that involves Kierran and Ethan and I think that is necessary to read it before you read this book because it explains a lot of why the weird looks that Ethan and Kierran get from Megan, Ash and Puck.

As I already said; I´m a big fan of Iron Fey series, but I think this spin-off - Call of the Forgotten is my favorite, because Ethan Chase is a great character, I love that he´s a bada*s, strong and can defend himself from any fairy with his two swords. My favorite scenes are the action scenes and I loved the fights scenes, Julie Kagawa is an excellent storyteller and I love the world that she created for this series, although it has its "normal " parts, it also has its dark parts. And that ending...it kill me!, I recommend that you read it at home because I literally scream and then I began to cry...not something pretty to do in public .... I hate cliffhanger endings! but it´s still a brilliant book. And one of my favorite parts is to some characters from The Iron Fey series as Grimalkin, Ash, Meghan and Robin Goodfellow make an appearance in this book, I loved to see them again. This is a must read book for all the fans of The Iron Fey series.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Book trailer

Waiting On Wednesday (87): The Iron Traitor

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2) by Julie Kagawa

Release date: October 22nd 2013 

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.

Why I'm Waiting?

I love this series and I can´t wait to read more about Ethan and Keirran.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links 

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: April 30th 2013
Source: Netgalley
Format: egalley

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of  The Immortal Rules - here

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.

I LOVED this book! Julie Kagawa is an excellent writer and one of my favorite authors. The Eternity Cure is an amazing sequel to one of my favorite books in 2012, The Immortal Rules.

The Eternity Cure takes place a few months after the events of The Immortal Rules, Allison is in a search and rescue mission of her creator - Kanin who was kidnapped by a quite psychotic vampire and Allison thanks to the connection she has with her creator is able to trace him, but so far she´s several steps behind them. And on her travels she meets with certain prince vampire who wants her dead, but for now he would have her as an ally and decide to help each other, as both can benefit from this partnership.

All the characters are very well written and easy to grow fond of them, already love some from the first book, but now I loved them even more thanks to this book and certain character that I didn´t liked in the previous book, now I see him with different eyes. And this time in story there were several surprises and appeared of several characters that I didn´t expected to see in this book, as it was the vampire prince (which I will not say his name to avoid spoilers), but this character took a turn and we see another side of him the that although he has his own reasons to help Allie, and they´re not at all a secret, I like him a lot and he has several funny moments. I can not wait to see more of him in the next book and see what will he do next.

The Eternity Cure is a very excellent second book in a series, the beginning is a little slow but then takes strength and I could not stop reading it and I'm happy to report that there is no love triangle (I feared for a moment that if there would be). And the last chapters! NOO! I was in tears, it's so unfair what happens and it has a mayor cliffhanger that left me stunned and trying to process what was happening and dying to read the next book.

This book is a MUST read, if you like dystopian books with vampires and a strong female character that kick-butt, is loyal and smart. And if you have not read The Immortal Rules, first book of the series ... You should read it...now, it´s really amazing book. I highly recommend this book.

I want to thank Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for this review copy.

Book trailer

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince (Call of the Forgotten #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: October 23rd 2012
Source: Netgalley
Format: egalley

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Buy it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

The Lost Prince is the first book in the series Call of the Forgotten, the spin-off series The Iron Fey.

The Lost Prince is just amazing! Julie Kagawa is an excellent writer, she bring us back to the world that I loved so much in The Iron Fey series. Ethan Chase has grown, he´s now 17 years-old, he had built a wall between the outside world and him and he doesn´t let anyone get close to him, so Ethan has no friends, appears to be a bad boy this to drive away to everyone, he´s cynical and treat people with disdain, but all this is to keep the other people safe from a dangerous world, a world that he can not escape - the world of the fairies.

Ethan is a angry boy, he lives with a lot of hatred, anger, resentment and fear towards the fey world and everything that has to do with it, he only wants to be left alone, but since they don´t, he must defend himself so he is an expert in Kali, a Filipino martial art that uses rattan, knives and swords ... Ethan and therefore is no longer a helpless child. Something that made me sad are the feelings he has for his sister Meghan.

The book is told from Ethan POV, the story begins with him attending a new school and there he meets Kenzie, a girl that is very persistent that even though Ethan try to scare her off, she does not take no for an answer, so they both end up in the Nevernever and trying to alert The Iron Queen of a new race of fairies that is causing havoc in the real world.

The Lost Prince have new characters including Kenzie, Kierran and Annwyl, but also return the main characters of the series The Iron Fey - Meghan, Ash, Puck and Grimalkin among others. From the "new" characters I really liked Kenzie and Kierran (he appears on The Iron Knight briefly); Kenzie is strong, loyal, determined ans stubborn. I loved Kierran (though not at the end), he is strong, with good sense of humor and funny (although not as much as Puck).

This book is addictive, it grabs you and will not let you go, it has a lot of action where Ethan he demostrates his fighting skills with swords and the rattan. And although there is not a cliffhanger, I can´t wait to read the next book, I want to know more about this new race of fairies and literally my jaw dropped when I found out the name of the next book, now I have to wait until September 2013 to read it .

This book is a must for fans of The Iron Fey series. Definitely a must read!

I want to thank Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for this review copy.

Book trailer

Recommend A...book you read this year

Hosted by Chick Loves Lit

Recommend A... is a weekly meme where we share our recommendations of books based on prompts provided each week by Shanyn from the blog Chick Loves Lit .

This week is Recommend A....book you read this year

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa 

In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire 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 is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.

The Immortal Rules combines two genres that I love,  paranormal and dystopian.

This book is AMAZING! The Immortal Rules is a must read.

You can read my review here

Have you read Hounded? What did you think about it?

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway here.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: April 24, 2012

Rating: 5/5

But it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Read first chapter here.

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire 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 is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

The Immortal Rules combines two genres I love, the paranormal and dystopian. This book is amazing; it let me happy and sad at the same time.

Allison Sekemoto is a girl who has lived her entire life in a city of vampires, where registered humans "donate" blood regularly and in exchange receive food. Allison is unregistered, so she steals and scavenger food, she does anything she needs to do to survive. Allie hates vampires and everything having to do with them. One night she is attacked by rabids creatures that used to be human and because of a virus they mutated and are now monsters that feed on humans. Because this attack Allie is on the verge of death and a vampire comes to the rescue and gives her the choice to die or become one of them. She chooses to become what she hates most, a vampire.

Later she has to flee the city and wander in a world she does not know. There she meets a group of humans who are in search of Eden, a city that may be a myth and Allie decides to join them, which is not easy because she must pretend to be human and try not be discovered.

The story is wonderful; I had a while without reading a vampire book that I liked so much.

The Immortal Rules takes place 60 years after a lethal virus called Red Lung has killed almost all the human population. At some point the virus mutate and humans were turned into rabids. And the non-infected humans live in vampire cities, where they must "donate" blood in exchange of food and protection.

In the characters we´ve  Allison a 17 year-old girl that had been living among others  unregistered, where everyone look out for themselves, and therefore she´s suspicious and she´s against any kind of authority, but has good heart and is very brave. Allie's love interest is Zeke a 17 year-old boy (I adore him), with very good heart and kind, brave and completely selfless. He was taught that vampires are demons, which does not bode well for Allie. Among the characters we have secondary characters such as Kanin, the sire of Allie, a mysterious vampire, he taught her how to fight with a katana, and also everything she needs to know to survive as a vampire.

The Immortal Rules is a book that it fast-paced (considering it's a book of 504 pages), has no downtime, this very well written and addictive. It has action, mystery and some romance.

I love it! I highly recommend it.

Quotes:

Naive, I thought at once. Naive, brave, selfless, incredible - and much too kind to survive this world. It´ll break you in the end, if you keep going like this. Good things never last.

They will never trust us. They will never accept us. We hide in their midst and walk among them, but we are forever separate. Damned. Alone. You don’t understand now, but you will. There will come a time when the road before you splits, and you must decide your path. Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight your demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?

Book trailer

UK Book trailer

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is:

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release date: April 24, 2012.

Add it on Goodreads

IN A FUTURE WORLD, VAMPIRES REIGN. HUMANS ARE BLOOD CATTLE. AND ONE GIRL WILL SEARCH FOR THE KEY TO SAVE HUMANITY.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire 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 is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

UK Book trailer

Why I want to read this book? First because is written by Julie Kagawa and I love her Iron Fey series, second the description sounds awesome and third I love the cover and the book trailer.

Which book are you waiting this week? 

Leave me your WOW link and I'll drop by.