The Eternity Cure
by Julie Kagawa
4 Stars: A Great Read
Series: Blood of Eden #2
Hardback: 446 Pages
Publication: April 30, 2013 by HarlequinTEEN
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 beginningโNew 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 sheโs never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.
The last time we saw Allie, she decided to leave Eden to protect the ones she love. Her choice to continue to care about and live for others continues to haunt her months later as she tracks down her mentor Kanin, who is at the mercy of a psycho crazy vampire with a vendetta against him. Though she fears Sarren (if he was able to outsmart and overpower a master vampire like Kanin, what chance does she have against him?), her loyalty towards her mentor is stronger, and she is prepared to risk her life to save him. Just when she catches up to him in her old home New Covington, she finds the humans dying of the Red Lung virus and she has a time limit to find the cure.
Allie is one of the bravest, most human protagonists I’ve met. She has been through more pain and suffering in her short life than most of us can ever hope not to meet, and yet she always pulls through, strong and not-always collected but always willing to hope for the future. When she chose to keep her humanity as a vampire and to open her heart once more, I predicted that there would be more heartbreak for her in the future. There is only so much one vampire girl can do.
And the emotions.
It is so easy to love or hate the characters. Their personalities just leap off the page. I am especially fond of Jackal, ex-raider king with a penchant for playing mind games with people, making enemies of them in the process because of his sharp tongue. Call me silly, stupid even, but I can’t help but be drawn to sadistic characters with a talent for wordplay. The atmosphere always lightens for me when Jackal is around, though I doubt his poor victims would say the same.
While I have a new favorite guy (well, old-enemy-brought-back-as-a-comrade favorite guy), no review would be complete without a mention of the romantic interest. Especially an angel like Zeke. Only, he isn’t an angel anymore, unless you’d describe an angel as a hot, trained vampire killer armed with a stake-bearing crossbow. Zeke is all grown up now and hotter than ever, though he’s still sweet on the inside. That’s what I love about him. No matter what he grows into, what he must become to protect those he cares about, he’ll stay true to his beliefs. He gives me hope for the future of Allie’s world.
This book is a tad bit on the epic romance side as reminiscent of Kagawa’s Iron Fey series. Allie makes some decisions that I hadn’t expected. Some come from her feelings for Zeke. Some come from a reckless side to her that I should have known existed. It threw me off a little, though it wasn’t enough to take too much from my overall enjoyment of the novel. Fans of Kagawa’s flair for playing around with romance and danger will love Allie’s daring nature and the swoon-worthy kiss scenes. They didn’t quite work for me after all the action of the first part of the novel, though I did enjoy them. Even vampires like Allie need a break from saving humanity.
The imagery is beautifully detailed, portraying a broken world that’s struggling to rebuild itself. Just what I love to see in a post-apocalyptic novel. Sometimes, it gets grotesque. This isn’t a pretty world. Terrible things have happened and are still happening, and I love how Kagawa isn’t afraid to show all the nasty details to us.
What’s really exciting, and what made this book all the better for me in the end, leaving me hungering for more Blood of Eden, is the end. You’ll know what I mean when you’ve read it. Kagawa wraps up the plot of The Eternity Cure nicely while sneaking in a nasty turn of events that has me bouncing up and down like a little girl who’s been promised a sweet… and told that she has to wait only so long to receive it. It promises more heartache and more kickass action. So much is at stake for Allison and the world. I’ll definitely be picking up book three when it comes out!
A copy was provided by HarlequinTEEN for review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Bookworm1858 says
I enjoyed this book a lot too-I was very mixed about the concluding sentences. Do I like that twist even though I was predicting it?
Kris Chen says
I was expecting the twist as well with all the mentions of the possibility of it happening. It's cliched, but I may end up liking it depending on what happens in the next book. Who knows?
Candace says
I'm SO anxious to meet this new, all grown up Zeke! I started this one but it's on my kindle (fire) and I've been having crazy headaches so I set it aside until the headaches are gone and I'm ready to stare that nasty screen again. I did get 10% in though and am hooked!
Kris Chen says
Awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing how you thought about this one, Candace!! ๐
Lauren Elizabeth says
So glad you enjoyed this one! I'm reading it now and now I can't wait to get to the end (though I'm sure I'll have cliffhanger angst when I get there). Lovely review!
Kris Chen says
Thanks, Lauren. It's epic. Enjoy!!
Natalie Aguirre says
Ooh, this sounds so good from your review. It's definitely on my TBR list. Can't wait to read it now.
Kris Chen says
Thanks, Natalie. Hope you love it as much as I do (or more)! ๐
Sierra says
I'm dying to read this one!! I loved the first and can't wait to start reading this one, even though I'll apparently die at the end. From what reviews I've read have said. Kinda scared now…
Kris Chen says
Haha… it isn't that bad. It just makes you super want to read book three immediately. (And, okay, maybe die if you don't get it right away.) ๐
Victoria says
I can't wait for this. Great review. The Immortal Rules was so unique and I want more :).
Kris Chen says
Thanks, Victoria! This won't disappoint ๐
Mel@Thedailyprophecy says
I really liked Allie in The immortal rules. One of the reasons why I loved this book so much were the characters and I like the sound from Jackal :D! I. can't. wait!! I need to read this book as soon as possible. Great review.
Mel@thedailyprophecy
Kris Chen says
Jackal is awesome. Hope you enjoy this one, Mel! ๐
Lexxie Lin says
I agree with you about how human Allie seems, even if she isn't actually human at all!
I loved both The Immortal Rules and the Eternity Cure – great books with really good characters.
Great review!
Kris Chen says
Thank, Lexxie ๐