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| TITLE: The Forever Song (The Blood of Eden #3) AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen PUB DATE: Apr 15 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.
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.
- Source: Goodreads
Rating:
“I promised someone I’d keep fighting, and I intend to do that, for however long it takes. No one gets to decide what kind of monster I am but me.”
Can you believe this is book three of The Blood of Eden series? It seems like only yesterday I was reading the first book, The Immortal Rules, when in fact it was two years ago. Not that this has anything to do with the book but – Damn! That makes me feel old!
Let’s get right to the review, shall we?
How does William Congreve’s famous quote from The Mourning Bride go again? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Okay that is the paraphrased one, and technically Allie wasn’t exactly deceived and rejected in love or anything but she did just lose the love of her life, reasonably enough for her to be angry and dangerous to come across. So it was no surprise to find her yearning to get rid of the pain and emptiness she feels within her, err... un-beating heart. Yet in spite of all that, Allie remains the ever strong and resilient self that she was from the start of this series.
In my review of The Immortal Rules, I mentioned that I saw Kanin as a father-figure to Allie. He certainly did seem to be one in this book. As grown up as Allie and Jackal are, their arguments seemed to be like middle grade siblings quarrelling over a toy or the last slice of pizza. Kanin was the parent whose ears have been bleeding out over the shouting and barraging words spewed between them. They seemed like a typical family on a road trip to who-knows-where, only they are in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is almost extinct and well, they’re vampires and they are on a hunt for a psycho vampire out to purge the earth of all its existing inhabitants. Yeah, not typical after all but my point is, the scenarios were both annoying and cute at the same time.
I never thought I’d find myself adoring the raider king even more. He reminded me of Puck from Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series when I first met him, but over the course of his journey with Allie, I’ve come to see Jackal in a more distinct way. He is ruthless and an embodying anti-hero but that doesn’t take away the fact that he still has a sense of humanity within him, albeit a smidge and as much as he tries to deny it.
[...And this is where the spoilers come in. Skip this part if you must.] To be honest, I’m completely torn over Zeke’s fate. Before the final chapter of The Eternity Cure, I was kind of open to see a tragic ending. So I have mixed feeling over finding Zeke un-dead! I can’t exactly say he’s alive, so you get the picture. And then we get hit with Sarren’s impressive, even though it is sick, surprise! And again, I find myself confused whether I want a “love conquers all” scenario or a morbidly tragic romance in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I love Allie and Zeke, Julie’s Blood of Eden world has all the elements to create such a heartbreaking yet justifiable scene. Sure, some readers who loved The Iron Fey series and its ending might go up and start an angry mob if she swings the other way for this series, but I really wouldn’t mind a not-so-happy ending. Although I still do have to admit that I dig how this series ended too. I’m just saying it would have been possible and plausible.
The Forever Song seems to be the goriest of all Julie Kagawa’s books that I have read so far. Some scenes in the book, I imagine, would probably make me heave and throw up considering how grotesque and unappealing they were described, if shown visually. This was incredibly action packed and was gloriously written. Alas, we have come to the end. Even with the uncertainty of how things will unfold after the events of Allie’s story, I was able to find closure with this finale. Still, I wouldn’t say no to another book from this world.
*Thank you, Harlequin Teen, and NetGalley for allowing me to view The Forever Song.
