Book: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Expected Publication is April 30 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Pages:

*The Eternity Cure is an e-book advanced review copy from netgalley.com*

Series: Blood Of Eden #2

Genre: YA Dystopic/Paranormal Vampire

Goodreads|Julie Kagawa’s Website

Summary: 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 really enjoyed The Eternity Cure, and found it a lot more intriguing than The Immortal Rules.  I think it’s because we’ve moved past the world-building and were able to get into the world of New Covington.  I found the new strain of the Red Lung virus really interesting, particularly with the potential cure for it.  I liked how I was completely surprised by it.  It was so unexpected, but also intriguing…and I’m curious about how that cliffhanger ending will change things, because I’m pretty sure that it will.  I was taken off-guard by it, so it will make things very interesting in the next book.

I’m still not sure about Allison as a character.  I still haven’t connected with her the way I thought I would, but she is interesting…and her reaction to…things…will be interesting to see.  We also Kanin and Zeke and Sarren, and their stories are an odd mix of okay and interesting.  I know that might seem weird, but it really is the best way for me to describe it.  Sarren unleashing a strain of the Red Lung Virus to start over and destroy things…I liked it, and it’ll be interesting to see how everyone tries to work against Sarren to cure the Red Lung virus.  Zeke is still an okay love interest, and Kanin…I wanted to care about Kanin, but I found myself not caring about him in The Eternity Cure.

The two characters that I really liked were Jackal and Stick.  Jackal was, well, himself, but him making Allie believe that he was working with Sarren in order for them to get the cure was interesting and unexpected and expected all at the same time.  Plus, Jackal was really entertaining at times, which I didn’t expect.  I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him, so I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Stick’s story…I loved Stick’s story in The Eternity Cure.  We don’t see him after he rats out Allie, and seeing him was a surprise.  He’s now an aide to Salazar, the Prince in New Covington, and we learn why he did it.  He’s a much different character and I do want to see if he’ll make an appearance in any future books in this series.

And because I need to go back to the ending…I won’t spoil it for anyone, but holy cow!  Totally not expected, given something that is promised earlier in the book, but at the same time…I shouldn’t have been surprised by it, and yet I was.  I can’t wait to see what Kagawa does with this…like I said earlier, it will make the next book really interesting.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed The Eternity Cure- I think I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed The Immortal Rules, but for very different reasons.  There were quite a few interesting twists, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!  The Eternity Cure gets 4 stars.

Book: Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine

Published November 2012 by Penguin Group|Pages:416

Source: E-book|Purchased from the Nook Store

Series: Morganville Vampires #13

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampires

Goodreads|Rachel Caine’s Website

Summary: For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas, have managed to co-exist in peace. But now that the threat to the vampires has been defeated, the human residents are learning that the gravest danger they face is the enemy within…

Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires. 

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

I just love this series, and being caught up is a little strange to me.  I’m looking forward to Fall Of Night, but I’m actually really glad I was able to read the first 13 in a pretty quick succession.

So…here we go with the usual stuff I talk about anytime I review a Morganville Vampires book.  The characters are pretty consistent, and even when they do things I don’t expect them to, there is a good reason for why their acting wonky.  Like…Shane reacted to a certain…event…in a way that I would expect.  Did Michael do something I didn’t expect him to?  Of course, but there was a really good reason it.   

Things are also really well-paced, and Caine does a great job (as usual) with building on previous books.

Now that the usual is out of the way…Morganville is very different now.  ID cards for all citizens (but very different depending on whether you’re human or a vampire) and Oliver and Amelie hooking up and a new Captain Obvious…which was surprising in a very unsurprising way.  If that makes any sense…and it might not, because I really don’t want to give that away.

Things do go back to normal- at least, as normal as Morganville gets.  I did find the reaction to Eve and Michael’s marriage interesting, and I also liked that Michael refused to divorce Eve, even though he’ll likely face a very public punishment for going against Amelie’s wishes.  I’m really intrigued by this punishment, which is a surprise that isn’t surprising.

That seem to describe the book really well.  Surprises that aren’t surprising…and Caine does it well.  Like, really well.  I can honestly say that certain things didn’t surprise me, but Caine does in a way that does surprise you.  It’s just one of those things that is impressing me more with every one I read.

The multiple perspectives work great, especially with everything going on.  I really love reading the Myrnin chapters, which really cement my love of Myrnin.  There’s a part of me that wishes Miranda narrated a chapter or two, because her story has a lot of potential.

Final Thoughts:

Bitter Blood is another great addition to this series.  You’d think after 13 books (and counting!) this series would feel tired, but it isn’t.  I just love everything about this book, and I can’t wait to see how things play out for everyone!  Bitter Blood gets 5 stars.