April 11, 2014

Book Review: THE FOREVER SONG (BLOOD OF EDEN 3) by Julie Kagawa


Book:  The Forever Song (Blood of Eden Book 3)
Author:  Julie Kagawa
Publisher:  Harlequin TEEN
Genre:  Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

“You are simply using your demon to hide from what you really feel.  Because you are afraid of what that means, that it might be painful.  It is far easier to be a monster than to confront the truth.”- Kanin

“If you don’t want to be a monster, don’t be a bloody monster!... you can stop agonizing about it and be a f***ing monster.  It’s actually a lot of fun.  But for the love of piss, make some sort of decision.  If you don’t want to eat babies and nail bloodbags to walls, that’s your choice.”- Jackal

“I’m going to destroy you Allie because he wanted it to be me.  He wanted you to see me tear the heart from your chest and crush it in my fist.  It will be poetically ironic he said, whatever that means.  So take a good look vampire girl, before I kill you.”- Zeke

Synopsis Via Goodreads:

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

My Summary:

Allie is out for Blood.  She believes the only man she has ever loved, Zeke, has been murdered by Sarren, the psychotic Master Vampire who recently tortured and almost killed her own sire (maker) Kanin.

Together with Kanin and her pain in the ass blood brother Jackal, they set out for Eden where they believe Sarren plans to release a new virus that would spell the end for everyone, vampires and humans alike.

On the way they discover something…..someone….that turns Allie’s whole being upside down.  Is she ready to fully give in to her demons and kill everyone in her path? Or can she spare the one person who can restore whatever humanity she has left? That is, if this person does not succumb to the monster he is created to be.  

My Review:

I have had a copy of The Forever Song for a couple of weeks before I began reading and it took me awhile to finish the book.  

The first chapters were hard to get through, not because it wasn’t written well, on the contrary, it’s wonderful, yet painful for me as a reader because I felt so much of Allie’s anger, her struggles to give in to the monster within and her heartbreak at losing Zeke

Again, I can’t say enough about Julie Kagawa.  Her writing style, the way she tells her story, is just so riveting.  Reading The Forever Song is like watching a movie you wish you could hate, to cover your eyes and just listen to the screams, yet you keep watching with eyes wide open, despite the blood and gore, and hope that there’s happiness in the end.  There is much violence and carnage so perfectly described that I could almost see it.  This world that Kagawa created is complete and it is devastating.


Allie is at her best: Tough, angry, out for vengeance, ready to kill anyone in her path to reach her goal.  Kanin is as always, reserved, contemplative and lethal.  But the biggest surprise for me here was Jackal.  Jackal who was heartless in the first book The Immortal Rules has, not quite softened, but is very different. 

He has a love-hate relationship with Allie, always bickering like real siblings yet there’s something there, an underlying love for the one he shouldn’t care for, the one who could never love him back.  I love his sarcasm, his biting words and his savagery.  The best thing about Jackal is that he never hides what he is.  He has always embraced his monstrous nature and is aghast at Allie trying to do otherwise.  His hateful character becomes lovable.  But that is where Kagawa’s writing prowess comes in.  Only she can make someone so vile be rooted for in the end.

As for Zeke, I shouldn’t say anything….really wouldn’t want to ruin anything…. BUT… if you read the 2nd book, then of course you know Sarren spares him.  But what becomes of him?  Of his forever with Allie? Well….. the thing is……

I seriously can’t share anything else.  Kagawa wove this tapestry so well, you wouldn’t see many things coming at you like a careening train bound for hell.  Because that’s where they are headed…Hell in Eden… And my oh my what a glorious ride it is.  

Before reading The Forever Song, pick up the first two books in the Blood of Eden series:  The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure.  Here are my reviews:



All photos have been lifted from Goodreads.com

2 comments:

  1. Hi Lyn!

    Just wondering what do you do with your books? I can imagine you have a lot already. Do you resell them?

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  2. HI...i keep almost all of my books....and yes i do have a lot...i can't help it... when there's a good book out, i buy even when i already have it in ebook format. i have quite the collection...

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