Review: The Eternity Cure

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is the second book in the Blood of Eden trilogy, a post-apocalyptic young adult vampire thriller/romance.

Laying out the genres like that, it does sound a bit formulaic, and in truth the worldbuilding is a bit lacking. The vampires are, for the most part, your standard ruthless, racist (in considering themselves the top predators, oh-so-superior to humans) bloodsuckers, with the main deviation from legend being that Allison (the main character) can actually see her reflection in the mirror.

That said, the characters are what make this series stand out. Allison Sekemoto, the seventeen-year-old protagonist, chose the vampiric life when she was dying, and struggles with the ramifications of that choice. Sometimes she feels she is entirely a monster, and sometimes she thinks there is a spark of humanity left inside. Her sire, Kanin, comes across almost as an old-fashioned gentleman, thoughtful and courtly. He can be as nasty and ruthless as the rest when he chooses, but like Allison, he is struggling to hold on to a small slice of humanity. Ezekiel Crosse, human and Allison's love interest, is loyal to the human family he left behind in the hidden human stronghold, Eden, but at the same time he wants Allison so much he left Eden and came to the vampire city, New Covington, to find her. (He's also hunting for the cure to vampirism, and its mutated offshoot, Rabidism, which creates mindless vampires that attack and kill both species. In this world, both conditions are brought on by the Red Lung virus that also killed most of humanity.) He comes to completely accept what Allison is, in a sort of reverse Buffy/Angel scenario.

Then there's Jackal, a character you both love and hate at the same time. He's a complex, trash-talking, sarcastic smartass, also sired by Kanin and thus a "blood brother" to Allison, who is dragged along on the quest to recover both Kanin and the cure, kicking and screaming and throwing out quips every step of the way. At the explosive climax, the reader thinks he double-crossed Allison...and maybe he did. Or did he? Jackal alone is worth the price of admission.

It took me a while to get into this book, but I ended up enjoying it. I'll be looking for the third book in the trilogy.



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