The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) - Julie Kagawa [Review]

This review contains spoilers.

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Series: Blood of Eden #2

Release Date: April 30th 2013

Pages: 446

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis:

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

Review:

This book was a great sequel to 'The Immortal Rules'.

In the end of book 1 Allison leaves Zeke and the other humans behind in Eden to search for her sire Kanin, who is captured by the evil vampire Sarren. The whole book is basically about this search. On her way she joins up with Jackal, her vampire sibling who she previously had a fight with. They have to return to Allie's old city, New Covington, where she meets Zeke again, who has left Eden to search for her. In the city a mutation of the Red Lung virus threathens to kill both humans and vampires, and Sarren is behind it. Now a search begins for both a cure and Kanin. During this search so much happens I can't explain it in less than 10 pages, so I won't :) 

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. 
Allie has grown into an even stronger and better person than in book 1. Even though she is with the bad vampire Jackal, she still keeps her humanity and fights her vampire instincts. She is truly kick-ass and is not afraid to fight for the people she loves. She seems more confident about herself and her vampirism than in book 1, which is great of course. She is absolutely not perfect and that makes her a very likeable heroine.

In book 1 I had a problem with Zeke. I found him naive and dependant on Jeb. This totally changed in book 2. When Allie encouters Zeke again, he has grown stronger, mentally and physically, and he can stand up for himself now. Without Jeb, he is the leader. This role fits him more than the follower.  He sometimes irritated me when he begged for Allie's love again, but that did not weigh up against the major character improvement he has had since book 1.

I really liked Kanin. I liked him already in book 1, but he had so many unresolved mysteries around him, I did not really know him yet. In book 2 the readers get a lot of answers, about his role in the Red Lung virus tests and why Sarren hates him so much. Kanin seems like a wise and calm man, someone who has lived for a very long time. He is one of the good vampires, like Allie, and also a good person.

Jackal was quite funny and unreadable, you never know whether you can trust him or not. He says he hates Kanin, but he still helps Allie search for him. He is definitely not as vicious as he wants everyone to believe. I hope next book we get more character development here.

Sarren did not have much depth in his character. He was only portrayed as pure evil, no other character aspects there. Stick was just an irritation, he could have been left out.

The relationship between Zeke and Allie I found cute and they truly balance each other out, but on the other hand a little irritating. Allie was constantly holding back, since she did not want to hurt him and Zeke was throwing himself at her, because he was not afraid of her. Their honeymoon phase from book 1 was clearly over, and this went on throughout the whole book. It would have been nicer if this could have been toned down a little and if they could just have been happy for a longer time span..

Just as in book 1 everything was described with much precision. I can really appreciate that, it makes you part of the world the characters are living in. The writer has an amazing writing style, that really captures you and does not let go until you finished the book.

Luckily there were not so many needless deaths in this book, which was an improvement from book 1. It was still quite a bloody book, but not as bloody as book 1. Particularly Sarren was very gruesome, I really get nightmares from the things that creep said. 

And the cliffhanger.. I can't tell you how much I loved and hated that cliffhanger. I need the next book, now!

I would really recommend this book to everyone who loves paranormal and dystopian books, which Julie Kagawa has so brilliantly combined in this series.

Stars: 4 out of 5