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Review

“You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster, there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.”

OMG!! What a sensational blend of paranormal, dystopia, minor horror (and general creepiness), and just a little bit of YA romance thrown in! It was really different, and I loved it!

Allie is a ‘Fringer’. She lives on the fringe of a post-apocalyptic, dystopic society where vampires (EVIL vampires… who kill… and are scary… and don’t sparkle) are now in control, and humans are left to live in ruins and are used as ‘cattle’. All humans are supposed to be Registered and regularly bled to feed their vampire masters. For this they are given food and a minor level of security. The Unregistereds are left to fend for themselves, scavenging for food and forming gangs in order to survive. For not only are there vampires roaming the city, drinking and killing indiscriminately, but there are also the much-feared ‘rabids’, diseased, freaky-ass zombie-like creatures that live on the other side of the wall surrounding the city.

Allie is a fantastic heroine! Smart and brave, she does what she needs to do to survive, until one day when desperation leads her outside of the city walls to search for food. This leads to tragic consequences, and an attack which results in Allie needing to make the ultimate decision – die, or live life as a ‘monster’.

“I didn’t want to die. Even if it meant becoming something I loathed, my nature was, first and always, to survive”

Choosing to live, Allie is turned into the very creature she has feared and loathed her entire life – vampire. She is mentored by the quietly mysterious (and quietly awesome) Kanin who teaches her what she needs to know, and shows her how to live her new life. But along with learning the practicalities of all that she is now, Allie struggles with what she has become, and constantly battles between her new base desires and trying to be the kind of person she wants to be.

This is complicated further when she is forced to run and ends up with a group of scavenging humans who are wandering the wilderness in search of the elusive ‘Eden’. Terrified of being exposed, she tries to blend into the group, but keeps herself closed off and secretive – especially from Zeke (second-in-charge to creepy group leader Jeb), who makes it clear that he likes her, and OMG is he gorgeous!!! Allie feels for him as well, but she knows that he will reject her if he ever knew what she truly was, and is horrified by the thought that she could hurt him.

And this is where we get the depth to the story. Yes, it’s a great, romping paranormal tale with a whole lot of action, creepy bad guys and freaky-ass zombie-like creatures, but it has a deeper theme running through it – the battle between what we have been raised to believe and what we feel for ourselves to be true, and the struggle to overcome those ingrained beliefs.

“What’s wrong with me?” he groaned, low and anguished. “I shouldn’t be feeling any of this. Not for a…”
He trailed off, but the word hung between us, raw and painful.”

This aspect of the book is quite emotional, and my heart broke for Allie and all that she went through, trying to hold on to her humanity despite her monster-like nature, and for Zeke, as he fought to overcome all that he had been programmed to believe and trust his feelings for Allie, and who he truly believed her to be. Their romance was slow developing, and didn’t form a huge part of the storyline, but it was important, and beautifully written. And it was a nice change to have the girl as the one who is an all-powerful, badass supernatural, and the guy is the innocent human. I’ve been wanting to read a book with this dynamic for a while, and I really liked it!

With strong paranormal and dystopia elements, great characters (love them, hate them, or be completely creeped out by them), an exciting storyline, and lots of action, this book kept me enthralled. The imagery is fantastic, and I could picture the whole thing in my head while reading. The pacing does slow down somewhat in the middle, but after the exciting beginning, and with the thriller of an ending, it’s all really well balanced.

There is a cliffhanger, but it’s not too painful, as multiple story threads are left hanging. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

4.5 stars

Blood of Eden Series