The Forever Song (Blood of Eden) by Kagawa - Julie (2014) Paperback

pooled ink Reviews:
3.5 Stars

Okay real quick, I've got to be honest and say that there were parts that felt like they sort of dragged a little bit? I don't know...for whatever reason I just wasn't as engrossed in this book as I was with the others.

But overall this was a fantastic YA Paranormal Dystopian trilogy! If you've given up on vampire books or dystopian books then think again. Grab a copy of The Immortal Rules and see if it's for you. It surprised me and I hope more people discover these books and enjoy them as much as I did

THE FOREVER SONG is a startling conclusion to the Blood of Eden trilogy. Intense, full of action and heart, it explores the depths of humanity through the eyes of monsters. When the world is on the brink of destruction it just may be those you least expect who'll pull it through.

**Read the full review on Wordpress: Pooled Ink

The Forever Song was an epic conclusion to the Blood of Eden trilogy! It was filled to the brim with devastation, peril, hope, and I cherished every single page. Even if I had tears in my eyes through parts of those last few chapters. But I didn't want it to end since it contained so much of what I loved in the first two books. Luckily, I know that this series will continue to infiltrate my thoughts for a long time to come.

Allie is a broken, dark, devastated mess, and the ties to her humanity have been shredded. With the death of Zeke, she can no longer be the same girl she was in the past. While refusing to mourn, she gets on the road with her brother, Jackal, and her sire, Kanin. Because while they listened to crazy vamp, aka Sarren, torture Zeke, they heard Zeke give away details to Eden's location. And with Sarren already on the road headed towards the humans safe haven, they have to hurry. If he gets there before them, all hell will break loose and no one will be safe. But the road to Eden is filled with horrors only Sarren could create. And none of them contemplated how much more sick and twisted he could get, because they haven't seen anything yet!

The thing I was the most excited about, because it gave me hope and I need hope, was that Allie and Zeke had to meet again. Well, I at least hoped that much was true. Their love stuck with me because it was pure, dangerous and oh so sweet. I fell madly in love with Zeke and I flew through the pages trying to get to him. But I was scared for their future. Because do you remember the last line in The Eternity Cure? I sure couldn't forget it, and it haunted me. I tried my hardest to figure out what Sarren was up to, and while I got part of it right, I wasn't even close to the other part. Sarren was the perfect villain and while I appreciate the crazy twists he took this story, I kept hoping he would die a miserable death.

But ironically, one of my favorite things about this book was the family aspect between Allie, Jackal and Kanin. I started out the series only liking Kanin and loathing Jackal, but while in the midst of this book I found myself caring for both of them. Deeply. You see, while Jackal and Allie spent time together in The Eternity Cure, he would make me laugh and smile. I didn't want to admit it, but I slowly warmed up to him and his charismatic self. And I loved how him and Kanin treated Allie like family throughout the story. Jackal would bicker and pester Allie, as an older brother should,and Kanin was the parent who would threaten or reprimand them to get along. I can't believe how much their little family made me so happy and warmed my heart. But then I wanted to kick myself because now I cared deeply for Jackal and Kanin and I was terrified what their fate could be!

I'm so sad to see these characters go, but thankfully each of them got the ending they deserved. No matter how heartbreaking or happy it made me, I was thrilled with the way the story ended! This is the second series I have fallen in love with by Julie Kagawa! So it's safe to say that yes, she has become one of my favorite authors. And an author that is now on my auto buy list because her stories are emotional, devastating, heartwarming and I can't wait to see what all of her future books hold!

Allie Sekemoto has struggled with what kind of monster she will be since the moment Kanin turned her into a vampire. Will she retain as much of her humanity as possible or will she give in to her inner demon and be the monster that her blood brother, Jackal, has become. With the apparent death of the one she loved, the one who believed that she wasn't a monster, Zeke, the answer is easy. She's going to give in and be a monster. She will embrace her cold vampire side and, with the help of her blood-brother, Jackal, and her sire, Kanin, she will hunt down Sarren. She has every intention of stopping Sarren from unleashing his virus that will destroy the world and of avenging Zeke's death. She will not give up until she has sent Sarren to his final death. His trail is leading them directly to Eden, that last safe, vampire-free zone, and they must get there in time to stop him. Little do they know that Sarren has one more heartbreaking surprise left for Allie.
In this final installment of The Blood of Eden series, Allie must finally decide once and for all what kind of monster she wants to be, and just how far she is willing to go and what she's willing to sacrifice to save the world. Even if she's successful at stopping Sarren, is it worth it if she will have to spend her forever alone,without the family that she has gained since her death as a human?
I have to admit that I have LOVED this series!! It was well written and I kept finding myself wanting to find out what happened next. I had to begin reading book 3 as soon as I finished book 2. I loved Kanin, and his search for redemption, Allie, with her quest to retain as much of her humanity as possible, and Zeke, with his compassionate, responsible nature. Sarren is the ultimate villain, he was one of those you love to hate kinda deals by speaking in rhymes, and his sheer viciousness. But, out of all of them, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jackal! He comes off as such an a-hole, seems to only look out for himself, but he's there, helping, even when it looks like he's abandoning everyone. He made me laugh so many times. Honestly, I hope they make movies based on this series, partly because I would love to see someone play the part of Jackal. He's such an amazing, dynamic character.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa was an epic adventure filled with heart-stopping moments – as well as some incredibly heart-breaking moments! If tears feed Julie’s muse, then her muse must be well-fed! This book was pretty much the perfect ending to an incredible trilogy. I’m both satisfied with how it ended and deeply saddened that I have to let it go. I’ve grown to love this series and these characters so much.

As a quick side-note.. It’s really, really hard to write a spoiler-free Julie Kagawa review without breaking into gibberish feels and such. So, please forgive me!

Let’s start with Allie. I’ve loved Allie from the beginning. She always exhibited a lot of character growth. She’s a survivor and she does what has to be done. In the beginning of The Forever Song, though, she kind of annoyed me – for the first time ever, pretty much. She was very whiny and had this “pity me” attitude. She had a LOT of inner conflict over things. It really got on my nerves. By the end of the book, though, she was back to being the Allie we all know and love. She reflects a lot on who she was and who she has come to be and I think, through her eyes, we really see how far she has come.

Zeke… I don’t know what I can say without being spoilery. But I love Zeke and there were so many things and feels and… Ugh, I don’t even know! I’m… not happy with what happened to him, but I’m satisfied with the way his story turned out in the end. Yeah, that’s all I can say without spoiling things. Sorry, guys! But this is incentive to read the book!! *Evil grin*

I’m pretty sure Jackal was my favorite part of the story. I love his whitty, sibling-like banter with Allie. I love his little one-liners and quips. I love how far he’s come and how much he’s grown and changed, yet stayed exactly the same as he was. Does that make sense? No? Too bad – read the book!!! You’ll see what I mean! *Another evil grin*

Kanin… Oh boy. Oh boy. All the feels! I don’t even know what to say… I love, love, LOVE Kanin and.. At 13% into the book, I updated my Goodreads status to this: “I love Kanin so much. He’s the voice of reason. But knowing Julie Kagawa… *Shakes head*” — And.. Umm… *Glares at Julie.. Chin trembles.. Shakes fist and runs away*

There were so, so many moments that nearly gave me a heart attack, it’s not even funny. Seriously, sometimes I was afraid to flip to the next page. Julie Kagawa is really great at making you fall in love with her characters… And she’s really great at destroying your soul and bringing on the feels. It’s inevitable, and something I’m always prepared for when I read her books!

On the flipside, I can count on one hand the number of things that annoyed me. Like I said, I wasn’t crazy about Allie’s behavior in the beginning, there were moments with Zeke that made me pout, Kanin…Just..Kanin! And I didn’t like two things that happened near the end, though I completely expected them to happen, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Overall, despite the small handful of things that kind of annoyed me, I loved The Forever Song. With the evil, evil cliffhanger we got in The Eternity Cure, I was desperate to get my hands on The Forever Song and I was definitely not disappointed! I will forever and always be a Julie Kagawa fan – She’s one of my auto-buy authors and I can’t wait for her next book, Talon, to come out!

Another series ender that has unfortunately ended in disappointment for me this year. I found The Forever Song to be, for the most part, incredibly lacking in any sort of plot progress. Basically, there was walking, walking, then they’d fight some rabids, walking, walking, oooh let’s stop to feed on some humans, fight some more rabids, walking, walking.. throw in the occasional snarky comment from Jackal, soap opera style drama and various near death scenarios and that’s The Forever Song in a nutshell. Oh and let’s not forget how they have to save the world. Apparently, saving the world isn’t as exciting as one would think. In addition to the lack of excitement, there was an extreme lack of common sense that made for frequent eye-rolls.

‘What do you mean, when he realized what was happening?”
“This was a trap, Allison.” Kanin looked back at the inferno. “Nothing catches fire that quickly unless it has been doused in something.”

You mean to tell me these idiots with their heightened sense of smell weren’t able to tell that the entire house was drenched in gasoline? I realize their not needing to breathe means they aren’t smelling constantly but you think if they’re entering a house with someone shooting at them from upstairs they’d open up all their sense to check and make sure they aren’t walking into anything disastrous. Like a house drenched in gasoline.

‘The door loomed dead ahead, and I didn’t stop. I didn’t pause to reconsider my plan. Whether I was walking into a trap or straight to my death.’

And that’s the problem I have with Allison; the lack of common sense. She’s constantly trying to prove to herself/everyone around her that she’s a bada** and can handle herself except it’s clear that she’s not. Now, I think I would normally say that this show of weakness is meant to make her likable or relatable or something of the sort, but it came off making her look completely senseless and like a complete imbecile.

Where Allison lacks in common sense she makes sure to make up for it in ANGST. LOTS AND LOTS OF ANGST. When she wasn’t whining about her ‘monster’ she was whining about Zeke or about Sarren or whining about everything being her fault and it was PAINFUL to read. I read the first 1/3 of this book and had to set it aside for a few weeks because it was just too much. I understood in the beginning of this series that Allison would have to go through the inner turmoil of coming to terms with being a vampire that is forced to kill people to survive but I thought we’d be over that by now. Jackal once again made this installment bearable but even he irritated me sometimes. But his sarcastic quips did allow me to finish this and find out the ending to this story. Was it worth it? Sure. Was I disappointed how everything turned out? A bit. See, the ending involves aspects that truly come out of nowhere and only serve to be a convenient solution which kind of felt like a cop out. It also was incredibly predictable and I wasn’t surprised in the least. It could have been done worse though.

Minus the angst and ending cop-outs, there is one aspect of this book that was done extremely well: the atmosphere. Kagawa knocked it out of the park describing this broken and gloomy world. It truly immerses you. If only the characters had been a bit more tolerable. The Forever Song is a satisfying conclusion that answers all the lingering questions but is undoubtedly the least interesting of the series. This is the second series I’ve read of Kagawa’s that has ended up feeling very mediocre for me but I can see this one being a good one for fans of dark, gritty and violent dystopians that are heavy on the romance.

Absolutely brilliant! I adored this series so I had high hopes for the conclusion and it definitely didn't disappoint. It was epic! With secrets, surprises, thrills, and romance, The Forever Song was just amazing. From beginning to end, I was hooked and I loved every bit of it. Perfection!

I absolutely adore the world that Julie created for this book. It was dark and desolate but had hints of hope that people refused to let go. I loved how she portrayed vampires. They were dangerous and bloodthirsty and it was inevitable that every vampire would eventually lose control. But, each vampire could choose which type of vampire they wanted to be in the meantime.

Allie truly proved herself as a strong, clever, and determined heroine in this book. We already knew she was a badass, even downright formidable if you pissed her off, and she proved it even more. What can I say about her? She was awesome. I absolutely loved her in the previous books, and, by the end of this book, I liked her even more.

After how we left Zeke at the end of book 2, I was anxious for him. There were plenty of surprises in store with this poor guy. But, even with the effects of what Sarren did to him, Zeke was still the adorable guy we all love. He was strong and determined to keep his loved ones safe. He broke my heart, made me swoon, and I adored every bit of him.

The romance was wonderful. Allie and Zeke were just so perfect together. I don't want to say to much, because I'm sure I'll end up giving something away, but they were a badass, absolutely wonderful couple.

Kanin and Jackel were both brilliant. I already liked Kanin and he earned my respect as a character in this book. He was determined to make his mistake right, no matter what it cost. Jackel, the adorable bastard that he is, was amazing. He's a horrible person, but it's impossible not to love him. He came with a few surprises as well. There was more to him than he cared to show and we finally see hints of that in this book. Both of these characters were wonderful.

The plot was fast paced and I was utterly hooked the entire way through. There were thrills, secrets, surprises, and, of course, it can't be a Julie Kagawa book without heartbreak and a heartwrenching death. Who will it be? I won't say. You'll have to find out for yourself :) I loved the story and the ending was a perfect conclusion to a brilliant series. I love Julie's books and I can't wait to read more from her.

The Forever Song was absolutely magnificent! I loved this book so much! It was a perfect ending to a fantastic series. With thrills, secrets, surprises, and romance at every turn, this book doesn't disappoint. Fans of the series, you will love this final installment. And, YA lovers, this is definitely a must read series.

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Julie Kagawa is one kick butt chick. Allie is one majorly kick butt chick. Let's just get those two things out of the way right now.

I fell in love with this series within the first handful of pages of The Immortal Rules. Kagawa grabbed my attention with her darkly twisted world and she never let go of it throughout three books. She gives a scary yet unique world, incredibly intriguing characters, horrific situations balanced with some seriously sweet and loving life lessons. Those are things that were continuous throughout the series.

Here is what was new in The Forever Song.

Gore. Vengeance. Retribution. Pure rage.

And I loved every bit of it.

I was discussing how excited I was mid-book with another blogger and she mentioned that 'it does not read like YA.' She could not be more right. It really doesn't.

Allie is heartbroken and has lost all hope in the future, for herself. She is still determined to stop the threat to all humanity but no longer seems to feel the importance of holding on to her own. The Forever Song starts with a whole new Allie and she takes no prisoners.

While I loved that side of Allie, I was afraid I would miss the caring side of her. That was not the case though, because before long Allie faces her biggest challenge to date and brings everything she was before losing her heart, to the forefront.

I expected part of what took place, but I never saw it coming down like it did. Kagawa did a terrific job of pulling my heart out of my chest, squeezing out the last drop of blood, then throwing it into a blender.

I mean that in the most loving way though, because after all that...she pulled the pieces out, carefully bandaged it all together and gave me this amazing story that filled my heart back up with butterflies and sunshine.

Yeah, that.

I always have a hard time reviewing books at the end of a series. I don't want to give any spoilers for those who have not started the series. So, I'll say this. Kagawa delivers one of the best Dystopian Young Adult series with the Blood of Eden series. If you love Dystopian or you love vampires, or both ~ read this series.

The Forever Song is the absolute perfect finish to the Blood of Eden series and not just because it ties everything up brilliantly, but because it is a beautiful book in its own right and I can’t remember the last series I read where the final book is a patch on the others; yet Julie Kagawa amazes me again and I think this is truly the best book in the series which is saying something for a phenomenal series.

All the characters are back with a vengeance and they carried a really dark mood that was ever present, a lot more so than the first two books and they had a lot of dark stuff. It’s safe to say that this is not a light and quirky read, but thrilling and ghastly (in a good way). Basically I loved every second of it.

What’s surprising is that it isn’t just Sarren who darkens the plot, I’ll admit he has a big hand in it with what he leaves in his wake (he could give Voldemort a run for his money), but the constant battle of wills even with themselves plays a big part in the character development for the story. I can’t say much about Allison without spoiling the plot because from the synopsis you see that she has turned to her inner demon, and while it’s true there is a lot more to it and also a lot of change which is all understandable. But what hasn’t changed is she is still the kick-ass heroin everyone knows and loves.

Both her companions, Kanin and Jackal are also back, and I never thought I’d say it but I am so glad! Jackal in particular surprised me because even though you don’t look deeply into it you understand more of his character, and just like Kanin, while a lot of it is face value, there’s more beneath the surface they try to hide even from themselves.

Now onto one of the most important parts; Zeke. After the cliffhanger at the end of The Eternity Cure, it was obvious that his memory was going to influence a lot of the following events and not just Allison’s change of tact, and boy was I right. But I will be horrible and say no more because I refuse to spoil anything and if I started I probably couldn’t stop.

So instead I’ll say that The Forever Song is one hell of an emotional ride so prepare for your heart to be ripped out and salvaged time and time again, because just like we love reading it Kagawa does not lack in writing it.

Posted on: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.co.uk

Sarren is preparing to release a virus that will kill everything -- humans and vampires -- and only three lone vampires can stop him.

Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that. "The Forever Song" is a fast-paced, action-filled story full of blood, and darkness, and concludes Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series in a thoroughly satisfying manner -- think a balanced blend of vampire/zombie horror, a tinge of romance, and plenty of sword-swinging action in a post-apocalyptic world.

Allison, Kanin and Jackal are on the road to find Sarren, battling hordes of rabids and the occasional raider with a sniper rifle. But Allison is beginning to lose herself to the monster inside her, seeing humans only as "bloodbags" -- and it's all because of Zeke's death. As she struggles to keep in touch with her human side, the trio discover that Sarren has taken over Old Chicago.

And she discovers that someone she thought was dead... isn't so dead. Zeke is a vampire... and has been brainwashed by Sarren into trying to kill her. But saving him from Sarren's influence is only the start of Allison's troubles, as she finds that she must save him from his own hatred of what he's become.

"The Forever Song" pretty much confirms that it pays to set aside teen romance in favor of a vampire killing zombielike "rabids" with a katana. There's still romance, of course -- but the bulk of the book is a wild eruption of gore, steel and shadows. And that is why the book is so arresting, especially the prospect of taking down Sarren and saving the world.

Kagawa doesn't shy away from some darker stuff, such as Zeke and Allison temporarily losing themselves to their despair and grief. But she also tries to balance it out with Kanin's lessons about redemption and trying to be the best person you can, despite past mistakes.

She also paints a vivid picture of the world dominated by vampires, such a s a Chicago that is now a ruined, rusty shell of its old self. ("Fish glided past us in large schools, flitting through an eerie underwater world of drowned buildings and submerged roads, rusty cars lining the pavement"). And there's some snarky dialogue from Jackal ("They tend to be irrationally paranoid, and his poetry was about to drive me up a wall").

Angsty vampires tend to be tedious characters, but Kagawa handles it pretty well -- Allison's descent into Frenzy and demonic bloodthirst is pretty chilling, although she seems to get past it a bit quickly. And she's backed by a solid string of characters -- Zeke has been broken and left haunted by what he's become, and only has Allison as a lifeline. Jackal is fleshed out somewhat more, and Kanin's dark arc of sacrifice and struggle comes to a satisfying close.

After a lot of blood, death and mayhem, "The Forever Song" ends the Blood of Eden trilogy in a very satisfying manner -- and it leaves you eagerly anticipating whatever Kagawa has next in store.

Over the past few years I've been reviewing books, I've noticed a pattern: I usually don't read the last book of a trilogy. I almost wish I hadn't read THE FOREVER SONG, because it just wasn't the best end to the series. I feel like I could have stopped with book two, THE ETERNITY CURE, as THE FOREVER SONG was mostly unnecessary. You can predict how the series will end, and the journey to the ending is rather boring at times.

At 393 pages, I swear the book could have been cut in half and told the same story, since so much of it was repetition: tons of travel, tons of rabid attacks, and tons of angst from Allie and Zeke. As with THE ETERNITY CURE, Jackal was the highlight of THE FOREVER SONG for me. I could quote line after line of his dialogue; he's a perfect combination of dry wit, sarcasm, and unabashed vampireness. Unlike Allie, who is *still* adjusting to the fact that she's a vampire and has to drink blood to survive, Jackal would paint a town red. Not in a crazy way like psychotic Sarren, but just because he would enjoy it.

Here's an example, one of many I bookmarked:

"`There you go again.' Jackal sighed from the front. `Getting the puppy's hopes up. More likely, every bloodbag in Eden is screaming and tearing their faces off, but oh, no, no one wants to hear that.' He waved a hand. `So, go ahead, tell him that everything is going to be fine. All the meatsacks are perfectly content on their happy little island, Sarren has given up world destruction to raise kittens, and the magic wish fairy will wave her wand and turn s*** into gold.' (page 235)."

Don't you just love Jackal? I do!

For the climactic book of a series, I guess I expected more than Allie and Zeke spending most of the book angsting over their vampire lives. The cure was almost stupidly simple, and it seems to me it's something where the journey is more important than the end product type of things. But I just wish that journey hadn't included so much traveling and repetition. One of the things that really captured my interest in this series was the bleak, dark, dystopian society Julie Kagawa created. One where vampires were the absolute power, and humans spent all of their time trying to find enough food to eat. I wanted to see more of that, or at least more of Eden, but no. It really felt like 97% of the book was spent on the long, dull road.

In the end, I'm just meh on THE FOREVER SONG. For me, it didn't live up to the first two books in the series. It's not a bad conclusion, but it was just missing *something* for me to feel really good about the end of the series.

NOTE: I received the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

It's quite amazing how each book in this series made me laugh & cry and bite my nails in expectation of what would happen in the next chapter. Yet, The Forever Song was, in a way, so much more intense. It was darker and at times painful to read and stomach, but the sense of hope that lingered on each page was the ray of light that pushed me to read on.

Writing style:
Elegant and enticing, Julie Kagawa has once again crafted a story which is excruciatingly impossible to put down.

Story line:
The final book in the Blood of Eden series, where we see different sides of our favorite characters, we go through events and adventures that have us laughing and crying. The book where love, hatred and hope all come together.

Themes:
- The monster living inside each one of us: can we control it? Do we satisfy it's hunger or find a different way to keep it happy?
- Hatred and revenge: what could come out of such an emotional combination?
- Love can be all forgiving, could be glorious and eternal only if you let it. If you pour your heart in it.
- Hope is ever present. It heals all wounds and brings light where there is none.

Characters:
Alison had me really worried in the first several chapters. The darkness that she'd let loose inside of her threatened to consume the goodness that remained in her vampire heart. But then... when the time came to act out of pure evil, she couldn't make herself do it. I admired her strength and determination to live like a human, despite being in every way a human hunter. Once again, she proved that the monster living in each one of us, that basic evil that dwells in the deepest recesses of our mind and heart, could be put under control.

Jackal had me cracking up half the time, taking a lot of the gritty edge off the story. He also had this extraordinary ability to irritate me (and Alison) with his constant remarks that Alison was being too meek for caring for the 'meatsacks'. But, there was this other, better side of him that poked out in the weirdest of times.

Keenan has always been the vampire with morals, with ancient guilt, with compassion. He lived for ages caring the weight of the doomed world on his shoulders. That's why the moment he saw a chance for redemption, he grabbed it right away. I liked his strength and the confidence he had for Alison. H was a great mentor and I'm sure, even though he didn't much show it, Jackal loved him in his own way.

Zeke appeared almost out of nowhere. I expected him by that point, but gee! Definitely not the way it happened! He was unrecognizable and no wonder – he had spent some quality time with that looney dude Sarren. For quite some time I thought the real Zeke won't ever come back. I thought (and cried about it) that the Zeke I knew from books one and two was lost forever. Thank Julie that she isn't so cruel.

Sarren, that psychotic lunatic, made me want to be sadistic for a chance. Toward him that is. I wanted to drag him for his non-existent hair and put him through the worst tortures human kind had ever thought up. He did not deserve to die like he did. It was way too peaceful. For all things he did, all the people he killed and tormented... he deserved to suffer a hundred painful deaths.

In conclusion:
A master of prose, Julie Kagawa has once again delivered a story of quality and meaning. The dark edge of her Blood of Eden series is impossible to ignore and I recommend it to lovers of gritty YA books.

Over the past few years I've been reviewing books, I've noticed a pattern: I usually don't read the last book of a trilogy. I almost wish I hadn't read THE FOREVER SONG, because it just wasn't the best end to the series. I feel like I could have stopped with book two, THE ETERNITY CURE, as THE FOREVER SONG was mostly unnecessary. You can predict how the series will end, and the journey to the ending is rather boring at times.

At 393 pages, I swear the book could have been cut in half and told the same story, since so much of it was repetition: tons of travel, tons of rabid attacks, and tons of angst from Allie and Zeke. As with THE ETERNITY CURE, Jackal was the highlight of THE FOREVER SONG for me. I could quote line after line of his dialogue; he's a perfect combination of dry wit, sarcasm, and unabashed vampireness. Unlike Allie, who is *still* adjusting to the fact that she's a vampire and has to drink blood to survive, Jackal would paint a town red. Not in a crazy way like psychotic Sarren, but just because he would enjoy it.

Here's an example, one of many I bookmarked:

"`There you go again.' Jackal sighed from the front. `Getting the puppy's hopes up. More likely, every bloodbag in Eden is screaming and tearing their faces off, but oh, no, no one wants to hear that.' He waved a hand. `So, go ahead, tell him that everything is going to be fine. All the meatsacks are perfectly content on their happy little island, Sarren has given up world destruction to raise kittens, and the magic wish fairy will wave her wand and turn s*** into gold.' (page 235)."

Don't you just love Jackal? I do!

For the climactic book of a series, I guess I expected more than Allie and Zeke spending most of the book angsting over their vampire lives. The cure was almost stupidly simple, and it seems to me it's something where the journey is more important than the end product type of things. But I just wish that journey hadn't included so much traveling and repetition. One of the things that really captured my interest in this series was the bleak, dark, dystopian society Julie Kagawa created. One where vampires were the absolute power, and humans spent all of their time trying to find enough food to eat. I wanted to see more of that, or at least more of Eden, but no. It really felt like 97% of the book was spent on the long, dull road.

In the end, I'm just meh on THE FOREVER SONG. For me, it didn't live up to the first two books in the series. It's not a bad conclusion, but it was just missing *something* for me to feel really good about the end of the series.

NOTE: I received the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

It's quite amazing how each book in this series made me laugh & cry and bite my nails in expectation of what would happen in the next chapter. Yet, The Forever Song was, in a way, so much more intense. It was darker and at times painful to read and stomach, but the sense of hope that lingered on each page was the ray of light that pushed me to read on.

Writing style:
Elegant and enticing, Julie Kagawa has once again crafted a story which is excruciatingly impossible to put down.

Story line:
The final book in the Blood of Eden series, where we see different sides of our favorite characters, we go through events and adventures that have us laughing and crying. The book where love, hatred and hope all come together.

Themes:
- The monster living inside each one of us: can we control it? Do we satisfy it's hunger or find a different way to keep it happy?
- Hatred and revenge: what could come out of such an emotional combination?
- Love can be all forgiving, could be glorious and eternal only if you let it. If you pour your heart in it.
- Hope is ever present. It heals all wounds and brings light where there is none.

Characters:
Alison had me really worried in the first several chapters. The darkness that she'd let loose inside of her threatened to consume the goodness that remained in her vampire heart. But then... when the time came to act out of pure evil, she couldn't make herself do it. I admired her strength and determination to live like a human, despite being in every way a human hunter. Once again, she proved that the monster living in each one of us, that basic evil that dwells in the deepest recesses of our mind and heart, could be put under control.

Jackal had me cracking up half the time, taking a lot of the gritty edge off the story. He also had this extraordinary ability to irritate me (and Alison) with his constant remarks that Alison was being too meek for caring for the 'meatsacks'. But, there was this other, better side of him that poked out in the weirdest of times.

Keenan has always been the vampire with morals, with ancient guilt, with compassion. He lived for ages caring the weight of the doomed world on his shoulders. That's why the moment he saw a chance for redemption, he grabbed it right away. I liked his strength and the confidence he had for Alison. H was a great mentor and I'm sure, even though he didn't much show it, Jackal loved him in his own way.

Zeke appeared almost out of nowhere. I expected him by that point, but gee! Definitely not the way it happened! He was unrecognizable and no wonder – he had spent some quality time with that looney dude Sarren. For quite some time I thought the real Zeke won't ever come back. I thought (and cried about it) that the Zeke I knew from books one and two was lost forever. Thank Julie that she isn't so cruel.

Sarren, that psychotic lunatic, made me want to be sadistic for a chance. Toward him that is. I wanted to drag him for his non-existent hair and put him through the worst tortures human kind had ever thought up. He did not deserve to die like he did. It was way too peaceful. For all things he did, all the people he killed and tormented... he deserved to suffer a hundred painful deaths.

In conclusion:
A master of prose, Julie Kagawa has once again delivered a story of quality and meaning. The dark edge of her Blood of Eden series is impossible to ignore and I recommend it to lovers of gritty YA books.

**** Please note this will have spoilers for The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure ****

The conclusion in the Blood of Eden trilogy, The Forever Song does not disappoint. Good golly what a book! I loved The Iron Fey series and Julie Kagawa is just fabulous. I couldn’t wait to read the vampire series from her and it was so different from anything I’d read previously. Of course Ms Kagawa’s writing style is amazing and has such an easy flow. Allison’s character questions her ability to love when she doesn’t have a soul, but she does know she loves Zeke.

Allison Sekemoto died when she was seventeen and was brought into the realm of vampires by Kanin. Kanin offered Allie the opportunity to become immortal, but at a price. She accepted at the time and didn’t want her existence to end, but it hasn’t been easy. Kanin is like a father figure and he also created another, Jackal, which in effect is like her brother. Together the three have a bond and are able to feel each other’s location or if they are distressed.

The race is on to catch up to Sarren. He has the new strain for Rabidism and is planning to unleash it upon the world. He is a crazy vampire determined to destroy mankind, but he’s always one step ahead of the unlikely hunting trio. The trio are on the right path, following clues that Sarren is leaving behind. An old friend is behind the traps and Allie seems to be getting herself injured at every turn, but the trio are still determined to catch up to Sarren and stop him.

Heading toward Old Chicago, Allie is still fighting with her monster. She doesn’t want it to control her, she doesn’t want to lose what little humanity she has left. Hoping to get help from Jackal’s army in Old Chicago they are hopeful, but what they aren’t prepared for is a whole lot of trouble.

Will they survive the traps Sarren has set along the way? Can they catch up to him? Will they save Eden? Is there really a cure for Rabidism? Will Allie keep what little humanity she has left or succumb to the monster?

This has to be my favourite of the series, but I am very sad to see it end. I would love to see a spin-off series with Jackal and read all about his adventures. The Forever Song has bits of everything from romance to betrayal, mystery to adventure and family loyalty. I highly recommend this series to all young adult readers, this has something for everybody.

Wow. Just... WOW. I mean, this book was... wow. As you can see, I'm still having a bit of trouble finding accurate words to describe how much I loved the final book in the Blood of Eden series. It had absolutely everything I needed, including some things I didn't even know I needed, to make for the most stunning conclusion to a series that I've read in a long time.

Ali is struggling with maintaining her humanity after the events of the first two books. I mean, hey - who wouldn't? Sarren has tormented her in the absolute worst way - or so she thought. In actuality, the worst is still to come, and when his master plan comes to light, it leaves Ali and those she cares about racing to beat the clock in order to save everyone on the Earth.

Ali is the most amazing heroine ever. She is incredibly strong - and I'm not just talking about physically. She has been through some truly awful stuff, and despite struggling, she never, ever gives up. She sets a goal, and she goes after it until she's done. Ali is a vampire, so she's pretty rough around the edges. She's hardened and jaded and, especially in the beginning of The Forever Song, downright scary.

It was hard to read those beginning few chapters. We've seen Ali struggle to keep a firm grasp on her humanity despite Jackal's constant poking at her to embrace her inner monster, and the Hunger that is always, always there, reminding her that she's not the human she used to be. When she believes she's lost the one person who loved her anyway - and that she loved back - she doesn't think there's any reason to try so hard anymore. To read about Ali giving up and becoming the monster absolutely broke my heart.

The event to finally bring her back to her former self was so poignant, it brought tears to my eyes. It also brought home the fact that Kanin is there when she needs him the most, like a father-figure. And, his council is needed so many times over the course of the book. The differences between Kanin and Jackal are stark. Where Kanin is supportive, Jackal is combative. Kanin builds up and Jackal delights in wearing down. Kanin is nice. Jackal is... not.

But, the one thing that Jackal IS is hysterical. Thank goodness for his presence in The Forever Song, because this was a dark and heavy book. His snark and antagonistic personality added some much needed lightness. And, as it turns out, Jackal also added some good insight and a bitch slap to the head when it was needed. He's surprisingly insightful when he wants to be.

The biggest question when I started the book was, what happened to Zeke? His fate was somewhat ambiguous at the end of The Eternity Cure, and we do have to wait a few chapters to find out what he's doing now. And, although I had guessed it to some degree, there was still SO MUCH that I didn't see coming. Zeke's situation was so far beyond frustrating and it had me torn up in knots for a long while.

The four of them chase Sarren across the terrain as he heads toward Eden with a crazy deadly virus. He is constantly one step ahead of them with barricades and psychological mind screws. I have never wanted to see a bad guy bite it more. The final showdown is suspenseful and impressive and scary and completely awesome. I loved every second.

The ending - of both the series and the book - was absolutely perfect. There was heartbreak and destruction and death and hope - it was epic. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is in the mood for a darker vampire tale with a romance that you can write home about. And, for a change, the ending of this series was satisfying to the enth degree.

Allison Sekemoto has been though a lot in the past year. From being a Fringer, always hungry and scared of being caught, to being Turned, because her only options were Vampireism or death. Allie has also lost the boy who saw her as more than just a monster but as someone worthy of love. With an evil and psychotic Sarren on the loose, Allie along with blood brother Jackal and Master Vampire Kanin have to stop him before he releases a virus which ends the world as we know it.

The Forever Song is the final book in the Blood of Eden series and one I’ve been waiting on for a while. I’ve come to really enjoy Ms. Kagawa’s characters and had high expectations for just how this series was going to come to an end.

After the events in The Eternity Cure, Allie has had enough. Trying to be a vampire Kanin’s way just isn’t working and her heart just can’t take being broken any further. Embracing the cold vampire monster inside seems to be working out well for Jackal and it would certainly save Allie from having to feel how she does at the moment. I like how much Allie has grown since the start of the series. She’s always been street-smart but she’s not invincible despite her vampireism. She is strong yet fragile, caring yet maintains the ability to be clinically detached when she has to. She does at times let her heart reign over her brain but that ability to not be ruled by logic is what sets Allie apart from other vampires. That said, there were times when I felt she was a little to angsty and I never believed Allie would let her personal problems over shadow the big picture.

Allie, Jackal and Kanin make an odd little group but they work well together. Kanin the father who has grown weary after having to listen to his children squabble with the other two needing someone to argue with either for entertainment purposes or so they don’t dwell on just how much of a suicide mission they are on. They definitely put the “fun” in “dysfunctional” but they are a family, not from birth but their blood connects them. The three being together on their mission and their interactions were a highlight of this book.

There are a lot of surprises and some not-so surprising revelations in this book. I’m very glad I read it. The dark and creepy atmosphere was spot on and is one of the things which is consistently amazing throughout the series. I felt like the ending was a little too neat and somewhat unrealistic considering everything that had led up to that point. Jackal remains one of my favourite characters and it was nice to see his development over the three books.

If you’re a fan of the Blood of Eden series, I strong recommend this book. It’s nice to spend more time with characters and be drawn into the dark and mysterious world Julie Kagawa has created. This series is one of my favourite vampire ones in the Young Adult realm with the monsters being truly horrifying and the romance being heartfelt. This series is the first I’ve read by Kagawa and I enjoy her writing style. I’ll definitely be reading more by her in the future.

I absolutely enjoyed this final installment in the Blood of Eden series and I think that Julie did a fabulous job at wrapping the series up. The loose ends were tied up and I was swept away in an action packed finale that had my blood pumping. There were fight scenes galore, twists along the way and a few swoon moments thrown in that had me fist pumping the air!!

If you haven't read the first books in this series, I suggest you do so, as they all lead to this final show down. I once again journeyed over the broken country, fighting rabid's, raider’s and listened to Jackals constant jabs. Although I must say, for an evil raider king, I really liked him. Kanin is a great role model for her too. He was her maker, and saw potential in Allie right until the end. Together, these three vampires make an unstoppable and determined family.

Allison was such a great, resilient character. She has been through so much throughout this series but manages to soldier on. She has managed to keep the monster at bay so far, and wants vengeance after the conclusion of the last book. Watching Allie develop more as a vampire had me excited too. She stepped up when needed and managed to come back from the brink when she was ready to give in. Her family and travel companions keep her grounded as they hunt down Sarren, and I am glad they were able to band together for the final journey.

Although I had some predictions about the ending, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. The plot had plenty of twists, some that had me gasping, others that brought tears to my eyes, and Jackals humour and blunt words had me laughing. I am happy about the way this story was completed and was impressed by another of Julie's series. She has a style of writing that manages to draw you into her amazing world of characters that you become passionate about. Bring on the next Iron Fey book and Talon, a new series coming soon!!

Complimentary copy provided by the Publisher, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read The Forever Song because I loved the first book in the series, and can't wait to see the culmination of the work and world building in this final installment. Allie really got to me and with her loss and heart set on vengeance, I'm eager to see how this will ultimately transform her even further and what surprises Ms. Kagawa has up her sleeve for us readers.
While I enjoyed the first part, I feel like a lot of it was repetitive. Allie is giving in to the monster, rationalizing her way into becoming numb and shutting down every last bit of her humanity to forget the pain and don a devil may care attitude. Which, I know, is not going to last. This book has ultimately been about her overcoming, putting others and greater good ahead of what she desires. It has been a story of her feelings, of not letting the darkness win, and of light in the dark hopeless world that she was born into. And while I understand where she is coming from with trying to let the monster take over, and give it to the hunger and the chaos--she has seen a lot and been through a lot of pain including watching the boy she loved die. So, we get a lot of her internal monologue and some banter with her and Jackal to keep things entertaining.
Of course she has her breakthrough that she still has that spark in her and that she doesn't want to give her life to the darkness, and it really was the powerful and first turning point of the story. The scene could not have gotten to her on a deeper emotional level, and it made me cheer to see her turning around and back into the character that I so admired.
The Forever Song had a lot of travel, dialogue and in it, some action thrown in. It also held some surprises and twists. One of which I almost knew for certain, I just wasn't sure how it would happen and what would trigger it as well as Allie's response. But I think that one of the things that left me the most satisfied besides seeing Allie prevail and begin to change not only herself but the world one step at a time was Kanin's story arc. He has done so much that he regrets, but he always was trying to be about balance once he saw the way he'd messed up. He would feed from a human and then stack their wood and leave them meat for a day. He tried to mentor and teach Allie what he knew. He cared for Jackal no matter how far to the left of Kanin's views he went. But I love his ending--the balance, his peace and a way for redemption.
I think that it wrapped up well and I can't really place many complaints on the story besides maybe repetition and my frame of mind. I cannot think of a better way for it to end and I am not sure why I didn't completely fall for it like I did the first book.

Bottom Line: Content with the wrap-up, but felt repetitive at times.

I've really enjoyed this series by Julie Kagawa. When I first read The Immortal Rules, I loved how unique the premise was. A dystopian world controlled by vampires? Heck yeah! It was cool to see a world where humans were inferior to vampires and were forced to live and obey by THEIR rules. We have watched Allie transform in front of our very eyes from a girl living on the edge of society to a really kickass vampire who is determined to fight the monster within and not let it strip her of her humanity. The events from the end of The Eternity Cure really set quite a bit in motion for Allie and she'll have to figure out how far she'll go to seek revenge or if she'll lose herself in the process....

Pacing: Part One was really slow going for me. I had trouble concentrating, as there just wasn't much going on. After that I found I had no trouble reading the book, even with its predictability.

Storyline: I obviously won't reveal too much here, as this is the final book in the series. Allie is really struggling with her identity, as the events at the end of The Eternity Cure have really changed everything for her. Watching her lose sight of everything she has worked to gain and what Kanin has taught her was really hard, as she fought so hard to not succumb to the monster within. I felt a lot of things that occurred in this final book were pretty predictable and I won't lie. I was relieved at some of that predictability because otherwise I would've been a hot mess over this book. Kagawa did still deliver a few heart-stopping moments that really made me cringe in fear of what direction she would go. I do feel Kagawa did a good job of wrapping up her series and tied up all loose ends and questions I may have previously had.

Characters: As I said, we see a very different Allie at the start of this book. It's a bit hard to swallow considering how much time Kanin and Zeke spent guiding and teaching her. She is really a shell of who she used to be and is determined to end Sarren and make him pay. Kanin is still as stoic as ever. He has such a powerful, quiet presence. He is disappointed that Allie is choosing to give in to the monster and not fight it. But when you have nothing left to fight for.... I've always liked Kanin's character, even though he is harder to read. He feels so much guilt and shame for the past and it's something that weighs heavily on him everyday. He does not want to see Sarren succeed in ridding the world of the human race and so he will push forward to make things right.

Jackal is also back in this book and I have to say, I really love his character. He's a lot of fun and really does a great job of providing comedic relief. His back and forth jabs at Allie are great and had me chuckling. Jackal has not proven to be the most trustworthy of allies, and we still spend a lot of time wondering what his ulterior motives are and whether or not he will betray his kin at the last moment.

There are other characters that I can't really discuss without spoilers, so I won't, but I will say at 70% I had a huge grin on my face and all felt right in the world, considering the odds of survival were NOT in their favor.

Final Thoughts: I think fans of this series will be quite satisfied with the way it ended, and I felt the events that transpired HAD to happen and I had a feeling they were coming, as much as I didn't want them to. I really like that Kagawa did not hold back either. The world is a barren, ravaged wasteland where rabids are running rampant and it really is all about survival. There are some pretty gruesome, grotesque parts and I really commend her for staying true to the darker nature of this novel.

I’m going to start this review off by saying, “I freaking called it when I said that Zeke wasn’t dead.” It’s just that there’s no way that the author is going to kill of the main love interest in the middle of the series without a really good reason. I just knew that Zeke was alive. I knew it. Okay, I’m done gloating.

This was a highly anticipated 2014 release for me, so forgive me when I say that I was disappointed. I read The Forever Song in two days, but there were many slow parts. Forgive me, but in my opinion The Forever Song lacked the qualities that made me love The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure so much. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of action in The Forever Song, which I loved, but it just wasn’t enough for me. My biggest problem with this book would have to be the pace. The plot was nonexistent for the first 20% of the novel or so.

My second biggest problem with The Forever Song would have the be the angst level. Allie and Zeke need to realize that they both love each other and they they’re going to be happy together. They need to stop complaining. They had some cute moments in this novel, but the majority of the time Zeke was sulking and Allie was making idiotic decisions based on Zeke’s benefit.

Jackal and Kanin will remain my favorite characters in this trilogy. I love that Jackal calls Zeke ‘Puppy.’ It’s so incredibly cute.

I felt the end of The Forever Song was fitting. The title matches the book’s purpose, which is great. Although the end made me sad, it wasn’t exactly a tear-jerker, per se. (Then again, I don’t cry very often…) I think Kagawa handles endings well, which I appreciate. I love good series endings.

In conclusion, this book had flaws, but the characters make up for the majority of those flaws. I’ll miss Jackal since I won’t be reading about him anymore, but that’s okay. Kanin will always have a place in my heart. I have to admit that I think less of Zeke after The Forever Song, but that’s just me. I don’t enjoy angsty teens in apocalyptic novels.

The Forever Song is definitely worth it though if you need to finish the series. I find it a great finale. Not particularly the strongest in the trilogy, but it was well worth the read. I’m honored to have made the acquaintance of Jackal, Kanin, Allie, and Zeke. (Sarren? Not so much.)

Contains spoilers for book 1 & 2.

I was really excited about The Forever Song and reading the conclusion to Kagawa’s epic vampire read but sadly, I found myself disappointed.

Throughout her journey, Allison has struggled to come to terms with the fact that she’s a vampire, who causes harm to humans. At the start of this book, she lets herself go and becomes a demon, wreaking havoc to everyone around her. Then she retreats into an angst ridden pity party. After hearing her whining about being a vampire with morals and sticking to her guns in the first 2 books, I wanted more maturity and character development out of her.

We do encounter Zeke, but I wish we didn’t because he’s become even more depressing and whiny than Allison is. Remember Allison in the first book? Zeke is worse than that, and with the pair reunited the whole book morphs into emotional drama central. The first half of the book moves at an agonising pace with all of this happening, and here I was tapping my fingers going “come on people, we have an evil vampire to apprehend”.

Thankfully, Jackal steals the show again with his witty comments and snarky humour. He’s one of the most entertaining, charismatic characters I’ve come across and his evil tendencies mixed with his dry humour is hilarious.

There is plenty of action thankfully, filled with beheading, blood and katana wielding. The rabids are becoming more powerful than ever before which gives our vampire party a chance to show us their stuff and they let loose and limbs fall all over the place.

The biggest disappointment for me however? The Forever Song is filled with conveniences. Conveniences in terms of the romance, face-off with Sarren, and the disease and cure. After the slow first half, the end picks up really quickly but it all felt really rushed, with big reveals and everything happening at once. One incident to do with Allison in particular, we had no prior knowledge or build up of it whatsoever, and I felt like it was put in just to make the whole book wrap up neatly with a bow.

I’m all for happy endings, but The Forever Song’s one felt too rushed and convenient for me. Nonetheless, with a kickass katana wielding vampire, a lovely romance, and of course, awesome secondary characters like Jackal and Kanin, I enjoyed the trilogy as a whole.

Check out happyindulgencebooks.com for more reviews!

Read from April 02 to 03, 2014

Book Info
Kindle Edition, 416 pages
Expected publication: April 15th 2014 by Harlequin Teen
ASIN B00I66AAFA
edition language English
series Blood of Eden #3
characters Allison Sekemoto, Kanin, Jackal
other editions (7)
Source:Netgalley EARC

Book Buy Links
the store
B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS

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 Thoughts

In the previous book we are left reeling from the loss of Zeke Crosse and Allison is totally devastated. Now she, her maker and mentor Kanin and her blood brother Jackal are hot on the trail of bloody carnage that Sarren left in his wake on his way to Eden.

The trio are committed to ending Sarren’s undead life before his deranged dream is brought to life and the world of humanity once again faces a plague of horrible proportions!

As someone who has enjoyed this trilogy since it’s beginning it is indeed sad to see it end. However if one has to say goodbye than we could not have hoped for a better way to go, the non-stop action is bloody and violent, the interchanges between Allison and Kanin and Jackal prove that even a dysfunctional family is still better than being alone and the shocking twists that are unveiled enrich the dynamics that make these vampires come across as heroic even though we are fully aware that they can also commit acts so foul that redemption for them seems beyond hope.

This time it is not a matter of just surviving for Allison Sekemoto, it is a matter of choosing to survive without becoming the very thing she is hunting. The path she must take on her journey is not easy by any means but since first becoming a vampire Allison has proven over and over that she never gives up no matter how much she really wants to.

I feel that the ending was really a new beginning for Allie, a beginning that will take her to places she never expected to go and allow her to finally live up to the destiny that she only glimpsed in Eden. Not sure when the author will release her next book in her newest series but I know that it will be exciting and cannot wait to read it!

Powerful imagery and wonderful end to a wonderful trilogy!
[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]

The Forever Song is an incredible conclusion for the amazing Blood of Eden trilogy! Julie Kagawa is an excellent story teller and I really love her writing and and the way she tells Allison Sekemoto's story and this time she had a surprise up her sleeve, yes! I was surprised and confused, but it was a good twist in the story.

This book picks up where The Eternity Cure end, Allison along with Kanin (her creator and mentor) and Jackal (her vampire brother whom enjoys to banter with her) are on the trail of the psycho vampire Sarren, he's on his way to Eden, the last city not dominated by vampires and where all residents are humans, with the purpose of launching a deadly virus that affects both humans and vampires. Since Sarren envisions or dreams that the world needs healing and for this to happen it is necessary to annihilate humans and vampires alike for a fresh start. So Allison and company are trying to intercept Sarren before he gets to Eden, but Sarren has many surprises and roadblocks in order to delay them or stop them.

At the beginning of the book Allison has only one thing in mind ..... REVENGE ....no matter the consequences.... she'll kill Sarren, and if by killing him she saves Eden, good for her, if not ... is not her problem any more. Because of what happened at the end of The Eternity Cure, she no longer see the world with the same eyes and the internal battle she had since the first book ..... her struggle to not to lose her humanity, to not let the monster inside her win, it doesn't matter to her anymore, that's why in the first part of the book we see a darker Allison that's trying to embrace her vampire nature (to Jackal's delight and Kanin's disappointment).

Something that enjoy very much was the interaction between Jackal and Allison because they spend fighting and arguing all the way to Eden and I loved when Kanin intervenes ( since he is a vampire of few words and usually just says "Allison" to stop the discussion), I applaud Julie's achievement in making me liked the villain from the first book (I really hated Jackal in the Immortal Rules) and I ended up waiting for his sarcasm, funny moments; and that without him being the good vampire of the story , because Jackal never hides what he thinks of the human and shows no remorse for his actions. And because I don't want to spoil anyone that is all I'm gout to say about the plot.

Overall, The Forever Song is an AMAZING book! I loved everything about this book, the twists and turns, the emotional part of the plot, the funny parts and I LOVED the ending (I'm very happy with it). The Blood of Eden trilogy has become one of my favorites of all time.

The dystopian vampire trilogy Blood of Eden that began with The Immortal Rules and continued with The Eternity Cure, not counting the prequel novella Dawn of Eden set some sixty years before, comes to its by now expected shattering conclusion. It begins with the vampire hating vampire, Allison (Allie) Sekemoto, her rescued "sire", Kainan, and her very nearly insufferable "blood brother", Jackal, in hot pursuit of the psychopathic vampire, Sarren, who has killed the human boy she loved, Zeke, and is apparently planning to release a new and deadlier virus that will essentially exterminate all remaining humans and vampires. It ends with gut wrenching surprises, some of which I guessed, some of which I missed.

The death of Zeke very nearly drives Allison to do what up until now she has utterly refused to do: to give in to the temptation to become the monster she has refused to for so long, to the disappointment of her sire and to the sick joy of her blood brother, but in the end she just cannot,... or rather, will not.

Clinging to her new resolve Allison faces the toughest challenge when she comes face to face with Sarren's sickest joke of all, but her gamble on heart not head pays off, and she gains an important advantage for the final showdown in Eden. The price to be paid will be high, but Allison perseveres in her ideals to the very last twist.

A triumph!

Note: This book contains a preview of the first book in Ms. Kagawa's next series, The Talon Saga: Talon.

This series is one of those that just gets better with each book. I actually was not the biggest fan of The Immortal Rules and debated on even continuing the series. Thankfully I have a wonderful blogging Wifey who convinced me that The Eternity Cure was really good and she was sure I’d love it. As usual, she was right and that book made me love the series. I am so glad I didn’t give up on it because I ended up really enjoying it and it would have been a shame for me to miss out on.

Allie has come a very long way since book one. I struggled with her a lot in the beginning, but I came to love her and I was proud of her. She makes tough choices and she isn’t perfect, but she tries. She tries to be a good person and do what is right, even though that pretty much goes against her nature.

Now I have to talk about the secondary characters. Honestly, they make the books for me and are who I am most invested in. When it comes down to it, I care more about Kanin and Jackal than I do Allie. I don’t know why, but it’s the truth. Jackal is hands down my favorite of them all. I love that he is just unashamed of what he is and a true vampire; but deep down he isn’t a full blown monster and he still has some humanity. His crude humor is absolutely hysterical and I just love how inappropriate he is. Then Kanin I have loved from the beginning. He was what I enjoyed most in The Immortal Rules and that held true throughout the series. He is so strong and serene and just good. He sees something in Allie and brings out the best in her.

I also love how well this series combined vampires with dystopia. The world is scary and messed up, just like I want in a dystopian, but the vampires are also awesome. These are real, scary, I will eat you vampires and they are not toned down. They are not glorified and even the good ones have to battle the darkness constantly.

While I enjoyed this on a whole, there was one thing that bugged me. Unfortunately I can’t discuss this because of major spoilers. So I’ll just say this: a certain someone needed to put on his/her big girl/boy panties.

All in all, The Forever Song was a strong conclusion to the trilogy and I am happy with the way it all wrapped up. Julie Kagawa delivered again.

While I have thoroughly enjoyed this vampire series by Julie Kagawa, I have to admit that this final installment didn’t stand up to my expectations. Sequels and final installments are always extremely difficult to craft, and while Kagawa’s novels are always very well written, this one was just a tad too predictable and repetitive for my liking. Though action packed, I felt that every fight scene was the same as the many that came before it, with Allie slicing through rabids, getting knocked down, nearly succumbing to her enemies, and finally triumphing. After a while, these scenes became longer, more drawn out, and overly predictable.

Likewise, the truth of Zeke’s death is also predictable, and while I was glad to find I was right in my speculations, I wanted the truth to be a little more spicy—to throw me for a loop, blindside me, make me gasp. But it didn’t. Instead, the novel carries extremely depressing undertones, and with two of the main characters constantly contemplating death and wishing to no longer exist, fighting themselves and everyone else around them, I found myself feeling depressed as well. While the tasks and overall plotline of this final installment is certainly not supposed to be one of cheer, the mopiness of the characters and situations became a bit overbearing and draining as I read. It is definitely a darker tale, and the characters have much to prove and learn about themselves as they attempt to save humanity and stop a sociopathic vampire.

And yet, this novel really encompasses the idea of coming of age, facing our fears, and doing what is right, even when we know it’ll be near impossible to achieve. Though the repetitious fight scenes and predictability bogged me down a bit, I found the character’s struggles with themselves to be completely believable. Allie has grown a lot in the year since she’s become a vampire, and she’s struggled much. With the possibility of a new, even more deadly virus on the horizon, and a psychotic vampire always one step ahead of the gang, the events unfold quickly and do keep reader attention for much of the novel. Though it’s not the final installment I was expecting, I still liked it overall.

The Forever Song is the riveting conclusion to the Blood of Eden series that is sure to have you on the edge of your seat with your heart in your throat!

Just like The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure, the latter of which I thought might literally kill me, The Forever Song is filled with moments that will make you laugh out loud and others that will break your heart in only the way that Julie Kagawa can. (If you're me, this means one of two things: Either you get caught pleading out loud with the book, or you have to go hide in the bathroom because you hate crying in front of others.)

One of the things that I so enjoy about Julie's writing, besides her amazing world-building and releatable characters, is her ability to make hope shine through even the most hopeless of situations. This is true of Allie, who, despite all the odds stacked against her, never gives up hope. Ever. Not for the future, which looks pretty grim for everyone, or the people around her even when it would be safer to do so.

Julie's knack for infusing humor into intense and often gory scenes is highly entertaining as well, especially since you don't realize she's just stabbed us in the feels until it's too late. (By "us", I mean, character and reader, because let's face it, we're all in this together.) And though she has the tendency to make it seem as if we're on an extended vacation in the pit of pain and suffering, she never leaves us there. She always brings us out the other side and her reasons for doing what she did makes sense.

The Forever Song truly is one of the best final books there is! Bravo, Julie Kagawa! And yeah, I'm sad to leave this world and these characters, a few of whom I never expected to care about, (Jackal, I'm looking at you.) I am VERY excited for Talon!

Favorite Quote(s): "Do not lose hope, Allison." He bowed his head, his next words so soft I barely caught them. "Your hope is the reason we have a chance to stop this."

"He can die. Painfully. After I rip his other arm from the socket and shove it so far down his poetry-spouting piehole that he chokes on it."

Julie Kagawa brings her Blood of Eden trilogy to a fitting conclusion, full of action, grief, love, and sacrifice. Somehow, when I started the book, I thought Kagawa would instantly find a loophole to make the ending of THE ETERNITY CURE all better. But she doesn't, and heroine Allie has give up struggling with her vampiric nature in her despair.

Allie, along with her mentor Kanin and brother Jackal, are traveling to stop mad vampire Sarren before he can make it to Eden and unleash a virus to kill all humans and vampires. Unfortunately for them, Sarren is mad like a fox. I truly enjoy the quasi-familial relationship that the three share, so it was nice to spend quite a bit of time with them on their journey. It's also interesting to see how three people can pursue the same course while motivated for such different reasons.

I really didn't like Kagawa's faerie series (I quit halfway through the second book), so it's kind of amazing to me how much I loved this trilogy. I thought it mixed post-apocalyptic fiction with vampire lore very well, creating something that played with the tropes of both without being the same old same old. The strong characterization and relationships are also a highlight. The romance is front and center (this is a Harlequin imprint), but it's certainly not the only relationship explored.

I definitely would read THE IMMORTAL RULES and THE ETERNITY CURE before diving into THE FOREVER SONG. It doesn't spend any time explaining what is happening to new readers. It is entirely focused on moving the story forward to the conclusion. I think this trilogy finishes strong, for those who have been waiting for the reaction to the final book to start. The science is terrible, but I can forgive that in a vampire book. Especially in a vampire road-trip trilogy.

** spoiler alert ** I have mixed feelings about Forever Song. There were parts that really worked and then there were parts that didn't.

The story line was predictable from beginning to end and the MC was as typical as they come. I was hoping for something more with both Allison and the story line/plot. I'm not sure what else to say here except that it was lacking and unoriginal.

But, what worked - worked really well and made up for everything else. The writing is beautiful and Kagawa has built a world that I can reach out and touch. Some of the details really took you to the feel of what it's like in this post-apocalyptic world and, as a reader, I really appreciate that. Where Allison was your typical Mary-Jane character, Kanin was the complete opposite. I found myself wanting to just read the parts of the story where Kanin was front and center.

I think this story would've worked perfectly if it was taken from Zeke's POV instead. He had real struggles that I wanted to know more about.

Even though the ending was predictable I still really liked the story itself. The only real main complaint I have is Jackal. His character was colorful, entertaining, and so fun to follow and he had such an anti-climactic conclusion. I really wanted more from him.

I would totally love to read a spin-off story of Jackal and see what happens. I feel like there's so much more to him and that we barely scratched the surface.

If it weren't for Kanin and Jackal this story would have failed. As it is, they completely bring this book together and make it happen.

I've really enjoyed this series (dark, broken worlds do it for me!) and this book satisfied my craving for blood, guts, and endings that tied things up nicely. Yes, the ending worked for me. Full circles and blood bonds and a forever that's not so bleak after all's been said and done.

So. Allie. She's had a bit of a rough ride. She's grown a lot since we first encountered her in book 1. She backslides a bit with the events that took place at the end of book 2 (as one does when THAT happens) and it takes time for her to find herself again. Her interactions with Jackal were hilarious (SHUT UP, JACKAL!) and I imagine Kanin rolling his eyes more than once at their bickering. If he was the type to roll his eyes, that is.

We got to see plenty of the broken parts of the world as Allie and her crew follow Sarren's trail. We also got to see plenty of what Sarren is capable of. And he's capable of a lot. He's not the resident psychopath for nothing, you know. He's all about drawing out the pain and hitting his enemies in the worst possible way.

He's just a big ball of screwy and he's brilliant enough to keep everyone on their toes as they try to plan for the worst.

All in all, this was a very satisfying ending to the series. We got love, redemption, family ties, and hope all rolled up in a blood stained flourish of flashing blades. Vampires. They know how to drop the hammer when it's needed.

Oh, and I'd love to see more of Jackal and the oddly noble moments that slip out when he's not trying to be a jerk. That guy ended up growing on me. Way more than I expected.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

With the crazy cliffhanger at the end of The Eternity Cure, I'm sure you wanted to pick up The Forever Song right away. In this book, we follow Allison, Jackal, and Kanin as they search for Sarren and try to stop him from completing whatever evil plan he's brewing. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way, and at times the characters are truly unpredictable. I loved how epic this book was, and read through it as quickly as possible.

That said, The Forever Song was a solid, four star book for me. One of the plot points greatly mimicked another popular dystopian book, and I felt like the ending itself was a bit rushed. I would have enjoyed a lengthier ending scene, but was overall happy with the series's conclusion.

This was my first time reading any books by Julie Kagawa, and I greatly enjoyed the experience! I would give the Blood of Eden trilogy a total rating of 4.5 stars, and definitely look forward to rereading it again in the future. This series has inspired me to pick up more paranormal books, and I definitely want to read more of Kagawa's works. I would also love a companion series to the Blood of Eden trilogy in Jackal's perspective! That would be awesome!

Of Julie Kagawa's three series (Iron Fey, Blood of Eden, and the upcoming Talon series), the Blood of Eden series is my favorite. Both Iron Fey and Talon (based on the ARC of the first book I read) definitely skew towards the younger end of YA in terms of tone and story (they read much more like middle grade stories in fact). This series, however, is much more mature (the prequel novella included in the 'Til The World Ends anthology was completely adult and included a graphic sex scene making it a big departure from the rest of the series) and overall more exciting and gripping in my opinion.

Despite this series as a whole being my favorite, each subsequent book has been weaker than the one before. The Forever Song feels very drawn out and often repetitive with back to back to back fight scenes making up the bulk of the book. The world in this series has grown a bit stale, and the romance flounders some too in this conclusion. I still really like Jackal (who the author says was inspired by Spike from Buffy), but Zeke was always on the dull side for me and he isn't any more interesting here. The ending is alright, but it lacked the satisfaction and payoff I'd been looking forward to since the first (and still very good) book in this series.

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Harlequin TEEN and Netgalley.)
Zeke is gone, and it’s up to Allison, Kanin, and Jackal to stop Sarren once and for all. Can they do it in time though? Or will Sarren really bring about the end of the world with his engineered virus?

This was an okay end to the series, but I didn’t love it.

Allison was an okay character, although it was a little difficult to really get a read on her. One moment she was all for saving the world, and the next she just wanted to kill every human in sight. Vampires ay?

The storyline was okay, but we did get a bit of a middle book syndrome creeping into the first 70% of this book with lots of fairly dull travelling going on, and very little actually happening. When things finally did start to get a little more action packed the book improved, but it seemed a long time coming.
There was some romance, and eventually Zeke and Allison had an important chat. I won’t say any more.
There were a few twists, one of which I liked, and one which felt like a bit of a cop-out to me.
The ending was okay. I liked the action part, but I wasn’t quite so impressed with regards to the final cure. Again, I’m not saying any more!
Overall; okay end to the series,
6.25 out of 10.

With a beautifully eye-catching purple metallic cover, The Forever Song is another young adult vampire series set in a dystopian world. This is the third and final book in the Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa, however, it does have a great re-readability factor. Having not read the prior two books, this was a perfect stand-alone just in case you haven’t read the prior two either. The characters are easy to engage with and Allie feels like someone you have known a lifetime, and all you want to do is reach out and help them, but can’t. She is a very strong girl who just loses herself the first half of the book. Zeke is a torn person battling his own demons and the more satirical side of Jackal helps level the mood.

“You staked me and threw me out a window!”

As always, if you have the opportunity, read the series in order, as jumping into the series at the end leaves out a major piece of the story, character evolvement, and world building, but whatever order you read them, just read them, as a book such as this is just too good to pass up!

*This book was provided in exchange for an honest review
*You can view the original review at San Francisco Book Review

The Forever Song brings Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden trilogy to a dramatic close, forcing Allie, Kanin and their allies into a final confrontation with the psychotic vampire, Sarren, in a battle to save both humans and vampires from extinction.

Beginning where The Eternity Cure finishes, Allie, her sire, Kanin, and sire-brother, Jackal, are on their way to Eden to confront Sarren. Always a step behind, the band are delayed by the sick surprises Sarren leaves in his wake - massacred human villages, a tunnel full of Rabids and a former ally now an enemy, intent on killing them all.

Like its predecessors, The Forever Song is gritty and blood soaked, flooded with emotional angst and spiked with snarky humour. The story is fast paced despite its 400+ pages with Allie and her cohorts racing to stop Sarren from unleashing the fatal virus into the world.

Some characters may surprise you, others not so much. Allie still can't decide is she is more human or monster, Kanin is as enigmatic as ever and Jackal has a barbed quip for every occasion.

I'm reluctant to write too much, wary of inadvertently spoiling the story for those yet to read this finale. I thought The Forever Song was an exciting and entertaining conclusion to the Blood Eden trilogy, which should satisfy Kagawa's fans.

THE FOREVER SONG brings the Blood of Eden trilogy to a satisfying close. Allie, Jackal, and Kanin are trying to catch up with Sarren before he unleashes a virus that will destroy all life on Earth. Sarren has chosen to unleash his virus on Eden, a human enclave where scientists are working to cure the Rabids.

The story begins will Allie embracing her vampire self and turning into a complete monster. It is her way of dealing with the grief of losing her human love Zeke. Her mentor Kanin always told her that she could choose whether or not to be a monster. But her grief caused her to wonder why she clung to her humanity.

The story is a long journey as they chase after Sarren. They have to battle groups of Rabids and the murderous minions of the vampire king of Old Chicago. The story is filled with fight scene after fight scene. Allie also has to battle her own Hunger for blood. Jackal is always there as a voice tempting Allie to choose her monster side. I liked the relationship between Allie and Jackal who was a character who really grew on me as this story progressed.

The whole trilogy provides a new look at vampires. It also provides a different take on dystopian fiction. I really enjoyed the whole trilogy.