Review: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #3
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Expected Publication: April 15, 2014

ADD TO GOODREADS

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?

With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

MONSTER

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

Spoilers below!!

Review Sometimes admitting you didn't like a book is one of the hardest things to do. This is certainly the case with the final book in Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series. I admit though that my sour tasting experience with The Eternity Cure left the odds stacked against me liking The Forever Song quite high.  However, I remained optimistic that if anyone could reignite my love for a series and its characters Julie Kagawa would be the woman to do it. Sadly, it didn't take long for that feeling of doubt to appear leaving my stomach in tighter and tighter knots as I pushed further and further into the book. I wasn't about to admit defeat though just yet. Steadying my resolve I wanted to finish the journey of Allison Sekemoto that I started years ago. Determined to see it through for better or worse until the end. So how'd it go? Read on to find out. What I liked: Jackal - The best part about this series right through to the end was Jackal. I could follow this character and his bad boy ways to the ends of the earth and be completely happy doing so. Every time I was feeling frustrated by Allison he knew exactly what to say to make it better. He was the snark that I needed to keep me going and by series end I didn't want to see him go. It was entirely to soon. If the Author ever decides to write a companion series following Jackal I'll be the first in line to purchase it. You can bet on that. The Writing - Julie Kagawa is a great writer which ultimately is why I've stuck with the series despite my issues. She is in many ways a female Joss Whedon. She can write the love, the snark and all the little bits that make the story drama filled but when the plot calls for the villain to be truly evil with no redemptive qualities she can write that as well. Another thing I love about her as a writer is the fact she's always thinking ahead. Even if this might be the end of Allison's s journey the world and the people within it still have a story waiting to be told. I also like that she seems to write some of the best one liners in any series. From Jackal's "I'm surrounded by bleeding heart idiots." to Zeke's "You know it's the end of the world when Jackal starts making sense." and the dozens more like them, they perfectly captured my feelings at any given point in the story and I loved them all so very much. Sarren - Yes, I have had issues with this character in the past but he is at least consistently evil and crazy. The body count as expected in The Forever Song is high and the deaths brutal but that's what keeps Sarren a top notch villain in my eyes. Sure Sarren might be insane but he hasn't drunk all the kool-aid yet so he's at least aware of some of the things he's inflicting on others. Think of Sarren as the male version of Drusilla mixed with bits of Voldemort and Hannibal Lecter just for good measure. What didn't work for me: Zeke - A good chunk of his storyline in The Forever Song felt ripped off from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Except Allison is no Buffy and in turn Zeke no Angelus so instead of Allison doing what is right in regards to Zeke she makes him tag along like a bad puppy until he sees the error of his ways. This darker Zeke could've been interesting and really added a nice twist to the plot but before anything can really be done to explore this character change he ends up taking a page out of Allison's playbook and in comes the angst filled dialogue for the remainder of the book. The potential for greatness slipped through the Authors fingers just so the characters could have that happily ever after that readers demanded. It was predictable and I didn't like it. Kanin - It's not that I don't like Kanin as a character but his presence felt wasted in this book. He seemed to just be a prop for Allison to project all her feelings on angst and hurt onto. I think I would've liked it better had he not been part of the story until the end when he could redeem himself for all the terrible things that had happened in the past because of his choices. However, my biggest issue with the story remains Allison herself. When she's not brooding over Zeke she's brooding (still) over being a Vampire. I mean what happened to the feisty warrior of the first book that I fell in love with? Allison went from kick ass Vampire looking to make the world a better place for humans and Vampires alike to whiny teenager whose thoughts only revolved around the boy she had a two second relationship with that was like the most important thing ever in her whole life. She's become blinded by love and hates everything about herself except him. It's frustrating, been done and I for one was over it. Oh and don't even get me started by the revelation at the end. That honor should've went to Jackal since he had the most character growth and was older. Ugh, it was just predictable and predictable for me is boring. Hence Allison and her very existence is boring.   Final Thoughts Honestly, I'm not sure what else to say about The Forever Song. I really don't know if I'll ever fully get over the disappointment of this series. Hate on me all you want but I completely blame the Zeke fangirls for this change in Allison's behavior and the stories focus on the couple as opposed to the world at large. Of course this is just my opinion but I've read The Immortal Rules several times over since finding fault with The Eternity Cure last year and I firmly believe that the relationship wasn't meant to be the driving focus of the series but became so due to the overwhelming positive response to the pairing of Zeke and Allison which of course thrust the duo into the forefront and left the book and its plot as it stands now. Now despite my ultimate rating and feelings about the ending to the series as a whole I'd still recommend reading The Forever Song to readers who have already started the series. We learn a lot about the Plague, the ferals and the witty one liners from Jackal make up for many of the books faults. In short, The Forever Song was good, not great but a satisfying enough end to the series that's sure to please the majority of readers who have followed Allison's journey through the years. With that being said, I'll be rating The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa ★★.  *Copy reviewed provided by Netgalley.  All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way  for providing them.

Do you plan on reading The Forever Song? If So, What did you think of The Eternity Cure? Who are you most excited to see in the Finale?

Leave your answers in the comments below, I love reading your responses.

Want to read my review of The Immortal Rules? Click Here!
Want to read my review of The Eternity Cure? Click Here!