Review: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Publication date: May 2nd 2014
My rating: 3 stars 

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.

The Forever Song was one of my highly anticipated reads this year, with the way things had ended in The Eternity Cure with my heart in my throat, I was anticipating more of the same in The Forever Song and whereas I did enjoy The Forever Song, for me this was the weakest book in the series. 

One of the biggest let downs for me was the characters, the characters that we got to know and love in the previous two books really had changed dramatically. Allison was a much more defeated character, yes I understand that she had every right to be, but she was at times totally reckless, with Jackal and Kanin continually having to rein her in. And the progress she had made in not believing she was a monster anymore really had been lost; she’d receded back to a person that I really didn’t like. I wanted the feisty Allison back, the one who could keep her hunger in check, but also kickass when necessary. In contrast, Jackal and Kanin totally made this book for me, Jackal was once again the wind up merchant we knew and because of his constant grating comments, he did at times bring out Allison from the constant dwelling she found herself in. I adored the banter Allison and Jackal shared on their journey; they really did come along way, actually at times behaving like brother and sister. Jackal also surprised me in many ways, he really was a character who changed dramatically from the character we were introduced to in The Immortal Rules, and I truly did hate his guts then. But I don’t know if it was spending time around Kanin and Allison, but he really did show a whole another side to him at times, one I really didn’t expect to see (highlight to view spoiler)  going back to save Allison, saving members of Eden, when his own life was in jeopardy. 

Kanin once again was the enigmatic character that we have become to know, we never really knew what he was thinking or feeling, with this shroud of mystery always around him. But this just made me want to know him that little bit more. I liked watching the family dynamics between him, Allison and Jackal and how he had to step in between the bickering vampires, but I also liked how wise he was. On their journey despite Sarren’s numerous attempts to set them off their way or get caught up in his traps, Kanin would always find a way out, or be suspicious about what was going on. Yes they did sometimes find themselves in a sticky situation, but that was mainly because Sarren was just so messed up and always ahead in the game. But honestly Kanin is one of the best vampires that I ever come across, if I was ever turned into a vampire, I wouldn’t want anyone but Kanin to be my sire and teach me the way of the world. 

The chase of Sarren and attempting to stop him from reigning chaos was one I enjoyed, like I said Sarren was really clever in out witting Jackal, Allison, and even Kanin. His numerous obstacles that he threw their way did have me thinking at times that he would succeed in his end goal, and he did go to such extreme lengths to actually hurt these vampires individually. Despite me enjoying this chase, I did feel at times that it went on for so long (highlight to view spoiler)  we didn’t actually get to see Sarren, until nearly at the very end, I was hoping that there would be a lot more encounters with him along the way, instead of giving us this huge battle at the end  Also things were wrapped up way too primly for my liking, and things at times were resolved too quickly, (highlight to view spoiler)Allison was able to bring Zeke back from Sarren’s control way too quickly, I know this shouldn’t really be a complaint, but I really wanted some more fight back from Zeke, come on Sarren’s meant to be this all clever vampire whose been one step ahead for so long and just one thing brings Zeke back so quickly?. 

I didn’t want my review to come across as a rant, as it really isn’t, as I mentioned there were parts which I really loved (highlight to view spoiler)  Zeke and Allison finally actually being together, the banter between Allison and Jackal along the way and the ever considerate Kanin. But I think I just needed more breath taking scenes, more emotion from me as a reader, I really didn’t find myself as emotionally invested as I was with The Eternity Cure. Despite me giving this book a 3 star rating, this series will remain one of my favourite post-apocalyptic series for a long time to come.