Title: Gates of Paradise
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publisher: The Little Brown Book Group
Publication Date: 15th January 2013
Goodreads Summary: Schuyler Van Alen is running out of time. The Dark Prince of Hell is storming the Gates of Paradise, intent on winning the heavenly throne for good. This time he has his greatest angels by his side, Abbadon and Azrael—Jack and Mimi Force, as they are known in the Coven.

Or so he thinks. Even as Lucifer assigns Jack and Mimi the tasks of killing their true loves, the Force twins secretly vow to defeat the Dark Prince once and for all. But how far will Mimi and Jack go to conceal their real loyalties?

Meanwhile, former vampire Bliss Llewellyn has joined forces with Lawson, the greatest wolf of the underworld, to free his people from their imprisonment in Hell. As they struggle against impossible odds, an ancient message, woven into the very fabric of time, reveals just how much depends on the success of their mission.

Lucifer seeks the key to the Gate of Promise, and when Schuyler is taken captive and delivered straight to Hell, she must make an unthinkable choice—the same one the archangel Michael was forced to make during the Crisis in Rome. Will Schuyler find the strength to do what he could not?

The epic, heartbreaking Blue Bloods series comes to a close with this final novel about staggering courage, unbearable sacrifice, and the immortality of true love.

{ Review }

Lost in Time (Blue Bloods #6) by Melissa de la Cruz.

Title: Lost in Time
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Atom
Publication date: 27th September 2011
Goodreads Summary: The stakes have never been higher for the young Blue Bloods of Manhattan. After their brief yet beautiful bonding ceremony in Italy, Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force depart for Egypt, desperate to find the elusive Gate of Promise before Jack must face his twin, Mimi, for a blood trial. A blood trial that only one of them can survive. But everything Schuyler thought she knew about the gate turns out to be a lie, and they soon find themselves ensnared in a deadly battle against the demon-born. Schuyler and Jack take up arms, only to realize that there is a much graver threat simmering in the Kingdom of the Dead.

Meanwhile, determined to save the only vampire she still loves, Mimi has followed Kingsley Martin into Hell. With the help of her new human Conduit, Oliver Hazard-Perry, Mimi makes a bargain with the Queen of the Dead that she may soon regret. When the time comes to choose between love and revenge, both Mimi and Oliver will learn the true meaning of sacrifice.

confronted by danger, betrayal, and loss at every turn, the Blue Bloods must find the will to fight - and love - another day.

{ Review }

This series seems to alternate between awesome books and not so awesome books. So since Bloody Valentine, the Blue Bloods novella proceeding this book, was frickin' awesome, that would make this book not so awesome.

There are three main plot threads in this novel, one with Jack and Schuyler, one with Mimi, Oliver and Kingsley, and one with Allegra, Steven and Charles. The three plot strands are explored in alternate chapters  as it does in the other novels but it particularly bothered me in this one for some reason. I felt that the chapters were too short and I didn't have enough time to get into them before we were thrust into another story. Sure, there was a cliff hanger on the end of all the chapters which kept you reading, but given the change of scenery and a few new concepts to get to grasps with, I was just confused.

Jack and Schuyler are in Egypt where they believe the real Gate of Promise is but of course there are still a hundred thousand obstacles between them and their goal. If I'm perfectly honest, I don't remember Jack and Schuyler's thread all that much despite the fact that I finished this novel just this morning. At the beginning of this series, this pair was the thing I always most excited to read about, but as time has gone on, it has become my least favourite. I feel like the spark and excitement in reading about their relationship has completely died and their story just isn't as interested as it used to be. This is probably because their story line is one that started right back in book one whereas some of the others are new and refreshing to read about. The other thing that I've come to realise is that I believe Schuyler is actually younger than me and she's already found a boy who she's irrevocably in love with, who she'd die for, yada yada yada. It just seems a bit unrealistic to me. Not that any of the other young adult books I read are particularly realistic either, but this pair actually act like an old married couple, probably because they are actually married - which is also kind of creepy.

The other two plot strands are far more interesting. Mimi and Oliver have travelled to the Underworld to try and rescue Kingsley Martin, Mimi's new love interest. The problem is that things are quite as they expected. After their long and perilous journey to find Kingsley, they find that he is not tortured or unhappy, but he seems to be pretty content and not all that bothered about Mimi's appearance in the Underworld. This section fluctuated between mediocre and really, really awesome. The bit that was really really awesome was a romantic scene between Kingsley and Mimi that actually made me cry (yes, real tears). My opinion of Mimi was shifting between love and hate constantly throughout this novel but in the end I decided that I love her character. She may seem really bitchy but deep down she has got a heart and she's really loyal and even though sometimes her decisions make you want to hate her, she does do the right thing in the end.

The third plot strand was a flackback from Allegra and Bendix's (or Steven's) past. It's been several years since Allegra left him at Edicott Academy and she's resigned herself to loving and bonding with her brother Charles (creepy, right?), but everything changes when she bumps into Bendix at an art gallery. The story of Allegra's past has consistently been my favourite part of this series and this was no exception. It's really interesting to read about her past life as it makes some of the events in the present a little clearer, especially since lots of the older characters in the present are featured in Allegra's past. This part of the story is also really romantic, though I would argue not quite as romantic as Mimi and Kingsley's. This particular part of their history isn't as exciting as it has been in past books but it's really interesting nevertheless.

At the end of the novel, two of the plot strands come together and there's a pretty climatic finale. I'm excited to read Gates of Paradise, the last book in this series, and I'm really, really hoping that it's good. Hopefully all the plot strands from the previous books will all come together in this book and be resolved but I'm trying not to get my hopes up just in case it's a disappointment.

I feel like this series has been dragging on for so darn long,  I kind of just want it to end. Don't get me wrong, some bits are brilliant, but the basic plot line hasn't changed all the much and the same story has been carried through six (eight, if you include the novellas) and it still hasn't been resolved. This book is definitely worth a read for the Mimi/Kingsley and Allegra/Bendix parts, but in my opinion, Jack and Schuyler's part of the story is a massive let down.

Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods #5) by Melissa de la Cruz.

Title: Misguided Angel
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Atom
Publication Date: 26 Oct 2010
Goodreads Summary: After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods.

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all of her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online...for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again.

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler’s mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart.

{ Review }

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers for those of you who have not read the previous books. Click for my reviews of them: Masquerade, Revelations, The Van Alen Legacy and The Keys to the Repository.

Again, the blurb on the back of this book was disappointingly inaccurate. The Goodreads one, although much better, is a bit misleading in my opinion. Firstly, what is so dark about the Van Alen Legacy? The use of word 'dark' implies that it is some sort of evil task which is not the vibe I got from reading the book. Of course, what Schuyler has to do is no walk in the park, but it is a slightly hyperbolic opening phrase. (I think the English student inside of me has woken up). Secondly, the use of the word 'embark' is very important because that is literally what Jack and Schuyler do. They only get to one gate in this novel and are nowhere near to completing their task by the end of the novel. Thirdly, having finished the book within the last five minutes, I can't recall what this supposedly deadly secret is and I also can't remember Schuyler having to make a terrible choice. Did I miss a few chapters or something?

So here's what actually happened in Misguided Angels: The story carries on immediately from the end of 'The Van Alen Legacy'. Jack and Schuyler have sought shelter in the European Conclave, but they end up being more like prisoners during their stay, under constant watch and observation. They plot to escape and succeeding this, finally get on their way to carrying out the mission Schuyler's grandfather set out for her. Meanwhile, Mimi has been made Regent of the Conclave in her father's a sense. She receives a few anonymous emails containing videos of Blue Bloods feeding on their human familiars that have been made viral and she has to hunt down the people responsible to quash the threat to the Blue Blood's secret. The same people are threatening to burn vampire teenagers so the stakes are even higher for seventeen year old Mimi Force. After Mimi's failed attempt to unveil the culprit behind these viral videos, she gets help from Deming Chen, a Chinese Venetor, who has never failed a mission. Deming tries to infiltrate the Blue Blood teen society to find out who's behind this mess but there are some twists and turns along the way.

This book is made up of four parts. The first part is about Schuyler and Jack, the second about Mimi, the third about Deming and the fourth is a short conclusion to the previous three sections. At random intervals there are also flashbacks from the past. This format of this book is quite different from the previous four. Whilst those books had really short chapters with the narrator frequently switching between different character's perspectives, Misguided Angels is made up of three very long narratives. To be honest, I found the first part really quite boring. The Jack and Schuyler line is interesting for a few pages, but I quickly became bored of it as nothing seemed to be happening. The little flashbacks that happened at random intervals were also really annoying because I didn't understand who the characters were or what they were doing and as each flashback was only two pages long, I failed to understand their significance. The second part, which follows Mimi, is much more interesting. As I said in my review of The Van Alen Legacy, Mimi has started to change and is quite a different person. She now has a lot of responsibility and as Regent of the coven, it is her duty to guide the Blue Bloods through these unstable times. This part and the section following it were much more like detective stories as they try to locate the source of the threat and destroy it. There's lots of mystery and intrigue here as it's a completely new story line with some new characters. We also see a relationship (not romantic) develop between Mimi and Oliver which is curious and quite sweet (as a concept). The third section, from the perspective of Deming, was definitely my favourite. It was weird to see the story written from the point of view of a character we had only just met and had no significant role in the previous books but because I really liked her character, this didn't bother me.
I've been reading the Blue Blood books, one after the other, in quick succession so it was really refreshing to see things from a completely new characters perspective. Deming's section was the most compelling and had the most interesting story line. Deming is called in after Mimi's failure to uncover the threat and she tries to get to know the popular kids at Duchesne, characters who have either never been introduced before or who have only been mentioned in passing before. This part was literally like a whole new story because of the new plot strands and new characters but it was still firmly grounded in the NY conclave because of Mimi's involvement in this section. I particularly liked that this section made me laugh a few times. There are few jokes thrown in, I hope they were intentional otherwise that's a bit awkward. There's also one rather sexy scene, the sexiest we've seen yet, but it doesn't last long. There's also some romance in this section, and it's great right up until the end when too much happens too quickly, which was disappointing. The novel ends with three short passages detailing the results of the events that go on in the three sections I just described. This section let the novel down because it was far too rushed. After reading three long narratives, it was slightly jarring to be thrown from chapter to chapter again. So many important things happen in these last few pages but it was all a bit too much for my liking.

There is zero mention of Bliss in this novel. Literally zero. It's not like I missed her, but i would've thought that there would be some indication as to what she's up to. There also isn't that much mention of the silver bloods. In fact, it seems like there is another threat, in conjunction with the silver bloods, but still separate. At book five out of seven, it is a bit late to change things up and add so many new things, but at least it kept the plot moving.

This book is completely different to the previous novels in this series. You could say there are three separate stories going on in this book and the ties linking them together are very weak. The Mimi/Deming stories are really interesting, but I found the first half between Jack and Schuyler to be a bit drawn out and boring. This is definitely one of the better novels in this series, though a lot of the events that happened weren't particularly connected to the events in the other books.

Keys to the Repository (Blue Bloods #4.5) by Melissa de la Cruz.

Title: Keys to the Repository

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance

Publisher: Atom

Publication date: 29th June 2010

Goodreads summary: Lavish parties. Passionate meetings in the night. Bone-chilling murders. Midterms. The day-to-day life of Schuyler Van Allen and her Blue Bloods friends (and enemies) is never boring. But there's oh-so-much more to know about these beautiful and powerful teens. Below the streets of Manhattan, within the walls of the Repository, exists a wealth of revealing information about the vampire elite that dates back before the Mayflower. In a series of short stories, journal entries, and never-before-seen letters, New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz gives her hungry fans the keys to the Repository and an even more in-depth look into the secret world of the Blue Bloods. Won't you come inside?

{ Review }

I wasn't really sure what to expect of this book. I find that novellas are usually very hit and miss and as I find the first three of Melissa de la Cruz's books to be fairly average I was convinced that this was going to be a miss. Then, I read book four in the Blue Bloods series, The Van Allen Legacy (click here for review) and my hope was restored. Unfortunately, my high spirits were short lived as I found this novella to be a disappointment.

As with the previous four synopses, I felt that the blurb missed telling the reader what the book was actually about. The Goodreads summary is much better than the blurb on the paperback because it actually tells you what is included in this book: a series of short stories, journal entries, and never-before-seen letters. I was quite excited about this because I thought it would be a nice quick read that would clarify the blank spots in my memory about who was who and who was related to whom - the what, why, how etc., which in some ways it was, but the way that it was presented bothered me.

This book starts off with a recap of the previous four books, which I found to be a little boring and useless given that I have just read the previous books. Then there are a series of records on each Blue Blood family stating who a character is, who they used to be, how that character is linked to other characters and other relevant details about their lives. I say relevant, though in my opinion some of them were completely random and irrelevant. It was a little boring, but it was a useful recap. Then, suddenly, we're thrown into a short story about Jack and Schuyler's first meeting in their secret apartment. Talk about random. It was an interesting little snippet into their lives and I enjoyed it, but I was puzzled by its strange placement in this novella. Immediately after this short story, it went back to more character records. After a few more records, we were right back into another short story, this time about Mimi and Kingsley. The book continued in this way with short stories randomly slotted in to break up the character records. There's also a sneak peak at 'Wolf Pact', another book by Melissa de la Cruz, which was really interesting, but again, random. I had no idea that this series was linked to the Blue Bloods (it's about Bliss and her hunt to find the hounds of hell) so i'll be adding that to my TBR pile.

At the end of the book there are three appendices, one about the secondary characters in the series, one about -- and one about ---. I found these appendices to be long and boring, especially the one that went on for pages and pages listing all the secondary characters in the series, who, in my opinion, have no real relevance. I found this part extremely boring and skimmed through the list of names of people I could barely remember.

All in all, i was incredibly disappointed by this novella. the only parts that I really enjoyed were the short stories, but I just don't understand why they were slotted in so randomly. I felt that book was really disorganised and a bit all over the place. The majority of the records contain in uninteresting details about characters or repeat information that the readers already know. This is also my least favourite cover in the series. It was so black and more glam, less vampire.

As you can tell I was very unimpressed by this novella; however, I think this was partly because I read it straight after The Van Allen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4) which was really good and because I've read the previous books really recently. I think this novella will appeal to those who are getting back into this series after a long pause and have forgotten who some of the characters are. The short stories are cute and give a few more details about Dylan, Bliss, Schuyler and Jack, and Mimi and Kingsley, but I'm not sure whether its worth reading through all the Repository's records just for these stories. On the plus side its a really quick read so I didn't waste too much time on it.

The Van Allen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4) by Melissa de la Cruz. 

Title: The Van Allen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4)
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
Publication Date: 6th October 2009
Goodreads Summary: With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival. Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged.

Young, fanged, and fabulous, Melissa de la Cruz's vampires unite in the fourth installment of the best-selling Blue Bloods series.






{ Review }

Warning: This review may contain spoilers for those that have not read the previous three books. Click for my reviews of Masquerade (#2) and Revelations (#3).

So I was beginning to get very bored of the Blue Bloods series at the end of Revelations and with another four books on my shelf and two novellas I was kind of dreading reading the rest of this series. I was least looking forward to this book actually because it's the longest one in the series and I assumed it was going to be just like the previous three books with added waffling. Thankfully, I was wrong and this book surprised me and exceeded my expectations by far.

Yet again, I don't think the book synopsis really gives you any indication of what this book is really about. This book is set an entire year after the dramatic show down at the end of Revelations. Oliver and Schuyler and on the run, moving from city to city, country to country, never staying anywhere for more than three days. They're both exhausted and both want to go home but they can't now that Schuyler is the main suspect in her grandfather Lawrence's murder. It's a little unclear as to whether they have been living as a couple for this year or just as friends because Schuyler mentions loving and being with Oliver and trying to forget about Jack quite a lot. Before Lawrence died, he told Schuyler to find out about the Van Allen Legacy and to go to the European Conclave for refuge should they need and so they find themselves in Paris. At the same time, Mimi has been off with Kingsley Martin and two other Venators also travelling around the globe trying to find Sophia, formerly known as Jordan Llewellyn who they believe to have the answers that they seek. Mimi actually left Jack in order to go off on this conquest and although she's trying to deny it, it's evident that she's started to fall for Kinglsey. Whilst Oliver and Schuyler are attempting to contact the leader of the European Conclave, they run into Jack and Charles and it's no accident. Jack tries to get Schuyler to return to New York, without success, but a little later in the novel Oliver convinces Schuyler it's the right thing to do. Meanwhile, Bliss has been on her own, trying to deal with the new voice inside her head who controls her body. All the different parties eventually return to New York where all havoc breaks loose.

The disconnect between the characters that has bothered me in the past three books is still an issue in this book. I feel like there were three sub-plots in this novel that eventually all collided at the end, but for the most part there were three different plot threads: Oliver and Schuyler's, Mimi's and Bliss'. Although I still found this aspect annoying, it didn't bother me as much in this particular novel because there was so much going on in each individual plot strand. I think the majority of the things that annoyed me in the previous books were still present in this book, but I overlooked them because the plot was too damn awesome. This book is fast paced and doesn't have quite as much meaningless waffle as the previous three. I think the main reason for this is probably because a lot of this book isn't set in New York, so there's less of the extravagant parties and meaningless shopping trips and more about the hunt for the Silver Bloods which was much more exciting.

One of the things that struck me about this book was that Mimi Force's character drastically changed. It wasn't a very subtle change, in fact it was really sudden and ordinarily that would've bothered me, but then this book is set a whole year later and clear why these changes have occurred. Selfish Mimi suddenly has a heart. Of course, she was always 'in love' with her twin brother Jack before but it never seemed very sincere. This new, and improved Mimi, cares about people other than herself, gives to the poor, fights for a cause and discovers real love, not the incestuous bond she shares with Jack. By the end of this book I actually quite liked her character, in fact, I even admired her. Schuyler was probably the most likable character before now though in my opinion she wasn't anything that special. I think that Mimi understands the world a lot better than Schuyler does and even though she was a manipulative witch with a captial B before, you have to admit that by being that person she did manage to stay in control and at the top of the food chain. Apart from Mimi, the only other character that I feel we got a real insight into was Bliss. Bliss' mind has been taken over by her 'father', Lucifer, and we found out at the end of Revelations that Bliss is in fact the silver blood. I did feel really sorry for Bliss because she was trapped inside her own body, doing things against her will but she was still trying to fight back and I really liked that about her.

The relationship between Jack and Schuyler and Mimi and Kinglsey develop a lot more in this novel and I'd say it's definitely the book with the most romance in it. That said, it's also the book with the most action in it so basically this book is just all round awesome. These relationships weren't really developed but they were properly established so I hope they lead somewhere good in the subsequent books. There are even a few romantic moments between Bliss and Dylan (yes, Dylan's still hanging around), which was nice, but at the same time I can't help but feel that at the moment Dylan doesn't really have a purpose to the plot.

All in all, I believe that this book is the best in the series so far. So much happens in this book and it is fast paced and to the point, unlike the previous three books. There are some unexpected character changes, unexpected romances and unexpected plot twists and I'm really excited to read the rest of the series now. The action really starts in this book as there's much more of a move to fighting the Silver Bloods and now that we're a lot clearer as to who is who and who's on whose side the plot is really starting to come together. For anyone who's given up on this series because they got bored, I'd highly recommend that you continue until book four where all the good stuff happens!

Only a few days left to enter my second blogaversary giveaway! Click here for details.

Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods #3). 

Title: Revelations
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Atom Books
Publication Date: 21st October 2008
Goodreads Summary: Schuyler Van Alen's blood legacy has just been called into question: is the young vampire in fact a Blue Blood, or is it the sinister Silver Blood that runs through her veins? As controversy swirls, Schuyler is left stranded in the Force household, trapped under the same roof as her cunning nemesis, Mimi Force, and her forbidden crush, Jack Force.

When an ancient place of power is threatened in Rio de Janeiro, however, the Blue Bloods need Schuyler on their side. The stakes are high, the battle is bloody; and through it all Schuyler is torn between duty and passion, love and freedom.

Romance, glamour, and vampire lore collide in the highly anticipated third book in best-selling author Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods series.


{ Review }

Possible spoilers for those that have not read the previous two books in this series. You can find my review of Masquerade (Blue Bloods #2) here.

After finishing Masquerade, I quickly moved on to Revelations. Firstly, I'd like to say that the summary of this book isn't very accurate at all. Maybe I was just stupid and completely glanced over this, but I didn't really see much at all about Schuyler being a Silver Blood. I remember it being mentioned in passing, but I certainly wouldn't say that it's a major plot strand in this book. Instead, I would say that this book is a lot more focused on Jack and Schuyler's relationship, but to be honest, not a lot happens here. In my opinion, Bliss Llewellyn is one of the most important characters in this series, she's consistently in the thick of things, usually the cause of it so I don't understand why she is rarely mentioned in the plot synopses. If you've read the past two books, you'll know that Bliss has been having bad dreams and hallucinations and it's clear that something's not quite right. Well, we finally find out what is wrong with Bliss at the end of Revelations, but, for readers with half a brain, it isn't really much of a 'revelation' as it was pretty obvious what, or rather who, she is. Mimi Force is as irritating as ever in this book, again, I don't think she actually did all that much, but there was a lot of narrative from her perspective. She's evidently very pissed off about Schuyler and Jack's relationship and goes about trying to sabotage it. Although Dylan himself isn't featured a lot in this novel, he was pretty damn important to the events that went down at the end of the novel. It's finally revealed what exactly happened to him two books ago and I have to admit I was surprised by this part of story. Although I was surprised, it didn't really have the shock factor that it should've done probably because I think I was a bit bored by this point. So to break it down, in this novel we see more of Jack and Schuyler's relationship, we see Mimi being her usual scheming self, Bliss is still going cuckoo and nobody knows what's going on with Dylan.

The thing that I liked about this book, which was the same for the previous two books and will be the same for the next five I review, is the narrative style. It's written in the third person but in a way so that you still get into the thoughts of each and every character (yay for free indirect discourse). As far as I can remember, the only three perspectives we get, or, at least, the main three perspective we get an insight to, are that of Schuyler, Mimi and Bliss. Again, I think there was a huge level of disconnect between the characters as they all seemed to be doing their own thing, in fact, they was scarce character interaction in my opinion. This, again, was a disappointment, but I'm still hoping that in later novels there'll be more of  a gel between the characters.

As with the previous two book, not a lot actually happens in this novel, it's just all a bit drawn out. I can't help but feel that perhaps this seven book series could have been condensed into a trilogy or something like that if the story lines had been slightly condensed. The good thing about these books is that they're not too long and they're really easy to read; however, I feel that a lot of people may have perhaps been put off reading the entire series just because the plot line as whole doesn't move all that fast. A lot of things happened at the ending of this book and quite a lot of juicy stuff was revealed, but the two hundred pages before that didn't really have much of a purpose and they weren't that entertaining. The last sixty pages are good because what happens is pretty unexpected, at least it was for me, that is until the last few pages when they reveal something that I'm pretty sure every reader already knew, they were just waiting for it to be written down.

If you've been following my reviews, you'll know that my review of this book is a lot more negative than that of Masquerade (Blue Bloods #2) and I think this is because I'm starting to get tired of this series already - and there are still another four, plus a novella, on my shelves waiting to be read, but I shall persevere!

Anyone else read the rest of this series? Is it going to get better or worse?

Masquerade (Blue Bloods #2) by Melissa de la Cruz.
Title: Masquerade (Blue Bloods #2)
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Atom
Publication Date: 1st May 2007
Goodreads Summary: Schuyler Van Alen is starting to get more comfortable with her newfound vampire powers, but she still has many unanswered questions. A trip to Italy in search of her grandfather only serves to make things more confusing. What secrets are the leaders of The Committee hiding? Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the famous Four Hundred Ball. In true Blue Blood fashion, the ball is totally fab, complete with masks--and hidden behind this masquerade is a revelation that will change the course of a young vampire's destiny.

The thrilling sequel in Melissa de la Cruz's vampire mythology has all the glamour, attitude, and vampire lore that made the first book a hit.


{ Review }

I have finally taken it upon myself to tackle my massive TBR pile which has just about hit the ceiling. I was lucky enough to receive Blue Bloods for review a few years ago but being tight on money I didn't buy the rest of the (long) series. Then, to my surprise, and extreme happiness, I found the entire series at a carboot sale for just 50p per book and they were all in really good condition! Woohoo. Anyways, that was at least a year ago and I still haven't got around to them until now. *Dips head in shame* I know this series is old now, but I refuse to leave these books on my shelves unread so here goes.

It's been around two years since I read Blue Bloods so I was a little worried about taking up this series again at book two, but I found that I didn't really need to know anything that happened in Blue Bloods. Everything important is explained clearly in Masquerade so if you've forgotten some of the details from the first book it doesn't matter - in fact, you could probably dive in at book two and not find yourself struggling to understand at all. I love the narrative style of this series. They're written from a third person perspective but you still get to see right inside each and every character with different passages written from each character's point of view. In this way, we're stuck right in the middle of story but still dangling a few feet away so that we can see the bigger picture.

If you're staying away from this series because you think it's 'just another vampire series', then you're wrong. The 'Blue Bloods' in this series are an elite race of vampires whose lives are 'recycled' so to speak. This means that when Blue Blood teens turn 16, the memories from their past lives start to resurface and they remember who they used to be which helps them figure out who to become. There are characters such a Lucifer, Michael, Gabrielle, the angel of Death etc. who are all immortal but live their lives in different 'cycles'. It's sort of like hibernating every time you get bored of your current cycle or something happens to your body and then waking up in a new body many years later and carrying on with life. If you're wondering what sort of vampires these are, think Gossip Girl, and add fangs. Blue Bloods are the social elite of New York City with the most cash to splash and the parties with the most sought after tickets. The children attend the best, and most expensive, private school where girls crave designer labels and the likes.

I did feel that the characters were a little disconnected from each other in this book and there wasn't that much interaction between many of them. The most prominent relationship is that between Oliver and Schuyler and whilst you do get a look at those between Jack and both Mimi and Schuyler, they aren't very prominent. I was a little disappointed at this lack of interaction, but this is a long series and the book wasn't very long so I suppose there wasn't much space to develop everything about everyone. In this book we see Oliver and Schuyler's relationship take a new level. They're best friends, but now that Schuyler's Blue Blood ancestry has been revealed and Oliver has been made her 'familiar', things are about to get messy. We also see Mimi and Jack's relationship develop as their past memories surface and they see who they used to be to each other - much messier (and weirder) than Oliver and Schuyler's relationship given that they're twin brother and sister. We also see a little bit more of Jack and Schuyler, but not as much as I would've liked and to be honest I have absolutely no idea where their relationship is headed. Bliss was quite solitary character in this novel for some reason I don't seem to be able to remember her being featured that much even though she was integral to this book's storyline  Bliss is going through some pretty big stuff with creepy dreams that feel a bit too real, not to mention there's a new hottie on the scene whilst she's trying to grieve for Dylan. I still find the family relationships in this novel absolutely bizarre. In fact, with the whole 'recycling' of the Blue Blood lives it's a little bit incestuous but I think it'll make things a lot more interesting later on. (By that I didn't mean that I like reading about incestuous relationships - Incest is not okay guys).

Since we were officially introduced to everyone in book one, book two could really get going with the issue of the rise of the Silver Bloods. The Silver Bloods are a race of vampires that feed off Blue Bloods instead of humans, sucking their entire life force out so they are unable to 'recycle' themselves and so are dead forever. There were some glimpses of Silver Bloods in the first book, but the story behind them develops a lot more in Masquerade and you get a bit closer to finding out exactly who the Silver Bloods are, what they want, and why they're back. You don't get that much detail about them, but enough to make you want to read book three so I suppose that's good enough. There isn't much romance in this book, I think it's much more about Schuyler's quest to find her 'exiled' grandfather as she believes he is the key to unlocking the 'Silver Blood' mystery.

These books don't have a very complicated plot line, nor a simplified one, which makes this series quick and easy to read, but it's still fast paced and full of action. I'd highly recommend this to fans of paranormal books and maybe even fans of historical fiction because those two elements are drawn together. As I said before, this is a sort of Gossip Girl world with vampires thrown in, so if that sounds like something you'd like then get started on this series! Although I would compare the story line to Gossip Girl, it is by no means a superficial tale, there is plenty of action and mystery as well.

[Also, I finally figured out how to pronounce 'Schuyler'! I have always struggled whilst reading it so I just glanced over it or referred to her as 'Shoe-ler', then I realised that it would make a lot more sense if her name was pronounced 'Sky-ler', especially since her nickname is 'Sky'. (Please God say I've finally figured out how to pronounce it)]