Lost in Time

This is the sixth book in the Blue Bloods series by Cruz. I almost didn’t read this book because I have been very disappointed in the last two books. Then I heard that the seventh book, Gates of Paradise, was going to release the end of Jan 2013 and that it was going to be the final book in the series. So, I decided to go ahead and read this book. This book continued to be lackluster. There are a ton of POVs and not a lot going on.

The story is told from Mimi’s, Schuyler’s, and Allegra’s POV. Jack and Schuyler have been married and Jack is convinced to delay his vengeance on Mimi in order to help Schuyler search for one of the gates. Mimi is determined to journey to Hell in order to win back Kingsley and Oliver is along helping show more her out.

Allegra’s story is told in the past. She tells about how she fell in love with Ben and betrayed Charles. I think this is supposed to be getting us the back story about why Allegra ended up in a coma. However the timing of these portions is confusing and the story itself is boring. This backstory could have easily been explained in a few paragraphs instead of one third of the book. Also having these sections prefaced with a date would have alleviated some of the confusion.

The book is more like three novellas parsed awkwardly together than one continuous story. All in all I was not impressed. I wasn’t even going to read this book until I saw that the next book, Gates of Paradise, will be the final book in this series.

All of the female characters seem to have lost their spunk and are merely pawns of the men they love. Schuyler ends up following what Jack around and is constantly being saved by him or being kept safe by him. Mimi journeys to Hell in the hopes that Kingsley still loves her. While Mimi’s story does tie into other things, I was surprised that her retrieving Kinsley was such a big part of the story.

Allegra’s back story is just as sad and disappointing. She betrays everyone to follow her true love and then ends up messing things up horribly.

The story is boring overall, predictable, and scattered. I just don’t care what’s happening, too much has been added that doesn’t matter to the main story. I do miss Bliss and wonder where she’s gone to.

The book was decently written and readable. Just not all that engaging or interesting.

I guess go ahead and read this is you want to finish up the series. Just don’t expect a lot. The main female characters are love-sick fools who betray those around them in the name of love. I have a lot of trouble engaging with any of them.

Overall another lackluster addition to this series. It’s okay, the story progresses some, but definitely not as good as early books in the series. There are too many POVs and too many things going on that aren’t related to the main story. This is more like three novellas squished into one book than an actual book. I would like to finish the series, but I am not sure if I will read Gates of Paradise if it is another exercise in mediocrity like this book. show less

What I liked about this is there's no idle time. De la Cruz went to the heart of the matter and just gave us the delicious parts. In every chapter someone is in the middle of either a mad chase, an emotional upheaval or literally in Hell striking deals with demons. Who would've thought that Hell looks a lot like New York! We even got front row seat tickets to a showdown between the Angels of Death and Destruction, Azrael and Abaddon, Mimi and Jack. What's puzzling is at the end we see them swearing fealty to Lucifer. Makes me wonder what the time stamp is when they rendered the services of their swords to the Angel of Light.

LOST IN TIME, by Melissa de la Cruz, is the next installment of the Blue Bloods series. Packed full of action and suspense this book leads our beloved characters to the point of no return and set's up the next and final book in the series.

This book enveloped me from the start, I could not put it down! This book shifted POV's between Schuyler, Mimi, and Allegra. Schuyler had her problems looking for the Gate of Promise along with coming down with an illness she wrongfully diagnosed. Mimi and Oliver traveled to Hell (literally) to find Kingsley but when they arrived getting him out proved to be more of a problem then Mimi thought. Melissa took us on a trip to the past with Allegra and her love affair with Stephen Chase (Schuyler's show more biological father). All of these story lines culminated into an awesome battle and the beginning of the end for this series.

As much as I have loved the Schuyler/Jack story in the previous books, I found myself anxiously awaiting Mimi and Allegra's stories more. Throughout the books, I've gained a liking to Mimi as she has grown from spoiled brat to spoiled brat in love (which brought her down to Earth... a teeny bit). The chemistry between Mimi and Kingsley is stunning to read and I yearned for them to be together again!! And I really enjoyed getting more background on Allegra before she went into a coma.

I don't want to ruin too much of the book because it is that good! Fans of the series need to pick up this book and if you aren't a fan yet, I suggest you get started before this magnificent series comes to an end! show less

Yet again I am sucked right into the world that de la Cruz has created. I love the double paranormal aspect of the vampires being fallen angels (I'm hoping that by book 6 if you're reading my review you knew this already.) I love the continuing story of Jack and Schuyler. I love the new and different direction the relationships between Oliver and Mimi and Kingsley and Mimi have taken! Every chapter was full of intrigue, action, adventure, and all the kinds of things that make a person keep reading. And at the end all I could think of is 'when can I start the next book!?' This series has gone beyond my expectations and I'm so so glad of that.

Background: The quest continues for Schuyler and Jack to find the gates, Mimi and Oliver are going to hell to retrieve Kingsley and in this book we get more background on Allegra and Charles' relationship.

Review: I enjoyed this book in the series and am interested to see the end...which better come soon :/...waiting sucks. I liked Mimi a lot more in this book than the others, she is becoming a better person and I really like that. I loved that this book FINALLY let us see into what happened between Charles and Allegra, and that it isn't as cut and dry as most of the Blue Bloods believe. I did not like that Schuyler is becoming all emotional and maybe even a little clingy with Jack. She was such a strong character, that I really liked in show more the beginning, and now her strength has been transferred over to Mimi it seems, Schuyler is just a love-sick puppy right now. show less

Lost in Time, by Melissa De La Cruz, is the 6th (and 2nd to last) book in the popular YA Vampire series, Blue Bloods. Lost in Time starts off where De La Cruz's last Blue Bloods book, Misguided Angel, ends. I do believe that you need to be familiar with the other books in the series before picking up Lost in Time. Also, if it has been a good amount of time since you read the last book I recommend picking up Misguided Angel to refresh your memory. There is so much going on in the Blue Bloods world that it helps if you can recollect everything that has happened.

At the end of Misguided Angel, Schuyler and Jack had decided to have a bonding ceremony (they got married to us Red Bloods.) Jack's sister/nemesis Mimi, after losing her love show more Kingsley Martin to the Demons of Hell, had decided to make the journey through the Gates of Hell with Oliver to get him back. Finally, Charles and Allegra (Jack's father and Schuyler's mother) had disappeared leaving the New York Coven in shambles.

Lost in Time is written from the point of view of 3 characters: Schuyler, Mimi, and Allegra. Each character is involved in their own individual story. While the happenings of Schuyler and Mimi take place in current time, the chapters revolving around Allegra go back to before her Comatose state. De La Cruz allows her readers a closer look at Allegra's relationships with Charles and Ben and how the consequences of her actions unfolded.

In Lost in Time, Schuyler is able to convince Jack to help her find Catherine of Siena and the Gate of Promise before facing his blood trial with Mimi. They find themselves on a wild goose chase throughout Alexandria and Cairo searching for the Gate Keeper. After each wrong turn the couple comes closer together as they realize just how important it is to find her secrets in order to save their world from Lucifer.

Mimi, the current Regent of the Coven, looks on as the chaos in the Blue Bloods world grows. She comes to realize that to be an effective leader she first has to be happy. She and Oliver decide they have no choice but to enter Hell to save Kingsley. With determination and many struggles Mimi finds the man she loves. However, Kingsley has changed due to his time in the Seventh Circle of Hell. This unexpected realization puts Mimi and Oliver in danger, as well as the New York Coven.

Melissa De La Cruz does a great job in weaving an entertaining story filled with lust, suspense, and heartache. She describes Hell in a way that I have never seen done. Her Hell is not just a place with lakes of fire and demons. De La Cruz creates a world inhabited by fallen Angels, Demons, Trolls, the dead, and Hellhounds. Each level of Hell is different and miserable in its own unique way. Oliver discovers that the clothes are itchy, the buildings are too hot or too cold, the food is too sweet or rotten. Nothing is right.

I really enjoyed watching Mimi and Oliver's friendship grow. They started off despising each other in the beginning of the series and grew to truly enjoy each others company. De La Cruz shows in Lost in Time how they have come to know each other better than almost anyone else. Mimi no longer just worries about herself and what is going to make her life easier, she now views Oliver as a true friend which as a result changes her and her relationship with Kingsley.

When I found Schuyler and Jack's story start to drag Mimi and her escapades lifted me back up. De La Cruz really handles the Mimi/Oliver/Kingsley storyline well. It is witty, quickly moving, and hot (in more ways than one!)

I recommend Melissa De La Cruz's Lost in Time to all YA literature fans. De La Cruz does a great job of leaving her readers asking for more. My countdown is on for January 2013 when the final Blue Bloods novel, The Gates of Paradise, is released. I'm excited to see how the story turns out for Schuyler, Jack, Mimi, Kingsley, Oliver, Allegra, Charles, Bliss and all of my other favorite Blue Bloods characters. show less

This was an overly complicated version of the Christian theology-based vampire fantasy. As book 6 in the series, I certainly missed 5 books of story jumping in at this one, but the amount of backstory, and the way it was provided in this novel bogged down the actual plot of this book. The world-building seems pretty complicated, a system of magic and a history that are as complex as in series many thousands of pages longer, so perhaps it seems so complicated in part because so much is being crammed into so few pages.
As a romp through a vampire-infested world with sword battles, daring escapes, and a few not-too-steamy sex scenes, this book isn't bad, but it was not the best I've read from this subgenre.