Gates of Paradise

I have waited far too long to read this conclusion of the Blue Bloods series, so I was incredibly happy when I decided to pick up a copy at the library and just finish it. Everything starts coming together in this novel, and it’s mostly action from start to finish, which was a lot of fun. Mimi and Jack are acting as double agents, Bliss is working with the hellhounds to help fix the timeline, and Schuyler is finally figuring out what it means to be the key to the Gate of Promise.

I loved getting back into the swing of things and how everything is on a knife’s edge throughout pretty much the whole book. Who can be trusted? Is Kingsley on their side? Are Jack and Mimi really double agents? It’s a whole lot of suspicion and doubt and show more trying to fight the good fight, and I really liked that. Everyone’s preparing for an all-out war with Lucifer, and I liked how the shifting character perspectives shows how the war is shaping up as a whole and what each character’s part in it is. I LOVE that we get more Bliss time and that she’s really coming into herself as a hellhound and working to find her place within her pack.

While I enjoyed this book, however, there were two main problems with this book: the pacing and the ending. I expected it to be all action and let’s go get Lucifer, etc., but there were way too many side trips for this to have been a really satisfying ending. Schuyler randomly flies out to meet her paternal grandmother, who accepted her with very little question-asking and suspicion, and then meets a half-sister that does the same. It’s heartwarming and I’m glad Schuyler is finally looking into her father’s family, but that probably should have been put in an earlier book to give this last one the oompf I thought it was going to have. It seemed out of place and frivolous. Also, while I love happy endings, I wish this ending were just a little more on the dark side; they were fighting Lucifer, after all; I thought there should have been more personal, heart-wrenching devastation, but that’s more of a personal preference than an actual problem, I guess, so moving on. :p

This series as a whole is definitely one to check out. It provides an interesting perspective on the idea of vampires and history in general, with how they played a role in major events. It’s intriguing, but also has light, fluffy moments of romance and regular teen intrigue, which is a fun contrast. If you’re interested in vampires and angels, definitely give this series a try.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

I marked this as DNF because I do not appreciate basically being manipulated into buying and reading the Wolf Pact series in order to understand Bliss's part in this book. Ms de la Cruz made the decision to start a new series, and that's fine. I even bought it and was planning on reading it after I finished the Blue Bloods. Key word being after. Instead of being able to do that, Ms de la Cruz decided that she's going to add things from Wolf Pact into Gates of Paradise so that in order to understand what was happening, you would have to read Wolf Pact. That's sneaky and underhanded and I don't appreciate it. If your readers want to read a new series by you, fine, that's great. But you cannot sit there and basically force them into show more reading your new series in order to understand what's going on in a completely different series. I DNF'ed this book and Wolf Pact because of that, and I no longer have any intention of reading any books by Ms de la Cruz. I will be donating all of my Blue Bloods books, Wolf Pact, and the Beauchamp Family novels I own to my local library. show less

I marked this as DNF because I do not appreciate basically being manipulated into buying and reading the Wolf Pact series in order to understand Bliss's part in this book. Ms de la Cruz made the decision to start a new series, and that's fine. I even bought it and was planning on reading it after I finished the Blue Bloods. Key word being after. Instead of being able to do that, Ms de la Cruz decided that she's going to add things from Wolf Pact into Gates of Paradise so that in order to understand what was happening, you would have to read Wolf Pact. That's sneaky and underhanded and I don't appreciate it. If your readers want to read a new series by you, fine, that's great. But you cannot sit there and basically force them into show more reading your new series in order to understand what's going on in a completely different series. I DNF'ed this book and Wolf Pact because of that, and I no longer have any intention of reading any books by Ms de la Cruz. I will be donating all of my Blue Bloods books, Wolf Pact, and the Beauchamp Family novels I own to my local library. show less

It's been so long since I read the last book (after devouring the rest of the series in roughly 6 weeks), it was somewhat difficult to remember all the specifics of this particular vampire world. I do love how all of the main characters' stories wrapped up, the most surprising being Oliver and Finn. Good wrap up for the series.

I loved how this series came to an end. It ties up quite a few loose ends, and leaves room for new adventures.

I loved Mimi in this one. She shows so much emotion in this book, and only wants to keep those she cares about safe. The one person I didn't care for is Jack. You don't know if he's really back on Lucifer's side, or what's going on. Bliss is awesome as always. I've always loved her, and was so glad to see more of her in this last installment. I had been very frustrated with Schuyler throughout this series. She definitely redeems herself here. She is completely sullen in the beginning, but put her big girl panties on and deals with the task her mother has left her.

GoP kept me captivated the entire way through. There are some show more pretty shocking surprises, and I was left with my jaw hanging. You realize the power of love as the story continues. You range through pretty much every emotion: rage, anger, joy, love, loss. Cruz did a great job rounding out this series without making anyone too upset.

I have loved every minute with these characters, and was devastated to tell them goodbye. show less

Gates of Paradise was the final installment of Melissa de la Cruz’s Blueblood series. I have had so many ups and downs with this story, and while the ending wasn't as good as I would have expected it to be from the first three novels, it was a lot better than I thought it would be after books 5 and 6. Gates of Paradise had a rocky start, but by the end Melissa de la Cruz was able to remind me what I loved about her stories when I first read them.

The plot is really where I have problems with the Bluebloods series and Gates of Paradise. As amazing as the Bluebloods series was at first, the plot started diverging in a pretty random direction—almost like there just wasn’t enough content for 7 books. It also felt like the worlds of show more Melissa de la Cruz’s series started overlapping in an entirely unnecessary and illogical manner. With Gates of Paradise we still have the annoying inter-play between series, but we started to move away from some of the random demon-human babies and that was a welcome relief. They were still there, but their role was mercifully de-emphasized.

As much as I’ve struggled with the end of the Bluebloods series, Melissa de la Cruz has been able to maintain an awesome cast of characters. Her characters have certainly evolved since the beginning of the series, but they haven’t become completely different people. More importantly, I like the characters—especially Mimi and Kingsley—and I truly wanted them all to have happy endings.

Gates of Paradise was a better than expected ending to a great series that started to go downhill. I am defiantly ready to close the door on this series, but it was a satisfactory conclusion. While I won’t be reading any of the other series that involve this world, I am looking forward to reading different things from Melissa de la Cruz. show less

I loved this series! While I'll miss this world I'm grateful that she ended it before it got stale. The final battle for the salvation of the Blue Bloods involves all the various strands of the story. Mimi and Jack are pretending to return to Lucifer to betray him. Bliss is bringing in the hell hounds. And Oliver and Schuyler are searching for a answer having to do with her father. In the end, it will take all of them to protect heaven. While everything gets wrapped up tight, I wasn't unhappy with how things played out. A good end to a great series.