Blue Bloods

Just when I think I have read every vampire myth known to man, I discover yet another version, and I can't say that I am disappointed. I love how authors are managing to take something old and well-known and put their own spin on it. Melissa De La Cruz does just that with her version of the vampire mythology. In hers, vampires are not evil but wealthy, privileged, and talented. Vampires can be killed but their spirit (and memories) live on to be reincarnated. There is even a tie-in to the nephilim and the fallen angels mythology. You have to appreciate an author who can multi-task like that!

In Blue Bloods, Ms. De La Cruz is definitely setting the stage for future books. The mysterious secrets of the Blue Bloods are compelling, but the show more overarching mystery and danger is more intriguing. She leaves many questions unanswered, thereby requiring that one continues to read the series for satisfaction.

Unfortunately, I personally found it very difficult to care about a majority of the characters. I do not have the money, the name, or access to the social elite, nor do I want to have access to it. I found an unappealing focus on brands and image that bothered me. There is more to life than wearing the latest fashions or owning the right brands. Even though Ms. De La Cruz did highlight the charitable organizations founded by or sponsored by the Blue Bloods, I felt there was an unacceptable focus on image rather than deeds that does not feel like the right message to pass along to young adults.

Similarly, part of the appeal of the vampire mythology is that anyone may become one. They are mysterious and select, but they will choose people from all walks of life to live with them through eternity. Unfortunately, Ms. De La Cruz's version dispenses with all of that and makes it an exclusive club in which one must be born to become members. The possibilities are no longer endless but rather very, very limited. It is one of the few disappointing aspects of the book.

In spite of my concerns about the exclusivity and wrong messaging to teens, I did enjoy this new take on an old premise; it is definitely unique. The main mystery is interesting; while I might not care about the characters as much as I should, I do want answers and will continue to read the series to get them. Any fan of vampire lore will appreciate the fresh take on this mythology, as I did. I look forward to the next book in the series and will recommend Blue Bloods to my vampire-loving friends. show less

I liked it, but holy crap, is it ever twitchy and jumpy. Like, we're talking meth addict who just chugged a Red Bull and down 5 of those giant pixie sticks level.

Schuyler (seriously?) is your standard "odd girl out" at a preppy New York school for rich people. And she's also a vampire. The back of the book just flat out tells you this; but it isn't revealed until about halfway through. And even that isn't handled very well. There's no dramatic buildup, just standard high school things, until BAM! Schoolmate gets murdered. More standard teen crap, BAM! Schuyler gets a random letter, goes to this fancy society event, and the hostess pretty much goes "You may have noticed some changes in your body this is because pub-- I mean, vampires. show more So, you're all vampires now, go have Edward Cullen adventures and things. You can't die. So have fun with that." And then we're treated to more generic teen drama, and then again, BAM! Turns out you can die, the vampires are getting killed by horrifying scary monster thing. And all of this is still covered in the blurb, and we're about 3/4 of the way through the book.

The rest of the story just goes on like this. A steady rhythm of Gossip Girl-esque teen drama, interspersed with random, out of the blue plot twists. It's like it has the book equivalent of heart palpitations. The characters also all act like this. Just random changes of hearts, revelations and all sorts of crazy crap. Seriously, my opening simile about the meth addict is probably the best way I can describe this book.

Be that as it may, still leaps and bounds ahead of Twilight. I'll probably pick up the next book in the series soon. show less

I loved Blue Bloods. When I read it, I was recently recovering from my Twilight epidemic, and this was the perfect fix. Don’t let the Twilight reference scare you off, because the books are much different. One of my favorite aspects of this novel (whole series really) is that the vampires have a history. Most vampire stories talk about vampires always existing, not how they came to be. Melissa de la Cruz uses angel mythology to bring logic and reason to a made up creature. This brings a very real aspect to the characters, and overall, the novel. Being set in New York City, this series could easily be described as Twilight meets Gossip Girl but in a way all its own.

The book (again, whole series) switches point of view regularly. This show more could be choppy and confusing if not done right, but I feel that Melissa executes it perfectly. It adds a whole other aspect to the characters; you are not just seeing what one character thinks of another, but many characters’ opinions and views as well as options and views of that particular character. It makes the novel very three-dimensional and enjoyable. Of course it is annoying, yet intriguing at the same time, when one character leaves you hanging.

(This is part of a four book recap - read the whole post here:http://ilikethesebooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/blue-bloods-series-recap.html ) show less

The novel flowed pretty well in the early stages as the main characters were established and a murder occurs, however, once the vampire of it all kicked in, it just seemed like at times it got a little bit mired in explaining the world of the story so the story itself wasn’t as smooth or as engaged in developing the characters as it had been earlier on.. This still held my attention well enough, I just thought the worldbuilding maybe should have been incorporated differently somehow.

I also wanted more of a reaction from the characters newly discovering that they’re vampires, it seemed odd and kind of anticlimactic the way they took in stride what you’d think would be startling news, learning you’re a vampire just seems like it show more would provoke a bigger response than it did from anyone here.

Part of the vampire lore here is that they go back centuries, including times when society was weirdly okay with incestuous couples, it’s something you encounter fairly regularly in classic literature with cousins marrying each other and occasionally in historicals and fantasy (Game of Thrones for one), but its just something I’m never going to be comfortable with and I wasn’t a fan of the hints of it here either, though it fortunately wasn’t that prominent as there wasn’t much time spent on any of the romances.

I did like Schuylar, and her fashion sense, and I thought other characters like Bliss and Oliver have potential, too (jury’s still out on Jack and Mimi, perhaps due to those aforementioned hints of incest). For the most part I was entertained by what is basically Gossip Girl with vampires, I do intend to move forward with the series since I own a few more of the books, I am interested to see what might unfold. I just wish this first one had gone a bit deeper emotionally and pulled me in more. show less

Pros: * Schuyler Van Alen is very likable. She's cute, smart, and not naive. She is blossoming and I'm looking forward to seeing her grow. * Oliver, Schuyler's best friend, is a cutie! * Vampires! Yup, the Blue Bloods are vampires. Truly unique vampires too. * History element. I love the references to history. It makes it very believable. * Mystery. Something's not right about how one of the students dies. * Scanned documents. There are clippings from the journal of a Blue Blood throughout the book, which makes them look like they are scanned pages. I thought that was a very cool effect. The font of the book, at least the first letter of each new chapter was also interesting. It is written like it is fresh ink. Neat.Cons: * Way too much show more fashion jargon. I really didn't care what brand of clothing they were wearing. Goodness gracious but does she tell us! I've been warned that this does stop, so I'm looking forward to more substance in the plot and other details than what the characters are wearing. * There's no conclusion, hence the sequel, but I found it disappointing that we don't find out exactly who's responsible for the death. * Mimi. I hate her. She's super annoying and such a bitch to everyone, including her likable twin brother Jack, who is hot and interesting. * NYC. I don't know my way around NYC but this author sure does. She references turns and addresses but they meant nothing to me. It would have been nice if there was a map of the area she references in the front of this book. Or in the back.Overall:I enjoyed it. I'm giving the series hope because this was the first of a series and it really needed that first book to get things rolling. Yah know?I've already started the second book, Masquerade, and looking forward to what Schuyler and Oliver find out about her heritage. show less

Schuyler is a student at one of New York City's most prestigious schools, but she doesn't exactly fit in with her peers. Then, when she discovers that she is a Blue Blood, a vampire that has been reincarnated over and over since the time of the Mayflower, she and her other classmates are suddenly in the same group. And there's a problem: there's something out to get the young Blue Bloods. It's already killed one of the classmates and now it's out for Schuyler. Who or what is it and what does it want?You would think a novel would be terrible when the premise is that everyone who came over on the Mayflower were vampires, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! It was vampires done right for several reasons. First, the plot line wasn't show more forced. It didn't start out in a science class where the two main characters immediately fell in love. There was ample build up before we even learn that everyone is a vampire. Second, there are lots of characters to learn about, not just a focus on two main characters and third in the love triangle. In fact, a love triangle was conspicuously absent for this novel. There wasn't a lot of romance, either, though I'm sure we'll see some in future books. Third, the characters had lives outside of their vampire-hood. It wasn't like they learned they were vampires and that was all they thought about or did. They still had parties and burgeoning modeling careers and family issues to deal with.Naturally the book ended on a cliffhanger and I've already got the second book in the series on it's way. I'm delighted to learn there are five in the series, plus an extra novella. What fun! show less

This is my second time reading Blue Bloods and I enjoyed it more this time than the first time I read it. Blue Bloods is beyond detailed. The pages come to life right in front of you and even if you haven’t been to New York it made you feel like it was a familiar place. Everything just had this perfect meticulous detail. It felt like I was at Duchesne with them or sitting in Penthouse Du Reves with Bliss. As well as riding in a taxi with Schuyler, seeing the scenery change heading towards her house. I’ve never felt so enveloped in a book that I almost felt a part of it. The historical aspect of this book was remarkable. I have to say Melissa has some major balls to take such a significant part of American history and put her own show more spin on it. Everything just came together seamlessly and even when I had questions on certain things, she tied them in beautifully.

One thing I realized early on about this book is it can be slightly unrealistic. A majority of teens can’t walk around with $400 dollar jeans or get into nightclubs. I think that is what made the book so appealing though. I got to step inside the world of the rich and privileged and take a peek around. It is a great reality escape and Melissa De La Cruz had no problem of making me get swept up in the world.

The vampire part of Blue Bloods was fascinating. I love that it wasn’t you typical vampire story. The way it tied in with the historical part was incredible. The process of the vampires was pretty neat and all the different cycles they had. You aren’t just born a vampire or bitten and made into one. I like that it was made into a society and it fit in with the wholes rich New York feel. I like that the story doesn’t come right out as a vampire book. Though you get a glimpse through certain point of views, it becomes more pronounced about a fourth of a way in. The denial in Blue Bloods about the bad things that were happening was a little absurd to me. I don’t know why some of the characters want to act blinded about it when it is practically happening in front of them. I enjoyed the fact that the vampires have to fear for once and it’s not the vampires putting fear into others.

Even though the book switched point of views, I feel like the main storyline was based on Schuyler. Schuyler isn’t my favorite character but I enjoy her storyline. I like how naive and reserved she is, even down to her clothes. Sometimes she can come off as over sensitive. Even though it is only book one, I think Schuyler has to deal with a lot and learn things fast. I think by the end of the book Schuyler really grew bold. When she starts to figure out what is happening, she isn’t afraid to ask questions.

I love Mimi’s character. Some people see her as bitchy, but I love her snarky attitude. Her relationship with Jack was a little odd at first, but when it’s explained toward the end of Blue Bloods it makes things a lot clearer. Even though I could relate more to Bliss as a character, everyone loves to hate the bad girl. Bliss was probably my favorite character. Going from being a southern girl and thrown into the New York social scene can be overwhelming and she handled herself well. Even though she was popular and had boys falling all over her, she still had insecurities. There is also a big mystery about Bliss and I can’t wait to discover it…again.

I am surprised at how strong some of the sexual scenes are. Most YA books are tame, but I love the heat that simmers through the pages of Blue Bloods. The love stories were enjoyable, some came off as predictable and others left you wondering how you didn’t figure it out. In Blue Bloods I am not a huge fan of any of the boys. Though they are noteworthy, I don’t have any swoon moments for them. But like I said it is only book one.

The ending definitely leaves you on a somber note, but you realize that it is about to get exciting. This book takes you off to vivid world that you don’t want to leave. All vampire lovers need to sink their teeth into this one. show less