Review: Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Pages: 320, paperback

ISBN: 9781905654741

Publisher: Atom

Date Released: May 1st, 2010 (first published May 1st, 2006)

Genre: YA / romance / paranormal / vampires

Source: bought

Premise:

When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society.

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think.

Could those vampire legends really be true? Steeped in vampire lore and set against the heady backdrop of the rich, young, and powerful in the heart of New York City, Blue Bloods will be devoured by Melissa de la Cruz's legion fans. (Taken from Goodreads)

Buy it from: The Book Depository / Amazon


I'll let you guys in on a secret. I love this cover. A few of my IRL friends have commented that it looks bad, and that it looks so typical of a YA book, but I don't care. There's something about it that just draws me to it. It was the main reason I bought this book (as opposed to the US version of this series) despite the frightening model on the cover of Keys to the Repoository. Go on, have a look. (For some reason, the model just looks creepy and sort of like a drug addict, thanks to bad photoshopping. A real shame, but enough about that. That's for another post.)

The story and the vampire mythology in this book is actually pretty great. Melissa de la Cruz has managed to tie in the mythology of her creatures with actual historical events (mainly the lost Colony of Roanoke, which is just fascinating). I thought that the story was full of surprises, and it kept me on my toes for the most part. Each big reveal (yes, this actually has a plot! Hurrah!) was a massive omg moment tgat I totally didn't see coming.

The characters were interesting. The way they interacted at some times felt genuine, but also, at the same time, the relationships and personalities seemed weak. Also, for the most part, they were walking cliches, which made me groan. The slutty, popular girl is evil; the hot jock is a potential love interest, as is the loyal best friend; and the odd girl out is the special girl who suddenly finds that all the guys like her.

The writing itself was interesting. Fast paced, mysterious and fun to read. But on the other hand, the amount of name dropping was ridiculous. Half the brands that were not-so-casually mentioned went right over my head. It was unnecessary and made the reading experience an uncomfortable one because I couldn't recognise most of the terms used. I mean, I don't care if a person shopped at Prada, carrying a Gucci bag and wearing Jimmy Choo shoes while smelling like Chanel #5. And I promise you, that out of the dozens of names dropped, those are the only ones that I recognised.
Also, it was written in 3rd person, so it skips between POVs of most of all the characters. Jumping from POV to POV is a massive pet peeve of mine, and feels a bit sloppy.

The last 50 pages or so were all over the place. Each character knew--or thought they knew--certain things, and it got to the point where things were getting annoying trying to separate truth from lies.
And what I hated most about this book: it ended completely unresolved. I was actually really disappointed. Though, I will definitely continue to read the rest of the series.

So, all in all, if you're a fan of vamps or Gossip Girl, you'll probably love this book. I really enjoyed this book, it was great for a light read.

Cover Art: 4
Plot: 4
Characters: 2
Writing: 2
Level of Interest: 4

Total Rating: 3/5