Book Review: Blue Bloods

Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Release date: March 27, 2007
Pages: 336

Summary: Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she’s starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it.

Schuyler wants to find out the secrets of the mysterious Blue Bloods. But is she putting herself in danger? Melissa de la Cruz’s vampire mythology, set against the glitzy backdrop of New York City, is a juicy and intoxicating read.

LC's Take: 

I have to say-- even after being a little iffy about this book due to all the negative reviews-- I did enjoy Blue Bloods. The characters kept me amused, the plot kept me hooked from beginning to end, and the descriptive elements built up a world that I could definitely picture as I read.

I do have to say though-- even though I personally enjoyed reading this book-- I can also understand why there are so many readers out there who absolutely cannot stand it. In my case, those reasons didn't really bother me all that much. I felt like Melissa de la Cruz had a really good story here, and I give her credit for creating a unique twist with the over-done vampire genre-- however, I don't know if this book is completely targeted to appeal to the general YA audience, for the following reasons:

• There is an obscene number of references to fashion designers and brand names. Now I have to admit, I have a bit of a superficial side to me that goes a little gaga over things like Jimmy Choo stilettos and other high-end names from Vogue magazine, so I didn't mind all the fashion refs. However, if you don't give a crap about what brands characters are wearing, you might get annoyed by all the name-drops throughout the book. (Warning: there are tons.)
• On a similar note, there are lots of rich, pretty people in Blue Bloods. After all, Blue Bloods are the elite. If rich, popular, elitist, pretty people make you want to rip your hair out, once again, be prepared for a lot of upper-class drama.  
• Many (and I do mean many) liberties were taken with the historical parts of this book, which focused on the pilgrims coming to Plymouth in the 1620's. I thought it was creative of the author to include "letters" written by a certain woman (I won't give away who she is!) from the 1600's throughout the book-- it was a  unique way to connect the past with what was going on in the present plot. Luckily, American history is not really my area of expertise-- which is a good thing, because as you may know, I absolutely HATE when authors take liberties with history that I actually know a lot about.
• Relating back to my first two points, the plot itself is very Gossip-Girl-meets-Mean-Girls-meets-Paris-Hilton-meets-Cosmo-Magazine (Haha, how's that for a description??) Personally, I don't mind lots of fluff as long as the overall plot is keeping me interested-- and Blue Bloods did keep me interested. If you aren't adverse to teen drama and don't always take your reading too seriously, this should't be an issue for you either.
• Even though this book is technically about Vampires, there isn't all that much in the way of Vampire-ishness in this book (I don't think Vamps were even mentioned until about a third of the way through). I think this might be developed later in the series, but Book One was much more focused on drama than on the paranormal. For hardcore vampire fans out there, I think this could be a bit of a turn-off. But I still liked it. 

These are just some things to keep in mind before you decide to read this book. I do applaud Melissa de la Cruz  for taking a swing at a plot that was pretty difficult to pull off. I thought that she was able to take a story line that could have been extremely confusing and made it work-- I was eager to keep reading right through to the very end, and the cliff hanger in the last few pages made me wonder what will be happening next. Even though the characters didn't stand out, they were all still entertaining.

And on that note-- if you are OK with reading a book solely for (mindless) entertainment and not much else every once in awhile-- then you might be able to enjoy this book, too. My advice? If you do decide to read it, just don't take it too seriously! It was overall just a fun book.

LC's Rating: 

A fun, different take on Vampire Lore, Blue Bloods is full of drama and intrigue. I applaud the author for taking a new direction with an over-worked theme, but at the same time, there's a lot in this book that might turn off its target audience. I personally didn't mind it, but be warned, this series isn't for everyone!