Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (book 1)

THE DETAILS:
Pages: 328
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: 01/03/2010
Originally published: 25/04/2006
Bought in store
-Was terribly sad because the book decided to crease itself. I must have put it into my handbag funny and now there is a crease straight down the right side approx 1 1/2 inches in. This bibliophile is not happy.

THE BLURB:
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.

THE REVIEW:
I know there are a few people out there that didn't like this series. I guess there are always a few people that don't like something, though. After reading the first book I guess I could see why they wouldn't like it, but I liked it. I really really did...

'Blue Bloods' is cliquey chic-lit meets vampire teen fiction. I thought this was really unique. Yes a lot of books with fantasy characters do have their little secret societies, but this just went to a whole other level. It was like the opposite of the 'Vampire Diaries' TV show, because in that show the founder's council is made up of people who want to hunt vampires. I thought this was cool and a new way to introduce readers to fantasy. I can imagine a lot of girly-girls actually getting into the series.

I also really liked the mythology. It was a cool idea to have angels and vampires in the story. Who would have known that vampires were fallen angels? It seems like a good sort of punishment to have to feed off human blood too. It was like god thought 'You want to be evil, I'll make you feel evil alright!'. Well, that is what I imagined anyhow.

At the beginning when I was reading about the 'consumption' I thought that the author meant the disease that killed the Bronte sisters? As I read on I thought that it probably just meant 'consumption' as in 'blood consumed'. I'm still a little unsure, but if the author meant the disease type (meaning that the people who died were thought to have died from the disease, but actually died from vampire bite) that would definitely be cool.

This writer tried her hand a bit of social issue sugar coating that I find a lot in good fantasy novels. I didn't find this to be very 'educational' in this novel, but rather laughable.

The characters are all pretty likable except for the mean girl. There isn't really much to say where characters are concerned. I think everything was pretty well written as far as believability goes (As in the most believable a fantasy novel can get) and the relationships were pretty much the same. Some of the relationships are a bit freaky though, because some of the characters are (reincarnated?) born into awkward positions where their sister is also their ex-lover.

The one thing that I think did bother me a little about the book is that you don't really find out what happened. It's not a really cliff hanger-y ending, but the problem isn't resolved and doesn't even seem hopeful of being resolved. It's a little unfinished. I guess I can kinda put up with that though, seeing as it is the first book in a series.

I feel like this book was a written version of a TV show. It's in 3rd person and switches between characters a lot. It also ends funny. The way it ends reminds me of when a TV episode finishes and I say 'No way! I want to know what happened. I have to wait till next Friday to see what happened?'. I think this is where a lot of people lost their love for this book. That and the more girly-cliquey stuff that isn't as common in the fantasy genre. It wasn't that it was bad in their eyes, it was just unfamiliar? I assume. I think the mythology might have been a bit off putting for some of those hard-core fantasy fans too.

Overall, I gave it 4/5 stars. Very promising. Better than the likes of 'Fallen' and 'Hush Hush' storyline wise, but felt a little unfinished. I think people who read contemporary fiction will probably enjoy it more than fantasy readers. 'Blue bloods' is a very fashionable vampire read. The book had the right mix of freaky to go with all the socialite  stuff.

If you like the 'Vampire Diaries' books you might like 'Blue Bloods'

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