Jenn's Review: Blue Bloods

 

Blurb:  Within New York City’s most elite families, there lurks a secret society of celebrated Americans whose ancestors sailed on the Mayflower. They are the powerful and the wealthy—and in fact, they are not human. They are the Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires.

Schuyler Van Alen has never fit in at Duchesne, her prestigious New York City private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapidated mansion. Schuyler is a loner—and happy that way.

But when she turns fifteen, Schuyler’s life changes dramatically. She has a mosaic of blue veins on her arms, and craves raw meat. The death of a popular girl from Duchesne is surrounded by a mystery that haunts her. And strangest off all, Jack Force, the most popular boy in school, is showing a sudden interest in her.

Schuyler wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger?

Steeped in vampire lore and set against the glittery backdrop of New York City, Blue Bloods will be devoured by fans of Melissa de la Cruz.

Review:  This is one of those series that has a ton of hype surrounding it but I just haven't gotten around to reading it.  Honestly, all the hype made me a little leery of Blue Bloods and may have pushed it further down my reading list. If it weren't for the  TBR 2013 Challenge, it may have taken me even longer to start it. 

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. One blogger called the plot Mean Girls with Vampires and though I haven't read it, I'm guessing that's pretty accurate. But I love Melissa de la Cruz's vampire concept. It's has deep historical roots and complex relationships.  It's fascinating.

Unfortunately, I felt like the entire book was plot exposition for the series and I didn't connect with any of the characters. Perhaps this was because the narrative kept switching points of view.  I wanted to love Schuyler but I just couldn't seem to connect with her.  Bliss was wishy-washy.  I didn't like Jack who seems way too easily manipulated and, for a mean girl, Mimi seemed rather flat.  As a matter of fact, most of the characters came off as a little two dimensional which contributed to the feeling that Ms. De la Cruz was just laying groundwork. 

Still, the idea of this series is intriguing; I can see why Blue Bloods is so popular.  It has piqued my curiosity enough that I want to see where things are headed.

Final Take:  3.75/5