Book Review: The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa de la Cruz

Schuyler has been on the run since the from her own people, the Blue Bloods of New York, ever since the fateful day the Silver Bloods were fully revealed (end of book 3). She seeks refuge with a group of Blue Bloods from Paris, only to witness their almost destruction as the Silver Bloods and the demon that was accidently released wreak havoc on their annual ball.


She returns to New York to live in secrecy from her friends and try to find the secret her family has hidden for years. With the help of her human conduit, smuggling books out of the archives, she stumbles upon what her true mission should be. While one mystery begins to be solved, many more unravel around her as dark secrets are revealed, and the romance between her and Jack resurfaces.

A good series that I have enjoyed so far. The characters all change very dramatically in this book. It seems to be a major turning point in the overall story. It got a little soap opera-ish with some of the back and forth hidden lives and secrets. At times it almost made it a little hard to follow what everyone was really doing.

3.5/5

Book Review: Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz

The mystery behind the Silver Bloods is finally solved. Many loose ends from the first two books are resolved, but the threat still remains following a dramatic twist of events that ends in discovery and tragedy. The mystery is not so much solved as revealed leaving plenty of room for the next books to work with.


Schuyler continues to develop thoughout the story. She is not a perfect person and faces many tough choices, sometimes she chooses correctly and sometimes not, making her very real. Oliver continues to be Schuyler's best friend and guides her the best he is able. He is one of the few characters that I cannot seem to relate to. He is too perfectly accomodating to Schuyler, doing whatever he can for her.

Many other young Blue Bloods come into their own, and we learn their histories and purposes in this life. Their personalities fill out and so much is revealed, I don't even know how to describe it. This is the book I enjoyed the most of the series so far, and I will be continuing the series soon.

4/5

Book Review: Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

The continuing story of Schuyer Van Allen and her vampire (and non-vampire) friends. The story open with Schuyler searching Venice for her grandfather, a man who disappeared from the Blue Blood community long ago. She is hoping he will be able to provide her with answers in her search for the killer of her fellow young vampires.


The characters are written in a way that they are still growing and changing before your eyes. As they adjust to their vampire traditions and realize that there really is something out there hunting them. The not so nice are still not so nice, but in a way that you grow attached to...after all someone has to be the school "mean girl".

I would have liked to see more of Italy, but alas the author quickly takes us back to New York to contiue the story. While the book does fall into what I call the "second in a series curse", the pitfall of second books to be so much development and set up for the third that they are slow and uneventful, this one pulls itself out of it rather quickly.

The ending has a bit of a twist at the end that left me gaping and wishing I was as devoted to doing the right thing as the character was. We see a small portion of the mystery come to a close, only to open an entirely new one...onto book three!

3/5

Book Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Most people think of blue bloods as the old elite families...but they are more than that. They are an anceint race of Vampires that have been living for generations peacefully among the Red Bloods, or humans. But recently something has begun to kill the young off before they come into their powers. They face the choice of ignoring this threat and hoping it will go away or confronting it once and for all.


Schuyler Van Allen is vampire, a Blue Blood. These vampires are not your traditional vampires. They are nearly invincible...sunlight, stakes, silver...all seem to be myths. So when Schulyer and her friends find that something is out there that is able to kill them off, they set off on a hunt to find what it is. This hunt for answers leads to more questions than they started with.

The teenagers, Schulyer and her Blue Blood schoolmates, are fascinating characters that cover the entire specrum of personalites. There are some you love, some you hate, and some you won't be able to make your mind up about. They are dynamic and adjust their life perspectives as situations change. The story was portrayed wonderfully, revealing enough to keep you reading without giving away the critical information to figure out who the killer is. I'm starting book two later today.

There were some typos and a few times the story jumped in a awkward way as if the author wasn't sure how to segway into the next section. I'm hoping her skills become a bit more polished as she continues with the series.

On a side note, I absolutely loved the cover.  The picture is perfect and the wounds on the neck are actually indented in to give the picture some texture.

3/5