Blue Bloods

Picked up simply to fill the "B" in my alphabet challenge, I don't even know when or why I acquired this book to be honest. I haven't been terribly interested in vampires for a little while now. But still, I read the book, and found myself intrigued enough to want the next one.

De La Cruz approaches the subject of vamparism and immortality in a way that I had not seen before, a rare feat with the recent influx of vampire stories. She presents to us the notion that what if it was all strictly in the blood? In this series, Blue Bloods are what runs in their veins, their blue blood carrying all their memories, their abilities, their longevity. The blood is cycled, allowing 400 Blue Bloods to live while the others sleep and await their call.

While De La Cruz spins a very unique tale, I couldn't help but feel throughout that she was trying a bit too hard. The imagery of the story, while beautiful, was a bit too much for me and at times I found myself rolling my eyes and wondering why at all would I care about the designer outfits they were all wearing! It also seems that there is a lot crammed into this book. De La Cruz uses the fact that her main character, Schuyler (which took me nearly half the book to realize was pronounced Sky-ler), is just learning all about herself and the Blue Blood society as the device through which the reader learns about this world she has built. And it works. But there are those predictable moments when it feels that she is contradicting herself when in fact she is simply jumping through those pesky loopholes she didn't previously point out.

It might seem like I have a lot to hold against this book, but in fact the story itself is so captivating that I found myself willing to overlook all faults to finish as quickly as I could. Now I am eager to find the other books in an endeavor to see how it all ends!

I do recommend this book to others. The story within is simply too well thought and unique to pass up! It may not be a masterpiece, but I believe De La Cruz has great potential!