“Blue Bloods” by Melissa De La Cruz

Three Stars

Schuyler (pronounced Skyler) Van Alan has never fit in with the other students at her elite private school in the heart of Manhattan. While the other students live lives of power, privilege, and money, Schuyler’s once prominent family has fallen from both fortune and grace within New York’s elite society. But none of this has really bothered her. She has her two best friends, Oliver and Dylan, and together they’re making it through high school just fine.

Until the day it all changes. After one of their classmates is found dead, the most popular boy in school, Jack Force, begins to pay attention to Schuyler. Then she receives an invitation to join The Committee, the most prestigious youth committee in all of Manhattan, open only to the children of the oldest, richest and most influential families of New York City. Schuyler’s grandmother insists she join and it is at the first meeting where she learns the truth. She, and everyone else on The Committee, are vampires. And if this isn’t enough to deal with, something evil has returned and is hunting them all down.

Schuyler must find the truth about her family’s past and find out what is hunting all the young vampires in the city before it finds her, all while trying to balance new and old friendships and make it through high school.

I had fun reading this book. The story is a fresh take on vampires and so seems to fit with the elite lifestyles of the wealthy of New York City. It’s clever and entertaining and a fairly quick read. I enjoyed all of the characters, both good and bad, and the history of vampires that she has created. Melissa has created a mythology for vampires that is so logical it’s effortless to accept and slide in to. The characters are developed and believable and you can’t help but like them, even when you jealously want to hate them. The back story is obviously well thought and planned out because she does an amazing job of piecing it all slowly together as the story progresses, revealing bit by bit at a time, until it finally all comes together in the end making sense.

“Blue Bloods” is the first in a series and I’ve already picked up several from the library to continue the story. I’m excited to learn more about the history of vampires and that of the characters themselves. I hope that their histories will piece together and connect in fun ways.

I do worry a little that this series will drag on too long and loose it’s best qualities. There are seven books in the series and I’m worried that the plots and content and going to wear thin. But who knows, maybe it will be great. I followed other series well beyond seven books and maybe this one will surprise me.