"Masquerade" by Melissa De La Cruz

Two Stars

Mimi Force is throwing a party, THE party of the year. It’s the hottest ticket in town and all of the details are top secret. The only way in is to receive the coveted text message moments before the party begins. That, and you have to be a vampire.

Schuyler doesn’t trust The Committee or believe their story that the dreaded Silver Bloods are only a legend. She and her best friend Oliver have traveled to Venice in search of her grandfather who went into a self-imposed banishment after the last reports of Silver Blood encounters, centuries before. He is the key to finding and defeating the Silver Bloods once and for all.

But that’s not her only problem. There is the upcoming annual 400 Grand Gala that she must attend and the social pressure getting an invite to Mimi’s exclusive Masquerade after-party. Then there’s the boys. Jack Force, Schuyler’s long-time crush who alternates between kissing and ignoring her. And things with Oliver have been getting weird and she’s considering a move that would make it even weirder forever. And to top it all off The Committee has just placed the life of her arch-nemesis, Mimi Force, in her hands. With everything going on Schuyler has pushed herself so far beyond her limits, she may not survive.

I’m losing interest in this series. When I finished I had to sit and really think “Now, what was it about? What happened?” It’s a lot of hanging out, then suddenly something huge happens at the end. The only problem is you know how it’s going to end, you know there is no real threat to the character, so it’s hard to buy into and not feel like they just needed something to happen.

I'm going to keep going but I just feel like nothing really happens or progresses in this book. It's the same conflict as the first book but doesn't do much to move that story any further than the first book. I was worried after the first book because I really liked it and wasn't sure how it would progress. Here's hoping book three picks it up a bit.