Monday, March 7, 2011

Heather on "Blue Bloods"

Hey Readers!

Welcome back to Carly Reads for day two of guest reviews by Dr. Laura’s students

Today, Heather reviews “Blue Bloods” by Melissa de la Cruz!

My name is Heather and I am a graduate student studying Literacy (5th-12th grade). I am hoping to get the literacy extension in birth through sixth grade so I can be dual certified. This is my second semester here at Naz and I absolutely love it. I love reading in my spare time, and I am a fan of authors like Terry Truman, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Alan Poe, and now Melissa De La Cruz.  In my spare time, when I am not reading, I am a Varsity Cheerleading coach and a Graduate Assistant for the Homework Help Program here at Naz. 

Before reading “Blue Bloods,” I could not help but think that this would be another vampire love story.  You know, the vampire novel in which the vampire and human fall in love and try to figure out a way to make things work.  However, “Blue Bloods” is not like your typical vampire series! Melissa De La Cruz does NOT present her readers with the typical human falls in love with vampire love story. Instead, Cruz presents a realistic, mysterious story in which vampires are trying to live “normal” elite lives in Manhattan.


“Blue Bloods” is set in Manhattan and follows the lives of a few teens that attend Duchesne, a prestigious private school.  These teens are different, not just because they are rich, powerful, and among the elite in Manhattan, but because they are vampires.  The "main character" Schuyler Van Alen is a misfit at Duchesne. Schuyler is different, not just because she does not dress like the other girls in the school, but because she is part vampire.  Schuyler does not realize that she is a vampire until she is fifteen when she beings noticing blue veins on her arms, and begins craving raw meat (YUCK!).  There is a scene in the book where readers witness Schuyler eating the raw meat with blood streaming down her face.  At this point I got a little queasy and wanted to tell her to stop! However, I kept reading because I was wrapped into the book and couldn’t wait to see what Schuyler would do next.


Once Schuyler finds out she is a blue blood, she realizes that the death of one of her classmates, who was also a blue blood, was not an accident, especially since vampires are unable to die.  Who or what is the cause of her classmate’s death and other young vampires? Readers spend the book, along with Schuyler trying to uncover this mystery while putting her own life on the line.  Readers read parts of a diary, written from one of the female members of the Mayflower.  The way it is presented, it feels as if we, the “hooked” readers, are reading it while Schuyler is having a flashback or while she is reading the diary herself.  It’s as if readers are uncovering parts of the mystery through this diary, while learning the history of the blue bloods.

I loved this book and I cannot wait to read the other books in the series.  Melissa de la Cruz effortlessly combines the elements of horror and suspense with a splash of love (but then again what is a good story without a little bit of romance?). Cruz’s writing captivates and draws readers in. Once I began reading, I could NOT put it down. I definitely recommend this book to all readers! What are you waiting for?! Go read it. :-)

Thanks for your review, Heather.  Looking forward to seeing you again at TBF 2011!



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