De la Cruz, Melissa - Blue Bloods

[oyceter]

I didn't like this nearly as much as de la Cruz's Fresh Off the Boat, largely because the lives of fabulously wealthy and upper-crust white teenagers in New York do not interest me nearly as much as the life of a Filipino girl's move from the Philippines to the US. Part of that may be because the latter is written with much more heart than the former; I sympathized with V in a way that I don't sympathize with the protagonists of this book.

Schuyler Van Alen is a student at Duchesne, an extremely rich, preppy and exclusive school for the terminally rich, particulary for those who have had family history going back to Plymouth. But when a student at Duchesne is killed and found drained of all her blood, strange happenings start... happening.

There's a ton of brand name dropping, along with talk of socialites, exclusive clubs, exclusive fashions, and all that stuff available to people who have had generations of wealth. I do like what de la Cruz seems to be doing with past lives, and her take on vampires is interesting enough to keep me reading, but I also have a greater weakness for vampires than most people. I also like the conspicuous absence of the brooding, mopey, morally upright yet constantly tormented antihero-cum-romantic-interest; all the POVs we get in this book are female. While they are involved in romances, the central narrative isn't how the pure, innocent mortal girl gets drawn in by aforementioned Tall, Dark and Broody, it's more on the mysteries of the worldbuilding.

I also liked the way de la Cruz plays at mythologizing American history, though I deeply wish her mythologizing weren't completely white.

I'm interested enough to pick up the next book in the series, but not enough to rec this to people, unless they are really huge vampire fans.

Links:
- furyofvissarion's review

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

The second book was...not wonderful. Not that the first book is. It's more of the same, but doesn't really advance the general plotline of the series. It felt a little stale.

[oyceter]

Siiigh. I am guessing I will get it anyway (yay library) just because past lives are a huge button of mine.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Also why I read it. Me and NYPL, we are tight.

[keilexandra]

Oh, I have a terrible weakness for vampires. This will go on my prelim TBR list, though with caveats.

[oyceter]

Ha, I know what you mean! I think I am picking up the second book from the library just to see if there's more about past lives...

[penmage.livejournal.com]

There is, some. But it's unsatisfying. But they're not long, and they don't demand too much attention, so it's no real sacrifice to read through it. Yanno.

[oyceter]

Yeah... I am looking for some brain fluff right now too.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

"Schuyler Van Alen" isn't a name which reflects heritage going back to Plymouth. "Van Alen" would reflect Dutch heritage, from when New York State was New Netherlands.

A check at http://whitepages.com shows Van Alens in New York State as being unlikely to be aristocratic. The ones who show up are in the Hudson Valley a few counties north of Manhattan. They're quite likely remotely related to the Roosevelts, etc. -- but also to the Jukes Family.

[oyceter]

Hee! Well, I guess the author didn't bother to check or didn't care?