Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Description:
Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it. Schuyler wants to find out the secrets of the mysterious Blue Bloods. But is she putting herself in danger?

This is the second time I've read this book... its been a while since the first time.  Most of you are probably sensing a pattern with my odd interest in most things vampire {if you personally know me and have talked books with me, you know this to be true}.  This is another "its about vampires, but what you know about those creatures from books such as Dracula is completely false."  Kind of like Twilight, but very different.  Confused?  Yeah, I thought so.

Okay, lets first start with a background to the vampires in the book.  Its really quite intricate, actually.  Because, like most books, there are good and bad vampires {except, of course, in Dracula, where all vampires are just horrible}.  The good vampires are *you guessed it* the Blue Bloods.  Like the description says, they quite literally have blue blood.  You know how ours turns red when it hits oxygen?  Theirs doesn't, and it creates intricate patterns on their skin {they have a special doctor that helps them cover this}.  They are also New York City's elite families {as well as elite families from other New England places}.  And the whole family thing is quite weird, but I'll get to that.

How many of you are familiar with the fall of Lucifer?  How he and 1/3 of the angels were cast from heaven because of his conceit and because he wanted to be God?  Well, in this book, 400 of that 1/3 {which is supposed to be most of them, actually} decided they wanted to be on God's side again?  The trouble?  Well, first off, they were cursed with the need to feed on human blood to survive.  They don't drain humans {like you come across in most other vampire stories}, nor do they "infect" those who are bitten {unless you count the strange attachment the humans get to the vampires as being infected}.  Second, there are "evil" vampires {those who still sided with Lucifer} who love draining the other "blue blood" vampires of not just their blood, but their very soul.

You see, vampires in these books {yes, there are more} all age.  If they want to.  Some of them don't, but they have to have special permission to stay in the "shell" of that cycle.  Most live 100 years, then they expire for that cycle and their soul is captured in some of their blood, and they begin again after a breif resting period.  Yeah, a little weird {I personally like the whole "live forever and never get old" aspect of the vampire myth}.

Anyways, I'll move on with the story.  The book revolves around a few key characters, the main being a girl named Schuyler {Sky-ler} Van Alen, a girl who happens to be half human and half vampire, the vampire part being more dominant.  This book seems to be just the tip of the ice burg as far as the whole story goes.  It introduces the reader to everything in this new version of a vampire world - aging, cycling, sunshine {some of them are actually tan. Weird}, Silver Bloods.  The short version?  I'm pretty sure something is seriousl wrong with the character Bliss {she's having breakdowns}, I think Schuyler is throwing off the newest cycle {everything always happens the same: the same vampires marry, they all work towards the goal: getting on God's "good side"}, and somehow Schuyler is also going to bring them peace and get them their goal.  But the most powerful vampires {two of whom chose to be cast down to keep on eye on the others, and who are on God's "good side"} are almost all trying to off her.  Her mother is the angel Gabriel {Gabrielle in these books}, who is comatose after choosing her human "familiar" {a human she "fed" off of and fell in love with}.  Gabrielle {known as Allegra Van Alen in this cycle} vowed not to take another familiar after her human husband died, hence the comatose state.

All in all, I would suggest it if you enjoy easy to read books on vampires {like myself}.  Don't worry, I won't always write about books concerning vampires and Harry Potter ;-).