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Revelations

Melissa De La Cruz

Published 2008         264 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

Schuyler Van Alen's blood legacy has just been called into question - is the young vampire in fact a Blue Blood, or is it the sinister Silver Blood that runs through her veins? As controversy swirls, Schuyler is left stranded in the Force household, trapped under the same roof as her cunning nemesis, Mimi Force, and her forbidden crush, Jack Force.

When an ancient place of power is threatened in Rio de Janeiro, however, the Blue Bloods will need Schuyler on their side. The stakes are high; the battle is bloody; and through it all, Schuyler is torn between duty and passion, love and freedom.

The Review

Revelations is the third part in Melissa De La Cruz’s Blue Bloods YA fantasy series. This series follows the lives of a group of privileged teenaged Blue Blood vampires as they come into their vampire powers. Since there is a strong story-arc running through these books new readers would do best to read the books in order, starting with Blue Bloods, rather than staring here.

Masquerade, the previous book in this series ended on quite the cliff hanger. Revelations starts from just two weeks after the events of Masquerade finished yet the heightened drama from the final pages of Masquerade is not carried through into the start of this book. Revelations starts quietly with another round of vacuous socializing by the fashionable teenaged protagonists of this series. However, this is a deceptive calm before the storm because it soon becomes clear that just about everyone in this story has their own secrets.

Earlier books in the Blue Bloods series revealed Mimi and her twin brother Jack to be not only the most talented, beautiful and wealthy teens in school but also Azrael and Abbadon, the soul-bonded Angels of Death and Destruction. Azrael and Abbadon have been bonded for centuries, which creates an unbreakable bond between them and makes them the twin halves of a single soul. This is a bond that cannot be broken except by the death of one of the pair. The fact that these immortal lovers have been reincarnated together as twins does give their relationship something of an “ick” factor, even though the vampire mythology makes it clear that the twins are not really brother and sister in the human sense of the word.

Vampire family relationships are complex and (for me) the hardest part of the story is remembering that Blue Blood brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and parents are not actually related to each other. In human terms Schuyler is Jack and Mimi’s cousin but in reality Schuyler is no relation and her half-blood status means that she is a new soul, so she hasn’t even got the memories of past lives to drawn experience from. Schuyler and Jack have been drawn together from their first meeting but Jack is promised to Mimi, who frantically plans their bonding ceremony even as she can see that she is not the object of his affections.

Revelations has it all - clandestine affairs, hidden enemies, angels, demons and plenty of action. Threaded through the story are snippets of Venator investigation reports which finally start to make sense as a number of characters are revealed to be not what they seem. The identity of the Silver Blood family who have been aiding Lucifer’s return is finally exposed, and although it isn’t exactly a revelation (there have been plenty of hints and clues after all) it still makes for gripping reading as the story storms into its action packed climax in Rio.

The second half of Revelations leaves the frivolous Blue Blood parties of Manhattan behind and delivers a solid fantasy drama - complete with action, intrigue, loss and romance. As the story takes this darker turn it gains a lot more strength and finally becomes more than a just a collection of glamorous locations, designer frocks and over-privileged Blue Blood teens playing at being vampires.

Fast paced, exciting, trashy and strangely fascinating, Revelations is a great addition to the Blue Bloods series that is sure to leave readers thirsting for more.

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