Masquerade (Blue Bloods, #2)

by Melissa de la Cruz

Schuyler Van Alen is starting to get more comfortable with her newfound vampire powers, but she still has many unanswered questions. A trip to Italy in search of her grandfather only serves to make things more confusing. What secrets are the leaders of The Committee hiding? Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the famous Four Hundred Ball. In true Blue Blood fashion, the ball is totally fab, complete with masks—and hidden behind this masquerade is a revelation that will change the course of a young vampire’s destiny.

The thrilling sequel in Melissa de la Cruz’s vampire mythology has all the glamour, attitude, and vampire lore that made the first book a hit.

• ISBN10: 0786838930
• ISBN13: 9780786838936
• Publish Date: 1 May 2007
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Hyperion
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

CAUTION! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK ALREADY!!!!!!!

As you all know from my last review is that I love this series so far!!!! I mean it's an awesome series that I have been collecting books for and never reading them. Anyways. Schulyer finds her grandpa and all seems well for her until...Charles Force, her uncle (le gasp), decides that he wants custody of her since apparently her grandpa doesn't exist and hasn't since the 1800s. Well isn't that a stinker. This book is just full of twists and turns.

I feel sorry for Bliss, Dylan, Kingsley and must importantly Bliss's younger half sister Jordan. That poor young girl is a Blue Blood but her mom just makes her feel worthless compared to Bliss. I don't know how that happened but it just did. Poor Jordan. I just feel though that Bliss and Dylan are meant for each other but something always happens for them. For like every single time they have met each other in these books something has happened for Bliss to get away from him.

Which is just plain sad. Anyways this book is awesome and I am giving it a five stars because it kept me entertained and interested in it whenever I put the book down. But yes awesome book.

If you would like to read my other reviews please go here: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/

[Katie King]

**1 Star**

"Never trust a shiny surface. They hide a multitude of flaws."

My Thoughts:
The quote above is BEYOND perfect for this book. On the outside, it's all like "woo, pretty mask," but then you read it and you don't even know how it got published. That cover is hiding a multitude of flaws. Seriously, there's so much wrong with this book. I'm going to break this review down into fun little sections.

The Plot
Despite what the synopsis would have you believe, Schuyler's grandfather plays a minimal role. Her entire visit with him in Venice is over by page 66, and not all of those pages were Schuyler's POV. The second major plot point, the Four Hundred Ball, lasts 23 pages, and is over by page 124. So what happens the rest of the book? It becomes a big ball of random. We're all just bopping around doing teenage things and then- WHAT'S THAT?? Oh someone almost died, let's PARTAYYYYYY. Further following the synopsis, the antagonist is obvious. Even the plot twist about the antagonist is predictable.

The Writing
The time progression is really unclear, but it seems to skip many weeks between chapters. POV also switches completely randomly and with no warning within chapters. One second you're reading it from Schuyler's POV, next line you're reading from Bliss's POV. Some little irks are the songs that are quoted inline with dialogue, which just comes across really awkwardly. Then there's weird flashbacks within narration. Something is reflected upon and then it says "she had visited her mother for guidance" and details that event before jumping back to present. It's weird and disrupts the flow.

The Stupidity

"You're her only chance. They will destroy her."
Suddenly, Schuyler understood what was at stake. This wasn't a game the Conclave was playing. This wasn't make-believe or a play put on for their amusement.[...]
Mimi was going to burn.
Schuyler looked askance at Jack. Your sister tried to destroy me! She wanted me dead-taken by a Silver Blood! How can I...
But she knew what she had to do. This was the sign she had been seeking all along. She looked deep into Jack's anxious green eyes.
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'll do it."

 
Mimi takes things too far and does some dark magic to get rid of Schuyler. Mimi is supposed to be super evil and while her trial and sentence feels like justice, it all happens far too quickly. Immediately after it's over we go back to talking about Schuyler and Jack's love. Then we find out that only our super special snowflake Schuyler can save Mimi (at great personal risk) and everyone wants her to do it. To maybe sacrifice herself after Mimi tried to kill her. WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING?? She's obviously not innocent so I'm not sure why there's any question. She deserves to be punished for attempted murder. Mimi is also an insufferable brat about Schuyler saving her but that's not even my biggest problem with this book, so whatever.

Slut Shaming

"I kind of wish I had waited. I don't know, I just felt like doing it. You know? Because Mimi talks about it all the time - and all those other girls, they always brag about their familiars. And I felt like such a stupid, I don't know, virgin or something."
"So what was it like?" Schuyler asked.
"Honestly?"
"Yeah."
"It was awesome. It's like you devour their soul, Schuyler. I could taste his...being.[...]"

 
Bliss's Sacred Kiss was losing her virginity. She says she wishes she had waited but people brag all the time about it and she felt like such a virgin so she just did it. She thought she was the only one who hadn't done it and it was amazing. Jack also tells us it's not supposed to be taken lightly - it's a big deal on both sides. Schuyler has yet to do it and comes across as innocent. Bliss tells her to make sure the guy counts because you feel a connection with that person afterwards. What a beautiful chaste message we are given.

Mimi, on the other hand, routinely sucks 3 or more guys at a time and we know she is Bad News because only bad people have sex do the Sacred Kiss underage. She does try to kill Schuyler too, but that's probably just a side effect of all that sexual activity.

Special Snowflake Schuyler

Schuyler spends most of her time pining for Jack and very little doing vampire related things. She travels across the world to model, she flirts with random guys, she gets drunk on a tropical beach. When we get around to the actual vampire stuff, it's her grandfather starting her vampire training that no one else has ever had. She's 3 days in and can do everything so perfectly. She learns how to read minds on the first try, although she can't break through mind walls yet (Bella?). At least only her catatonic mom can do a blood trial - no, wait, she can too even though she's some weird blend of human and vampire. As though we're supposed to believe NO vampire has ever pregged a human...right.
 
Summary:
First of all, Schuyler does NOT want an explanation about the mysterious deaths of young vampires. The one man that can help, her grandfather, actually does not help at all. There is no danger at the masquerade's after-party, just kissing. There is no revelation that changes the course of a young vampire's destiny, just some more convenient endings. I'm really glad I don't have to read the next one.
 

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I still really enjoyed this book... while simultaneously finding myself very annoyed by it. I can't attach to the characters at all, especially as I grow older and they feel young, and yet, I am completely drawn into their story. Just as I'm thinking I've got the whole story pegged, something changes, and I'm thrown way off track. I love that in books.

My occasional frustration with the superficiality of the characters is the only thing that keeps this from being five stars for me. I like the plot, I like representation of the vampires. Generally, I really like this series and I will be picking up the next book.

Follow my book review blog at http://missbookreviews.wordpress.com/

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I have to say that I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one. Hence the four star rating!

I liked Schuyler a lot more in this book. She was just more likeable for some reason. To be honest her best friend Oliver gets on my nerves more than anything else. Mimi is an interesting character. The way she acts is the way she lives. You completely understand every decision she makes. She’s rather selfish but that makes her more interesting than anything else. I didn’t like Bliss in the first book. But I did in this book. She is also interesting, I think she has a lot of potential. As for Jack. Ahh Jack, in the first book he felt like an untouchable, handsome god (Angel? Well technically vampire). In this book that drops drastically and at times he feels like a broken, torn-between-two-loves, weak boy. I’m interested in finding out how he grows.

I felt like the point of views flowed a lot more and that the story wasn’t held back by each POV chapter like I felt like it was in the first book. Instead they were utilised and used in such a way that it made it exciting and hard to put down because whenever you finished a chapter it finished with such a cliff hanger that you just had to keep reading to get to the next chapter of that POV to find out what happened. This pleased me because this was one main thing that I was disappointed by in the first book.

In the first book the POV’s made the book feel like it didn’t start till half way through the book and the pace was pretty slow. In this book it goes to the opposite end of the scale. In between some chapters time flies by in weeks! Sometimes I felt like I missed stuff that happened in those weeks. Although this was an improvement to the slow pace of book one and I prefer it to that.

One thing that makes me cringe though is the incestuousness of the blue bloods. It’s kind of weird because it’s not incestuous yet at the same time these relationships just feel so wrong! Given the way everyone was born. Such a complicated family history.

One thing. *Mini rant ahead* For some reason I had been picturing Schuyler with platinum blonde hair. I think this started in the first book when her and Bliss did the photo shoot. I suddenly got confused and thought the book described her with blonde hair. But that felt like it was confirmed because of the many comments and mentions that Schuyler looks just like her mother. The books keep saying they were spitting images nearly, and in the masquerade ball when Schuyler turns up it says everyone freezes because for a moment they thought Allegra had come back to them. They could barely tell the difference. Thing is Allegra has blonde hair and Schuyler has blue black hair. I’m so confused! How can she be mistaken for Allegra so often if she has a completely different colour of hair? Yes she probably has the same eye colour and facial features but I do not believe that her hair colour can be forgotten, it does change her appearance and you could clearly tell that she is not Allegra! It’s not like the first thing Allegra would do if she wakes up is dye her hair dark and then present herself to the blue bloods! So she is not a spitting image since spitting images hare in fact spitting images! Therefore I am annoyed that Schuyler has blue black hair when I can now only picture her with blonde hair. And since she is so adamantly described to look like her mother she should look just like her mother! *Mini rant over*

Overall this sequel was a lot better than the first book. It flows better, the pace is better and the storyline is interesting. If you didn’t like the first book give this one a go because it might just change your mind, if you liked the first book then hopefully you will love this book!

Now I wish I could live like the New York Socialite like these ladies do! But alas, I am not in New York haha.

Miss J
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