Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Book Review: Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz

Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods, Book 5)
Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Publish Date: October 26, 2010
Hardcover, 256 pages
Young Adult, Paranormal, Blue Bloods #5





My Review:
I have really enjoyed reading the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz since I started it last year.  I actually didn't want to get caught up on the books because they usually tie up one thing at the end of the book, but the over-arcing plot is not solved (and I don't want it to be yet, because then I will lose my Blue Bloods.)  So I had gotten pretty caught up and lucked up on Misguided Angel showing up at my library.  I got the book last Friday and had it read by Sunday.  I plowed right through it and thankfully Bloody Valentine is on it's way to me soon.

The Blue Blood series has a different take on vampires and makes them good guys and they have ties to angels.  The Blue Bloods are the "good guys" and they mix and mingle in society and have a code to follow.  However there are also Silver Bloods unleashed in the world and these are the bad guys as they are the fallen angels and they are out to rid the world of Blue Bloods.  It's a fascinating storyline that doesn't lose it's appeal through the books.  I love Schuyler and Jack and they are in part of the book and Mimi and Oliver (an unlikely team) are in the other part.  A new character, Deming Chen is also introduced in this book and I really like her and look forward to seeing more of her in future books. She provides a fresh breath to the series without taking away from what is already there.  She just fits in the storyline really well.

The plot continues to excite in this one and I don't want to give much away for fear of spoilers for those that haven't read this book.  But I was on the edge of my seat through a lot of the book.  I wasn't looking forward to the Mimi storyline, but I like how her character becomes more developed in Misguided Angel.  She becomes less shallow and slightly more likable.  Oliver is also present and while Schuyler is not with him, he's still very much a part of the story.  Schuyler and Jack are my favorite characters and I loved the parts of the book with them in it.  They become slightly more developed as this book goes along.  I also enjoy the history part of the stories that shows the Blue Bloods in their previous lives.

With great characters and fabulous plot, Misguided Angel is a quick read and a great installment to the Blue Bloods series.  However I warn you, have Bloody Valentine handy when you finish this one because you will want it.  I can't wait until I get it and then I'm not sure how I will wait until the next installment is out later this year.

If you enjoy paranormal young adult stories that are slightly different, and haven't tried the Blue Bloods series, I highly recommend it.

My rating: 4.5/5.0

About the Book:
After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods.

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all of her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online…for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again.

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler’s mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart

About the Author (from the Goodreads.com):

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter. 


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***I received this book from my local library.  I was not compensated in any way.  I do not receive money for my amazon links since I live in NC (something about some law), so they are up purely for my readers to have a place to check out the book.***