Thursday 14 February 2013

Gates of Paradise: Melissa De La Cruz Review

Gates of Paradise (Blue Bloods, #7)

Schuyler Van Alen is running out of time. The Dark Prince of Hell is storming the Gates of Paradise, intent on winning the heavenly throne for good. This time he has his greatest angels by his side, Abbadon and Azrael—Jack and Mimi Force, as they are known in the Coven.

Or so he thinks. Even as Lucifer assigns Jack and Mimi the tasks of killing their true loves, the Force twins secretly vow to defeat the Dark Prince once and for all. But how far will Mimi and Jack go to conceal their real loyalties?

Meanwhile, former vampire Bliss Llewellyn has joined forces with Lawson, the greatest wolf of the underworld, to free his people from their imprisonment in Hell. As they struggle against impossible odds, an ancient message, woven into the very fabric of time, reveals just how much depends on the success of their mission.

Lucifer seeks the key to the Gate of Promise, and when Schuyler is taken captive and delivered straight to Hell, she must make an unthinkable choice—the same one the archangel Michael was forced to make during the Crisis in Rome. Will Schuyler find the strength to do what he could not?

The epic, heartbreaking Blue Bloods series comes to a close with this final novel about staggering courage, unbearable sacrifice, and the immortality of true love.

My Review
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh IT'S OVER.
That was my first reaction as I turned the final page and realised that several years of my life, several years I had sweated and cried and loved discovering new things all about Blue Bloods and Schuyler and Jack's love, and the gorgeous Mimi's wardrobe and bitchiness, and Bliss's incredible journey from dark to light had finally come to an end. I have to admit, I'm still in shock a bit.
The blue bloods series was 9 books, 9 AWESOME books:
Blue Bloods
Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Alen Legacy
Keys to the Repository
Misguided Angel
Bloody Valentine
Lost in Time
Gates of Paradise

These 9 books, written by one of my FAVOURITE authors of ALL time rival my true, deep-rooted love for the series Harry Potter, Starcrossed, Covenant and Lux.
Melissa De La Cruz is an absolute genius.
I first discovered the Blue Bloods Series when I started getting into my "vampire" phase: i'm definitely over that phase now, however I will never ever be over my love for this series!
The characters that Melissa created in the original book grew and developed so fluidly over the course of the series, that I actually felt as though I knew them all individually and personally, as though I shared intimate moments of their life and their loves and losses along the way.
The final book was heart-wrenching, stomach-churning and down-right insane! Bliss was one of my favourite characters from the original boko, and whilst I preferred her as a vampire, I must say that as a wolf/pack leader, Bliss rocks! She seems to really come into her own, and her amazing, quick-thinking deduction skills are a kick-ass addition to the book.
The storyline of The Gates of Paradise was really complex, in my opinion. Cruz has to be such a genius to be able to work all of the details in and resolve it in the perfect way to tell the story amazingly, whilst leaving you hanging and wanting MORE.
One of my LEAST favourite things about this book was definitely that Schuyler and Jack, and Mimi and Kingsley were apart. Their love from the previous books was so strong and so obvious and unbelievable that I couldn't handle that they weren't together. I needed them to be a couple, and whilst I knew what Jack and Mimi had done in the previous book (to do with Lucifer and the underworld and breaking their bond) was completely the right thing to do, I did NOT like that I couldn't enjoy some Schuyler and Jack lovey-dovey-against-the-world-fighting-Mimi's-evil-plans stuff that had been in pretty much all of the other books.
Bah.
Buuuut it was still AWESOME. 
AND OLIVER GOT A GIRL. HOW COOL IS THAT! A GIRL THAT'S NOT SCHUYLER. 
That's another twist that I LOVEEEED. I hated that Schuyler had been so alone for many of the books, especially after the deaths of Cordelia and Lawrence, but then suddenly, BAM! Family!
Awesome right? I won't tell you WHAT family members, as I fear I have already said too much, but yeaaaah! It's so cool. I love Schuyler. I actually want to be her and if I could, I would be. Actually I'd probably prefer to be Mimi minus some of the bitchiness. 
The ending made me cry. Not just because it was the end but the decision that Schuyler made was so brave, and so full of love that I don't know if I would have been strong enough, if I was ever in her position, to make the same sacrificial decision. 
I haven't cried at a book since Harry Potter and the death of Dobby and Fred and Lupin and Tonks, but this book had me bawling like a baby!
I feel like a part of me is missing, however I know that I will always have the books to re-read, and a love to fall head-first into, time and time again.
To everyone I say, read this series, for it changed my life, and I am sure it will change yours.
Happy Reading!
x


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