The Van Alen Legacy, by Melissa de la Cruz
The Van Alen Legacy, by Melissa de la Cruz
reviewed by SusanAshlea
The Van Alen Legacy is the fourth book in the popular Blue Bloods series. Saluki has reviewed Blue Bloods, the first book in the series, and Jules has reviewed Masquerade and Revelations, the second and third books. If you are looking for a fun, interesting read, and you enjoy the YA genre, this series is definitely for you.
The Van Alen Legacy begins a year after the massacre at Corcovado, the disaster in which Leviathan was unleashed from his otherworldly prison. Many things have changed in that year; Schuyler Van Alen and Oliver Hazard-Perry are on the run from the Conclave, never staying in one spot for more than 72 hours. Bliss has been possessed by a strange, spiritual “visitor” and Mimi has found herself traveling with reformed Silver Blood Kingsley Martin as part of his team of Venators.
Schuyler said goodbye to Jack Force and is now trying to convince herself that she is in love with her human conduit and familiar, Oliver. He has taken good care of her over the last twelve months, keeping her safe from the Conclave who wants to imprison her for her role in her grandfather’s death. They find themselves in Paris, posing as student catering employees, trying to gain an audience with the leader of the European Covens at the Hotel Lambert during their annual gala.
Back in Rio di Janero, Mimi is working closely with Kingsley and two other Venators, trying to find the whereabouts of “the Watcher” who had been inhabiting the body of young Jordan Llewelyn, who had been kidnapped by the Silver Bloods after the Corcovado disaster. Despite the grueling nature of the job, she is enjoying herself, and even begrudgingly enjoys her time with Kingsley. During the first half of the book, she seems to be trying to fight off her developing feelings. She frequently reminds herself of Jack and her bond to him, even though their official bonding ceremony has been put on hold.
The worst of the three is Bliss Llewelyn, who has lost most of the year, her own mind having been pushed into a black void by the visitor who is now inhabiting her body as well. She finally gains consciousness in her family’s Hamptons house, where she finally gains the mental strength to put up a fight with the visitor. She tries to assimilate herself into her “normal” life again, with the help of a new teacher at the Duchense school.
The Van Alen Legacy is action packed. So much of the underlying plot of the series is coming together at a fast and furious pace. It does take a little bit to get into the book, especially if you didn’t pick it up the minute you finished Revelations. However, once you get the feel for how the story is told – the perspectives revolve from Mimi, to Bliss, to Schuyler – it’s easy to get lost in the world of the elite Blue Blood teenagers. From time to time, you have to keep reminding yourself that the outside world knows these characters as sixteen and seventeen year olds. Only Schuyler and Oliver are their true ages, the rest are centuries old vampires who have cycled in various different forms.
The central conflict revolves around Bliss’s Visitor’s role in the book, even though we don’t discover that until quite late in the story. About halfway through, all of the characters are finally back in New York and things really start to move. It all comes to a head at Mimi & Jack’s bonding ceremony where I promise every reader will be surprised at what happens! The last few chapters will have you in tears as well.
A few things that struck me in this book:
The Jack-Schuyler-Oliver love triangle. Personally, I’m a Schuyler/Jack shipper. Even though I love Oliver more than anything, I just don’t see him and Schuyler as anything but best friends, so this book left me lacking in some places because of it
Bliss always makes me cry. Talk about tugging at the heartstrings. This girl has been through the ringer her entire life. She’s uprooted from her beloved Texas home and moved to the upper east side of Manhattan, finds her first love and loses him, then she becomes possessed. How bad can it get for this girl? She has some mettle though; she’s tough and her inner strength gets her through some pretty craptacular times. It never fails though, her chapters make me cry.
Mimi Force is the most self-obsessed arrogant hypocrite on the planet. She is the epitome of the “it’s okay for me to do this, but if you do it, I’ll kill you” kind of person. I had almost started to like her in this book. In the beginning, we see that Kingsley really does bring out the best in her. Those two understand each other in some weird way. Near the end, I almost felt sorry for her. There is even a point when she kind of redeems herself to certain characters. But then, it all changed within the last few pages. I really really can’t stand her.
If you like Gossip Girl and vampires, this series is the perfect mix of the two. The first page of the first book will draw you in and you won’t be able to stop until you read everything you can. Make sure to grab them right away, because the next book in the series, Misguided Angel, comes out in October and is available for preorder now!
I have loved each of the books in this series so much. So much happens that there is never a good time to put the book down. I am so excited for the 5th book in the series to come out. I need more Jack/Schuyler! And, I am really hoping Ollie finds a special girl. I love him so much, but am a total J/S shipper.
Great review!