By: Cynthia A.
By: Melissa de la Cruz
Published: January 15, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Series: Blue Bloods
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
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. 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?
An amazing conclusion to a spellbinding series. What made this novel such an captivating read was the fact that everything was fast paced. This novel sped forward switching from character to character, building this war and building this battle between the characters. However, it’s not just the war between the characters, each character faces their own internal struggle in this war, highlighting each strength and weakness that the characters have. Moreover, fans of the series get to see just how much their favorite characters have grown and changed since the very beginning of the series. Each character has grown so much since the beginning, and while Schuyler always appears to be one of the more fragile characters in the novel, no matter what hardship hits her, she still stays strong, becomes stronger and prevails. Cruz gave this character a beauty beyond description. Her inner monologues, her thoughts, her love, strength and honesty make her one the more captivating characters in the series to the point that her beauty jumps off the pages. What makes her even more impressive is the fact that she doesn’t think of herself as beautiful, she doesn’t measure her beauty at all, she is only herself. All of that combined makes her the hero in this novel.
As for the story, the reader will have to pay special attention to detail due to the fast pace of the novel. There is so much detail, but with the fast pace, readers will surely lose themselves in the novel and miss a detail here or there. Cruz is very careful in her story telling, as in, nothing is superfluous. Each sentence has a purpose of building up this plot and building up to the final moment in the novel. Then there is the back-story, which continues to build as fans are thrown into the past of angels Gabrielle and Michael. However, that story doesn’t seem to flow. There is a part where it aligns with Bliss’s story arc but then contradicts Gabrielle’s own storyline. That story glitch is the only flaw in the novel because the time line in within those segments don’t match up as they should.
Nevertheless, this novel was amazing. It flowed perfectly and concluded beautifully with each character living their new lives free of torment. Not cheesy, but beautiful. ★★★★☆ (A)