Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: ATOM

Pages: 368pgs

The Story

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, or as they are known in this world, Jack and Mimi Force.

Will Bliss and the wolves she has recruited to join her win the battle for the vampires? Is Schuyler prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice?

Love and vengeance, duty and and loyalty, life and death, are all at odds in the gripping, heartbreaking finale of the Blue Bloods series.

The Review

A big thanks to Hachette Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

I've been with the Blue Bloods series right from the very beginning and it's been quite the ride for me and for many other readers too . . . I'm sure of it. So as we finally arrive to the point of the seventh and final installment  of the series, I have to say, while it's sad to say goodbye to some of my favourite characters, Melissa de la Cruz sure doesn't disappoint her readers as this book clearly outshines like no other within this very popular vampire YA series!

For whatever reason I found GATES OF PARADISE to be an absolute breath of fresh air and containing a somewhat different feel to it compared to what I have previously experienced from the other six books in the Blue Bloods series. If I had to guess and put my finger on it, I think this 'different feel' had a lot to do with the characters this time round and how advanced they are now in this final book - all matured-like, knowing who they are as individuals and how well prepared they are for this final fight of their lives, you know? But not only that, I also found the storyline to be very intricate and equally as engaging as the rest of the books in the series, so I think Melissa de la Cruz has clearly outdone herself to say the least with this book and boy did I love it! And now this series is all over . . . le sigh.

As I mentioned before with the characters, the one character that never disappointed me was Schuyler, our main leading heroine of this vampire tale. Having been through so much already with her past loves and friendships, Schuyler has finally come into her own and has become stronger unlike any other character in this series. Personally Schuyler was always such an unique character for me and one I think dearly of, so I'm really glad to have read her story and see it come to a very satisfying conclusion. Whether it's a good or bad one for some characters, as long as Schuyler and her love interest Jack (who I could go on and on about) are fine . . . on a whole I was fairly happy with this final book. Ecstatic even.

Overall, despite the ups and downs of the series and in this book (trust me there are a lot of complications for the characters in this one), GATES OF PARADISE was such an awesome book and one that was a very perfect and satisfying final installment of a YA series, so thank you very much to Melissa de la Cruz! I can't wait to read more books from you in the future!

The Rating

5/5 stars