Review: Misguided Angel

Misguided Angel

By Melissa de la Cruz

Publication date: October 26, 2010

My review:

In Misguided Angel, Schuyler and Jack are in Italy trying to escape their hostess and find the Gate of Promise. Back in New York, Mimi is serving as Regent of the New York Coven while mourning the loss of Kingsley and dealing with anger over Jack's desertion. When Blue Blood teens are kidnapped and their captors post a video death threat on YouTube, Mimi is desperate to find the teens before it is too late. She brings in Chinese Venator Deming Chen to go undercover and find out if a student at Duchesne is involved. The truth is surprising and horrifying.

This fifth entry in the series is told from the point of view of Schuyler, Mimi, and Deming, with most of the story taking place in New York. Deming is a very minor character mentioned in the other books. I believe she is first introduced at the Four Hundred Ball in Masquerade. Even though part of the story is told through her eyes, we don't really get to know Deming or understand where she is coming from. I preferred the parts of the book told from the perspective of Mimi and Schuyler. In previous books, Mimi was not a character I liked very much. In The Van Alen Legacy, I started to like Mimi more and here she becomes a sympathetic character. She hasn't changed completely but falling in love has definitely softened her personality a little. She has also matured and becoming a Venator and now Regent has made her more responsible and less selfish.

The Blue Bloods series has long been a favorite guilty pleasure of mine but I have become disappointed with the quality of the writing, particularly the inconsistencies. The vampire lore that once made these books unique now at times doesn't make sense because it feels like things are added on the spot to serve the plotline. It wasn't as noticeable with The Van Alen Legacy, which I still enjoyed, but it is more pronounced here. Still, Misguided Angel is entertaining. I liked that there is less fashion name-dropping, something I hated about the early books and I also liked the developing maturity of some of the main characters. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the focus had been on Jack and Schuyler but they only played a small part. I am not sure where this series is heading but I plan to keep reading them. However, instead of just purchasing future books I will be borrowing them from my local library.