Masquerade, Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series

Yup, it's Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz.
The series starts out with an interesting premise - that there are vampires on earth, and that they are the "Fallen Angels" that rebelled against God at the beginning of creation, and followed Lucifer. They are then condemned to wander the earth, constantly reincarnating, and trying to redeem themselves and regain their places in Heaven. These are the Blue Bloods. And yes, all the aristocrats and royalty throughout history are the Vampire Blue Bloods.

Well....most of 'em are trying to redeem themselves. Some don't care, and want instead to rule the earth...or...something. Anyway, they don't drink human blood - they drink BLUE BLOOD, and they drink 'em dry. Since apparently some of the Blue Blood's blood must be preserved for them to reincarnate, when the "renegades" (or "Silver Bloods", as they're called) drain a Blue Blood dry, then that Blue Blood is lost forever, never to reincarnate.

It's an interesting premise, with a decent grasp of the "angelic" mythos. The author makes liberal use of the existing mythological hierarchy of angels, and introduces such beings as Abbadon, Azrael, Metraton, Michael and Gabriel to us. Lest you be disappointed by her treatment of Michael and Gabriel, though, I hasten to say that Michael and Gabriel left Heaven voluntarily in order to try to "guide" their fellow angels back to heaven. The first liberty that's taken with the mythos is that "Gabriel" isn't really "Gabriel", it's "Gabrielle", and she was supposedly the "eternal mate" of Michael. Angh.

So...setting that aside. This book suffers from "Second Book In A Series Syndrome", better known as "Two Towers-itis". The book makes no sense whatsoever as a standalone book - you absolutely must read the first book to understand it. It has no "book plotline" that crops up at the beginning of the book and is at least semi-resolved at the end - it exists solely to further push the overall story arc of "who are the Silver Bloods and how can the Blue Bloods win the fight against them". Which, I might add, it leaves entirely unresolved. It makes progress, much like Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes, but at the end, we're still somewhere on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, waiting to see what the Silver Bloods will throw at us next.

The treatment of the "fallen" is a bit...odd...as well. de la Cruz is flirting with the topics of incest as two of the "lifemated" angels, Azrael and Abbadon (angels of Death and Destruction, respectively), are reincarnated as twin brother and sister - and children of Michael. Eurgh. The ick-factor goes pretty high on some of the interactions between them. Metraton is presented as the father of all the other angels - or at least of Michael.
Azrael / Mimi isn't acting very much like she wants redemption, by the way. Therefore, I'm sure that her stint as a Red Herring / Silver Blood cover in Masquerade won't be her last flirtation with Doom. I expect she'll get accused at least once more as a Silver Blood before Redeeming Herself - either that or she'll get accused, her accuser will be brushed off with a "you accused her of that last time, too, and she wasn't then, stop persecuting her" and then she'll turn out to have thrown her lot in with the Silver Bloods after all.

And...sorry, but the Big Reveal at the end of the book wasn't exactly a surprise.
Overall, a bit of a disappointment after the promise of Book 1. Hoping that Book 3 will be better and be more than just a Plot Pusher.
2.5 / 5 bones for this one.