Blue Bloods: After Life

If you liked the prior blue bloods books you will like this new series! It was so nice to revisit this world. And the only frustrating thing I had was I need the next book right now! Great job, Melissa!

I was happy to read until I found random scribbles and stains in my book. However, the book so far is okay. I don’t like how it’s current to the pandemic and that Schuyler has to start all over again. It would be better if it was a continuation of what happened after the big battle and not thrown into a new universe.

Schuyler has just sacrificed Jack in order to defeat Lucifer when she wakes up in 2020 New York. Not only is the city not as she remembers it, but she also isn’t in her regular body and everyone else is different in some way. She quickly finds out that she isn’t in her New York … she is in a different universe. Here, Lucifer is still alive and the mayor of New York; Jack is also alive, but is Lucifer’s right-hand man. Schuyler doesn’t know what is going on and then Kingsley contacts her. He remembers their world and has his own ideas about what has happened. Will Schuyler be able to defeat Lucifer again?Blue Bloods: After Life is a spin-off of the original Blue Bloods series. I found it interesting that the time jump brings the characters into the fall of the Covid-19 outbreak (in our world) and the vampires were taking advantage of a mysterious illness and the vaccine that was being released. If this is a one-and-done spin-off book, it was fun and worth the read. If this becomes a new series, though, I will need to save my thoughts to see where de la Cruz plans to go with the storyline. It was a nice escape to revisit old characters and this might be the introduction needed to bring this series back into the hands of young readers.

Back in 2013, the alleged final installment in author Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods ended with Gates of Paradise. 9 years later, the author returns with Blue Bloods: After Life which features some of the same characters like Schuyler Van Alen, Jack Force, Oliver Hazard Perry, and Kingsley Martin. Here's the facts: The story takes place in 2020 which is apparently 10 years from the ending of Gates of Paradise.Schuyler Cervantes-Chase is actually younger (15) than she was in the previous series (18), and her actual parents; Stephen Chase, and Aurora Cervantes, are alive and well. In the previous installments, Schuyler's mother was Gabrielle and her father, Chase, was dead. If you know anything at all about this series, you know that Schuyler is a Blue Blood vampire. She's also 1/2 human on her father's side. She still has to feed on human blood which is where Oliver comes in.In this reality, both parents are apparently human which makes zero sense. I am hoping the author clears up that confusion quickly. Oliver Hazard-Perry is here, but his last name has been changed to Golding-Chang. Jack Force is here as well, but his sister Mimi, is now his twin brother Max Force. Jack is also the fallen Angel known as Abbadon, Max is the Angel of Death.The only character who seems to be the same is Kingsley Martin who was soul bound to Mimi now Max. Schuyler had hoped that she would find her happy ending. She thought that the universe isn't done with her. Unfortunately, Schuyler's conscious somehow gets sent to the year 2020 where she wakes up in her doppelganger but she still has her old memories as well.She quickly learns that Lucifer has somehow managed to travel back in time and change the history. It also appears that he has unleashed a disease that is killing humans. Unlike our pandemic, this disease wasn't created by Chinese scientists. To make things even more disturbing, Blue Bloods are luring humans to clinics to drain their blood, and Jack is Lucifer’s right hand man alongside his brother Max who is working towards the Silver Legacy solution.What's worse, Kingsley believes that Schuyler was intentionally sent her to fight Lucifer and defeat him and correct all the wrongs he's set on the universe. So, while Schuyler has joined with Kingsley in stopping Lucifer, Max and Jack are having their own issues dealing with memories that seem to be cropping up. I should also talk about the fact that Schuyler isn't the only narrator, as Max, Jack, and Oliver get some part of this story.The problem I have with this series, and I am prepared for the negative commentary, is that Schuyler and Oliver and Mimi were intentionally changed to satisfied certain members of the authors fan club. As an originalist, I don't care for changing character for the sake of change or to impress a core group to get them to purchase my product. The only good part of this new incantation is that there's no high school drama, shopping sprees, parties, and jet setting journeys abroad. Do I think I'll continue to read this series? Maybe when the author figures out what she's doing, and how much more pain and suffering and betrayal Schuyler has to deal with.

Ruined all the characters for me hard to stay engaged. Wouldn't recommend reading it after finishing the original series. This book was just a very hard read.

AFTER LIFE is a new Blue Bloods story that takes place in an alternate world. Schuyler wakes in New York after the fight with Lucifer, and she decides to head home only to find that it is not her home anymore. She soon realizes that this is not the world she knows, and here, Lucifer and Jack are both alive and well. Schuyler soon begins to realize that she was sent to this alternate reality for another showdown amidst this different world.What I loved: This will appeal to fans of Blue Bloods who want another chance to play out this supernatural battle. The book does a great job of recapping the earlier facts so that readers who are not familiar or who haven't read the earlier books in a while will be able to follow this easily. Favorite characters are back in new ways as this alternate reality has changed them in different ways. While Schuyler seems much the same in terms of motivation and disposition, those around her are reminiscent of themselves at core, but they have different motives and plots afoot. The use of multiple perspectives helps to tell the story in a fuller way, and the reader follows not only Schuyler but also Max (Mimi), Kingsley, and the others.What left me wanting more: In some ways, this feels like a repeat of the earlier stories. The comparisons across the timelines are frequent, removing the reader from the story.Of note for those who may be sensitive, this alternate reality takes place during a pandemic, during which everyone is avoiding crowds and wearing masks, though the illness differs in that it involves exsanguination.Final verdict: AFTER LIFE is an intriguing new Blue Bloods story using an alternate reality premise. Would recommend for fans who want to enjoy familiar characters in this altered way.Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

It's an awesome book it's a great read I'm looking forward to more of her books.

Huge fan of the original Blie blood series have read them repeatedly.This just did not cut it.. the storyline rushed and loose. And why retell a story that took so many books.Really wishing this was a book past the reviews novels