I n f i n i t e D a y s by Rebecca Maizel
Release Date: August 3, 2010 (Paperback)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Age Group: Young Adult
Sequel: Stolen Nights
Pages: 310
Source: Local Library
Go Buy It: Amazon★Barnes&Noble
★BookDepository
Word Blurb: Dark, electrifying, and gripping!
Synopsis- "Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish."
Quick Thinking: Easily one of my favorite books, this riveting 2010 debut is swamped with a thrilling, mind-blowing storyline that spans the entire life of Lenah Beaudonte, a once cruel and vicious five-hundred-year-old vampire 'queen' turned human, fabulous characters, stimulating love and romance, dire and frantic circumstances nearly ending with a kick-ass vampire fight! This book is all about intent, and the rewards of having purely good, unselfish intentions. About the meaning and appreciation of human life, forging powerful and significant friendships, as well as the varying degrees of love. Head off into the unknown with Lenah, as she works to adjust to living and experiencing life from a human's perspective, and as she fends off the imminent danger of her ever loyal vampire coven anxious to reunite with their queen.
My Thoughts In-Depth: *Note: May not be spoiler-free.* Gosh, there are so many things to say about this book that I'm so excited to get started on this aspect of my review! This is an amazing story all around! Plot, characters, setting, ending, romance, everything!
I don't think there's really anything I don't like about this book! Lenah was a magnificent heroine, surpassing many of the ones I've been stuck reading over the years. Never before have I completely, utterly fallen in love with the heroine/narrator of the story! Lenah is a well of emotions, of longings too long repressed so that when she finally gets her shot at the human life she's only dreamed of you can't help but love her. Watching her live as a human, was like watching a blind man marveling at suddenly having his vision back. Lenah seemed to absorb every moment, take nothing for granted, savor each and every experience she encountered. Beginning with listening to the opera she once had the pleasure of listening to live flow from 21st century speakers, to standing in the midst of storm, delighting in the way she felt each and every drop, all the way down to holding hands with her newfound bestfriend or receiving a true human-to-human kiss. Imagine experiencing every first you've ever had and magnify that tenfold.
And I couldn't blame her for her fascination! There was no odd twist on the vampires in Maizel's work; they were the walking dead, no way to get around that. They had no human feelings or conscience, no working nerve endings to bring sensations from touching objects or people. All vampires are dead, that simple. And to make matters worse for them, they were constantly agonized, never satisfied with their life. They deal with this constant pain, which caused them to lash out and that's why they feed so unmercifully. Going back in time with Lenah as she had consistent flashbacks of her time as a vampire, I was horrified by the things she'd done but could find no resentment toward her. I understood and accepted, and grew to love her more, when, after seeing how her life was back then, I realized why she was so overwhelming enamored and charmed by all these human experiences which we ordinary people find so small and insignificant. In a way, Lenah made an impression on me. Through her eyes, I really grasped that life can be so exquisitely full and rich, we just to be receptive to all of it, willing to seek out our pleasures in the most minuscule things to find happiness. And what a wonderful concept to stumble upon. Books and the characters in them really do teach you things!
The other characters were extraordinary! I loved each and every single one of them, including the bitches. Though I couldn't help but resent Rhode, the vampire responsible for turning Lenah into a vampire and eventually back into a human, because of his selfishness which robbed Lenah of the human life she could have so long ago, robbed her of her human parents and family, I also couldn't help but love him for his devotion to her, the only person he's ever really loved in all his time. Tony, Lenah's new best friend, was a joy to be around and get to know! He was amazing as a person and just perfect for Lenah at that time as far as her acclimating to the 21st century. He's a wonderful person through and through. I connected with him and loved him... Justin was another favorite of mine. I'm so happy that Lenah found love and romance with Justin, the real thing and all. At first I was genuinely worried that it would be a passing thing, or that it was going to be a superficial kind of love. But I was so happy for them! (Which is why I'm worried about a future love triangle! Grr...)
The constant threat of Lenah's vampire coven discovering her whereabouts and messing everything up was tense but thrilling too! That edge of danger added a heck of a lot to the plot itself. And later when The Reader actually meets them... They are just too cool! Though they're cruel and malicious, they have such awesome abilities and imposing, intimidating personalities!
And then after all that wonderful angst, comes a cliffhanger of an ending that has me willing to sell my soul to get to the second book! Though, I'm somewhat mollified and thinking a little bit more rationally (relinquishing the idea of selling my soul and all) because of the sneak peek to the next book at the very back of the book. But what a rollercoaster this first book was! And I can't seem to get enough. I need more, which is why I am begging for the release of the sequel!
Loved these Scenes/Quotes:
"I started to speak to him in his native tongue, 'Why would you want to sit with me?'
He pressed his lips together, and his eyebrows screwed up. He ran a hand through his spiky black hair. 'I don't speak Japanese,' He said in English. 'But My parents do.'
'Strange,' I said. 'A Japanese boy who only speaks English?'"
"Lenah?"
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Will you go to winter prom with me?"
"Of course," I whispered, sure I would fall asleep in moments. "Justin?"
"Mm-Hmm?" he said, moments from sleep himself.
"What's a prom?"
"Justin: "...Everyone you love is dead. That must be lonely."
Lenah: "It is. But it's not something that defines me. I don't let it."
There's like a ton more but I don't have the actual book anymore. Plus, I can't exactly copy +paste the entire book, now can I? :)
Thanks for reading!
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