Saturday, September 3, 2011

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel


        
Infinite Days
(Vampire Queen #1)
by Rebecca Maizel
Summary from Goodreads:

"'Throughout all my histories, I found no one I loved more than you...no one.'

Those were some of Rhode's last words to me. The last time he would pronounce his love. The last time I would see his face.

It was the first time in 592 years I could take a breath. Lay in the sun. Taste.

Rhode sacrificed himself so I, Lenah Beaudonte, could be human again. So I could stop the blood lust. 
I never expected to fall in love with someone else that wasn't Rhode.
But Justin was...daring. Exciting. More beautiful than I could dream.

I never expected to be sixteen again...then again, I never expected my past to come back and haunt me..."

Rating:

After reading the Twilight Saga, I have turned away from vampire books. C’mon, am I the only one who felt that whenever I’m in a bookstore, every corner I turn there’s a vampire/werewolf-themed book? It’s nice to have options but seriously, the vampire-hype’s getting on my nerves. No offense meant, but they all sounded the same to me, so I decided to take a break from those books.

However, when I read the synopsis of Infinite Days, I was amazed: a vampire dreaming of becoming human again? Well, that’s definitely new to my eyes.

Anyway, I was glad that I set aside my decision to put off reading vampire books because this was a very interesting book.

When I started reading through Infinite Days it was a little too slow for my taste. Also, I had a hard time understanding Lenah’s personality, but that all changed as the story progressed.

This book offers a lot of surprises. I loved that it broke away from never ending story of alluring-romantic-vampires-falling-for-humans formula. The vampires in this tale are ruthless, numb and feral. They feel nothing and care for blood and blood alone, and humans are like mere ants that they can crush whenever they wish to.

I also loved that Lenah, despite being the protagonist, was not the goody two-shoes kind of girl. She’s spoiled, selfish and mean. When she was the vampire queen, she takes joy in making humans suffer and claims what she wants, when she wants it.

When she turned human again, a hundred years has passed by and thus technology has developed beyond her imagination. I was shocked to find myself understanding her confusion and ignorance with regards to this generation’s innovations. I wanted to jump into the book and help her out. I can’t believe I actually bought that! Let’s face it; the idea sounds kind of pretentious. So, kudos to Maizel for pulling that off!

I also like that although Lenah is on the verge of adapting to her new life being a teenager again, I get to see a glimpse of her life as vampire. The flashbacks were vivid and you will see how different Lenah is as human with who she was when she was the vampire queen. Seeing her regret her wickedness and how badly she wanted to take back what she’d done was very admirable. 

Of course, there are minimal flaws to this book. I didn’t buy the whole Justin and Tony rivalry towards Lenah. Tony didn’t seem like a distinct opponent and Justin was just, well… Justin. There wasn’t much to tell about him so I didn’t know who to route for. I also didn’t appreciate him eyeing Lenah even when he had a girlfriend. Yes, the girlfriend may be a bitch but that was way off game, if you ask me. I also would’ve wanted to see more of Rhode because he sounded really interesting but I understanding his role in this.

Another thing I question is the “Three Piece,” they’re sort of like the mean girls in the school or something. I don’t get why they had to be there in the first place. With or without them, the story would go on so they kind of felt insignificant. But still, these things didn’t bother me that much and I enjoyed this book very much.

I’m definitely reading the next book, Stolen Nights.