Review of Infinite Days

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Pages: 310

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pub. Date: August 3, 2010

ARC received through LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "When Lenah Beaudonte, a 500-year-old vampire queen, wakes up a human teenager at an ultra-cliquey prep school, she must choose between embracing the humanity she’s always craved and saving her new friends from her vicious coven. The first in a sizzling new YA series.  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.  Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?"

Lenah was a five hundred year old vampire and extremely mean.  We aren't talking The Cullen family who only eats animals.  We are talking mean as in take victims, kill them, and feel no remorse afterward.   Her maker and love interest, Rhode, is disgusted by her viciousness and leaves her for some time, which prompts her to form a coven.  And every coven needs a queen, which is a position Lenah gladly assumes.  Her coven is brutal and the members that are definitely not in touch with their humanity.  As time goes on Lenah desires to be human again and experience life.  But in order to become human again, an ancient ritual must be performed and the consequences are serious.  Ultimately, Lenah gets what she has wished for: she is human again.  But she must hide from her coven, because they will search for their queen at all costs.  She ends up enrolling at Wickham Boarding School in New England.  Lenah learns to adapt and hide here as a human; she actually starts to experience life,  and enjoy it.  Her world comes tumbling down when she realizes that her coven is looking for her and they want her back. Lena isn't ready to let go of her new human life, the new friends she made, and even her dreamy new boyfriend, Justin.  Rebecca Maizel's debut novel, Infinite Days, is a must read for any fans of vampire.  But be forewarned, it's a fresh new take on vampires and a whole lot of fun.  

I really enjoyed the character of Rhode; he was very Eric Northman, but way more in tune with his emotions.  He was a dynamic character that readers experience mostly through Lenah's flashbacks.  I also really liked Maizel's use of flashbacks even though some of the memories were upsetting, but it really helped the story to develop.  Probably, for me, the best part of the story were the flashbacks and learning about Lenah's former life as a vampire.  

There were some things that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.  For starters, some of the other minor characters fell flat.  They seemed very one dimensional and even their dialogue felt cheesy at times.  For example, a few of the characters quickly LOVED Lenah.  She had a ton of crushes and/or love interests and for me, it was a bit too much.  I feel like that happens a lot in young adult literature; for example, The House of Night series.  Yeah, I'm kind of over that, but I'm sure young adults savor that.  Also, Lenah and her coven could be extremely violent.  I wasn't upset by this, but I'm sure it could make some readers uncomfortable.  On the other hand, Maizel truly illustrated how vampires can be savage and ruthless.  Not everyone is Mr. Edward and twinkles in the sun.

With that said, I like where Maizel is going with this.  Often in literature, humans long to be vampires, but in this novel, it's quite the opposite.  In turn, this different perspective provides readers with a fresh take on vampires, which I feel is much needed.  I was looking for a new book series since I broke up with The House of Night (BTW, I don't miss them at all since we broke up!) and thankfully, this book is part of a series called Vampire Queen.  In sum, I think fans of vampires will especially love Infinite Days and welcome Rebecca Maizel to the vampire genre with open arms.  

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