'Infinite Days' contains so many plot holes, writing inconsistencies, boring, stupid and annoying characters, and YA clichés; such as a love triangle, internalised misogyny, stalking being seen as okay, high school nondrama, and the impossibly beautiful female lead falling for the hottest (and blandest) guy in school. The only POC character I remember in it is an obsessive, creepy stalker who dies in the end, too.
It is a product of its time, to be sure. At least the female lead is unique in that she is an ex-vampire queen who's hundreds of years old. Too bad her character is written inconsistently, and she is still dependent on (hot) men in her life. Why does her coven only have male vampires? And why does she fall for a high school jock again?
Do not be fooled by the gorgeous book covers, both the US and the UK versions.
'Infinite Days' - no longer my thing.
Final Score: 2/5
'Infinite Days' tells the story of Lenah Beaudonte. She was a vampire queen around 600 years old - the leader of a coven consisting of male vampires whom she changed. She was heartless. She was a killer. But now, after 100 years of rest from a sacred magical ritual (performed through her own choice), she has the chance to become human a second time.
She tries to integrate herself into 21st century life, in Wickham high school among normal human teenagers, whilst also getting over the sorrow of losing Rhode, her vampire creator and lover, who died turning her back in performing the ritual. (The author, Rebecca Maizel, lives in Rhode Island. Hmmm...)
Lenah makes many friends, including Tony Sasaki, Claudia, Kate, Roy Enos, and Justin Enos - the nice jock she falls in love with. But her old coven, including the obsessive Vicken, want their queen back. They will commit any act in order to lead her back into the world of darkness...
Sounds a bit cliché doesn't it? Well, in a way it is, at least in terms of character archetypes. But they are interesting in cute ways and... I don't know, they remind me of people I knew in school.
But I will talk about the main character, Lenah, first. She is not an everyday human teenage girl like other YA protagonists, which is a change. She is a vampire queen learning to be human again.
Though she was dependent on men and was surrounded by them all her life - and to a degree she still is - at least she acknowledges this. She has to confront her faults and leave her vampire past behind her. She chose to abandon it herself, since she was tired of immortality and of never feeling anything. Lenah learns to care for people and to love again - she is an ice queen thawing by each chapter, but she doesn't lose her strength. She gets to live like a teenager after hundreds of years - in modern times. Her ignorance of these times and adapting to them was cute to read about, and it isn't annoying like many other fish-out-of-water stories. She does adapt a little too quickly though, but she is smart and observant. And she loves music. Lenah's sincerity and planning-brain gives the impression she could once have been a vampire leader.
Her love interest, Justin, I admit is a little bland. He's handsome, nice, and sporty - no surprises there in a book set in a high school. But he has flaws and he does show genuine affection towards Lenah, even near the climax. He is compassionate and, well, cute.
And there is Tony to complete the love triangle. Why doesn't Lenah show as much interest in him as he clearly does her? I mean, he follows her around for every chance he can get to talk to her, he wants to know everything about her, he helps her out with stuff, cracks jokes, paints Lenah's portrait, paints more portraits of her without her knowledge... okay I think I answered my own question there. Tony is weird, but not unsympathetic or unrealistic. His obsession with the beautiful and mysterious Lenah Beaudonte will later turn out to be a cause for concern...
The other high schoolers are a bit one-note, but they still play a part in Lenah's development in a story about her.
Again, I feel like I know these people, thus they were endearing to me as I read about them.
'Infinite Days''s writing is simple (despite being narrated by a 600 year old vampire queen who was asleep for 100 of those years), but it is serviceable. The prose flows well and creates a chilly and haunting atmosphere that fits with the story's content.
The originality of the vampire mythology is very interesting and well-thought out. The old clichés are given reasons behind their functions. Magical reasons, mind you, but the vampires in 'Infinite Days' are magical - a witch-crafted curse on humanity. The strengths and limits of a vampire are told throughout Lenah's narrative - from how they feed, why they can't go out in sunlight, to why they can't cry or feel remorse.
'Infinite Days' - a YA vampire story with a heroine to root for. It's a nice but haunting read.
It does have some plot holes caused by the author not doing the maths, but I hate maths anyway, and the story drew me in strong enough so that I didn't care.
Final Score: 4/5
'Evil be he who thinketh evil' - Page 31
Note: The UK cover is beautiful and mysterious. I can believe the alluring girl is meant to be Lenah.
No comments:
Post a Comment