Rebecca Maizel

What originally drew me to Infinite Days is its premise. Let's face it - most vampire novels these days involve a human falling in love with a vampire and finding a way to live happily ever after. This typically means becoming a vampire as well. Vampires remain popular after all these years because of mankind's fear of death. Humans have searched for ways to thwart death for generations, but vampires do not have to worry about death because they are guaranteed a very long existence. When the show more idea of no longer opening your eyes becomes too much to bear, vampires seem like a fair trade. Yet, here we have the idea of a vampire wanting to trade in immortality for a normal, human existence. It flies in the face of why vampires are so popular, which meant I had to read it.

Infinite Days does not disappoint. It is the interesting twist on the vampire myth I expected, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yet I would have wished for greater detail on the vampire/human transformation. There was a lot about Ms. Maizel's vampire world that was left unexplained and a lot about Lenah's transformation that was skipped over as well. There was a chance to set herself apart from all of the other vampire stories out there, and while she started to do this with the transformation, I felt that she could have truly shined with just a bit more information and explanation.

What does make Infinite Days stand out is the emotional aspect of the story. From the moment Lenah wakes up human, the reader understands that the story cannot end well. With this as a backdrop, the reader is taken on a journey of guilt and pain, an exploration of selfishness versus selflessness, and a blurring of evil and good. Can anyone can be truly selfless? Make no mistake that according to Ms. Maizel, redemption and hope are powerful motivators, but the true answer remains deliciously vague up to the very last sentence.

Speaking of the ending, I have to admit that I was absolutely stunned to discover that this was a trilogy. The ending seems so...final. I certainly did not catch the cliffhanger. The fact that the story continues has me so intrigued that I will definitely pick up the sequel when it is released many months from now.

Ideally, I would love to get more information about Rhode. That is a character about whom the reader only gets snippets but everything learned is fascinating and frustrating. Actually, that can be said about the entire story. So much of what is mentioned is only fleetingly discussed. There is an entire back story here that begs to be uncovered. What did Rhode do during the 100 years while Lenah was in hibernation? Why can vampires hibernate? Lenah is said to be a vampire queen; just how many vampires are there and has no one else created a coven? Too many questions and not enough answers are the biggest issues facing Infinite Days.

In spite of all the unanswered questions, I still enjoyed the book tremendously. Lenah is alternatively sweet and naive and yet more than a little dangerous. Infinite Days is not your traditional vampire story, and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the series unfolds. show less

Have you ever read a book and thought, "This is exactly what I have been waiting for"? You just didn't know it. That's the way I feel about Infinite Days. From 10 pages in I knew I was going to love it. That feeling solidified with every page I turned. And when I turned the last page, I wanted more. Right away. I wasn't able to get Lenah, Justin, or Tony out of my head for days.

A part of me that I didn't realize was there, was longing for some evil vampires done right in YA. I grew up show more reading Stephen King and Anne Rice, and although I love nice vampires, it's good to see truly evil ones every once in awhile. Infinite Days alternates between present day human Lenah and the evil Lenah from the past. And there's no doubt about it that she was evil! Maizel's vampires are a work of art. Just when you think the world of vampires has been exhausted, something completely original like this comes along.

Lenah was a incredible protagonist. Her voice was so strong and clear. Her emotions were conveyed so well that at times it was absolutely heartbreaking. I became very attached to the secondary characters very quickly. Tony who was a bit quirky but had a huge heart, and Justin who loves Lenah unconditionally. Even Rhode, who we don't get to see that much. It was almost impossible to not love him, because Lenah loves him so much.

The writing was brilliant. Rebecca Maizel's words flowed so smoothly that that it's easy to forget you were reading a book. My eyes were glued to the page. My only complaint, and a very very minor one, at times it was a bit repetitive. I'll account that to the fact that there was so much information about the vampires to take in. Like I said, though, that is a very minor complaint. Maizel's writing will suck you in and not let you go for days after you finish the book. Trust me!

Overall, I loved this book. Can you tell? It was exactly what I wanted in a vampire novel. You won't find any fluff in it, or airheaded girls. This is a sweeping epic journey through history and a vampire's emotions. Read it! I beg you! show less

This book may have just made my best YA of the year. Its hard to say just how appreciative I am that Maizel crafted a story that didn't just say it was 'unique' in a genre that is saturated, but was truly refreshing. The vampires in this book are brutal, merciless and live to quench the despair they feel through violence and bloodshed. And Lenah was one of the worst.

Even Lenah as a human was intriguing. She didn't feel guilt over what she did exactly, or remorse that she was no longer part show more of that world. She was a Vampire Queen, she was very good at what she was and that was the order of things. She felt regret that she lost a part of herself that she couldn't so easily replace--her family. She missed the camaraderie and shared knowledge that came from a close knit group of people who understood each other and cared for each other. Though perhaps its better to say that there was obsession on all their sides--Lenah was obsessed with protection, with finding a way to fill the emptiness that Rhode left within her when he disappeared. She wanted an unbreakable bond--and in doing so created 4 men who would kill her to save her from herself.

The story would flash between the 'present' (Lenah as a human) to memories of her past. Meeting Rhode for the first time, forming her new family, meeting Vicken and needing him...becoming human. We see snippets of her life as a Vampire Queen and she was ruthless. Cold. Merciless in her quest to fight the pain she felt. But through it all her love, her affection for Rhode was clear and present. He was her everything, her world and she never forgave him for leaving her alone.

Lenah as a human finds it hard to adjust at first. Used to being the top dog in any given situation she finds it bemusing to be considered part of the lowest rank as she tries to 'fit in' and acclimate. She's given limited time, 2 months, to adjust to her human life before her coven will come to find her and take her back. So she does what any young girl does--she studies, she lusts after a certain guy, makes friends with a quirky art student.

I admit at first I thought he stalker attitude towards Justin was...unsettling. But then for 500 years this is what she did, what she admits to be old practice for her; learning her prey and then setting to make the prey hers. I can't say I'd be as cool with it if she had been human, but it made sense from her viewpoint.

I won't go further without spoiling things so I'll leave the last half of the book at this: I felt so bad for Lenah. So very bad. The choices she is forced to make, the actions she has to take...some of it is because she feels so indebted to Rhode for the gift he gave her, but some is for Justin. I'll give Maizel credit, helping another vampire become human is almost, but not quite, a paradox and it transfers nicely into the changes that Lenah faces later on.

The ending is...almost but not quite ambiguous. Its not what I expected at all and that makes it wonderful. show less

St. Martin's should be ashamed of itself; that they are allowing this book to be published is an insult to young adult readers. Maizel may have a book deal, but she writes at a sixth grade level. Not only does she not understand basic rules of punctuation, conjunction and verb tense usage, and paragraph construction, it is clear within the first fifty pages of Infinite Days that she does not understand the meaning of much of the vocabulary she is using.

Granted, these are stylistic issues, show more but the novel does not fare any better content-wise. Authors have two options when writing supernatural fiction. The can go for the campy and superficial or the serious and literary. But if they opt for the latter, they had best make sure their work is heavy on elements such as characterization, motivation, plot development, believability, and logical consistency. Infinite Days possesses none of these elements. Lenah, the five-hundred-year-old vampire protagonist, is reborn as a human in 2010 after a century of hibernation. Although readers are reminded ad nauseum that Lenah understands precious little of the modern world, she comprehends objects like tank tops, cell phones, and Formica (Formica!) on sight, but is confounded by what to call her new "money holder." (Never mind the fact that the words "purse" and "wallet" have existed in the English language for close to a millenium.) The pronunciation "gonna" stymies her, but her early-20th century vocabulary apparently included phrases like "surely this must be some kind of sick joke" and "I'm really bad at this whole social thing." Motorboats amaze her--not because of their speed or ubiquity, but because "[d]uring my existence, all boats had been made from wood." (Never mind the fact that steamboats have existed since the mid-1700s.)

And I'm sorry, but asking readers to believe that a woman whose internal monologue features gems such as "Finally, the tall, six foot three, blond, gorgeous boy emerged from the ocean" scored higher than a school valedictorian on an English placement test must be some kind of sick joke, to dust off that hoary Victorian turn of phrase.

I don't believe every YA author must have the talent of a Philip Pullman or Suzanne Collins in order to write YA fiction, but some level of authorial and editorial skill should be a prerequisite to publication. Infinite Days lacks both to such a degree I'm not entirely unconvinced the novel is not some sort of elaborate parody or hoax. show less