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Jun232010
‘YA-10′ BOOK REVIEW: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
by Carolyn • Posted in 3 Star Reviews
Title: Infinity
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
PublicationDate: June 2010 (UK) / May 2010 (US)
Publisher: Atom (UK) / St Martin’s Griffin (US)
Paperback: 306 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Young Adult
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RATING: 6/10 – good
SUMMARY:
At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity. Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.
But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu. As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?
REVIEW:
Nick Gautier is a fairly normal teenage boy but his life is difficult. His mum’s trying to keep them above the bread line by working as an exotic dancer, he has to wear second hand clothes at the insistence of his mother, to the joy of the school bullies and his father is in jail for killing 12 people. But for all of this Nick is quite a good boy and loves his mum. Their relationship is a close one and you can feel their love for one another.
But underneath this semi-normal existence there is a part of Nick he is unyet aware of. A darkness he feels fleetingly but doesn’t acknowledge. Over the course of Infinity, Nick comes into contact with people and creatures he never thought existed and so to some level comes to understand some of this darkness, but not really how or why it involves him.
There’s really two main stories running along side one another. The first is regarding Nick and his destiny, which isn’t actually revealed, although we are bombarded with lots of characters who have everything to do with this part of the story. The second is about zombie school kids running riot and the way the zombies are made means they’re not actually dead, but created by another kid at school. As the onset of zombie mayhem ensues, Nick and a few others try and find a way to stop the zombies before it gets really out of control.
Infinity is an easy to read book but unfortunately contains far too many characters for a first instalment. I had to keep returning to certain pages to remind myself who so-and-so was, just to keep up with them all. Sometimes the transition from one character to another was not written very smoothly.
There is a revelation in the latter chapters, which grabbed my waining attention, but I’m not going to mention what it is as I think it is meant to have some shock value or at least be a surprise element, but because of the way this book is written, I nearly missed it. I wasn’t sure if it was a misprint of a name, but after rereading it a couple of times realisation dawned. Unfortunately the surprise factor was lost amongst the clunky writing.
This book is quite confusing at times. I did understand it but a few passages had to be reread to achieve this level of understanding! I’m wondering how much the adult series is injected into this book. I feel as though I’m missing something and wonder if Kenyon relied too much on the assumption that readers would have read her adult series.
VERDICT:
Overall, even with all it’s faults, Infinity is quite a fun read and for the most part I enjoyed it. I liked Nicks interactions with his mum and friends. He’s quite a sarcastic character and his humour had me smiling a few times. At times the dialogue and thought processes of the characters made me feel that this book would be better suited for the younger end of the YA spectrum but I am interested in seeing where Nick’s life is taking him, so I will probably check out the next book.
What Infinity has done though, is heighten my interest in Kenyon’s adult novels, which I will most certainly check out.
SOURCE: Thank you to Atom for sending me this book to review.
You can find out more about the author here:
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Next up on ’10 Fun Days of YA Fiction’: Tomorrow the lovely Jenny from Wondrous Reads is stopping by to tell us why she loves Young Adult fiction!
17 Comments
I really want to read this book as I'm such a fan of the adult books.
I've read a couple of reviews on this and it sounds like with the multiple characters the problem is that the author assumes that most of the readers will have met them before in the other books. Or maybe it's just that she knows them so well herself she didn't consider it?
It's definitely on my TBR pile
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I thought the same thing. I was kind of cunfused who was who and thought I haf to go back and reread the Dark Hunters… Too bad for young adults or kids who haven't read her other series.
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I have it but I am not sure I will ever read it. Nick is my favorite character but I am not much of a YA Reader (there are exceptions).
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I tend to really love books with male protag in it, so I have no doubt that I'd quickly fell in love with this one.
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great review i was thinking about getting this . Ive heard good things about Kenyon but I think its a very overlapping series and you really have to read them all to get the focus of her books. im still a little undecided
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Laura – To be honest that's what I've found, people who have read the adult series have more interest in the book and like it a lot more. Most of the really positive reviews I've read are from people who read and love the adult series.
Anon – It wasn't the most well written book and I felt as though I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read the adult series. It wasn't awful though by any means
Felicia – I think that if you don't read YA then this one may be a toughie. I think it's more for the younger teens.
Shy – Nick is a good character – I enjoyed his snarky comments and sense of humour.
FSoM – Thanks! I think after reading this one I will definitely check out her adult series. I will try the next book in the YA series to see how it goes but if it doesn't get much better then I'll probably stop.
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Book Chick – I loved it, but I love the adult series. It is jam packed with old faces that have a young look. I am glad I read the adult books first though. The introduction to the other people in the series is smoother.
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Nice review. I liked Nick in the Dark Hunters series but haven't had the urge to read him as a teen. Not sure why. Still thinking about it.
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Awesome review! <3 the UK cover.this is my fave author + plus it's YA, gotta read it!!
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Okay, I love young adult, and this book sounded SO good. I barely got through one chapter of it on my ereader. And I was just – UGH. I hated that Nick is such a 'down-home-country-the-woman-must-be-protected' character at fifteen. FIFTEEN. To me, he seemed like an adult in a teenager's body, and it really did not work well for his character. Plus, the honor student on scholarship at snooty prep school plot has been done. As interesting as the zombie part sounds…I have no idea if I want to continue with it. I love YA. I love romance. I love paranormals. I should have loved this book by the first chapter. But I didn't. At some point I'll come back to it…I just don't know if I want to.
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LilyofDarkness – I'm so pleased you really enjoyed it
FV – I will definitely check out the Dark Hunters series. As you've read the adult series, you may like this one.
Faye – I like the covers too – I hope you get to read it soon
John – Nick's character I thought was actually quite good. I think a protective nature can be achieved at the age of 15, I don't think his thoughts were too adult. I did however feel that the dialogue in some place was a little immature so in my mind was too young for me.
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My copy arrived yesterday and I'm very much looking forward to reading.
I can understand people are going to have problems if they haven't read any of the Dark Hunters books because Nick is a prominent character there and his future is revealed quite late in the Dark Hunter stories (although not quite developed yet).
I hope I won't have the same problems since I went throught the Dark Hunters.
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I completely agree with you – entertaining, but too many characters and too confusing!
I'll be reading the next one though
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Ines – I would be interested to hear what you think of Infinity as a reader of the Dark Hunters series
Jenny – I will probably read the next one too
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I have thought about getting this book. And a fellow worker did get it. I think I am going to have to get it in the future, as it does sound like something I might enjoy. Thanks!
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Thanks for the review! I haven't read any of her other books & I decided to start with this one & than try her adult series, but now maybe I'll start with the adult series first!
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You haven't read her adult fiction? Nick is a part of the story there, but you've got to read her adult fiction. You'll love it.
Heather
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