Novel Review: Infinite Days (Vampire Queen, #1) by Rebecca Maizel

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: 2010

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

“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...

The Cover:

I do not like this cover at all. The close up on the face to show the eyes, the angle, the colors, the font, it all just turns me off.

Review:

After reading Maizel’s Between Us and the Moon, I was hoping I would like this more.

Firstly, Lenah got on my nerves. I do think it was purposeful, what with her living over five hundred years and being a vampire. But she was still so full of herself, narcissistic and condescending. At the same time, she let the other teenage girls make fun of her, without putting up much of a fight. That drove me crazy.

Secondly, the writing did not work for me. It just made me bored, and droned on throughout the whole book. It made me want to put the book down. It made me feel disconnected from Lenah and the romance, so I didn’t really care for either of them. I also had to constantly remind myself that the characters were teenagers in high school, because they acted like college kids, and the school set up reminded me of a college campus.

I did like the idea behind the plot, though. Having Lenah turn back human after five hundred years a vampire was a really neat idea. Her use of the vampires, too, having them innately evil because of the constant pain they feel, as well as their inability to feel touch or taste. Very neat idea.

I also did enjoy some of the characters, and the development of them. Tony was a great friend to Lenah, and I don’t like what happened with him in the end. There was also a surprising twist thrown in at the end.

Overall, this book fell average to me. The writing and the main character is what did it for me, so I won’t be picking up the next one.

Teaser Tuesday[173]: Infinite Days (Vampire Queen, #1) by Rebecca Maizel

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Infinite Days (Vampire Queen, #1) by Rebecca Maizel

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Release Date: 2010

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

“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...

Excerpt:

“ ‘Staying in tonight?’ Tracy asked, looping her arm through Justin’s. I looked into Tracy’s eyes as a vampire would. A stare that pierced deep into the pupils. Though I saw no depth to her soul.” (Paperback, pg. 138)

What are you reading right now?

Novel Review: Between Us and the Moon by Rebecca Maizel

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: June 2015

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A luminous young adult novel that evokes Judy Blume’s Forever for a new generation.

Ever since Sarah was born, she’s lived in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, Scarlett. But this summer on Cape Cod, she’s determined to finally grow up. Then she meets gorgeous college boy Andrew. He sees her as the girl she wants to be. A girl who’s older than she is. A girl like Scarlett.

Before she knows what’s happened, one little lie has transformed into something real. And by the end of August, she might have to choose between falling in love, and finding herself.

Fans of Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins are destined to fall for this story about how life and love are impossible to predict.

The Cover:

I like this cover a lot. It's cute and romantic without being too cheesy or embarrassing. I think the setting works well for the book, and that the title works really well, too. I think it gives a good idea for what you're getting with the book, and I liked that.

Review:

“‘People are damaged sometimes,’ Gran always says. ‘But you can’t let their damage walk all over you. You gotta be there for them. Help them pick themselves up and brush off the dirt but you’ve got to protect yourself, too.’” (ARC, pg. 175)

                      

This book was either going to be great or terrible, and yet it kind of fell in between for me. I loved parts, but the ending almost ruined it for me.

First of all, I’m not a fan of lying. In general, I just don’t like it. And lying to the extent that Sarah does really bothered me. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, when she was pretending to be like her sister. That’s not the same, because she was doing it in a way to put more confidence in herself. Plus, she wasn’t very good at it to begin with. Even on first meeting Andrew, she had a hard time not being herself.

It was when she started lying about who she was that it bothered me. And when, after doing everything she did with Andrew, she still never told him the truth about her age. That was just terrible of her.

I guess some people would be upset at their age difference, but it really didn’t bother me. The only thing that bothered me about it was the legal issue, and how he could have gotten in trouble because of how far she went without being honest. Otherwise, I didn’t think it was enough of a gap to bother me.

Though I think it helps that I loved them as a couple. They were exactly what the other needed. Their chemistry was great from the very beginning, and I loved how they talked and bantered. They were cute together, and Andrew was such a sweetheart. He’s a good guy, and that made me love him even more. I was a fan of them from the very beginning.

I think that’s why the ending made me so upset. I can see why the reveal was so terrible, because of course, but the ending kind of ruined it for me. Maybe not even that there was a time skip, but that there wasn’t really much closure or a make up between them. I liked them too much to like that ending.

I did like where Sarah was with herself at the end of the book, though. The confidence she grew in herself, and that she’d finally made real friends, more than the one. That she could be honest with herself. And that her relationship with her family had eased into a comfortable one, with the frustrations and hurt feelings revealed and dealt with. I like that there wasn’t some huge blow-up, but there was a growth and a change to make things better. I was impressed with that.

I liked this book, mostly. And I think that the ending was maybe even realistic, even if it made me unhappy.

 A review copy was provided by Cuddlebuggery's Little Blogger, Big Ambitions project and Tonyalee at Lilybloombooks. Thank you so, so much!