Before Nick Gautier was a Squire for Kyrian Hunter and way before he ran into trouble with Ash, he was a ninth grader on a scholarship at prestigious private school. He is willing to put up with the constant harassment from his classmates because of the ridiculous clothes his mother buys for him and the fact that they don’t have two nickels to rub together, but he draws the line at cracks at his mother. Nick is willing to do anything for his mother. The fact that she is willing to dance at an exotic club every night just so they can have a roof over their heads and food on their table drives him to try to be a good person – even though it takes everything he has to maintain his control.
Nick is special. The amount of power he is capable of is unknown – especially to him. It isn’t until he meets Kyrian Hunter that he is even aware of a world other than the one he knows.
New Orleans is full mysterious people and traditions, but zombies are new for Nick. Students at his high school have started attacking and attempting to eat one another. It started with only one, but quickly spread across town. It is up to Nick and a group of friends (some new and some old) to find out how it started and make New Orleans safe once again.
INFINITY is an entertaining read, but not what I would call quality literature. There was one thing in particular about Kenyon’s writing style that got on my nerves with this book that I didn’t notice so much in the Dark Hunter novels. I may have noticed it more because I listened to INFINITY on audio book, but it seemed like Nick talked to himself too much – asked himself internal questions all the time.
Kenyon introduced a couple of the important characters from the Dark Hunter series like Kyrian, Ash, Simi, Tabitha, and a couple of the Peltiers from Sanctuary. They didn’t play a major role, but Kenyon definitely set it up for people who aren’t familiar with her Dark Hunter/Were Hunter/Dream Hunter series.
Something I thought was really funny was Kenyon created a character named Bubba, a self proclaimed zombie hunter, who closely resembled Tallahassee from the movie Zombieland. Kenyon even incorporated Columbus’ #2 rule (reworded a little of course) – Double Tap. All in all INFINITY was fun and I will read the next one in the series. I do wonder why Kenyon chose to write for young adults though. There are about a million books out in the adult series that I can’t imagine she needs any more money.
What about everyone else? Have you read this one? If so, have you read any of Kenyon’s adult novels? How do you think this one compares?
Be on the look out for INVINCIBLE: Book 2 on February 1st, 2011.
I’ve never read any of her other books, but I really liked this one. It was a fun read and I definitely plan on reading the next book. I probably won’t be reading any of her adult novels because none of them really sound like my cup of tea. So, from that perspective, I think it was a good idea for her to go the YA route.
I have read 3 of Kenyon’s Adult Dark Hunter Series, among others. I enjoyed the characters, but had a difficult time enjoying Nick in this book. I am thinking I had a hard time going “backwards” and wanted Nick to act like the mature person he was in Dark Hunter. I do feel my students will eat this book up!
Jan´s last blog ..The Season by Sarah MacLean
I tried to read the ebook..I got maybe one chapter in before giving up. I can normally read any YA stuff, but it felt like there was no effort. I’m not familiar with the Dark Hunter books, which is why ( I think ) I had less tolerance for it. I may try it again, though…I just thought there were a lot of cliches, and no real effort to make them seem original. And I didn’t like the obvious male-dominated dynamic that was Nick. He should have complained less about his position as a ‘man’ (because what teenager thinks that?) and could have made the whole ‘parent is a stripper’ idea interesting.
I also have an issue with how huge the font is in the print version – because that just seems really lazy to me. :/ I’m glad you enjoyed it for the most part, though!
John´s last blog ..Review- The Secret Year by Jennifer R Hubbard
Well…..I really liked this book, mostly because it had a lot of action, like chase scenes and all that. I’m really tempted to read the next book. The only problem was, I don’t think that this book is right for people underaged, because it includes all sorts of adult stuff, even though I can tell that Nick isn’t grown up yet. “Overall, this book was one of my favorites, with all the zombies and action.