Quote of the Week #2 Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Quote of the week is a weekly bookish post hosted by Magen at Corrie the Book Crazed Girl. Each week, we will pick our favorite quotes from a book we read or are currently reading to share with you, our readers.

Quote of the week:

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 The quote that I chose for this week is from Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel. It is a secret to no one that I love this book and the Vampire Queen series to bits and pieces. The writing in it is just so beautiful and sophisticated and the characters are just amazing. This is my all time fave book right here.

The following quote really stuck out to me because it's about how easy it is for people to get caught up in their problems and to forget how beautiful and complex the world is.

“I refocused on the glittering ocean and the blurry rolls of the waves.
“Maybe this is why humans are so caught up in their own thoughts,” I said, still keeping my gaze forward. “They can’t see what the world is really like. If they could, they would look beyond their own dreams and preoccupations.” - Rebecca Maizel, Infinite Days

In Her Shoes (17): Tracy from Stolen Night

In Her Shoes is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Vanya at YA Story Teller. To participate, simply put yourself in the shoes of a heroine you've recently read about, and then talk about what you would do in her place, or what you've learned from her.

Featuring this week:

Tracy Sutton from Stolen Night

Tracy Sutton is a character in the Young Adult Paranormal Romance Stolen Night (sequel to Infinite Days) by Rebecca Maizel. In Infinite Days she was basically the resident mean girl who highly disliked Lenah Beaudonte, the female lead in the story. What I like about Tracy is that from Infinite Days to Stolen Night, she has tremendous character growth. She goes from a girl who is very cruel (verbally) who seems to be a bit arrogant and distant, to slowly becoming more friendly to people who are not necessarily in her circle of friends, and ultimately showing a lot of depth.

 I say that she shows a lot of depth because Tracy comes off as having a certain mystique to her. And that mystique deals with her being suspicious of the new students at her school, which is unique in Paranormal Young Adult literature, because it often happens that most secondary characters remain clueless to the fact that the main characters have a supernatural origin, and if they do find out their true identities, something happens that magically helps erase their memory or something along those lines. But not with Tracy. In Stolen Night she is really on the ball and we get to learn how much exactly and it was interesting to see more to Tracy's personality than being a popular girl. I honestly would not change a thing about her. I liked how she matured in Stolen Night and showed more emotional and intellectual depth.

Showcase Sunday #6

Showcase Sunday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Vicky at the Books, Biscuits and Tea blog. It is a meme inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and The Story Siren. The goal of this meme is for us bookish peeps to showcase & highlight the books that we have either bought, borrowed, won, downloaded, or received for review the past week :)

BOUGHT

 

1. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

2. Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel (UK Edition)

3. Beastly by Alex Flinn (Deluxe Edition w/Lindy's Diary)

4. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

5. McGraw-Hill's French Student Dictionary

Sidenote: Ohmygosh you guys. I am so excited about my UK copy of Infinite Days. It is my favorite book and though the US edition is gorgeous, I just had to get the UK one, too.

 

I also have read Beastly. Loved the book, loved the movie (w/ the lovely Alex Pettyfer :D). I just had to get this deluxe edition because the cover is stunning. I always thought the first cover was too blah with that one flower. Not inspiring to this bookcover geek so yea. I spotted this at Books-a-Million and just had to get it.

 

Jessica's Guide. I have read as well. But I did a book exchange and now my original copy is living somewhere in Germany w/ the super awesome Caro from D'sBookworld. But yea, this was on sale for 3 dollars y'all and I was like, "heck yes, this baby is mine" - it is an amazinggggg book. Can't wait to read the sequel.

 

My french student dictionary. I'm excited about it as well because I took French classes for years but since I barely practice it with anyone anymore I just needed to touch up on my basics. Though I can still count in French and can read most of it, I need my refreshers and student dictionaries are always great for that.

 

 

 

 

So if you read through all of that. Thanks so much :D:D I appreciate it <3

 

 

 

 

 

What book loveliness did you receive this week? :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Her Shoes (10): Lenah from Infinite Days

In Her Shoes is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Vanya at YA Story Teller. To participate, simply put yourself in the shoes of a heroine you've recently read about, and then talk about what you would do in her place, or what you've learned from her.

Featuring this week:

Lenah Beaudonte from Infinite Days

Lenah is the main character in the Young Adult Paranormal Romance 'Infinite Days' by Rebecca Maizel. I am currently re-reading Infinite Days - it is my all time fave YA novel - and I decided to speak about Lenah and not Emily from I'm Yours by Lindsay Paige (my current read) because that book is a sequel and I don't want to spoil the plot points for those who haven't read the first book in the series.

So on to Lenah Beaudonte from Infinite Days. Well, first off, I would have to say that Lenah is my all time favorite heroine. She is just so bad-ass that I can't even count the ways of her badassery. She rocks. But, yes, Lenah is unique in that she literally was a vampire queen who became human. Something that you don't see too often. Usually the regular thing to see is that the character was a human and later became a vamp. Which, granted, did happen to Lenah some time in her lifetime but after becoming a vamp and the queen of her coven she became tired of it and wanted to be human again, wanted to feel again. And Infinite Days starts off with her story as a vamp queen turned human.

Personality wise, Lenah is one of the most unique female characters I have encountered in that she is different and so nuanced. She has a stoic regal-ness to her that you just don't see too often when it comes to female characters in literature. Most of it is thanks to the fact that she was a vampire queen who was immortal and very powerful. Her badassery doesn't come from the fact that she is overly sarcastic or outright aggressive or physical. Lenah just has this air to her. She will cut you with her words of wisdom. A wisdom that comes from having lived so long as a vamp and being a queen and observing people.

And what I loved about Lenah is that as she becomes a human again she retains that strength that she had as a vamp queen but at the same time tries to grow as a person. Because thing is that as a vamp queen, Lenah was as cruel and ruthless as they came. A very scary vamp but in her vamp life, though she didn't show it, she was tired of being so cold. So as she becomes human, she decides that she will not succumb to any pettiness (and she doesn't) because she wants to enjoy life to it's fullest. Also, Lenah makes note to not feel guilty over her past vamp life. She recognizes the error of her ways but her attitude is kinda like this, "ok, I'm human again and I want to enjoy the beauty of being human, so I'm putting my cold vamp days behind me because if I feel guilty about it, I will become miserable and not enjoy this gift of being human again" - an attitude that I thought was so great. She was flawless as a heroine.

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin 

Release: August 3, 2010 

Genre: YA Paranormal

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary/Excerpt:
"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...


My Review: 
Okay, I have to admit that when I bought this book, I bought it because of its beautiful cover. I didn't even know what it was about and had never heard about it before. But I'm happy to report that in this case, judging a book by its cover did work because this book has a beautiful cover but inside it, it has an even more beautiful story.

This book is a vampire story but it's not your typical vampire story in the sense that the protagonist Lenah, just doesn't reminisce about her human days - she actually gets to be a human again (Which I loved reading about) after reigning as a vampire queen.

Things I loved about this book:

1. Lenah. She is such a strong female character. She looks 16 but she is really almost 600 years old and she is a very intelligent and observative person and she does not make excuses for any wrongs she's done in the past. She admits her faults and tries to move on.

2. Prose. Oh Rebecca, I loved your writing. It was, I don't know how to say it, sophisticated? is maybe the word I'm looking for but I just thought the writing was amazing, very fluid and beautiful even.

3. Rebecca doesn't just tell, she shows. Everything Lenah feels about being human again and about being awoken and human in the 21st century - you will feel too.

4. Rhode. I don't want to give anything away but he is the most amazing male character I've read about in a while. So swoon worthy and my #1 literary crush at the moment. This is a man who truly sacrifices everything for the woman he loves. He is selfless, has a conscience, and is caring. He may not be in the book as much as some other characters but man oh man, does he leave a massive impression on you. I can't wait to read more of him (LOVE RHODE).

5. The flashbacks. I don't want to give anything away, but I loved reading these.

6. The vampires in this story are bad-ass. Forget about vampires who glitter in the sun and are sensitive (not that I have a problem with that but I know some people do). These vamps do not disappoint for those of you who stick to original vampire lore.

7. Amazing characters. Lenah, Rhode and a few others. I just loved how some characters especially Lenah were so reflective and wise when it comes to what humanity entails. The observations made about life were so amazing and might I add, philosophical (which I loved).

8. The ending. OMG, the ending of this book is just wow. Just when you think you had everything figured out, Rebecca Maizel just throws a massive curve ball at you. Her cliffhanger was like no other I have read. It was epic and left me wanting to read the sequel desperately.


I consider Infinite Days to be my favorite book. The sequel for this book, Stolen Nights, was supposed to come out this summer but Rebecca hasn't finished writing it yet, so I imagine it will be out by summer of 2012. It's been a tough and long wait but for this series, it's worth it.


Rating: 5/5