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.

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.

Dreamcasting: From books to film!

I am a very visual person and when I read a book I like to envision in my head what each book character would look like in actuality and who could play their roles if they ever adapted that particular book into a film.

What is a dreamcast? Well, it's the cast of actors that you think would be perfect to interpret a character on screen. Today I will dreamcast four of my favorite book characters and explain why I think each actor would be perfect for the role of said character.

Dreamcast for Adrian Ivashkov; Lenah Beaudonte; Jem Carstairs; & Cricket Bell:

Douglas Booth as Adrian Ivashkov from Bloodlines

Currently Douglas Booth can be seen in the BBC One adaptation of Great Expectations as Pip. I think that Douglas would be perfect to play Adrian Ivashkov -the charming/bad boy with a secret heart of gold who comes from a Royal  vampire bloodline in the book series, Bloodlines by Richelle Mead- because Douglas definitely exudes charm onscreen and has a lot of sensibility but mischievous eyes when you pay close attention to him. Adrian is nothing but a charming character and on the outside he seems like a careless guy who only wants to have fun but inwardly he actually is quite conflicted and a little lost. Douglas definitely would be a perfect Adrian for me, he even looks quite regal, in my opinion. And for those who have read Vampire Academy and Bloodlines can assure you, for a Moroi vampire, you definitely need an actor who has charms but the looks to encompass what a Moroi vampire is and Douglas has both. 

Emily Browning as Lenah Beaudonte from Infinte Days

I think that Emily Browning would be a perfect Lenah Beaudonte from the book Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel because she has the ethereal beauty that is required of Lenah a former Vampire Queen who becomes a human again. Not only that, but Emily has a great sensibility and strength on screen that would be perfect for Lenah, a person that even though changed, still retains a sense of authority and regality from her vamp queen days but a sweet innocence all at the same time due to her newly regained humanity. I've seen Emily Browning in the films: A Series of Unfortunate Events and Sucker Punch and she is definitely an actress that can be both badass and vulnerable, all at the same time, just as Lenah is.

Harry Shum Jr. as Jem Carstairs from Clockwork Angel

Harry Shum Jr. can currently be seen as the charming and talented Mike Chang on Glee. As of Late, I have seen a new range of emotional depth from his character that has shown me that Mr. Shum is not only a great dancer but possesses a genuine vulnerability that could be perfect for Jem Carstairs from the book Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Jem Cartsairs is young man of British and Chinese descent that lives in Victorian England as a shadowhunter (a warrior of angel blood who fights demons). He is intelligent, charming, sweet, loving and also has a tormented past that makes his story even more compelling. I think Harry definitely has a gentlemanly air to him, he is tall and has great stature, like Jem does and as an actor I think he could definitely be very endearing and portray the quiet confidence that Jem possesses to a T. All that would be needed is for Harry to dye his hair a silverish color and to wear contacts as Jem has silver eyes and then we would be good.

Matthew Atkinson as Cricket Bell from Lola and the boy Next Door 

So I recently discovered Matthew Atkinson because he plays Nick the charming jock who makes all the girls heart go pitter patter on the ABC Family show Jane by Design. This guy oozes charm and sweetness just as the adorable character Cricket Bell does in the pages of the amazing book: Lola and the boy next Door by Stephanie Perkins. Matthew even resembles the Cricket on the Lola and the boy Next door cover. He is tall, has a great smile, kind eyes and cute pointy dark hair that sticks up just as Cricket Bell's does. When I see Jane by Design and his character Nick comes on screen all I can think about is, "OMG it's Cricket, Cricket is on my screen, he is soo Cricket"!

Have you ever dreamcasted your favorite book characters? If you have, let me know about it. Also, if any of you have different dreamcasting ideas for the characters I've mentioned in this post, I would love to hear about them, as well. Thanks for reading :)

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