Show Me Five Review of Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Show Me Five is a weekly meme created by  That's a Novel Idea where  you  post the answers to five questions. The questions number indicates the number of answers you will provide. And I must add that I really enjoy posting a review using this format. Definitely helps offset the rut I sometimes feel I am in when I write a review.

1 Name the book: 


 Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel




2  Words that describe the book:

Original, unique 

3 Setting where it took place and/or characters:


One of the exceptional aspects of  Infinite Days is the setting, which changes as the Lenah narrates her present life with her past. 

In the present she is on going to boarding school called Wickham, which is located outside Lover's Bay, Massachusetts. One of the first descriptions of life at Wickham is going down to the beach to watch the Justin Enos and his brother race their boats, as many of the students watch, including Lenah. This is an important scene because she meets Tony, and see Justin for the first time.

The past settings in Infinite Days includes, various locations in England such as an apple orchard where Lenah first meets Rhodes who makes her a vampire,  Hathersage England where Lenah lived with her coven, and even a Paris opera house. Lenah's life has span several centuries and as she narrates she continually flashes back to various times giving the readers a better understanding of who she is.

My favorite character in the story besides Lenah was Tony. Lenah first meets Tony out on the beach shortly after she has become human. Tony is on scholoarship, an art student and described as a tall Asian. He has little use for the rich kids at Wickham, especially Justin and his brothers or the girls they hang out with. The reason I really like Tony is because he helps Lenah adjust to her new life as a human girl in the 21st Century, and he is also in love with her. He tries to protect her too. For me he was a much more dynamic character than Justin Enos who was the guy Lenah eventually falls in love with.

The other character I was drawn to in Infinite Days was Vicken. Of all the men in Lenah's coven, Vicken was the strongest and the one most in love with her. When Lenah first met him he was a Scottish map maker for the British Army during the middle 1800's. It is Vicken who Lenah fears once she has become a human, and it is he who searches for her to bring her back to the coven. Maizel describes him as an 18-19 year-old,  with wrinkles on the side of his eyes when he smiled.


4 likes and/or dislikes:

I really like how Lenah's story jumps back an forth from her present situation to her past. Her history as a cruel vampire was amazing and Maizel did a terrific job with descriptions of the variety of settings and Lenah's feelings.

I disliked the fact that Justin was Lenah's choice as her present day love interest. I felt Justin's character was too much like every other hot, rich guy that so many of the female YA protagonists fall for. After meeting Rhodes, who was willing to sacrifice his life to make Lenah human, and Vicken who could not let her go, Justin was just too boring and stereotypical a character for this century old girl to latch onto.

I definitely like how original and unique the plot of this vampire story was. While I may not have read a lot of the vampire books currently published, I do not know of any story where a vampire becomes human. Maizel does a fantastic job at showing Lenah's adjustment not only to life as a human, but life in the 21st Century.

I disliked one part of the ending, but if I tell you which part it will spoil it for anyone who has yet to read this book. I am happy to see that there is a sequel to Lenah's story.


5 stars or less:

I really want to give this book five stars, but because of my dislike of Justin's character I am only giving it 4.5. I know this is really a personal thing, and I highly recommend Infinite Days, I just wish Lenah had chosen someone different to fall in love with, like Tony!