Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Rating: 5/5 stars

Hardcover

480 Pages

Published: March 13, 2012

Date read:  April 16 by Crystal W.

 

Description:

The world has fallen in love with Nick Gautier and the Dark-Hunters. Now Nick’s saga continues in the next eagerly anticipated volume…

Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That’s the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn’t the average teenager. He’s a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.

He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive such a difficulty? But that isn’t the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.

And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known.

Or he’ll be the one who ends the world. With enemies new and old gathering forces, he will have to call on every part of himself to fight or he’ll lose everyone he cares about.

Even himself…

 

Review:

International bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, returns again to bring forward another spectacular novel that will captivate readers from beginning to end. Her audience of “Menyons” range from 2 week old infants to 102 years-olds. Ms. Kenyon has inspired thousands to pursue their dreams and follow their hearts. Her stupendous writing has brought fantasy to life where there is no limit to the world of imagination. 

Infamous is the third young-adult paranormal fantasy book in Kenyon’s Chronicles of Nick series. Infinity, the first book in the series debuted on May 25th, 2010. The sharp witty humour was undeniably funny and caught the attention of many young readers along with her supporters of her adult romance series, Dark-Hunters. 

Nicholas Gautier (pronounced Go-shay, not Gaut-tee-aa) is a proud 15 year old Cajun with a sharp attitude and a fierce loyalty to his mother, Cherise Gautier, an intimidating 29 year old woman who can make any grown man “wet himself”. Readers follow their favourite characters, Nick, Nekoda, Bubba, Duck Urine Mark, Caleb, Kyrian, and Acheron through fast-paced, breathtaking adventures from one world to another where danger never seems to be too far behind. 

In her previous books, readers have learned and discovered more about the world of Dark-Hunters and other demons and creatures. Infamous breaks down the barriers that surround Nick and spin his world out of control. Time is altered with Ambrose, Nick’s future self being in the Present, and every second of his life is crucial to the survival of man, literally. It is vital that Nick retains his humanity as long as possible as the fate of the world is in his hands. However, Adarian Malachai, Nick’s father, is out for vengeance, and his ultimate prize? Nick himself. The stakes are higher than ever and the bounty that is placed on Nick’s head gets increasingly bigger with every moment he is walking the face of the Earth. 

Meanwhile, chaos is breaking out at Nick’s high school. An unidentified creator has designed a website called, theothersideofStRichards.com. The website discriminates the whole student body and releases lies and secrets about one another that start to turn everyone against each other. Even though “violence is never the answer”, fights are quickly breaking out, and Nick is the victim of some of them. Computer geniuses, Mark, Bubba and Madaug can’t seem to infiltrate the user and matters are getting worse. Nick is accused of rape and even though he knows level 40 of “gorilla”, he will need much more to solve this case. Nick and crew start to believe that something “not human” is under all of this. Time is ticking and if someone can’t crack this case, someone or something is going to do something that they will regret. 

Alliances between man, demon, and Dark-Hunter are put to the test. Nick starts to harness his true Malachai power and the past will begin to reveal the actions of others. With the help of this fellow friends and Death himself, can Nick survive the day?

When I first saw Infinity on the bookshelves in June 2010, I instantly knew it would be a great read. The exquisite colours on the cover contrasted beautifully with each other and immediately reeled me in. However, what really caught my attention was Ms. Kenyon’s name written elegantly at the bottom. Ms. Kenyon is and will forever be a well renowned author as I had seen her name on posters and frequently in the hands of readers, whether they were walking down the street or either taking the bus to work or school. 

Sherrilyn Kenyon is a fabulous author who can only be described as a genius. Her magnificent story lines and intoxicating story plots will always keep you on the edge of your seat, gasping for more. Her riveting novels will appeal to everyone and anyone. If you’re looking for an extraordinary read that will satisfy your craving, definitely look for Sherrilyn Kenyon’s books. 

Infamous will be in bookstores everywhere on March 13th, 2012. Be sure to keep your eye open for the fourth book in the Chronicles of Nick series, Inferno in bookstores March 4th, 2013. 

 

Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Rating : 5/5 stars

Hardcover

432 pages

Published: March 22, 2011

Date Read: April 14th, 2012

 

 

Description:

Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul.

His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him.
                                    
But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them..

 

The Chronicles of Nick is Sherrilyn Kenyon‘s first young adult series and, personally, I think that Invincible is infinitely better than the first book of the series, Infinity. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Infinity. However, aside from the fact that there was no sex and minimal swearing, Invincible felt less like a young adult novel to me. I may be the only one who feels that way, but there it is.

That being said, I just want to say that I really like that Nick has different adventures and trials with each book. In the first book, he and his friends had to take down a pack of killer zombies. In this book, killer demons are after Nick because he is the Malachai and they want his powers and soul. Looks like Nicky’s got a full plate! I wonder what he will come across in the next book, Inevitable.

One of my problems with this series is Ambrose. I’m still not sure how I feel about him, especially about him messing with Nick’s past and, ultimately, his future. I know that Kenyon is changing Nick’s past for a reason, but I don’t know why and I’m worried about what it will change in “the present.” Is it going to change Nick’s life? Is it going to change how Nick can deal with his powers? Will Nick already have control over his powers? Will Nick and Acheron still be friends? Who’s to say. I just hope that it doesn’t change a lot of what we already know about Nick from the Dark-Hunter series. Another thing about Ambrose is…Nick figures out who he is at the end! *GASP!*

Nekoda and Caleb are two characters that I’m also still not sure about. I want to like Caleb, and I actually do, but I still don’t know what’s doing with him. He’s relatively more honest than Nekoda about her aims, but who knows what’s going on.

 

Review:

 

I absolutely loved seeing other familiar characters in this book once Cherise started working at Sanctuary and in other circumstances: Remi, Dev, Aimee, Wren, Colt, Tate, and lots of others. Seriously. I got really, really excited and start squealing my ass off, and I’m pretty sure I scared my dog. But yeah, I loved seeing them. However, my absolute favorite character to see was…Savitar! I want his little Savy babies. Good Lord, I love that man. He’s quite possibly my favorite male character of the series–Dark-Hunter that is.

Favorite Quotes:
“Let me give you free advice, kid. Whenever something is coming for you, snap its neck or double tap. Never, ever hesitate. It’s infinitely better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.”
(Grim, pages 63-64)

“Dude! Put a bell on. You don’t walk up on a brother like that and scare the crap out of him.”

“Sorry. Didn’t realize you scared like a little girl.”
(Nick and Acheron, page 138)

“Got it. You’re fourteen. I’m so proud you can count that high. It’s a testament to the modern American educational system. But I should probably point out that you’re not the only one. I’m told you go to a school with a whole class of–get this–kids who are fourteen.”
(Acheron, page 144)

“Acheron has a saying, and it’s so true. There are some things sorry can’t fix. Life is all about regrets. Don’t let those regrets be that you’ve hurt someone who really loves you. Keep those to a minimum. It’s bad enough when you have to carry them through a single lifetime. When you have to carry them through thousands, it’s brutal.”
(Kyrian, page 161)

“Be careful whom you give your heart to, Nick. Make sure when you hand yours off, you get hers in return.”
(Kyrian, page 217)

“People deceive and they lie. The more you have, the more they scheme to take and the more often they try. The world’s an ugly peace, and apparently many people think it’s easier and better to take from others than it is to earn it themselves.”
(Kyrian, page 217)

“It’s never the enemy without who brings you down. It’s always the enemy within.”

He nodded. “Guard your back, Nick. It’s the one you don’t see coming. The one you trust whose betrayal is most lethal. They know your weakness and they know how to hit the lowest. It’s when your back is turned and your guard it down that they move in for the kill.”
(Nick and Kyrian, page 219)

“All of us are a culmination of vital parts of our parents and their pasts. A vital part of the circumstances we were raised with. Everything that happens to us, good and bad, leaves a lasting impression in our souls. You take one part of that out, and you can completely rewrite something crucial about us. By and large, we’re not shaped by the bad things. It’s the little, day-to-day moments that make us who we are. Who we’re going to be.”
(Nekoda, page 301)

“No like, you matter what you think is insignificant. Everyone has a purpose. Even you.”
(Nick, page 310)

“In the end, the only things that matter are the people in your life. The one who make your life worth living and whose smiles light up your world. Don’t ever push them aside for fair-weather friends. Everything else is just cheap window dressing that you can replace.”
(Bubba, page 327)

“You can’t buy back time, Nick. Ever. It’s the only thing in life you can’t get more of, and it’s the one thing that will mercilessly tear you up when it’s gone.”
(Bubba, page 327

 

Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Rating: 5/5 stars

Description:

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh-eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Review:

Nicholas Gautier (that’s Go-shay; don’t mispronounce it!) is fourteen, a poor scholarship kid at a prestigious private school, and it seems like he’s the punching bag of most of the jocks. His father is in prison on multiple counts of murder, and his mother works her butt off as a stripper just to keep a tiny roof over their heads and second-hand clothes on their backs. All of these things are strikes against him in high school–which is pretty much hell for him–and that’s before one of his classmates goes zombie and tries to eat another student.

Nick wears a smart mouth and an attitude as armor against those who mock him.
Kenyon has a gift for writing smart asses, and in a novel populated with teenagers, the snark really flies. I love it. Under immediate threat by zombies? Snark at your sibling, buddy, or classmate. Pop off at people who can, and probably will, kick your butt–it’s all good. In the midst of the insanity, Nick discovers that most of his high school’s football team is composed of shape shifters, and that soul sucking vampires, vampire hunters, secret societies, ancient gods–and oh yeah, demons–all exist. As it turns out, Bubba, New Orleans’ crazy zombie hunter, isn’t so crazy after all. Nick spends an awful lot of his time in Infinity trying to stay alive, protect his mother (who is blissfully unaware of the supernatural), and not get grounded–and not ticking his mother off is mighty important. There are times I think it trumps, for him, staying alive.

Nick learns that his heritage isn’t as straight forward as he thought it was, and takes the first steps toward exploring who he is, and can be. There are external forces at work actively trying to keep him on the straight and narrow path, just as there are others actively trying to turn him toward the dark. This skinny teenager is mighty important to a fair number of people for a variety of reasons.

Nonetheless, all he wants is to survive high school, not end up like his loathed father, and to make his beloved mother proud even though he finds himself strongly tempted to do things she’d never, ever, approve of. If you are familiar with the Dark-Hunter series, you already know much of this. If you’re new to the series, you’ll get to see the origins of a character that has been slowly developing–and getting into trouble–as an adult in the main series. I’d read nothing about Infinity before starting it, so I was nicely surprised by a bit of a twist that I won’t spoil here. I love it when books surprise me!

This is the first book in the Chronicles of Nick series, which is a spin-off of Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series. Per Sherrilyn Kenyon’s website, the Chronicles of Nick will run until the story intersects with Nick’s first appearance in the Dark-Hunter books, and then he’ll get his own novel in that series. If you aren’t already familiar with the Dark-Hunters world that Sherrily Kenyon has created, I think Infinity is a good introductory novel. It is listed as young adult, so it doesn’t have the paranormal romance (well, the romance) trappings of the series that spawned it, but it is an excellent introduction to the mythos of Kenyon’s world. Like any prequel that’s written after a series has been established, if you move from Infinity to the Dark-Hunter books, you’ll have some knowledge of the characters you might not have otherwise, just as I, as an established reader, probably picked up on hints in Infinity that a reader new to the world might not get. There are trade-offs either way. I wouldn’t let worries about it being a spin-off series keep you from the story. Nick’s brand of Cajun smart-ass is entertaining and endearing, and you truly don’t need to be familiar with the other books to enjoy Nick Gautier’s story.