Review: Invincible

Invincible
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Chronicles of Nick/Book 2
St. Martins/March 22, 2011

*Spoilers for Book 1*

From Goodreads ~

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse...

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...

It's the day after the big zombie fest from Infinity (book 1) and Nick finds himself at Kyrian Hunter's home, safe and sound. As I was reading this, I realize I'm not reading it so much for the actual story as for the back story of Nick and company and how it relates to the current Dark Hunter/Were Hunter world of the adult series. So if I had never read Kenyon's adult series, this YA series would make me pick it up and I would most likely spend time read it rather than this one.

Nick has been, I wouldn't say a favorite character but one I've been interested to see where Kenyon would take him in the Dark Hunter series. So reading how he can to be in the world of Kyrian, Acheron and the Peltiers of Sanctuary is interesting enough to keep me reading this series. Nick is very much a teen with an attitude. He's had a hard life but he does have a mom who loves him more than words. She is the most important person in his world and it's never more evident than in his teen years.

We also see Nick developing relationships with his classmates, some of whom happen to be demons. Yeah, it's a weird world that Nick lives in but Kenyon does manage to make it all mesh together. Nick does seem surprised at every new revelation of supernatural beings. You would think he would be used to it, considering his boss is a Dark Hunter and he's friends with Acheron, who is 11,000 years old. Add in everything he's learned about and fought against in recent days, nothing should surprise him but it does.

Nick once again finds himself in trouble and not sure who he can trust. I did like the character of Death or Grim as he's also known as. He added a wicked sense of humor to the story. It's a good thing I'm not reading this series for the plot line because it didn't keep me entertained. It was easy to figure out where the story was headed and I was far more interested in how these characters fit into the Dark Hunter world. Good thing I got this from the library, not worth the hardcover price, IMO.

Rating: C+

Books in this series ~

Infinity
Invincible
Infamous (2012)

Review: Infinity: Chronicles of Nick

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Chronicles of Nick/Book 1
St. Martin's Griffin/May 2010

From the inside cover ~

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?

Well, Simi's still annoying. LOL Guess she's always been that way. Seriously, I can only take her in small doses. Infinity has the trademark Kenyon smart-ass snark that her characters seem to have in abundance but there is also the pleasure of seeing a very young Nick Gautier. I liked this young Nick who has a chip on his shoulder (probably born with it) and a lot of love and respect for his Mama. We get a bunch of back story on some favorite characters and there are new characters who play important roles in Nick's life.

Infinity goes back to before Nick Gautier knew about Dark Hunters, Were Hunters and Daimons. It starts when Nick is a student at a private high school in New Orleans. He's there because he received a scholarship otherwise, there's no way he and his mom could have ever afford the tuition. Even Nick has a job to help pay the bills. He's very aware of his status as the poor kid at a school were most kids get brand new cars when they turn 16. Nick doesn't even have a TV, let alone a cell phone and definitely no car.

Nick's day starts out as usual with him running for the bus to school. Then the bullying begins, another thing he's used to. His day goes from bad to worse when he's suspended for fighting. You definitely feel for Nick. He tries to be good and stay out of trouble but it just seems to follow him. He does meet a new girl who makes a strong impression on this teen age boy with hormones racing. She's pretty and sweet and she actually talks to him! Nick is starved for attention and Kody's friendship is just what he needs.

Nick's life takes a turn when he gets caught up in a bad situation but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - Kyrian, the Dark Hunter who steps into Nick's life and decides to help him, hiring him as his assistant. Nick is in shock at Kyrian's wealth and very skeptical as to Kyrian's motives. It was amusing to hear Nick constantly questioning Kyrian about what Nick's new job would require. Nothing illegal and no getting naked were two of Nick's main concerns. *snort*

There are a bunch of new characters introduced and most are not human. Nick gets a crash course in the supernatural when his school and neighborhood are overrun with zombies. There's quite a bit of action with fighting zombies, running from zombies and just the general mayhem in a world full of supernatural beings. There are twists and turns with numerous characters to keep track of. It does help if you're already familiar with Kenyon's Dark Hunter series since characters from that series are featured plus the mythology and world building are the same, just with a different point of view.

Infinity's plot of high school kids turned zombies and attacking their classmates was merely okay. At times it felt like a B horror movie with the cast doing exactly what you would expect in a horror movie. What I liked was finding out the history of Nick and the Hunters. It gives more insight into what is going on in the current time line of Kenyon's adult series. The writing was standard Kenyon fair, simply toned down for a younger audience.

Rating: C+