Review: Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Inferno (Chronicles of Nick #4)
By Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

To Sum It Up:

After finding out that his girlfriend is on a mission to kill him, Nick Gautier doesn’t know who he can trust anymore. His now ex-girlfriend Kody is the least of his worries, though. Someone else is working very hard to get Nick to embrace the part of him that’s a demon with the potential to destroy the world. Nick is trying equally hard to avoid this future, but it’s not easy when everyone seems to be plotting against him.

Review:

Since reading Infamous, the previous installment in the Chronicles of Nick series, I’ve read some of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s adult Dark-Hunter novels, from which Chronicles of Nick was spun off. I was amused to see that adult Nick is just as much of a wiseacre as teenage Nick is. In addition to becoming reacquainted with the wit of the younger version of Mr. Gautier, I was looking forward to reading Inferno to see which Dark-Hunter characters made appearances here.

Nick is now sixteen, and there’s a darker, more grown-up tone to Inferno. I’ve never been big on the subplots revolving around some kind of drama at Nick’s school, and I was glad to discover that there wasn’t one this time. Instead, Inferno focuses on a plot to get Nick to come into his full demon powers and ensure the apocalypse. Things have been slowly building to this point since the first book, Infinity, but with Nick well on his way to adulthood, there’s a greater urgency than ever to preventing him from going all evil.

The length of the book was somewhat of an issue for me. There are quite a few pages devoted to Nick’s self-doubts. Despite how far he’s come from eking out an existence, he fears that all the good others see in him won’t be enough to stop him from becoming a monster. I thought some of these internal monologues could have been trimmed. They felt repetitive after a while and slowed the flow of the story.

Something that I think Kenyon does very well is make you reconsider your initial opinion of a character, typically for the better. Just when you’re set to write someone off as a complete villain, she supplies you with that character’s utterly gut-wrenching backstory. I’ve always been wary of Caleb Malphas, a demon who serves, albeit reluctantly, Nick’s nefarious father, Adarian. Caleb poses as a human student at Nick’s school, and Nick, though he knows what Caleb really is, regards him as a friend. It turns out that Caleb has a rather tragic past; I felt quite sorry for him. Gaining some insight into his character in Inferno also convinced me that Caleb really does want to help Nick. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Kenyon will have the character make a turnaround, thus making me take back everything complimentary I’ve just said about Caleb.

While Inferno represents some steps forward in the series in terms of character development and sticking to the main plotline, the story does drag in some places. The humor that I love so much about these books is as funny as ever, though, so I was still very entertained by this. And there’s a scene in which my favorite zombie hunters, Bubba and Mark, have flamethrowers. Enough said.

All in All:

I really enjoy this series, but I think the story in Inferno could have been told in fewer chapters. Otherwise, this is another solid entry in the Chronicles of Nick series with an ending that I’m dying to see resolved in the next book. Seriously—I can’t wait to find out how the story picks up from here.

Review: Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3)
By Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

To Sum It Up:

So far, Nick Gautier has gone up against zombies and a football coach who had once made an unholy bargain that necessitated committing some nefarious deeds. Nick is still standing, but he can’t afford to lower his guard for a single second. He is destined to become the Malachai, a demon with the potential to destroy the world, and there is more than one plot underway to eliminate him, including one hatched by Nick’s own father, who wants his son’s powers for himself. Nick is in greater danger than ever, and the choices that he makes now could mean the difference between ensuring that there is a future for mankind and erasing it.

Review:

I’ve really come to love the characters in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Chronicles of Nick series, and the title character himself, especially. Even when he’s staring down death, Nick Gautier always finds time for a witty quip. But there’s so much more to Nick than his trademark snark. As his powers continue to strengthen, Infamous finds Nick dealing with the increasingly heavy burden that is his fate: turning into the Malachai, the demon that will bring about the end of the world. Nick, however, keeps defying the profile of your average apocalypse-triggering, epitome of evil; he possesses the capacity to love, something that the Malachai is most definitely not supposed to be capable of doing. A lot of the credit for Nick not embracing the hatred that is supposed to consume the Malachai goes to his mom, Cherise, who has to be one of the most devoted mothers in YA. Infamous reveals more of the hardships that she had to endure as a teenage mother, including being disowned by her uppity parents. Cherise is one tough, determined woman, and her love for her son may be what prevents him from becoming a monster like his father.

Speaking of Nick’s father, his dear demon dad, Adarian, who currently resides in prison, is working overtime to take out his son and gain his powers. Nick has been no stranger to peril since the first book in the series, Infinity, but Infamous really ratchets up the amount of conspiring against him that’s taking place. Almost everyone is a potential foe, and the prospective enemies list isn’t restricted to paranormal beings. As was the case with both Infinity and the second book, Invincible, there’s a subplot involving trouble at Nick’s school. Someone is posting sick, doctored photos of the students and writing defamatory things about them on a website. Of course Nick ends up embroiled in the midst of the situation; it’s a wonder the kids at this school learn anything with the constant commotion that goes on there. I’ve never been a big fan of the school story lines because I’d rather focus on whether or not Nick will alter his future, but this time, I thought the school drama tied in better with the main plot.

I’ve loved the Dark-Hunters Kyrian and Acheron and the way they just exude cool since Infinity, and the two put on a very brief, but awesome, show of badassery in Infamous. Those few sentences describing the scene made my day. We also get to meet Bubba’s mama, Dr. Bobbi Jean Burdette, who promptly reminds Nick upon greeting him how he once (accidentally) put a bullet through the photo of her that Bubba proudly displays in his gun/computer shop, the Triple B. Kenyon gives all of her characters such memorable personalities; even the minor ones leave a lasting impression and aren’t there merely to fill space.

Infamous is the largest installment in the series to date, and it’s crammed with action, suspense, and enough backdoor dealings to make your head spin. Being the next Malachai is like painting a giant target on yourself in neon colors, and even after all that Nick has gone through so far, the ending of Infamous makes it look as though his troubles are only beginning. The title of the next book, Inferno, sounds very apt because all of the schemes to manipulate Nick and/or cause him harm can only smolder for so long before they combust. Knowing Nick, he’ll likely fire off a few sarcastic comments before the pyrotechnics commence.

All in All:

I was on my library’s waiting list for this for quite some time, and it was absolutely worth the wait. The series just keeps getting better and better as Nick edges ever closer to unlocking all of his powers. Inferno, your release date needs to get here. Now.

Review: Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2)
By Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

To Sum It Up: Just when Nick Gautier thinks he can take a breather from his recent encounters with zombies, he finds himself entangled with the supernatural all over again. He’s trying to learn how to control the powers he never knew he had until recently, and one of his teachers is none other than Death himself. Nick also has a new foe in his school’s football coach, who’s threatening to have Nick put in jail if Nick refuses to assist him with his top-secret, and undoubtedly evil, scheme. Once again, Nick must save the day, all while trying to avoid being grounded by his mom.

Review: It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to read two books from the same series back-to-back, as I did with Infinity and Invincible, the first two books in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Chronicles of Nick series. Since Invincible picks up immediately after the events in Infinity, the timing worked out particularly well. Although Infinity was a fun read, I ended up liking Invincible even more. I haven’t read any of Kenyon’s adult Dark-Hunter books (something that I plan to remedy ASAP!). Infinity was my introduction to the world of the Dark-Hunters, and I spent a good deal of the book trying to keep track of the characters. Now that I had a better grasp of who was who, I was able to dive right into Invincible’s story.

Nick’s acerbic commentary is what made Infinity so much fun to read for me, and he doesn’t disappoint here. He appears to have met his match in the sarcasm department, though, in the form of Death. Death, or Grim as he likes to be called, has the not-so-easy task of teaching Nick how to use his powers. With Grim being Death and all, he’s not very tolerant of being upstaged by the Gautier wit and bluntly tells Nick so. The verbal exchanges between these two are laugh-out-loud funny; Kenyon certainly knows how to write humor.

I was happy that Kyrian, the Dark-Hunter who saved Nick’s life in Infinity, had a slightly larger role in this book. I was equally glad to see the towering immortal Acheron and Simi, the demon who’ll eat anything with barbecue sauce on it, again, too, although their appearances were much too brief, especially Simi’s. My favorite zombie hunters, Bubba and Mark, are also back. Those two seriously need their own spin-off! We get a bit of Bubba’s backstory here, and it is really heartbreaking. I respect that man even more than I did before.

I thought that the story line, which involved the new football coach at Nick’s school blackmailing Nick into stealing seemingly random objects for him, was meatier this time around. On the whole, Invincible seemed less expository than its predecessor. Before even finishing this book, I knew that I was going to continue with the series, but once I reached the jaw-dropping cliffhanger, I wished that I had a copy of Infamous to begin reading the moment I was done with Invincible.

All in All: If you became a fan of Nick’s after the first book in the series, like I did, you won’t be disappointed with Invincible. I’ve really taken a liking to the characters in these books, and I cannot wait to read more about them in Infamous!

Review: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1)

By Sherrilyn Kenyon

Publisher:

St. Martin’s Griffin

To Sum It Up:

Fourteen-year-old Nick Gautier has learned a lot about hardship during his short life. He and his mother are barely getting by, and his father is in prison. Nick doesn’t fit in with the rich kids at his posh school, where his classmates constantly taunt him. As if things couldn’t get any worse for Nick, he’s attacked one night by some guys who he thought were his friends and is rescued by a mysterious stranger with almost inhuman fighting skills. Little does Nick know that he’s about to become acquainted with an entire world of supernatural beings, and zombies in particular because his classmates are turning into them.

Review:

This was the first book that I ever read with zombies in it . . . and I liked it! I don’t watch horror movies because I’m pathetically squeamish, but these zombies were more than tolerable to a wimp like me. But there’s a lot more to Infinity than a football team of the undead. Throw some demons, shapeshifters, and a scrappy hero with razor-sharp wit into the mix, and you have one highly entertaining read.

I’m particularly fond of snarky fictional guys; in fact, the snarkier, the better. Nick Gautier’s opening line in Infinity, “I am a socially awkward mandork,” pretty much ensured that we were going to get along famously. And we did. Nick is hilarious, and his nonstop biting commentary was my favorite thing about the book. I even laughed out loud a few times, prompting stares from family members who figured that I’d finally cracked from too much time spent with fictional characters. Anyway, Nick = very funny.

This book is teeming with memorable characters, some quirkier than others. On the quirky front, we have Bubba Burdette and Mark Fingerman, supernatural hunters extraordinaire. Bubba owns a computer repair/gun shop, so, as his ad, says, if he can’t fix your computer problems one way, he’ll fix them another (presumably through the use of firearms). In the event of a zombie apocalypse, you want Bubba and Mark on your team. I also loved the demon Simi, who carries a bottle of barbecue sauce and a lobster bib in her purse in case there are any tasty zombies to eat. Simi loves her barbecue sauce!

I wish that we’d seen more of Kyrian, Nick’s mysterious savior, and Acheron, the 6’8”, Porsche-driving immortal. I haven’t read Sherrilyn Kenyon’s adult Dark-Hunter series, in which these guys and some other faces from Infinity appear. While I wasn’t completely lost as I read Infinity, there were a few times when I felt that some prior knowledge of this world and the characters might have come in handy.

With a fairly straightforward plot, Infinity is a light yet fun read, thanks largely to its sarcastic protagonist. If you appreciate the humor of someone like Jace Wayland from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments or Cassel Sharpe from Holly Black's The Curse Workers, then you need to meet Nick Gautier. And I need to read Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series to find out more about Kyrian and Acheron.

All in All:

I’m so happy that I borrowed Infinity and the sequel, Invincible, at the same time. I can continue reading about Nick’s adventures immediately!