I, like all Sherrilyn Kenyon's readers, first fell in love
with Nick many, many, many Dark-Hunter books ago in Night
Pleasures the book where I found the world I always longed
for and became a Kenyon junkie for sure. Back where it all
began Nick was just a scribe, a butler/secretary/day
security/punk kid who needed somewhere safe to go.
Throughout the Dark Hunter series Nick has grown with
every
book he has been in from a boy in the background to what he
is today. Nick and his teasing ways were common and I looked
forward to his playboy-make-a-mess-of-it ways. I have seen
his highs and I was there to cry through his very lows.
Knowing Nick as only a Kenyon junkie can, I was unsure about
this series. First, it's a YA series; I kept thinking
really, for someone as full of sexual magnetism as Nick? A
YA series? Kenyon what are you thinking! And then I broke
down and read Inferno which I quickly followed with
Invincible. Much to my astonishment I have read every book
of this series too. Ms. Kenyon has reintroduced me to a boy
on a level that has never been seen before. Nick Gautier is
awkward, he struggles with friends, bullies, and the very
same everyday kid stuff that my kids do. Only he is fighting
all kinds of crazy monsters and himself too! This Nick is
changing his life and hopefully he can save the world before
he destroys it -- yeah that's a lot for a 15 year old kid,
but hey no biggie it is Nick after all....yeah right!
So to the story...INFAMOUS starts off and things have gone
nuts at school with a cyber-bully and now no one knows who
to trust in anymore. So Nick has made it his mission to find
out exactly who the cyber-bully is and put a stop to his
garbage. His mom is cracking the whip on his head like he
might just end the world one day...oh wait. Maybe more like
she thinks he is going to be drinking and doing drugs and
all the other stupid stuff that stupid kids do. He knows
better than that. His friends are pushing from one end, his
mom from another, and Ambrose from yet another. Nick feels
like he is going in circles and he doesn't even know which
way is up!
As much as I loved INFAMOUS there were a few glitches in
this one that I personally just didn't like. From other
Dark-Hunter books I knew that Cherise had always been a
little hard on Nick and didn't really expect a lot from him.
After all he needed Kyrian for a reason and it wasn't just
for something to do. After reading INFAMOUS I do not like
this woman at all. I understand that she needs to look after
her son, but the harping and harping? After a while it
seemed that she had put him down so often that I just
expected foul things to come out of her mouth. By the end of
the book I was almost glad that I knew her fate.
The other glitch was the ongoing theme of good vs.
evil in a teenager's life. The bullying theme was worked and
worked and almost forced throughout the book. Then there is
another sub theme of just say no to alcohol and drugs that
was mixed with some premarital sex is evil! Now I understand
that this is a YA series, but it was a bit preachy and I
really wish a different lesson had been taught. Every kid
makes bad choices. There is not one kid in the world who has
always done the right thing every single time. As bad as
Nick was portrayed in the i>Dark Hunter Series I felt
that the
the 'goody goody' image that he comes off with in this book
simply did not match up. Nick needs to make bad decisions I
think
that those choices would make a stronger impression on the
young minds reading than the good boy image has. Show the
young readers that there is a consequence for every action,
mistakes are okay but learn from them.
That said do not think that INFAMOUS was bad, because I have
to this day never read a bad Sherrilyn Kenyon book. These
are just my personal opinions. I loved every other aspect of
the book. Kenyon really gives us a deeper look at Nick's
relationships with his friends and we even get a glimpse of
more characters from other series. I am anxiously waiting
for the next installment because I am committed. Bottom line
is I have to watch Nick come into his own and find out all
the changes that this Nick has made for the old Nick along
the way! Oh, and who doesn't want more Acheron thrown in
there too?
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 and keep a girlfriend so dang hard? 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.