Plot
The main plot of the book is about Annabeth struggling through her senior year of high school. Her best friend Noe is becoming increasingly distant and a secret about her father is weighing her down, making it difficult to function properly from time to time. Although it was slow sometimes I personally enjoyed the plot of the book. I found that Annabeth and Noe growing apart and going to different college, was an accurate representation of what happens with a lot of elementary and high school friendships. They had spent so long as teenagers planning out their future together, only to break up as friends and head to different colleges with different life plans that don’t involve each other. I’m glad that Hilary T. Smith chose this ending over one with everyone making up and being happy again. The ending in the book is much more realistic.
I also like the fact that there is no romantic subplot. I felt that A Sense of the Infinite didn’t need one and would have been an unnecessary part of this book. I absolutly hate when authors make two characters a couple just because they’re the main male and female characters and was delighted to find out that by the end of the book Steven and Annabeth were not an item.
Throughout this book Annabeth carries the secret that she was only born because her biological father forced himself onto her mother. She has to live with the cons of being born this way: her relatives being uncomfortable around her, the guilt of making her mother quit college, being called a monster by her cousin, no father to even want to meet, ect. This is a much darker part of the book that I believe adds onto the plot, making it more interesting.
Characters
The main character in A Sense of the Infinite is called Annabeth. She is intelligent, loves nature, and camping, and always like hanging out with her friends. However, she gets nervous easily, can sometimes be irresponsible, and becomes shy and insecure in crowds. Noe is Annabeth’s best friend, she is friendly, popular, great at gymnastics, and very good at debating and arguing. However she can sometimes be rude to her friends, follow others to easily and expect things from people without giving anything back. The main male character of this novel is Steven, Noe’s boyfriend. He is friendly, humorous and ambitious, but that pretty much it.
I found that there was lots of character development with Annabeth and Ava, but characters like Steven didn’t have much at all. Noe’s character seems one-dimensional and slightly bland, like she’s only an annoying and too-eager-to-follow-trends kind of girl that makes her friends feel guilty. Steven was only an friendly, funny, and happy guy that we didn’t get to see a dark side from until near the end.
Over all I didn’t really like the characters that much and thought that they were boring and one-dimensional with the exception of Annabeth.
Theme
Throughout this novel Annabeth is becoming more is figuring out who she is and what she likes, growing up, and becoming more mature. Because of this I believe that the theme of this book is coming-of-age and growing up. No other theme would fit this book quite as well and Horn book- a magazine about books for children and young adults has the same opinion, stating that it is in fact a Coming-of-age novel.
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Setting
A Sense Of The Infinite is set mainly in Annabeth’s high school, E. O. James. It is the same as most high schools, with lots of gymnastic equipment and large hallways. Other settings include: Northern university, Annabeth’s house, and various parties. I’m not sure exactly what city it’s set in, but i do know that it’s set somewhere in Canada
Voice
The story is told in a first person perspective from Annabeth’s point of view. I felt that Hilary T. Smith did a near perfect job of describing Annabeth’s thoughts and emotions beautifully. She used similes and poetic language very well. You could tell exactly what Annabeth felt throughout the entire book. I feel like using only one perspective what the right choice for this, because-as previously stated-I didn’t find any other characters interesting.
I would rate this novel 3.5 stars out of 5.
