interesting take on an afterlife, and a non traditional chosen one narrative. had a twist i didn’t see coming, all of the character relationships and development seemed a bit rushed though. 

Rep- Asian MC, lesbians (briefly mentioned)

2.5/5* 

I'm so dissapointed this book didn't work out for me. I honestly thought I was going to love it, I mean a group of human rebels fighting evil AI who have taken over the afterlife to destroy humans. What's there not to anticipate? The idea was so intriguing, the execution anything but.

Firstly, The Infinity Courts was extremely tropey (the chosen one, random girl catches the eye of the prince, love triangle, bad boy with a tragic past, royal courts etc etc). I don't necessarily hate these tropes but they made the book seem predictable because so many of them were used in one story. I though the writing was good but overly flowery at times and oversaturated with metaphors.

I did enjoy some of the worldbuilding. The concept of AI taking over the afterlife was quite interesting. However, for an almost 500 page book it wasn't all there and left much to be questioned. Granted this is the first book in a trilogy so I'm guessing it will be developed in future instalments.

I liked the commentary on advancing technology and its impact as well as conversations on morality and who gets to decide which people deserve second chances. However, Nami, spent the vast majority of the book ruminating over the same questions and trying to naively convince herself of humanities inherent good. By the 30% mark it was getting tedious to read about. She kept saying she wanted peace and co-existance, imposing her own views and completely disregarding the views of the people who had been fighting in infinity longer than she has. While, I understood Nami's motives, she only ever considered her opinion as the right one, I couldn't help but think her selfish. I can't say that I felt connected to Nami's struggles either. She died at the very beginning of the book and the relationship with her family wasn't developed. It made it difficult for me to see the reason in her constant worrying over them when there was no established bonds.

I felt that the romance in this book didn't really serve a purpose and was just thrown in for a plot twist. It seemed forced and I just didn't care for it. As for the ending, I think it would've had a bigger impact on me had I not suspected a part of it from the beginning

(no one escapes War but somehow he did? It didn't take much to suspect that Gil wasn't telling the whole truth)

. The concluding scene in particular was quite rushed and slightly comical.

Overall, I'm dissapointed in myself for not liking The Infinity Courts
as much as I wanted to. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the trilogy but as of yet it's most likely a no.

This book killed me. Appropriate since it's set in the afterlife! This book is imperfect (though I wonder if some imperfections would disappear upon a re-read) but I honestly don't care because I loved it. An interesting concept from the start, and I enjoyed every second of reading it. Most books have a slump at some point part way through, but this book didn't. I would give it 4.5/5 but rounded up so all my reviews are round numbers

A lot of this story was just fine for me. 

The pacing? Fine.

Characterization? Fine.

The twist at the end? Fine. It wasn't surprising to me at all, and I didn’t think it was that big of a plot twist. Maybe because I wasn’t completely invested in the story?

My biggest issue was with the world building. I just feel like it was not fully fleshed out. Especially because many of the questions that I was asking about said world building we’re brought up and just never addressed. The Courts were giving me a very Seelie and Unseelie court vibe. I’m not really into that or fae in general which may have something to do with why I was not in it to win it 100%.

I was having trouble trying to grasp the size of the world, in terms of the geography of Infinity and the map that we were provided with. Because in theory, every single human that has died should be there but there's no way they were, and it was even mentioned that there were no babies. I think that’s just a very large volume of people that are not accounted for and I wanted to know why. I guess I couldn't grasp the vastness of Infinity when we were not really exposed to said vastness.

I also think I may not be into AI based sci-fi. Not that I've read a lot, but something about Ophelia was rubbing me the wrong way. I also had so unanswered questions like: how does an AI not technically hack into something and just wander into the afterlife? This further begs the question why did humans not also do the same via said technology?

The fact that there was such a focus on these AI‘s obtaining transcendence and gaining quote on quote "life" but this whole story starts with death and what happens **post life** forced this strange dichotomy that was simply not working for me. I understand that they are grappling with the concept of humanity and what it means to be human from an AI perspective, I just think that framing it in the context of death was confusing. Especially because Infinity just made it seem like what happens after death is another form of life which I feel iffy towards.

Also, the Colony in general just seemed off the whole way through. I took issue with the fact that questioning things was not appropriate in their eyes yet their whole schtick is that they question everything about Infinity in the first place and what Ophelia‘s role is. It was just entirely hypocritical and I kind of just wanted Nami to just dip and go her own way since her views were so controversial to them. I was really having trouble trying to connect to the people of the Colony and find any worth in their cause when they seemed very one-sided and highly opinionated about how to go about enacting their plans.

I do think there is a lot more to be explored and that will be explored in the sequel. I think the world itself has a lot of potential and I hope that it reaches said potential. At the moment, I’m not really sold on the world as a whole but I’m willing to see if it improves.

I think the AI as villains or antagonists or whatever you want to call them were probably the best characters in the book. There was a savagery to their characters that I could appreciate. I do think they seem more human than not and I don’t know if that is an intentional choice, barring Ophelia.

Let’s talk about the map: it’s beautiful. But as a map? In terms of telling direction or distance? It could be better. I don’t love the circles indicating the other Courts or the Capital. Not because they’re not wonderfully illustrated. Because they are. But from a cartographical standpoint, they don’t have much use past aesthetics. And they take up so much room for something that doesn’t appear to relay any pertinent or useful info. The design and attention to detail was impeccable however, and I normally wouldn’t be so critical of the map had my issues with the world building not relied so heavily on getting my bearings in Infinity.

Would I suggest this? Yes. I think a lot of people will enjoy this, especially because this novel seems to be setting up the rest of the story. This made it seem so much longer than it actually was, and I was getting a little bored at times, but if the plot intrigues you, you'll probably like this one.

Will I bother with the sequel? I'm leaning towards yes, but don't quote me on that, because it's not high on my priority list.

Thinking about
how interpretation of empathy with oppressors changes between people abused with their family and people abused by their family
how first person narration limits thematic interpretation 
and limits minor characters
and affects the application of twists
a marketplace where people pretend to shop 
the way I bounce off this is the love interest coding 

Related interpretation/media I've looked at
 THE INFINITY COURTS - Pre-order Incentive and Buzz Week Wrap-up (author website) character art

The Infinity Courts Books Review  (Tin Minute Book Reviews)
  The Infinity Courts Review (Cyn's Workshop )
Reviewed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Magical Reads
The Infinity Courts has an intriguing premise but sadly underdeveloped characters (Fansided)
Q&A: Akemi Dawn Bowman, Author of ‘The Infinity Courts’ (Nerd Daily)
Instagram posts by  sjplfangirls , reading.with.charlie,  _shelfelf, 
mastewartbooks, starry_stacks,  escapestobooks , booksandmrsbush,  neekswritesandreads,  lizzynotbennet, the_ebookjunkie  

Read for  #ezeekatsbookclub  by ezeekat

 

 

 I couldn't get into this one, the start is really dramatic then slows down a lot and I don't care enough about what's set up to try and push through and see if things pick up later. No major problems with the book itself so far, I'm just not enjoying the experience of reading it so I'm stopping now.