Scan barcode
essjayeffsea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Bravo to Kacen Callender! I cannot wait to read more from them!
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Bullying
bibliosaurier's review against another edition
4.75
+ two trans characters and a polycule?? i need more of that in my fantasy books
i also agree with a lot of people i've seen saying this is more NA than YA (it's still apprioriate for YA readers, but i also think it could have been even better if it wasn't)
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
sp00ky_girl28's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Cursing
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Animal cruelty
vemiline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So I got this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group in exchange for a review, so thank you so much for giving me this opportunity!
“Why go back to his body, to this illusion he had created, to a world where desires that would never be filled were slowly killing him, where he couldn’t escape his own wants and thoughts and fears?”
This book…. was something I completely did not expect from it. There was a problem, yet there were so many layers to it, it was pretty interesting. I was expecting just magic and adventure and hoorah, but what I got were very thought provoking messages and an adventure that went on a lot longer than I thought it would.
“Maybe it wasn’t death that Ash feared, but the idea of dying with regret, thinking in his last moments everything he failed to achieve.”
I really appreciated the diversity. I loved that moment of realization that Ash was in the LGBTQ+ community and that there were even gender-fluid aspects in here too. I think that there needs to be more transgendered protagonists, and more insight to their thoughts and struggles about being born in the wrong body. There was also another… type of relationship between the characters and I thought that it was good to see because we don’t see it enough. I know a lot of people are probably gonna be against this aspect though.
“Magic. The word implied universes unknown and adventures undiscovered, power unfulfilled and possibilities that were endless.”
I think it was interesting to understand the world building and all that. I was worried it was going to be really confusing, and with all the different houses it was at first, but I just bookmarked the page that had all the houses and kept referring to it until the relevant houses stuck to my mind. I think I might need to reread this book again, but with the knowledge of how the world is like in this book. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it. I’m honestly not even sure how I’d even improve it though, so that’s a whole other conversation.
“But Gresham again was a hypocrite. Weren’t all the great men?”
I did see that this is going to be a series, and while I know this wasn’t my favourite, becoming my favourite series is a very hard thing to do anyways, I think I want to keep up with this series. I appreciate that there was an ending to this book (sorry if that’s a spoiler….let me know if it’s too spoiler-y) and I hope Kacen Callender brings more of Ash Woods for me :)
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Murder and Death of parent
vagaybond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Murder, Torture, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Violence, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Abandonment, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Sexual assault
seekittyread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Classism, Genocide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse
andromedaexists's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Once again calling back to any book that makes me physically feel something get an automatic five star, but this book did more than that. This book wrapped my heart in tendrils of alchemical magic and refuses to let go.
Ramsay is a prodigy, the genderfluid child of known and executed terrorists hell-bent on atoning for their sins. She uses he/she pronouns, though leans more towards she/her throughout the book. She is also such an uptight prick... until she's not. I genuinely love how prickly and rude she is and how much that shows to me as an autistic mask. I just love her so much.
Callum is a black man and the youngest son of the Kendrick house, more or less the police state in book. He is kind and caring despite the heavy hand of his father and all he wants to do is heal. He wants to heal and help others, like the good man he is.
- The world became a white blur. The snow turned red. It fell to the ground, drops spreading like blots of ink. The blood dripped from Amelia's cheeks. Her smile faded as the screams began.
- That's what privileged assholes like you always say.
- [redacted] paused, but only for a moment. He opened the [redacted]. There was an explosion of light.
- It was too late. [redacted] was already there.
- It wasn't death he'd feared, he realized, but the change—the transformation that forced him to release.
- This light held the vibration of energy that the physical body would translate as love.
- They all created the same infinite light. They were eternal.
- It was an interesting place to be caught, stuck between grief and gladness that they were gone.
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Blood, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Dysphoria, Cursing, Classism, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content
ABUSE (FAMILIAL, ON PAGE), DEATH (MURDER), GUILT, GRIEF, MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS (FADE TO BLACK), VIOLENCEbooksnbcys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Gore, Dysphoria, Grief, Genocide, Homophobia, Child abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and War
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
- The world Kacen Callender has built in INFINITY ALCHEMIST is one of the best YA fantasy settings I’ve seen in a long time. It’s complex without being overly complicated, and explores hard topics alongside some really cool visuals.
- This book gets deep into classism, racism and power the way the best fantasy books can: it’s parallel to our world, but not didactic.
- I love how deeply queerness is woven into this book. The main characters are a trans boy and a person who shifts gender and pronouns at will, and it’s done in a way that I can’t imagine the book featuring any other characters. Plus - and I won’t give total spoilers here, but - fans of the love story in IRON WIDOW will also want to check out INFINITY ALCHEMIST.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use and Sexual assault
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Cursing and Grief
Minor: Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Animal death