A review by elwirax
The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Rep- Asian MC, lesbians (briefly mentioned)

2.5/5* 

“May the stars watch over you. Because the saints abandoned us long ago.” 

"Infinity was never built for you; it was built for dreamers."

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.
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