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A review by laurelthebooks
Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
For all that this likely won't be a favorite of mine this year, there was quite a bit to love in this book. The casualness of the representation here brings me joy. I love when there is a type of everydayness to many of the aspects of queerness we still see judged in today's world. The setting and premise with an academy for alchemy were also very much up my alley too. The tie between emotion and science that I feel like most other magic-adjacent books tend to skim was a high point as well. The focus on open communication was amazing to see in a YA romance as well, but that also tied a bit into my frustration with the pacing on occasion.
Now for the parts that I was iffy on. First, the complaining and the arrogance. There was so *much* complaining (thankfully not as egregious as Catcher in the Rye, but still) and the relationship drama was a lot because both Ramsay and Ash are unbending and arrogant people. Hashing out interpersonal conflict as chunks of a book work when I'm majorly invested in the character relationships, but while I liked the characters here there was so much tension in the action plot that I sometimes I wanted to introduce my head to a desk and beg them to just hurry on up with figuring out their own personal problems. Granted, some of that is completely understandable with YA characters (have to learn that somewhere lol), but it majorly tripped up the pacing in parts of the book.
...tottering over whether or not I would consider this dark academia. Despite the number of dead bodies piling up, there isn't much of the Gothic in this work, and while many of the problems inherent in a classist society are present I'm not sure how in-depth of a critique one could argue exists here. More of a dark fantasy romance with an academic influenced setting perhaps?
Anyways - definitely a faster paced YA adventure with a wonderfully diverse cast of characters. The tension between the character focused elements and the more intense fantasy plot in the book does leave it on a bit of an uneven footing for me overall though.
Now for the parts that I was iffy on. First, the complaining and the arrogance. There was so *much* complaining (thankfully not as egregious as Catcher in the Rye, but still) and the relationship drama was a lot because both Ramsay and Ash are unbending and arrogant people. Hashing out interpersonal conflict as chunks of a book work when I'm majorly invested in the character relationships, but while I liked the characters here there was so much tension in the action plot that I sometimes I wanted to introduce my head to a desk and beg them to just hurry on up with figuring out their own personal problems. Granted, some of that is completely understandable with YA characters (have to learn that somewhere lol), but it majorly tripped up the pacing in parts of the book.
...tottering over whether or not I would consider this dark academia. Despite the number of dead bodies piling up, there isn't much of the Gothic in this work, and while many of the problems inherent in a classist society are present I'm not sure how in-depth of a critique one could argue exists here. More of a dark fantasy romance with an academic influenced setting perhaps?
Anyways - definitely a faster paced YA adventure with a wonderfully diverse cast of characters. The tension between the character focused elements and the more intense fantasy plot in the book does leave it on a bit of an uneven footing for me overall though.