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A review by plantbasedbride
The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Ok, I’m sad.
This book was *not* what I expected.
I was so excited to read this. The premise is right up my alley: A SFF YA with a biracial AAPI protagonist that takes place in the afterlife which has been conquered by fictional-Siri?? Amazing. Stunning. Can’t wait.
And in the beginning, I had hope. But Nami died a few pages in and it was all downhill from there.
This book hit so many of my personal pet peeves that listing them all would be exhausting, but in the name of the common good I’ll do my darnedest.
1. There is little to no world-building. This book is nearing 500 pages and I could not tell you anything about the afterlife other than the fact that it's split into four "courts" and run by attractive AIs who are obsessed with being like humans while simultaneously wiping them out.
2. The writing style is drowning in metaphor and simile and the result is melodrama. A few examples (not hard to find, there are as many as 4 per paragraph):
"My heart crumbles to ash..."
"I feel the sting of her words like paper cuts all over my skin..."
"(discarding me) like I’m an empty bottle or a used up battery.”
I love a good metaphor or simile, seriously, sign me up, but when every other sentence opts for elementary flowery language over actually telling the damn story I'm gonna get annoyed.
3. This book contains all of your favourite YA tropes! The chosen one, the gruff tough love interest who is only soft for MC, insta-love, MC catches the eye of a prince, a whole war/rebellion sits upon the shoulders of a teenager... I could go on. But I'm tired. Is this what being old feels like?
4. Our protagonist feels several years younger than her age. Nami is apparently 18, but she acts like an immature 15-year-old throughout. This book seems better suited to a middle-grade audience than a young adult one.
5. I have never read a more repetitive book in my life. If I told you that LITERALLY EVERY CHAPTER the MC is musing over the exact same conundrums and asking herself the exact same questions, often worded in the exact same ways, would you believe me? Well you should, because it's true. I felt like I didn't even know our main character by the end of the book because she only ever had the same 4 thoughts in her internal monologue. Thinking about gruff boy, reminding herself that she's a big sister, wondering if AIs deserve to live, too, and wondering what to wear. For real, that's it. She's in an afterlife that's been taken over by AI after being murdered for god sake and this is the extent of what's in her head??
(If you haven't been deterred from reading this one, yet, I dare you to take a shot every time Nami thinks "Is this what's waiting for May? For my family??" and report back. Or maybe don't. You might die depending on your reading speed).
6. Nami is as sanctimonious and holier than thou as it gets. She's selfish, stuck in her perception of what's right and wrong, judgemental, and willing to endanger everyone around her on a whim. She's also constantly contradicting herself.
7. There are no stakes. We're supposed to worry about these characters dying... except... they're already dead. This is the afterlife. Maybe it's just the atheist in me, but do they really need to "live" forever? Seems like the afterlife is kind of a drag, tbh. I'll take oblivion for 500, Alex.
8. Nami doesn't understand the concept of developing new relationships and it's exhausting. She’s like, they’re not my parents or siblings but maybe it’s ok to care about them? Have you never heard of a fucking friend, Nami??? Good lord.
9. This book ends in the classic "gotta hook readers so they'll read the sequel" way that always pisses me off. In my humble opinion, even a book that is part of a series should have a satisfying end. This book's ending felt like someone ripped out the last few pages.
Ok.
I'm worked up now so I'll switch to the positives for a sec. I liked the concept and the twist was kind of interesting.
Ok, that's it.
So, yeah. I'm sad.
Actually, scratch that. I'm mad.
This book had SO MUCH potential and it squandered it in the most baffling way.
Would not recommend unless you feel like being irrationally angry for several days.
This book was *not* what I expected.
I was so excited to read this. The premise is right up my alley: A SFF YA with a biracial AAPI protagonist that takes place in the afterlife which has been conquered by fictional-Siri?? Amazing. Stunning. Can’t wait.
And in the beginning, I had hope. But Nami died a few pages in and it was all downhill from there.
This book hit so many of my personal pet peeves that listing them all would be exhausting, but in the name of the common good I’ll do my darnedest.
1. There is little to no world-building. This book is nearing 500 pages and I could not tell you anything about the afterlife other than the fact that it's split into four "courts" and run by attractive AIs who are obsessed with being like humans while simultaneously wiping them out.
2. The writing style is drowning in metaphor and simile and the result is melodrama. A few examples (not hard to find, there are as many as 4 per paragraph):
"My heart crumbles to ash..."
"I feel the sting of her words like paper cuts all over my skin..."
"(discarding me) like I’m an empty bottle or a used up battery.”
I love a good metaphor or simile, seriously, sign me up, but when every other sentence opts for elementary flowery language over actually telling the damn story I'm gonna get annoyed.
3. This book contains all of your favourite YA tropes! The chosen one, the gruff tough love interest who is only soft for MC, insta-love, MC catches the eye of a prince, a whole war/rebellion sits upon the shoulders of a teenager... I could go on. But I'm tired. Is this what being old feels like?
4. Our protagonist feels several years younger than her age. Nami is apparently 18, but she acts like an immature 15-year-old throughout. This book seems better suited to a middle-grade audience than a young adult one.
5. I have never read a more repetitive book in my life. If I told you that LITERALLY EVERY CHAPTER the MC is musing over the exact same conundrums and asking herself the exact same questions, often worded in the exact same ways, would you believe me? Well you should, because it's true. I felt like I didn't even know our main character by the end of the book because she only ever had the same 4 thoughts in her internal monologue. Thinking about gruff boy, reminding herself that she's a big sister, wondering if AIs deserve to live, too, and wondering what to wear. For real, that's it. She's in an afterlife that's been taken over by AI after being murdered for god sake and this is the extent of what's in her head??
(If you haven't been deterred from reading this one, yet, I dare you to take a shot every time Nami thinks "Is this what's waiting for May? For my family??" and report back. Or maybe don't. You might die depending on your reading speed).
6. Nami is as sanctimonious and holier than thou as it gets. She's selfish, stuck in her perception of what's right and wrong, judgemental, and willing to endanger everyone around her on a whim. She's also constantly contradicting herself.
7. There are no stakes. We're supposed to worry about these characters dying... except... they're already dead. This is the afterlife. Maybe it's just the atheist in me, but do they really need to "live" forever? Seems like the afterlife is kind of a drag, tbh. I'll take oblivion for 500, Alex.
8. Nami doesn't understand the concept of developing new relationships and it's exhausting. She’s like, they’re not my parents or siblings but maybe it’s ok to care about them? Have you never heard of a fucking friend, Nami??? Good lord.
9. This book ends in the classic "gotta hook readers so they'll read the sequel" way that always pisses me off. In my humble opinion, even a book that is part of a series should have a satisfying end. This book's ending felt like someone ripped out the last few pages.
Ok.
I'm worked up now so I'll switch to the positives for a sec. I liked the concept and the twist was kind of interesting.
Ok, that's it.
So, yeah. I'm sad.
Actually, scratch that. I'm mad.
This book had SO MUCH potential and it squandered it in the most baffling way.
Would not recommend unless you feel like being irrationally angry for several days.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death