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A review by kaitmary
Alpha by Jus Accardo
3.0
**Originally posted on The Fandom**
Jus Accardo rounds out The Infinity Division trilogy, which follows a group of teens chasing a murderer through the multiverse and discovering the wild horrors of worlds unknown along the way, with Alpha!
Alpha tells the story of G, murderous universe-skipper Dylan’s doppelganger from another universe, and Sera, another version of Dylan’s long lost girlfriend Ava, whose death triggered his eventual breakdown. G and Sera were both prisoners in the clutches of the evil Cora Anderson from Ashlyn’s world, subject to cruel experiments until they were broken out by the heroes from the first two books. Unfortunately, Dylan is desperate to find a “new” Ava and he steals Sera away at the end of Omega, certain that he can convince her to love him and start over with his (sort of) girlfriend. There’s only one snag he didn’t anticipate: Sera has already fallen for another man with the same face, G.
The novel starts with G, Cade, Noah, Kori, and Ash tracking Dylan through the multiverse in hopes of stealing Sera away from Dylan. But they’re not the only ones hunting Dylan down: Omega’s Cora Anderson, the world’s cruelest scientist, wants her assets-- Sera and G-- back in her lab. As the two characters tell their story, readers see just what Cora’s experiments did to them and how much it affected their psyche and relationship. G and Sera will have to face a chase through the unpredictable universes, an obsessive killer who will stop at nothing, an equally determined mad scientist, their dark pasts, and their own twisted feelings. Can they defeat the nearly impossible odds and feel safe again?
G and Sera were interesting characters to follow. They have an established history as a unit and some pretty chilling stories from their lives before that, which gives them a lot of depth. Of the three couples featured in The Infinity Division, I think I have the most sympathy for these two (though Cade and Kori remain my favorite.) G has a little more personality than Sera, who can be a bit of a damsel in distress, despite her wit and perseverance. Unfortunately, there’s a big lead up regarding Cora’s experiments on G and what they could do to him, but when that comes into play, it was glossed over and fell away quickly. I would’ve liked to see more of a struggle with this “uncontrollable” force that turned out to be easily controlled.
Alpha isn’t a book that you can read on its own-- there’s just way too much backstory for that-- but the characters largely function on their own. With the exception of Cade, Dylan, and evil!Cora, the original characters are rarely featured. While I understand that the cast is hefty and the story needs to focus on two characters that were previously outliers, it would have been nice if Kori, Noah, and Ash in particular had something useful to do. Instead, they’re relegated to “elsewhere” for most of the novel, which was disappointing.
If you like a sense of completion, you’ll be happy with the end of this novel. There’s action, tension, and high stakes in the novel’s big ending. After that, Accardo takes the time to wrap things up for all three couples and even made me feel a little heartache for Dylan (something I never felt possible.) The endings could have been a little more in-depth-- a general feeling I had throughout the whole novel, really-- but they were definitely cute and you get to see the future trajectory of each character.
If you liked the first two books in the series, you’ll be plenty pleased with the finale, even though it could have been a little more rounded.
Jus Accardo rounds out The Infinity Division trilogy, which follows a group of teens chasing a murderer through the multiverse and discovering the wild horrors of worlds unknown along the way, with Alpha!
Alpha tells the story of G, murderous universe-skipper Dylan’s doppelganger from another universe, and Sera, another version of Dylan’s long lost girlfriend Ava, whose death triggered his eventual breakdown. G and Sera were both prisoners in the clutches of the evil Cora Anderson from Ashlyn’s world, subject to cruel experiments until they were broken out by the heroes from the first two books. Unfortunately, Dylan is desperate to find a “new” Ava and he steals Sera away at the end of Omega, certain that he can convince her to love him and start over with his (sort of) girlfriend. There’s only one snag he didn’t anticipate: Sera has already fallen for another man with the same face, G.
The novel starts with G, Cade, Noah, Kori, and Ash tracking Dylan through the multiverse in hopes of stealing Sera away from Dylan. But they’re not the only ones hunting Dylan down: Omega’s Cora Anderson, the world’s cruelest scientist, wants her assets-- Sera and G-- back in her lab. As the two characters tell their story, readers see just what Cora’s experiments did to them and how much it affected their psyche and relationship. G and Sera will have to face a chase through the unpredictable universes, an obsessive killer who will stop at nothing, an equally determined mad scientist, their dark pasts, and their own twisted feelings. Can they defeat the nearly impossible odds and feel safe again?
G and Sera were interesting characters to follow. They have an established history as a unit and some pretty chilling stories from their lives before that, which gives them a lot of depth. Of the three couples featured in The Infinity Division, I think I have the most sympathy for these two (though Cade and Kori remain my favorite.) G has a little more personality than Sera, who can be a bit of a damsel in distress, despite her wit and perseverance. Unfortunately, there’s a big lead up regarding Cora’s experiments on G and what they could do to him, but when that comes into play, it was glossed over and fell away quickly. I would’ve liked to see more of a struggle with this “uncontrollable” force that turned out to be easily controlled.
Alpha isn’t a book that you can read on its own-- there’s just way too much backstory for that-- but the characters largely function on their own. With the exception of Cade, Dylan, and evil!Cora, the original characters are rarely featured. While I understand that the cast is hefty and the story needs to focus on two characters that were previously outliers, it would have been nice if Kori, Noah, and Ash in particular had something useful to do. Instead, they’re relegated to “elsewhere” for most of the novel, which was disappointing.
If you like a sense of completion, you’ll be happy with the end of this novel. There’s action, tension, and high stakes in the novel’s big ending. After that, Accardo takes the time to wrap things up for all three couples and even made me feel a little heartache for Dylan (something I never felt possible.) The endings could have been a little more in-depth-- a general feeling I had throughout the whole novel, really-- but they were definitely cute and you get to see the future trajectory of each character.
If you liked the first two books in the series, you’ll be plenty pleased with the finale, even though it could have been a little more rounded.