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thespinalstack 's review for:
Infinity Son
by Adam Silvera
E-galley provided by Edelweiss and Epic Reads in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and quotations are based off an uncorrected proof.
“I’m dead set on living my one life right, but I can’t say the same for my brother.”
Adam Silvera has been talking about this book forever! Now that I’ve finally finished it, I can see why this has felt like such a big deal. Basically, it is a big deal. It’s definitely my favorite Adam Silvera book and I cannot wait to see what comes next, yes in the series, but also just with Adam Silvera.
Infinity Son is about two brothers, Emil and Brighton, who have grown up in a New York filled with superheros. Emil and Brighton dreamed about that kinda stuff when they were younger, but it’s never lost its shine for Brighton. Now, as both brothers are pulled into the grand war of their heroes, they struggle to stay safe, stay together, and try their best to figure their way through.
The heart of this book lies with Emil, for me. I found him really interesting in a number of ways, above all I loved how loyal he was to his brother. He is truly concerned with making sure his family is okay first before making decisions about the world at large. Everyone was constantly getting on his case fore being “naive” when in my opinion he was just being a good person? Bunch a jerks.
On that subject, no, I did not like Spell Walkers. But in a way, that’s what’s so great about them? There’s this constant trope of “group of rag tag heroes” in fantasy and the idea is that they’ll always to the right thing for the greater good. But this book takes that idea and really shows how flawed it is.That’s kind of the brilliance of this book in general, it takes all these classic hero tropes and puts them in conditions where a reader can see all the flaws and uses that to re-write a classic “chosen one” story.
Silvera also does this by using Emil’s identities, he’s openly gay and Latino, which is not a character you see everyday, especially in superheros. In a sense, Emil is an anti-hero that is so heroic, it serves to bring down the entire idea of heroism. Which is so cool! And he’s also really genuine, like all the time. He’s earnest and he definitely suffers from caring too much.
Brighton was also a great character for this. I didn’t love him and from the start I didn’t trust his ambition. He’s a slytherin, I’m a slytherin, I know his type. But he tries so hard to be good in this book and that struggle and angst made him a great narrator with a distinct voice and it also made the book complex and captivating.
The last character that I want to talk about is Ness, because he’s my favorite. I love a bad guy who really wants to do good things for good reasons and is only given a series of bad choices. I didn’t expect to actually like Ness when I first met him, but his personality was so edged and pessimistic that I was enthralled by his chapters. Once he met Emil, I was done for. I need more scenes with them together!!! I love their dynamic so much! I need all angst, all the time!
The world created also merits mentioning. I really love this world in which superheros exists and are both loved and hated, but also the elements of fantasy and fantastical creatures. It felt different and unique. The book doesn’t really hold your hand in introducing any of this stuff and I was pretty confused at times, but all my questions eventually got answered by the end of it. I feel like I have a decently solid understanding of how the world works, but I can see how people would get confused while reading.
TL;DR: Don’t miss out on this mind-blowing series! It’s a stunning combination of X-Men, Carry On, with a lot of fire bird talk! It’s compelling, thrilling, and the ending will leave you in pieces!
“I’m dead set on living my one life right, but I can’t say the same for my brother.”
Adam Silvera has been talking about this book forever! Now that I’ve finally finished it, I can see why this has felt like such a big deal. Basically, it is a big deal. It’s definitely my favorite Adam Silvera book and I cannot wait to see what comes next, yes in the series, but also just with Adam Silvera.
Infinity Son is about two brothers, Emil and Brighton, who have grown up in a New York filled with superheros. Emil and Brighton dreamed about that kinda stuff when they were younger, but it’s never lost its shine for Brighton. Now, as both brothers are pulled into the grand war of their heroes, they struggle to stay safe, stay together, and try their best to figure their way through.
The heart of this book lies with Emil, for me. I found him really interesting in a number of ways, above all I loved how loyal he was to his brother. He is truly concerned with making sure his family is okay first before making decisions about the world at large. Everyone was constantly getting on his case fore being “naive” when in my opinion he was just being a good person? Bunch a jerks.
On that subject, no, I did not like Spell Walkers. But in a way, that’s what’s so great about them? There’s this constant trope of “group of rag tag heroes” in fantasy and the idea is that they’ll always to the right thing for the greater good. But this book takes that idea and really shows how flawed it is.That’s kind of the brilliance of this book in general, it takes all these classic hero tropes and puts them in conditions where a reader can see all the flaws and uses that to re-write a classic “chosen one” story.
Silvera also does this by using Emil’s identities, he’s openly gay and Latino, which is not a character you see everyday, especially in superheros. In a sense, Emil is an anti-hero that is so heroic, it serves to bring down the entire idea of heroism. Which is so cool! And he’s also really genuine, like all the time. He’s earnest and he definitely suffers from caring too much.
Brighton was also a great character for this. I didn’t love him and from the start I didn’t trust his ambition. He’s a slytherin, I’m a slytherin, I know his type. But he tries so hard to be good in this book and that struggle and angst made him a great narrator with a distinct voice and it also made the book complex and captivating.
The last character that I want to talk about is Ness, because he’s my favorite. I love a bad guy who really wants to do good things for good reasons and is only given a series of bad choices. I didn’t expect to actually like Ness when I first met him, but his personality was so edged and pessimistic that I was enthralled by his chapters. Once he met Emil, I was done for. I need more scenes with them together!!! I love their dynamic so much! I need all angst, all the time!
The world created also merits mentioning. I really love this world in which superheros exists and are both loved and hated, but also the elements of fantasy and fantastical creatures. It felt different and unique. The book doesn’t really hold your hand in introducing any of this stuff and I was pretty confused at times, but all my questions eventually got answered by the end of it. I feel like I have a decently solid understanding of how the world works, but I can see how people would get confused while reading.
TL;DR: Don’t miss out on this mind-blowing series! It’s a stunning combination of X-Men, Carry On, with a lot of fire bird talk! It’s compelling, thrilling, and the ending will leave you in pieces!