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balina_elah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Dysphoria
sammymilfort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent
grownmoss's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and Bullying
sp00ky_girl28's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Bullying
vagaybond's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Dysphoria
takarakei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Fantastic queer cast of main characters: one is transmasc, one is genderfluid, one is pansexual(?). This is a world where those identities are not an issue. The use of alchemy (magic) is 'othered'. The magic was cool in concept and explored a bit more at the beginning when Ramsy was teaching Ash, but then once we got into the action there wasn't a lot of descriptive magic. I felt a lot of the action parts were barely described and were instead glossed over. Was a bit confused what time period this is set and it's not super clear based on context clues. The dialogue reads more YA, but some of the content was definitely more New Adult. There was a lot of potential here, but it ended up being very character focused and the plot was a bit slow moving. I got rather bored by about 50%. The character dynamic between the main 3 were well done especially regarding their poly relationship. I don't know if this is going to be a series or not because it felt semi-conclusive. All the action really happens in the last 10-15% and that felt a bit rushed with how slow the rest of the book moved.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for an advanced copy.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Torture
lprongs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is my first Callender book, but I'm a big fantasy fan. It ended up being pretty strong, but there were a few awkward moments - the beginning felt particularly tropey and immature, and the magic system had some repetitive explanations, but it came into itself as a story by the end. The ending did feel a bit... convenient. There were a lot of deus ex machina moments around the climax, but it was still enjoyable.
The audio production felt clunky, and I'm not sure if that'll change before release (probably not since it releases this week). I could tell pretty easily when different recording sessions were spliced together, often just a single line sounding out of place. And sometimes the tone register felt a bit off. Also not super sure about the main villains having accents when no one else does? Especially the one who has what I think is an Irish accent when this is basically set in Britain. But that's probably not Callender's choice.
It has amazing rep. A good poly enemies to lovers triangle (although it takes them AGES to think of a poly solution), a genderfluid person who literally switches sex basically everytime you see them, a transmasc MC, and everyone (even the villains) are cool with pronouns! It is spicier than expected, but still appropriately YA - just kissing and teasing and fade-to-blacks. Nothing explicit to put this ace reader off. I will say that the spice felt a bit older than the rest of the book, but maybe that's just because I'm ace. The MC sure does fall in love easily though - I definitely rolled my eyes when he immediately felt attraction for the second person for the second time in like two weeks.
Moderate: Sexual content, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Terminal illness
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
- The world Kacen Callender has built in INFINITY ALCHEMIST is one of the best YA fantasy settings I’ve seen in a long time. It’s complex without being overly complicated, and explores hard topics alongside some really cool visuals.
- This book gets deep into classism, racism and power the way the best fantasy books can: it’s parallel to our world, but not didactic.
- I love how deeply queerness is woven into this book. The main characters are a trans boy and a person who shifts gender and pronouns at will, and it’s done in a way that I can’t imagine the book featuring any other characters. Plus - and I won’t give total spoilers here, but - fans of the love story in IRON WIDOW will also want to check out INFINITY ALCHEMIST.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use and Sexual assault
bookishmillennial's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
All I knew when I requested this arc (thank you Tor Teen and Netgalley!) was that it was a fantasy and likely teen/young adult, but I did not know that it'd become such a fun romantasy to begin the year! AHHHH!
This is mostly a character-driven novel about Ash, Ramsay, and Callum, while setting up some conflicts for the next book or two. First, we are shown Ash's deepening connection with Ramsay, a skilled alchemy apprentice who finds out that Ash is practicing magic without a license, but offers to help teach Ash if he helps Ramsay find the Book of Source. Ramsay is a gender fluid character (uses she/her and he/him pronouns), and this is tied to the worldbuilding that Kacen built in too, which I found really neat!
Ash is a young trans man (though he does refer to Callum as "the other boy" multiple times, but in my head, they are young/new adults!), and I appreciated the discussions between Ash and others during the intimate encounters about not touching his chest. Ash navigates discomfort and body dysmorphia but is surrounded by partners who deeply care about him and constantly check in with him for consent. The scene where Callum helps Ash with his binder was so very swoon-worthy! The second part of this novel is Ash's introduction to and developing romance with Callum, which is confusing for both of them because Callum is Ramsay's ex from two years ago, and Callum can feel energy/read minds, so it is pretty much my worst nightmare. Meeting my new lover's ex, being attracted to them, AND they know it?! I would simply pass away.
Anyway, the final installment of the novel is with the three of them reunited, and I found it to be the fastest-paced, yet it remained quite tender, cautious and curious between the three. Since we are only given the limited third-person POV of Ash, we don't quite know everything Ramsay and Callum are feeling. We primarily read about Ash's jealousy, care, fear, uncertainty, and compassion. However, Ash drives all of the characters to name their feelings and ask for dialogues about the conflicting emotions they're sifting through. I appreciated the vulnerability and honesty that all three characters display in their exploration of polyamory.
Beyond the romance, each of the characters are working through their own past traumas, including romantic heartbreak, familial obligation and expectations, classism/elitism, and more. I thought these topics were introduced with great care, and of course you don't enjoy seeing characters struggle with these things. However, I really think that's the beauty and magic of books - no matter what world you're in, these topics will come up, and fiction finds a way for us to bring it out of the ether and intentionally ruminate on it, self-reflect, or be in dialogue with others. To me, it's never "just a book" and this is just another beautiful example of that.
Thank you Kacen for a lovely start to a new series!
cw: death, classism, violence, murder, cursing, grief, animal death, bullying, toxic family dynamics/child abuse/emotional abuse
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Bullying