Reviews

real rating is maybe 3.4 stars or so.

i have a lot of complex feelings about this book, i think. i do want to keep going with the series but i have to say it's a decision that's mostly born out of completionism rather than actual desire to invest into the story.

i loved the magic system. it sounded so intriguing and the more and more i have read the more curious i got about it. the way it's described is so captivating, and i wish we had more time to explore it in finer detail. but there was just... not a lot of that. very heavy chunk of this book is the romance and i have a lot of complicated opinions about that one

first of all, i am just glad to have some polyam romance for once in ya. every crumb of it i get makes me happy. however, considering i was excited for the magic system and plot of which there just wasn't a lot of exciting stuff going on, the amount of romance has been a bit overwhelming. and, most importantly, it took me WAY too long to give a fuck.

callum has done nothing wrong. i loved him almost immediately. but he is a pretty late introduction, and it took me way too long to care about ash and ramsay's relationship. they just felt like they don't work together very well, and the banter has been far too hostile for a really long while, to the point where for a very long time i felt like i had no idea why im supposed to be rooting for them to get together. when all three of them got entangled, it irked me the wrong way to see a lot of the jealousy subplot to be treated... like that. idk how to explain it but it just reminded me of really unpleasant experiences with my non-monogamous beginnings and soured the romance for me

side note: there was surprisingly a LOT of sexual content. all non-weird, in a very cute, glossed over way but i just didn't expect this much from a young adult book. though to be fair i also think i might be a bit old for this book - that's also a fair thing to consider

all in all, i will keep going just out of hope that ill get more from the magic system because it makes my autistic self really happy but it's been REALLY hard to get through in places

libraryofej's review against another edition

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4.0

INFINITY ALCHEMIST was the Queer fantasy that I didn't know I needed, but I loved immediately

I have never read a book that so perfectly developed a polyamorous relationship. I really truly loved them all and saw how they loved each other. I think the setup was a brilliant way to have old and new relationships, and the way that they blended together was beautiful. I appreciated the way queerness was addressed, especially gender. Having the characters able to change how they look with their alchemy was ingenious, and having it be normal in society was something that made my little gender-queer heart happy.

The only drawback for me was the main character, sometimes he got on my nerves. He was really headstrong on things that didn't really matter in my opinion, and I thought he could have progressed in that way faster than he did in the story. However, once he did grow up, he was essential to keeping the peace and bringing the relationship together.

I loved the total queerness this book gave me, and I had a really fun time reading this adventure.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.

carjohnsxn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

misterushi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

jacobdums's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lini002's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

Only the elite few are allowed to study alchemical magic, so when Ash is rejected, he becomes a groundskeeper instead, studying alchemy in secret. Enter Ramsay Thorne who has every reason to expose Ash until they realize that he is the key to finding the Book of Source. Together they strike a deal, Ash helps them find their book and Ramsay will apprentice them. But as they continue down the path to the book they find themselves embroiled in a plot of nefarious alchemists all gunning for it themselves.

This was fun. I enjoyed the magic system and thought it was interesting to follow. The characters are fine if not predictable in their actions. I did enjoy how queer, trans, and polyamorous this story was though, and mostly enjoyed every romance that we saw. This was a fun romp and I'll probably pick up the sequel when it comes out. 4/5

carson_rh's review

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

4.75

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