The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman | ARC REVIEW

Updated: Apr 17, 2021

ATTENTION! if you're interested in some afterlife, magical cyberpunk, Westworld meets Warcross goodness filled with rebel groups, high stakes plot, and captivating characters, that will leave you with something to think about-- I introduce this book to you :)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Infinity Courts

Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publishing Date: April 6 201

Tags: Young Adult Science Fiction

FIND IT ON: Goodreads, Book Depository, B&N, IndieBound, Google Books, Indigo

Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.

The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.

When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.

As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.

From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.

I was sent an ARC of The Infinity Courts by the publisher -Simon Pulse- for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE REVIEW

— overall thoughts: ⭑⭑⭑⭑.25 —

my mind is completely REELING right now…

AHHHHH. I’m still trying to process what I just went through. There was really one page that I feel like I read 20 times and I-- the way this whole book ended had me questioning everything. It's not perfect but this was the good time I needed.

"Infinity was never built for you. It was built for dreamers."

It’s about being attached to what keeps you human and how different people see that; that in an era of technology filled with infinite possibilities… we need to remember that we are still imperfect… but that’s what makes us real.

I went from a 4.0 -> 4.25 for the sole reason that the ending just lives in my head rent-free

“I’m not sure destroying something we don’t understand is how we prove we deserve to survive.”

A lot of cultures believe that death is when you get to rest and live in peace, but what happens when you get to the afterlife and it isn't? It was cool to see that play out and I love the writing style in the sense that it really picks up the pacing and manages to build a world in a very short amount of time. It's really hard to do world-building, plot, and make people care for the characters all at once but boy WAS I HOOKED. I do think there could have been better world-building and more time spent on character relationships but given the span of the pages, I'm far from saying I didn't enjoy it. I audibly gasped at multiple scenes despite everything.

This is the most surprising book I have read so far this year (in the best way possible) and the first book I binged through in a while... and it was FUN. After all the recent books I read, this felt like a breath of fresh air. I loved what Akemi Dawn Bowman chose to focus on in the story and it played out so well in my opinion. It was wholesome but dreamy and we all need that kind of story sometimes.

“You don’t have to be special to be important.”

Nami struggles with complicated feelings about the new world that she is in. She's relatable, makes mistakes, and feels entirely human. She isn't a pushover and constantly questions everything and you're just going to be trying to figure out what's going on the whole time that there's no time to build theories. And either way, you're probably going to be wrong xD

I really thought the plot was going to go one way and then it didn't and my brain is still in disbelief T_T

“So next time, don’t think about being anyone other than who you are. Because our ability to control our consciousness? That’s the most human thing in the world.”

At first, I thought that this had one of my least favorite magic systems, what I like to call: “just because” magic systems. This means when some people have powers “just because” they have them without any background or structure/origin but turns out that wasn't the case and I actually found the concept of their "powers" to be quite original. I do think there were some missed chances on creating more complexity but I really was just in it for the fun.

The writing style has its humor and is easy to get through while still possessing nuance. The way character relationships and dynamics were written was compelling enough that I couldn’t put this book down. It explores different mentalities and reactions when it comes to war — which is always one of my favorite themes in fantasy because there are so many views and discussions that can be derived from it — mixing that with a science fiction story about the afterlife... *chefs kiss*

There were nuanced discussions on human belief and having to question “good” and “evil”, and whether certain actions can be justified.

"Maybe the world could be like that too. A mixture of ideas. A placed where we could all coexist."

I’m trying to avoid spoilers but I like that we saw how Nami's mindset gradually grew into what it was and it wasn’t something that was just dumped.

There were a few and very specific times when I thought that Nami’s beliefs didn’t match her actions, like when she’s willing to take down certain people when a few pages ago she was against the idea and so I just found that quite odd. Her mind just kept shifting but it was in very select circumstances and I do get why it was written like that. Again, it made her human and entirely relatable. I usually like more descriptive writing and there were times when it was cheesy... but there was a point where I stopped caring about the cheesy one liners.

may I also bring your attention to: a SLOW BURN ROMANCE THAT DOESN’T FOCUS ON THE ROMANCE!! the “romance” wasn’t even necessarily a subplot or anything, it was literally just there but at the same time it wasn’t, if that makes sense... just how I like my fantasy

↣ If you’re someone who likes stories of science fictional rebel groups… honestly the whole atmosphere of this book reminds me of Star Wars if it was set in the afterlife rather than in space... you’re gonna enjoy this one. Especially if you’re looking for Sci-Fi that doesn’t have too many new terms to familiarize yourself with, I think this is a good place to start. ↢

just... OHMYGOD YOU GUYS.... THIS BOOK.

The fact that it's about dreamers longing for a place to belong... a theme I am so in love with, I was there for everything from beginning to end. My heart is literally broken right now and I am SHAKING to get the next book.

“I wonder if infinity is enough time to heal a broken heart.”

...I truly wonder. Sorry for the long review, hehe.

⇢ If this book sounds interesting, add it on Goodreads ⇠

⇢ content warnings// (Death, Gun Violence, References to Torture, Threat)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akemi Dawn Bowman is a critically-acclaimed author who writes across genres. Her novels have received multiple accolades and award nominations, and her debut novel, STARFISH, was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. She has a BA in social sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and currently lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She overthinks everything, including this bio. You can find Akemi on Instagram @AkemiDawnBowman.