This was my first Adam Silvera, and I enjoyed it massively. It was surprisingly fast paced with lots of action going on. I loved the plot setting and character development. 
I really hope he writes more fantasy, and I recommend this to everyone. Great fun!
Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This had some really good moments and some moments thats were just missing the mark. I felt like some of the characters blended together and were quite forgettable meaning that if anything happened to them i was not super bothered. The two brothers were the strongest characters and the story should have been told just from their point of view as it would have made the story clearer. This was an enjoyable science fiction/fantasy book but it was not anything mind blowing or special.

I read 20% of this before calling quits on it. 

I didn't care at all for the writing or the characters. I found it hard to believe that the MCs were 18 because they spoke and acted like 14 year olds. The magic system was confusing and words/phrases/magical items were dropped into the middle of sentences like we were meant to know what they were and never explained. The world was bland and uninspiring and not what I would class as 'fantasy.' 

Nice cover, but that's the only positive for this book.

Every time Adam Silvera announces another book, I am so thrilled and excited. I absolutely adored They both Die at The End (seriously, go and read it). So When I found out that this book was fantasy based, I was even more thrilled, as that is my favourite genre. The introduction of this book blows you away, the world building and the characters are great. I was thrown into this book in the deep end and loved every minute of it. I really would pick this up if you are a fan of light fantasy novels.

Infinity Son would have worked wonderfully as a comic book, and I think that it would also make a solid movie, because the bones of the story are there and there’s a lot of potential (urban fantasy novel in which the gay Puerto Rican main character gets to be the chosen one!), plenty of which would also lie in the visuals (It’s about modern-day Phoenixes, which as a concept is inherently cool.)

However, in the state it is currently? I read an ARC, but I think this needed at least another serious round of editing dedicated to structure, which I don’t think will happen before it gets released. As a multi-PoV novel with a neverending cast of side characters we’re supposed to care about (but can’t because what we know about most of them could be summed up in two words), it just doesn’t work. I’m not surprised by the many bad reviews, even though I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the story itself.

While Adam Silvera can clearly write emotional slice-of-life stories, as he has done multiple times, when it comes to action scenes, we’re really not there.
There was something seriously off with… the pacing? I’m not sure what’s the right word to use when a scene in itself doesn’t flow well because the book keeps summarizing things that shouldn’t be summarized or stating them in a really emotionless way. For the way sentences were written, I felt as if the narrators were telling me what they bought at the grocery store. It’s emotionless and it made everything in the story feel fake.

Infinity Son is the story of two brothers, power wars and phoenixes as a vigilante group rises up against those who seek to steal magic from endangered creatures. 

Although I liked the premise for this, I unfortunately think it was poorly executed. For one, there are too many perspectives, making the story unnecessarily confusing and convoluted. The world building is also none existent, with the magical system hardly explained at all leaving too many unexplained elements and unanswered questions. On finishing, I still couldn’t tell you exactly what Spell Walkers can really do, or why. It feels almost as thought the author tried to ground the fantasy world within our own and then add bits of magic to it as an afterthought, and it just all felt a bit messy as a result. 

I also found the main characters unlikeable, or boring. Brighton is single minded, self centred and condescending - especially to his brother, who he’s suppose to love unconditionally. That love didn’t really come across to me, and felt forced. However, at least he was memorable. Emil by comparison is just a bit weak willed, and boring. He wants a quiet life, and it shows. He’s rather lack lustre, one dimensional and completely forgettable. I will say that I liked his diversity, and felt that this aspect of his personality was a breath of fresh air to the genre. I just wish he was a better, full rounded character to represent the LGBTQ community more positively within the fantasy genre. All the other characters are also forgettable and bland. I feel like the author should have concentrated on building the personality of the brothers more, instead of diluting their personalities by adding in all these different (uninteresting) perspectives. 

I also found the plot predictable, full of tropes and cliches and slow paced. There was nothing exciting about it, and when combined with my dislike for the characters I ended up not caring at all about the story. Full of promise, but this one failed to deliver.

2.5 stars

Infinity Son is a book with a great concept, but unfortunately the execution wasn't up to par. 

Infinity Son is, mainly, about two brothers: Emil and Brighton who live in New York. Emil is a studious boy who prefers quietude, and is obsessed with phoenixes; Brighton, on the other hand, loves the spotlight and is consistently in it with his vlogging and ultimate goal to become a Celestial. 

I love books with strong relationships with siblings but I just couldn't enjoy the relationship between the two brothers! Brighton was quite selfish and cared only for fame -- he frustrated me quite a bit and his only redeeming quality was his affection for Emil. Emil, on the other hand, was a sweetheart who cared so much for his brother. For a book that had a lot to do with sibling relationships, I just couldn't get into their affection because of Brighton. Perhaps he was supposed to be an unlikeable character, but it just effected my enjoyment of the book. 

I really enjoyed the idea of the celestials and their powers being connected to a specific constellation. But I felt like the world wasn't explored nearly as much as it should have been! Hopefully in the next books there will be more worldbuilding. Although it was a pretty good book for an author who has only ever written contemporary novels before. 

I think many people will enjoy this book, but if you're a diehard fantasy fan like me you might not enjoy it as much.

This book is a hot mess. Dropped into the middle of some kind of alternate reality New York, I, as a reader struggled to find my bearings as several main characters with interchangeably whiny internal voices threw new vocabulary around with the expectation that I would somehow... figure this out? Celestials, Specters, Spell Walkers, all of these new words are given no explanation, and I was left reeling with no idea what was going on. Magic wands, magic powers, villains, phoenixes... Brighton, the main character, has a fascination with phoenixes and a scene in a museum gave us some context - plus I figured out over the course of the book that specters are formed by consuming the blood of magical creatures - but generally there was just a LOT going on here which wasn't at all explained. I still don't understand how, in a world which is so different to ours, YouTube still exists. Is this an alternate timeline, where magical creatures appeared at some point in the past? Or have they always existed? I am entirely unclear. The worldbuilding is, frankly, nil. Information is dribbled out, long past when it's necessary, and even having finished the book I honestly don't have a clue what happened. What, exactly, was the Blackout? And why did it make people hate Celestials? Who are... I think, akin to mutants in X-Men? I am so confused.

But. Setting aside the difficulties (very real and disappointing difficulties) that this book has with worldbuilding, how was the plot? Well. Have I said hot mess? Because it was. Packed with tropes and disappointingly clichéd 'reveals', the plot stumbled along and ended with a horrendously predictable 'twist'.

So maybe the characters were enough to save this? Nope. Brighton is a whiny, self-obsessed baby and Emil is dull and unbelievable. A little bit of angst, yes, I could get on board with. Some believably horrible people, sure. But Emil and Brighton, the two main characters, are dull, dull, dull, and yet also annoying. How do they manage to be so terrible at all times? Don't know. But they managed it. 

This book isn't utterly, abjectly terrible. It's nice to see a gay boy be the chosen one, and have untold magical powers. It's nice to see some body image issues which don't belong to a teenage girl. It's nice to have side characters who are queer, non-binary, and use singular they pronouns. It's nice also to have a main character whose defining character trait isn't that he's Latinx or gay. Intersectional representation ftw. But it's not enough to save what could have been something great, but is really just underdeveloped and confusing.

Now I'm not the biggest Adam Silvera fan, I really enjoyed We Both Die at the End and What If It's Us but not Silvera's two other books. I decided Silvera's contemporary novels just weren't for me, so when I found out his next novel was a fantasy I was excited to give it a go! As you might be able to tell from the rating I've given it, I quite enjoyed Infinity Son!

I am fully aware of all the issues this book has, it is in no way a perfect fantasy novel and will probably earn a low rating from many people including Silvera's own fans. I would describe this book as a debut fantasy clearly written by a contemporary author. Infinity Son is set in modern day New York with some major differences, unfortunately this novel completely lacks any world building, you're left to figure out the details of this New York yourself. 

Celestials, Specters, and Spell Walkers all sound like really cool hero/villain names but within the story they mixed up so often it was hard to tell the difference. The clearest explanation I saw for these titles was in the synopsis!

You might be wondering with all these flaws, why a four star rating? And the honest answer is, I loved this book and I couldn't stop reading from the first page to the last. I loved the references to Harry Potter, the 'waiting for my Hogwarts letter' feeling actually becoming a reality! I liked the inclusion of phoenixes and other creatures but they weren't in any detailed scenes to really appreciate their inclusion. Also Adam Silvera is brilliant at LGBTQ+ rep and I'm sure a gay superhero is hugely appreciated.

The magic system is definitely something I hope is explored more in the second novel. To be honest, I hope a great deal of things are explained and explored in the sequel to clear up any confusion and flesh out the story. Just by looking at the very short length of Infinity Son I think it was obvious that it wasn't going to be a very detailed fantasy, but the many flaws will definitely disappoint a lot of readers unfortunately. Hopefully the author will take the critique on board when writing the sequel.

I don't think I've ever read a book about phoenix's and people having their powers, so this was such a unique plot for me. I was worried about reading this, as I don't tend to read many books set in the current day, but I quickly got pulled in, and the ending had me on the edge of my seat. I can't wait for the next book to see just what happens.

I was really excited to dive into this one, because Adam Silvera has such a knack for creating great characters who we can believe and root for. Unfortunately I wasn't in love with this story. Here's why:

Firstly as someone who reads an awful lot of fantasy I can honestly say this didn't feel like fantasy at all. There were of course supernatural elements to this story there is no denying it but the 'feel' of it? There was very little world building, and what we did get felt like there were too many gaps in my opinion. This book felt chatty, and very contemporary to me, which put me off a lot unfortunately. 

As for the characters we follow two twins and one of them was someone I really struggled to read. He was someone obsessed with internet fame and whilst I appreciate that viewpoint it felt out of place in a 'fantasy' book. 

There were parts in the book were I felt completely lost. Feeling like there was no explanation or resolve, and perhaps I wouldn't mind that much if this had been the third or fourth book in a series but for the first it just left me unsatisfied. 



Overall this book didn't

This is a wonderful mix of Silvera's trademark emotional fare mixed with thrilling fantasy elements. The story of the two brothers is immersive on a personal character based level, but also connects subtly to a cool alternate version of contemporary society, building a mythology of phoenix and fantasy creatures, as well as essentially modern superheroes. 

A very exciting and upsetting denouement sets up an even more expansive sequel...

I absolutely loved this, it was amazing, my first read by Adam Silvera, now I’m not sure why I’ve never read his work before. An action packed fantasy, great twists and suspense, wonderful well developed characters with good representation present. I am going to look for more books now and make up for lost time. 

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Interesting new fantasy novel from Adam Silvera. 

I’m a bit torn how I feel about this one. I enjoyed the story but I wish there was just a bit more to it. 

There isn’t a whole load of word building, you have to work a lot of it out yourself and while this isn’t difficult I think it would have been nice to get a more rounded view of this word where Phoenix’s exist alongside Hydras, I mean there’s a whole boat load of mythology you can dive into there but it’s not all doom and gloom. 

The book is split between two main POV’s you have twin brothers Emil and Brighton. Both born into a world where magic exists, there are celestials who are born with powers and practice ‘gleam craft’ and with any natural power you have people who aren’t born with but try to take said power. This is where our magical creatures come in, taking the blood of these and consuming it (sometimes with other rare materials) will imbue you with the powers of that creature. So like a hydra, if you have those powers and someone cuts off your arm, two will grow back etc. These people are called Specters. A vigilante group called the Spell Walkers formed to take them all down. 

There’s a war going on between ‘normal’ people and celestials because of an event called the blackout which isn’t explained a huge amount, only that there’s huge animosity and campaigns against anyone with powers. 

Celestials are born with powers but they can still manifest up until you’re 18. The brothers both hold out hope that at the appearance of a constellation called the crowned dreamer that their powers will come in on their 18th birthday. This doesn’t happen. They come across some guys selling potions to give you the feeling of powers and end up getting jumped on the subway, Emil while defending Brighton, manifests powers like a phoenix but these aren’t celestial powers they are specters. After a brief trip to the hospital, a shocking revelation, Emil flees only to encounter what he thinks is someone from the Spell Walkers, but it’s a specter. A fight breaks out and Emil and his family get taken into hiding by the Spell Walkers. There he learns the truth about himself and what his future will hold. 

Out of the two brothers, I prefer Emil. I love that he is gay and isn’t just for the sake of the story. It’s refreshing and it was lovely to read and see his relationships form. Also props for discussing body issues that men have, it’s not something you see often in books and it is needed. 

While I like Emil, by the end of the book I hated Brighton. He’s so selfish and power hungry. He films everything and does this to feel part of the world he craves to be welcomed to if he had powers. He is insanely jealous of Emil and often I struggled to get through his chapters. He felt a bit one dimension but with the ending, I have hopes that he will be more rounded perhaps. 

I liked the other celestials, Atlas and Eva especially. Even Ness the specter but I do wish we saw more of these characters than their blind vengeance plan for the blackout. 

Anyway! I did enjoy the book and it was easy to read. Love that it’s a gay fantasy story with mythical creatures and given the end, it has left it lovely and open for a sequel. A smidge more world building and you would have had me hooked! 

It’s an interesting world, with shocking revelations, age-old wars, mythical creatures, magic, death and rebirth.

<b>I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review</b>

I so wanted to love this book. I was so excited to get an arc. I'd never read any Adam Silvera before as I'm not a huge contemporary fan but this was hyped fantasy so I had to give it a go.

But the only thing worth hyping is that it's an own voices lgbtqa+ fantasy with a diverse cast that's being hyped up.

First things first, it's a superhero novel with fantasy creatures. It doesn't really feel like urban fantasy and there's not much wield building. I'd love to read more on how all these magical creatures are living in the world. I want to find out more then they're just being hunted down for powers. Power is essentially the main theme of this book and it was just meh. The action was too quick, the pointless scenes too slow and if I'm honest I didn't care for most of the characters. Especially not Maribelle or Brighton. They were just obsessed over something each and far too angry with it.

There's also a death of a baby magical creature which broke me even if it went by quickly like nothing.

I did like Emil and Ness though. And I know I enjoyed it at moments I just can't really remember when now.

I usually try to leave a review on a positive spin so I'll say that I'll at least try the second book.

2.75 This is my first Adam Silvera book since he normally writes contemporary which isn't really my thing, however I love fantasy with LGBTQ+ characters so I thought I'd give this a go. Unfortunately this a bit of a disappointment to me, the premise was interesting, loved the creatures especially the phoenixes but it was a bit too superhero for me. Emil is a sympathetic character and I enjoyed his POV in the beginning but as the story went on he seemed less complex and more of a "too good for this world" character. He is kind hearted and trusting to a fault, don't get me wrong I do like a sweet cinnamon roll but I just found myself rolling my eyes when he was talking to people and boy did these teenagers love to talk about their feelings and sad back stories. I get it teenagers should be more open with their feelings and everyone needs to look after their mental health but it gets old in a fantasy book when you just want some action and everyone won't stop talking. The dialogue didn't feel that natural, they didn't really talk like teens but I suppose they had to mature quicker than most teenagers. I didn't find any of the side characters particularly unique, they all kind of blended together and the love interest has potential but their interactions with Emil were lukewarm and seemed forced. I found his brother Brighton an intriguing if arrogant character, on one hand their relationship is tight and on the other hand there is definitely tension and when Emil gets powers there is a lot of resentment as well. I'll be interested to see how Brighton's character develops. There was quite a bit of action and life or death situations but because I didn't feel anything for the characters I found it hard to care about who made it. Overall this didn't resonate with me but if you are a big fan of the author you might appreciate it more than I did.

This was my first book from Adam Silvera and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! All of the characters were well developed and really liked the relationships they had with each other. I had such a good time reading this book and will definitely look out for Silvera’s books in the future!

This book was such a surprise to me, i enjoyed it far more than i thought thought i would having only read contemporary novels from Adam Silvera. 
This is an action packed story with really interesting, well developed characters. 
I really enjoyed this and I hope Silvera writes more fantasy in the future!

This is the first Adam Silvera book I've read, and I did enjoy it, although with a few reservations. I liked the overall story and the relationships between the characters, particularly Emil and Brighton and their mum. I thought Silvera provided the right amount of information about the way magic works in his universe to help you connect without being expositiony. However, I would have liked more world building - the plot had so much forward momentum that at times I felt it was moving too quickly and I would have enjoyed some slower scenes with the characters just moving through the world to provide more context. This also impacted on the character development, as I didn't feel like any of the characters became truly 3D. My favourite was probably Ness as his character arc was definitely the most developed. I'm sure this can be rectified in future installments, though, and I am curious to see where the story goes next.

I really wanted to love this book, and it had great potential. I enjoyed the plot, but the writing style just didn't work for me sadly