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Infinity Cycle #2
Infinity Reaper
In this gripping sequel to the New York Times bestselling Infinity Son, Adam Silvera brings a diverse cast of heroes and villains to life in an alternate New York where some people are born with powers, while others steal them from the blood of endangered magical creatures.
Emil and Brighton defied the odds. They beat the Blood Casters and escaped with their lives—or so they thought. When Brighton drank the Reaper's Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him.
In Emil's race to find an antidote that will not only save his brother but also rid him of his own unwanted phoenix powers, he will have to dig deep into the very past lives he's trying to outrun. Though he needs the help of the Spell Walkers now more than ever, their ranks are fracturing, with Maribelle's thirst for revenge sending her down a dangerous path.
Meanwhile, Ness is being abused by Senator Iron for political gain, his rare shifting ability making him a dangerous weapon. As much as Ness longs to send Emil a signal, he knows the best way to keep Emil safe from his corrupt father is to keep him at a distance.
The battle for peace is playing out like an intricate game of chess, and as the pieces on the board move into place, Emil starts to realize that he may have been competing against the wrong enemy all along.
Emil and Brighton defied the odds. They beat the Blood Casters and escaped with their lives—or so they thought. When Brighton drank the Reaper's Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him.
In Emil's race to find an antidote that will not only save his brother but also rid him of his own unwanted phoenix powers, he will have to dig deep into the very past lives he's trying to outrun. Though he needs the help of the Spell Walkers now more than ever, their ranks are fracturing, with Maribelle's thirst for revenge sending her down a dangerous path.
Meanwhile, Ness is being abused by Senator Iron for political gain, his rare shifting ability making him a dangerous weapon. As much as Ness longs to send Emil a signal, he knows the best way to keep Emil safe from his corrupt father is to keep him at a distance.
The battle for peace is playing out like an intricate game of chess, and as the pieces on the board move into place, Emil starts to realize that he may have been competing against the wrong enemy all along.
552 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 2, 2021
About the author
Adam Silvera
33 books37.3k followersAdam Silvera is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End and More Happy Than Not and History Is All You Left Me and Infinity Son and Infinity Reaper and with Becky Albertalli, What If It's Us and Here's to Us.
His next book The First to Die at the End releases October 4th, 2022, with the final Infinity Cycle book to follow soon after.
He was born in New York and now lives in Los Angeles where he writes full-time.
He is tall for no reason.
His next book The First to Die at the End releases October 4th, 2022, with the final Infinity Cycle book to follow soon after.
He was born in New York and now lives in Los Angeles where he writes full-time.
He is tall for no reason.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 618 reviews
February 27, 2021
Adam Silvera about Brighton:
Did Not Finish
April 24, 202022/06/20 - that cover, that fucking cover. they've done it again. i didn't think they could beat the cover of the first book but fuck me. rip to my bank balance.
if emil and ness don't become a couple i'm gonna fucking riot
if emil and ness don't become a couple i'm gonna fucking riot
March 16, 2021
Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera includes a complex built fantasy world but actually lacks the depth of its characters. So for me this book deserves the same rating as Infinity Son, which is 3 stars.
I was actually giving this book a chance after Infinity Son let me down. And the same problem occured. Silvera really made the effort to build a whole new fantasy world from the ground up. I have so much respect for that! Although it is also the downside of this book. Too much world building and not enough character depth as well as the development is lacking. There are so many aspects of this fantasy world that it is sometimes hard to keep up with everything. It felt like I was constantly trying to catch up with every aspect.
Also the characters are suffering because of that. Personally I do not relate with any character at all which is an important reason for me to like a book. None of the brothers, who are the MC's, Emil or Brighton were relatable and the other characters just felt like sidenotes to the story. Brighton was so damn annoying, egocentric and yes even abusive towards his own brother. But Emil himself isn't a sweetheart either. There is a certain situation (I am giving no spoilers) when I thought that he was being selfish as well. I mean roping people into doing things just for your own good and acting like it was right, just isn't gaining my sympathy...
Anyway, the majority of the characters didn't have enough depth and their actions fell flat. I do not know if that makes any sense? But I feel like there should have been more attention spent on the characters and less on the world building. Plus I just remembered the book contained so much talk about depression and darkness... TOO MUCH for my taste that I was getting really annoyed by it.
The Halo Knight Wyatt is the best damn character in Infinity Reaper and he deserved better than to function as a dumb plot device.
I am way into deep to not read the last book of this trilogy. Sorry if this review was only highlighting the negative things from this book. I was genuinely struggling to finish because of the problems I was experiencing with it. Maybe others will love it more!? If you like complex fantasy, Infinity Reaper might possibly be your thing.
I was actually giving this book a chance after Infinity Son let me down. And the same problem occured. Silvera really made the effort to build a whole new fantasy world from the ground up. I have so much respect for that! Although it is also the downside of this book. Too much world building and not enough character depth as well as the development is lacking. There are so many aspects of this fantasy world that it is sometimes hard to keep up with everything. It felt like I was constantly trying to catch up with every aspect.
Also the characters are suffering because of that. Personally I do not relate with any character at all which is an important reason for me to like a book. None of the brothers, who are the MC's, Emil or Brighton were relatable and the other characters just felt like sidenotes to the story. Brighton was so damn annoying, egocentric and yes even abusive towards his own brother. But Emil himself isn't a sweetheart either. There is a certain situation (I am giving no spoilers) when I thought that he was being selfish as well. I mean roping people into doing things just for your own good and acting like it was right, just isn't gaining my sympathy...
Anyway, the majority of the characters didn't have enough depth and their actions fell flat. I do not know if that makes any sense? But I feel like there should have been more attention spent on the characters and less on the world building. Plus I just remembered the book contained so much talk about depression and darkness... TOO MUCH for my taste that I was getting really annoyed by it.
The Halo Knight Wyatt is the best damn character in Infinity Reaper and he deserved better than to function as a dumb plot device.
I am way into deep to not read the last book of this trilogy. Sorry if this review was only highlighting the negative things from this book. I was genuinely struggling to finish because of the problems I was experiencing with it. Maybe others will love it more!? If you like complex fantasy, Infinity Reaper might possibly be your thing.
March 7, 2021
I second the same thought I had after book one, Brighton can choke
Read
May 8, 2021DNF. Genuinely thought it would be more interesting than Infinity Son, and maybe the problems of the first book would be rectified in this one. Even with the expansion of the world, I cannot get past how flat and awful the characters are. Realised I had better things to do with my time so didn't continue reading.
February 25, 2021
Did I think the first book mainly sucked until the end? Yes but have been waiting for this book for this book since that ending of book one? Yes, yes I have. And I know often in the second book in a series we usually have a struggle, but does this one? No. It does not. It only goes from strength to strength. I loved it! This book does start immediately where Infinity Son ended, so if you need to reread the last few chapters like I did, theres your warning. There was just so much I enjoyed about this book. In fact I enjoyed everything. Look, I like to be asleep by 10pm, 11 if I’m feeling wild, but I was up until 1.00am reading this book because I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened, I wanted to know what happened. I was feeling all the feels and I was loving it. First of all, I loved the story. I loved the direction Adam took it in. There was so many different aspects to it. It was full of action. It was full of romance. It was full of character development. It was exciting. There was literally points when I was reading and I was saying to myself ‘damn this book is exciting’. But I also really loved the quiet moments in the book. I loved when the gang was at the New Ember Sanctuary, it was just so interesting. I also loved the characters, everything that happened in Infinity Son, they’ve grown and learnt from and it’s really interesting to read. It felt like they all became more complex and likeable. I loved each perspective, I mean did I agree with everything Brighton is doing no, but its such a great choice from Adam and makes it really intriguing. But I loved Emil, Ness and Maribelle. I do remember at one point saying that Ness has my whole heart. But me feelings are invested in all of them. I’m excited to read more from them and I want to be part of the gang. *Spoiler* That was your warning ok! The romances, I loved them. Brighton and Prudencia, I loved their trepidation towards their feelings for each other and I’m excited to see where it goes. I also enjoyed there sex positivity. But you know what us gays were waiting for, it was the reunion between Emil and Ness. What I didn’t expect was the love triangle and what I REALLY didn’t expect was how into it I was. I love how the different guys bring out different sides to Emil. I mean, I think Ness is endgame but I’m excited to see what happens. In the first book, we had a lot of magic and a lot to learn but I think in this book its been toned down and it works for the better. It felt more compact and accessible. I know this going to sound strange but it also expanded in a way I loved. I don’t want to say how, I want you to be surprised. But it was so exciting. I really loved the writing in Infinity Reaper. Reading from four different perspectives is tough, but I never got confused who I was reading. I loved how the modern world and social media was woven in. Also, the action scenes were epic. The were thrilling. I mean, the fight in the air on the back of the Phoenixes was cinematic. I could see it so clearly in my head. Like the rest of the book, it was all next level. Shall we talk about the ending? You know I want to. I can’t believe it ended like that. It was brilliant. Don’t worry, no spoilers. But Adam has built it up so perfectly between Emil and Brighton, that it made the ending epic and heartbreaking. Also Maribelle, I have questions. I need answers.So now I guess all there is to do is sit around and wait for book three..
November 10, 2020
I’m not joking at all when I say I was ready to DNF this on page 1. It’s not that Infinity Reaper itself is a disaster novel. Sure, the plot is everywhere and the characters are flat. But Silvera is not bad writer. He has, however, managed create the
worst character of all time.
Have I got your attention? Cool.
Let’s talk about Brighton.
This book opens with Brighton drinking the Reaper’s blood so he can be speshul. You know, because he told Emil in Infinity Son that he rather die than live without power. Stuff happens, and Brighton manages to blame not one, not two, but three separate people for all the problems he caused. He defends his action by saying, and I quote, “Someone had to be brave” (page 10. We’re only on page 10.) No, Brighton. You just wanted to be a hero.
Then Brighton passes out. End of Chapter One.
Some more stuff happens and we’re in Maribelle’s POV. She finds Prudencia (don’t get me started on that name oh my gosh), who’s crying because Brighton is dying now. Maribelle instantly become my favorite character (even though all she does is mope about her dead boyfriend) because she’s just like “that sucks lol but it’s kinda his fault tho.”
Emil has a nightmare about Brighton “going dark”and it’s totally not foreshadowing. He asks a friendly doctor lady where Brighton is. She’s explains the situation. Emil’s like “bro. Fr?” And Dr Misses is like “fr” and Emil’s like “bro that sucks. Can I see him pls?” And then he sees Brighton and is sad because their dad died from a failed cancer treatment that was basically the same thing as Brighton drank. I actually felt for Emil a bit. He deserves better than his scumbag brother.
Then we have another Brighton chapter, unironically titled “Like Father, Like Son,’’ because Silvera likes to yank at heartstrings. But it’s Brighton, so I got nada. Anyway, Brighton wakes up and freaks out. Emil freaks out. Brighton briefly acknowledges his brother’s presence, then whines about how his mommy and dear old Pru aren’t there too. Emil takes really good care of him, like the sweetheart he is, and Brighton continues to be shockingly ungrateful. He has the audacity to resent Emil for “looking sad” because it makes him feel guilty. Emil, who’s also feeling a touch a guilt himself, says he wishes he and Brighton weren’t in the same family so Brighton wouldn’t be involved, blah, blah blah, Brighton just like “well I stopped Luna not u bro so ha the world needs me to be involved” and Emil kicks a chair and says “I don’t care about the world! I care about you!”
((Okay. oKay, OkAy. This reminds me a little too much of City of Heavenly Fire when Alec tells Magnus “I don’t want the world, I want you” (AWWW). We know from Infinity Son’s acknowledgments that Silvera is a fan of Cassandra Clare. So odds are, he’s read CoHF. Now I’m getting creepy incest vibes from Emil and Brighton. THANKS A LOT, ADAM.))
Anywayyyyy, Brighton uses this sentiment as another reason why he should be the one with powers, not Emil. Cute.
Emil’s all like “I’ve told u a majillion times I don’t want powers bro:(”
Aaaaaaand Brighton uses their dad’s death as leverage. He gives Emil a graphic, detailed recount of their dad’s last moments, even while Emil is literally begging him to stop. I speak from personal experience when I say: If someone tells you they don’t want to hear something, SHUT THE HELL UP. Brighton then states: “Whenever I die, I hope you’re not around. You’ll be scarred so badly you’ll remember it in ever lifetime.’’ Wow. Manipulation Level 10000.
End of Chapter 6.
Next chapter opens with Emil sobbing in his bedroom. And I’m just going to leave this here: “I invited Brighton multiple times in the past to open up to me about Dad’s death, but I never in a million lifetime would’ve thought he would weaponize those graphic details against me.’’
Back to Brighton, lamenting how Prudencia isn’t weeping by his bedside. Good for her, tbh. But Brighton — “I won’t be around when she regrets shunning me like this; that’ll be her future therapist’s problem.’’ Seriously.
Because that wasn’t nearly enough wretched behavior for one chapter, Brighton gets a call from his mommy. She calls him selfish. He says his dad was the better parent and that Daddy wouldn’t be yelling at him for poisoning himself for power. Then Brighton throws Iris’s phone across the room and it shatters against the wall. Brighton probably does other bad things, but I couldn’t finish that chapter, so I wouldn’t know.
Brighton whines some more, is ungrateful, has a crisis because he doesn’t think anyone loves him (they obviously do), and then gets bitten my a poisonous snake because ✨reasons✨ and is dying faster than before. Emil feels guilty for everything. Maribelle is pretty cool. Brighton blames everyone for everything and demands Emil do something to fix all his problems. Emil is in anguish and it makes me sad.
Brighton eventually goes and talks to Prudencia, they make up easily, and kiss. Then they have some classic YA off-page sex. Then things get heated, but in a very not-sexy way. Brighton starts to burn (internally ig) and he thinks he’s dying right then and there. Some cringe dialogue is spat out. I just really wanted him to die. Then it turns out he isn’t actually dying like SIKE!! He’s actually healed and a Celestial-on-a-budget now. I stopped reading and skimmed the rest after that crushing disappointment.
Stuff happens, Brighton is insufferable, then he goes dARk at the end and is set to be the villain in Infinity Savior (I’m just assuming that’s going to be the title; Adam leaned pretty heavily into it.)
Okay, so bad book, right? Yeah.
Was there anything I liked? Not really, no. I liked Emil more than I did in book one. He and Ness are still super cute, but they interacted very little. Maribelle is fine. All the other characters are boring and I don’t care about them at all. If it weren’t for Brighton, this book would probably have been 2-3 stars. But Brighton is literally the worst. He’s so bad. He completely ruins every single thing that could have been good about this book.
But will I read book three? Yes. I actually plan to at least skim it. Now that Brighton’s gone full-villain maybe I can enjoy the other aspects.
Ooh! And also! I have to be here for Brighton’s death :)
Infinity Reaper >>>> 0.5 star
Pre-read:
Me: **picks up book from library** okkk we'll give it a try
Me: **opens book** **sees brighton's name on the first page** **closes book**
Me: that's enough reading for today.
Pre-release:
"When Brighton drank the Reaper's Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him.'' Lol, of course it is.
Infinity Reaper, a concept: Instead of Emil and the Magic People Squad™️ saving Brighton and taking away Emil's powers, Brighton realizes how harmful his selfish behavior is and repents and then sacrifices himself or something and dies a changed man, while Emil learns to accept and love himself and lives happily ever after with Ness.
Have I got your attention? Cool.
Let’s talk about Brighton.
This book opens with Brighton drinking the Reaper’s blood so he can be speshul. You know, because he told Emil in Infinity Son that he rather die than live without power. Stuff happens, and Brighton manages to blame not one, not two, but three separate people for all the problems he caused. He defends his action by saying, and I quote, “Someone had to be brave” (page 10. We’re only on page 10.) No, Brighton. You just wanted to be a hero.
Then Brighton passes out. End of Chapter One.
Some more stuff happens and we’re in Maribelle’s POV. She finds Prudencia (don’t get me started on that name oh my gosh), who’s crying because Brighton is dying now. Maribelle instantly become my favorite character (even though all she does is mope about her dead boyfriend) because she’s just like “that sucks lol but it’s kinda his fault tho.”
Emil has a nightmare about Brighton “going dark”
Then we have another Brighton chapter, unironically titled “Like Father, Like Son,’’ because Silvera likes to yank at heartstrings. But it’s Brighton, so I got nada. Anyway, Brighton wakes up and freaks out. Emil freaks out. Brighton briefly acknowledges his brother’s presence, then whines about how his mommy and dear old Pru aren’t there too. Emil takes really good care of him, like the sweetheart he is, and Brighton continues to be shockingly ungrateful. He has the audacity to resent Emil for “looking sad” because it makes him feel guilty. Emil, who’s also feeling a touch a guilt himself, says he wishes he and Brighton weren’t in the same family so Brighton wouldn’t be involved, blah, blah blah, Brighton just like “well I stopped Luna not u bro so ha the world needs me to be involved” and Emil kicks a chair and says “I don’t care about the world! I care about you!”
((Okay. oKay, OkAy. This reminds me a little too much of City of Heavenly Fire when Alec tells Magnus “I don’t want the world, I want you” (AWWW). We know from Infinity Son’s acknowledgments that Silvera is a fan of Cassandra Clare. So odds are, he’s read CoHF. Now I’m getting creepy incest vibes from Emil and Brighton. THANKS A LOT, ADAM.))
Anywayyyyy, Brighton uses this sentiment as another reason why he should be the one with powers, not Emil. Cute.
Emil’s all like “I’ve told u a majillion times I don’t want powers bro:(”
Aaaaaaand Brighton uses their dad’s death as leverage. He gives Emil a graphic, detailed recount of their dad’s last moments, even while Emil is literally begging him to stop. I speak from personal experience when I say: If someone tells you they don’t want to hear something, SHUT THE HELL UP. Brighton then states: “Whenever I die, I hope you’re not around. You’ll be scarred so badly you’ll remember it in ever lifetime.’’ Wow. Manipulation Level 10000.
End of Chapter 6.
Next chapter opens with Emil sobbing in his bedroom. And I’m just going to leave this here: “I invited Brighton multiple times in the past to open up to me about Dad’s death, but I never in a million lifetime would’ve thought he would weaponize those graphic details against me.’’
Back to Brighton, lamenting how Prudencia isn’t weeping by his bedside. Good for her, tbh. But Brighton — “I won’t be around when she regrets shunning me like this; that’ll be her future therapist’s problem.’’ Seriously.
Because that wasn’t nearly enough wretched behavior for one chapter, Brighton gets a call from his mommy. She calls him selfish. He says his dad was the better parent and that Daddy wouldn’t be yelling at him for poisoning himself for power. Then Brighton throws Iris’s phone across the room and it shatters against the wall. Brighton probably does other bad things, but I couldn’t finish that chapter, so I wouldn’t know.
Brighton whines some more, is ungrateful, has a crisis because he doesn’t think anyone loves him (they obviously do), and then gets bitten my a poisonous snake because ✨reasons✨ and is dying faster than before. Emil feels guilty for everything. Maribelle is pretty cool. Brighton blames everyone for everything and demands Emil do something to fix all his problems. Emil is in anguish and it makes me sad.
Brighton eventually goes and talks to Prudencia, they make up easily, and kiss. Then they have some classic YA off-page sex. Then things get heated, but in a very not-sexy way. Brighton starts to burn (internally ig) and he thinks he’s dying right then and there. Some cringe dialogue is spat out. I just really wanted him to die. Then it turns out he isn’t actually dying like SIKE!! He’s actually healed and a Celestial-on-a-budget now. I stopped reading and skimmed the rest after that crushing disappointment.
Stuff happens, Brighton is insufferable, then he goes dARk at the end and is set to be the villain in Infinity Savior (I’m just assuming that’s going to be the title; Adam leaned pretty heavily into it.)
Okay, so bad book, right? Yeah.
Was there anything I liked? Not really, no. I liked Emil more than I did in book one. He and Ness are still super cute, but they interacted very little. Maribelle is fine. All the other characters are boring and I don’t care about them at all. If it weren’t for Brighton, this book would probably have been 2-3 stars. But Brighton is literally the worst. He’s so bad. He completely ruins every single thing that could have been good about this book.
But will I read book three? Yes. I actually plan to at least skim it. Now that Brighton’s gone full-villain maybe I can enjoy the other aspects.
Ooh! And also! I have to be here for Brighton’s death :)
Infinity Reaper >>>> 0.5 star
Pre-read:
Me: **picks up book from library** okkk we'll give it a try
Me: **opens book** **sees brighton's name on the first page** **closes book**
Me: that's enough reading for today.
Pre-release:
"When Brighton drank the Reaper's Blood, he believed it would make him invincible, but instead the potion is killing him.'' Lol, of course it is.
Infinity Reaper, a concept: Instead of Emil and the Magic People Squad™️ saving Brighton and taking away Emil's powers, Brighton realizes how harmful his selfish behavior is and repents and then sacrifices himself or something and dies a changed man, while Emil learns to accept and love himself and lives happily ever after with Ness.
August 3, 2021
I cannot believe that this book made me defend Brighton.
Infinity Reaper takes place right where Infinity Son left off. Brighton has just taken Luna's alchemical mixture of phoenix, ghost, and hydra blood after he shot her with a wand and after shapeshifter Ness stabbed Emil. After the ensuing chaos, the brothers, Mirabelle, and the rest of the Spell Walkers get away while Ness is taken by his father Senator Iron. Brighton suffers from the alchemical mixture which makes Emil question his own powers and Mirabelle wants vengeance for Atlas' death, but a new plan and players join the battlefield making things not so simple.
This was a frustrating read for a number of reasons. A lot character development and plot progression is done poorly and/or forced. In fact, the biggest problem for this sequel is just how much worse some of the characters got. The only exception, to some extend, is Brighton. Yes, he's still an egotistical jerk, though I feel he mellows out some as the book progresses, but I found myself defending some of his actions. Brighton does recognize how selfish he's being, though he's still fame hungry, but he actually does things that make sense. A lot of the hatred and fear towards Brighton from the other characters feels forced, like Adam Silvera needs to constantly remind us how the brothers are getting more and more different from one another. Which reminds me, there was a lot of telling and not showing in the beginning of the book. This lessened as it progressed but it still happened quite a bit. In fact, the beginning of book feels radically different from the rest of the book, don't know why though.
Anyway, Brighton sometimes did things that made me say "Finally!" For example, as we learned in the previous book, Mirabelle's parents, Lestor and Aurora, are not her birth parents, but Bautista de Leon, Emil's past life, and Sera Córdova are her real parents. We learn that the Spell Walker leader Iris knew about this and kept it from Mirabelle who she was once friends with. After Brighton and Emil's mother is kidnapped by Ness' father, along with Iris' girlfriend Eva, Brighton calls Iris out saying that if she hadn't kept that secret then her and Mirabelle's relationship would be better and there would've been a lot less problems. Emil and Prudencia tell Brighton he shouldn't have said that because Iris is hurting too. Bullshit! Brighton was right; also, everyone else was hurting from what happened.
A second example is after Brighton's powers activate. Brighton, Emil, Prudencia, Mirabelle, and two new characters who are Halo Knights--sworn protectors of phoenixes--Wyatt and Tala infiltrate a prison to free Ness. There they encounter and fight with Stanton, an antagonist from Infinity Son who tortured Brighton and did so many other horrible things to innocent people. Brighton kills him in a brutal yet cool way. Emil and Prudencia say Brighton shouldn't have done that and that Stanton would've been better off rotting in prison. BUT, like pages later, Emil witnesses the imprisoned celestials brutally beating down the guards and enforcers and comments that it's justified and that how corrupt the prison system is.
....EXCUSE ME!?!?! You can't say your brother is wrong for killing someone who tortured him and other people and then saying others revolting is justified.
I actually liked Brighton a little more here, and his fight scenes were cool. But this brings me to the next character and the biggest flawed one: Emil. Emil really, really grated on me in this book. For one, he was really self-deprecating in the beginning to the middle of the book. Every action in almost every scene made Emil comment that he felt awful about everything that happened before. Like, I get that he has mental health issues, but it was so much. In fact--I know I'm saying "in fact" a lot--almost every character had some sort of mental health issue. Mirabelle had anxiety, Ness had trauma, Brighton and Emil's mother and Iris had their own issues. I appreciate the rep, but there was just so much bog down from it. Not to mention, the way that therapy was woven into the dialogue or narrative was so forced an unnatural; it felt like an ad on a streaming service. "Do you have depression, anxiety, or trauma? Get therapy!" Not exactly like that, but you get my point.
Back to Emil. Emil's constantly spinelessness also grated on me. I know he doesn't want to fight or be in the war and is scared of Brighton, but oh my God he needed to toughen up. There is a war going on and it isn't stopping. Emil, get out there. Emil utterly fails as a central protagonist, which is a shame because YA fantasy does not have any big name queer Latino boys as heroes.
Ness and Mirabelle get a little bit more development, but not much. Ness is used by his father in his running for president to make celestials look back and to garner support and to make his political opponent Sunstar look bad. FYI: Iron and Sunstar's debate is a clear reference to the 2016 political election, which is kind of odd because Sunstar would be Hilary Clinton and Iron would be Donald Trump...which would make Ness an older, mixed-Latine version of Barron Trump? Regardless, all we learn is that Ness hates his father. Mirabelle's perspective is briefly more interesting as she searches a way to get back a Luna and June for Atlas' death and she isn't as angry as she was in the previous book.
We also learn, and I don't care about spoiling this, that Mirabelle is Luna's biological granddaughter. At first I was like "Oh, that's interesting," but then I was like "That adds to nothing," because Mirabelle hates Luna and I don't think such a revelation would change her feelings on it. There is another plot twist which actually kind of works that I won't spoil. However, towards the end of the book, Brighton fights with Emil as Emil tries to get Brighton's blood for a potion. Brighton beats Emil down, but we quickly see that it is Ness morphed into Emil to prove that Brighton would beat anybody to keep his powers. Okay? We already knew that. And although Brighton's romance with Prudencia was initially sweet, I'm glad it ended. He doesn't need her.
The two new characters Wyatt and Tala are very "meh." Wyatt is nice because he's the only character who isn't totally angry or depressed, but he's just there so Emil can have a brief romantic fling and for the others to learn about the aforementioned potion that can end someone's powers. Emil is still attracted to Ness, but both attractions are utterly forced. Tala is like most of the female characters in the first book, angry and pissed off. She'll probably be a future love interest for Mirabelle; maybe, they don't interact romantically here, but it's probably gunna happen.
Additionally, there was a lot of ham-fisted social-political commentary meant to parallel our world. The replacing of guns with wands to discuss, well, gun violence wasn't done well and just sounded ridiculous. How does a semi-automatic sniper wand even work? The story would've been more powerful if the enforcers were just called police and SWAT and if wands were just actually guns.
So, was there anything I liked? The world-building for one. Silvera manages to provide some answers for some things and fleshes the world out a bit more. My edition came with a short story about Ness during the Blackout and we finally figure out what happened during it and how Ness got his powers. Ness' prequel was pretty interesting and Ness gets way more development in it (I just wish we saw more of that in the main story). I also liked how far the characters had come from the beginning of this book to the end. There's a real journey here, even if it's significantly flawed. Also, I liked Brighton. He's still an ass, but I liked him. Sue me. And the fights scenes, even though brief, were still pretty cool.
So, will I still read the last book in this trilogy? Sure. I've come this far, why not? If anything, for Brighton. Yes, this book probably gaslighted me.
Infinity Reaper takes place right where Infinity Son left off. Brighton has just taken Luna's alchemical mixture of phoenix, ghost, and hydra blood after he shot her with a wand and after shapeshifter Ness stabbed Emil. After the ensuing chaos, the brothers, Mirabelle, and the rest of the Spell Walkers get away while Ness is taken by his father Senator Iron. Brighton suffers from the alchemical mixture which makes Emil question his own powers and Mirabelle wants vengeance for Atlas' death, but a new plan and players join the battlefield making things not so simple.
This was a frustrating read for a number of reasons. A lot character development and plot progression is done poorly and/or forced. In fact, the biggest problem for this sequel is just how much worse some of the characters got. The only exception, to some extend, is Brighton. Yes, he's still an egotistical jerk, though I feel he mellows out some as the book progresses, but I found myself defending some of his actions. Brighton does recognize how selfish he's being, though he's still fame hungry, but he actually does things that make sense. A lot of the hatred and fear towards Brighton from the other characters feels forced, like Adam Silvera needs to constantly remind us how the brothers are getting more and more different from one another. Which reminds me, there was a lot of telling and not showing in the beginning of the book. This lessened as it progressed but it still happened quite a bit. In fact, the beginning of book feels radically different from the rest of the book, don't know why though.
Anyway, Brighton sometimes did things that made me say "Finally!" For example, as we learned in the previous book, Mirabelle's parents, Lestor and Aurora, are not her birth parents, but Bautista de Leon, Emil's past life, and Sera Córdova are her real parents. We learn that the Spell Walker leader Iris knew about this and kept it from Mirabelle who she was once friends with. After Brighton and Emil's mother is kidnapped by Ness' father, along with Iris' girlfriend Eva, Brighton calls Iris out saying that if she hadn't kept that secret then her and Mirabelle's relationship would be better and there would've been a lot less problems. Emil and Prudencia tell Brighton he shouldn't have said that because Iris is hurting too. Bullshit! Brighton was right; also, everyone else was hurting from what happened.
A second example is after Brighton's powers activate. Brighton, Emil, Prudencia, Mirabelle, and two new characters who are Halo Knights--sworn protectors of phoenixes--Wyatt and Tala infiltrate a prison to free Ness. There they encounter and fight with Stanton, an antagonist from Infinity Son who tortured Brighton and did so many other horrible things to innocent people. Brighton kills him in a brutal yet cool way. Emil and Prudencia say Brighton shouldn't have done that and that Stanton would've been better off rotting in prison. BUT, like pages later, Emil witnesses the imprisoned celestials brutally beating down the guards and enforcers and comments that it's justified and that how corrupt the prison system is.
....EXCUSE ME!?!?! You can't say your brother is wrong for killing someone who tortured him and other people and then saying others revolting is justified.
I actually liked Brighton a little more here, and his fight scenes were cool. But this brings me to the next character and the biggest flawed one: Emil. Emil really, really grated on me in this book. For one, he was really self-deprecating in the beginning to the middle of the book. Every action in almost every scene made Emil comment that he felt awful about everything that happened before. Like, I get that he has mental health issues, but it was so much. In fact--I know I'm saying "in fact" a lot--almost every character had some sort of mental health issue. Mirabelle had anxiety, Ness had trauma, Brighton and Emil's mother and Iris had their own issues. I appreciate the rep, but there was just so much bog down from it. Not to mention, the way that therapy was woven into the dialogue or narrative was so forced an unnatural; it felt like an ad on a streaming service. "Do you have depression, anxiety, or trauma? Get therapy!" Not exactly like that, but you get my point.
Back to Emil. Emil's constantly spinelessness also grated on me. I know he doesn't want to fight or be in the war and is scared of Brighton, but oh my God he needed to toughen up. There is a war going on and it isn't stopping. Emil, get out there. Emil utterly fails as a central protagonist, which is a shame because YA fantasy does not have any big name queer Latino boys as heroes.
Ness and Mirabelle get a little bit more development, but not much. Ness is used by his father in his running for president to make celestials look back and to garner support and to make his political opponent Sunstar look bad. FYI: Iron and Sunstar's debate is a clear reference to the 2016 political election, which is kind of odd because Sunstar would be Hilary Clinton and Iron would be Donald Trump...which would make Ness an older, mixed-Latine version of Barron Trump? Regardless, all we learn is that Ness hates his father. Mirabelle's perspective is briefly more interesting as she searches a way to get back a Luna and June for Atlas' death and she isn't as angry as she was in the previous book.
We also learn, and I don't care about spoiling this, that Mirabelle is Luna's biological granddaughter. At first I was like "Oh, that's interesting," but then I was like "That adds to nothing," because Mirabelle hates Luna and I don't think such a revelation would change her feelings on it. There is another plot twist which actually kind of works that I won't spoil. However, towards the end of the book, Brighton fights with Emil as Emil tries to get Brighton's blood for a potion. Brighton beats Emil down, but we quickly see that it is Ness morphed into Emil to prove that Brighton would beat anybody to keep his powers. Okay? We already knew that. And although Brighton's romance with Prudencia was initially sweet, I'm glad it ended. He doesn't need her.
The two new characters Wyatt and Tala are very "meh." Wyatt is nice because he's the only character who isn't totally angry or depressed, but he's just there so Emil can have a brief romantic fling and for the others to learn about the aforementioned potion that can end someone's powers. Emil is still attracted to Ness, but both attractions are utterly forced. Tala is like most of the female characters in the first book, angry and pissed off. She'll probably be a future love interest for Mirabelle; maybe, they don't interact romantically here, but it's probably gunna happen.
Additionally, there was a lot of ham-fisted social-political commentary meant to parallel our world. The replacing of guns with wands to discuss, well, gun violence wasn't done well and just sounded ridiculous. How does a semi-automatic sniper wand even work? The story would've been more powerful if the enforcers were just called police and SWAT and if wands were just actually guns.
So, was there anything I liked? The world-building for one. Silvera manages to provide some answers for some things and fleshes the world out a bit more. My edition came with a short story about Ness during the Blackout and we finally figure out what happened during it and how Ness got his powers. Ness' prequel was pretty interesting and Ness gets way more development in it (I just wish we saw more of that in the main story). I also liked how far the characters had come from the beginning of this book to the end. There's a real journey here, even if it's significantly flawed. Also, I liked Brighton. He's still an ass, but I liked him. Sue me. And the fights scenes, even though brief, were still pretty cool.
So, will I still read the last book in this trilogy? Sure. I've come this far, why not? If anything, for Brighton. Yes, this book probably gaslighted me.
March 11, 2021
It takes skill writing an unlikeable character. This book is not an indication that Adam Silvera has that skill.
Not only is Brighton a blatantly one-dimensional piece of shit who has to make sure we get how egomaniacal he is with li-te-ra-lly every thought he has, but every character around him is forced to carry the idiot ball and act like there’s anything lovable about him, or like he has to be indulged for any reason whatsoever. Brighton singlehandedly destroys any enjoyment this otherwise moderately decent superhero story carries, and the desolation is absolute.
If I ever read the conclusion of the series, it will be SOLELY with the hope that he will not have a redemption arc, but rather that he will die like the whiney garbage that he is, recognized as such by all other characters. Even if secretly I’m aware that this entire show is ultimately his Prequel Trilogy...
Not only is Brighton a blatantly one-dimensional piece of shit who has to make sure we get how egomaniacal he is with li-te-ra-lly every thought he has, but every character around him is forced to carry the idiot ball and act like there’s anything lovable about him, or like he has to be indulged for any reason whatsoever. Brighton singlehandedly destroys any enjoyment this otherwise moderately decent superhero story carries, and the desolation is absolute.
If I ever read the conclusion of the series, it will be SOLELY with the hope that he will not have a redemption arc, but rather that he will die like the whiney garbage that he is, recognized as such by all other characters. Even if secretly I’m aware that this entire show is ultimately his Prequel Trilogy...
March 4, 2021
I can’t do this anymore. DNF @ around 50%
This is, quite possibly, the worst book I’ve read in my life (or at least one of the worst ones).
Honestly, after not enjoying that much the first one (the only thing I liked was Emil and Ness’s obvious future relationship) I started this book with the lowest possible expectations… and this is somehow worse than I had anticipated.
So, in a not too exhaustive list, here’s everything wrong with Infinity Reaper (from my perspective)
1.- The writing. To put it simply, it’s bad and painful. It felt so robotic and bland, and in desperate need of better editing (assuming it got edited at all); I lost count of all the that that shouldn’t have been there, and some words felt oddly placed. I know not every book needs to have beautiful writing, but it feels like he didn’t even make an effort (and when he did, or at least when I think he did, we would end up with edgy sentences like “I’m someone born into chaos” or “deep” nonsense like "[The Heroic Crime is] what happens when innocent people get caught in the crossfire of war." and “The eyes that look like doorways into different corners of the universe.”). To be honest, it reads like a wikipedia article. And one thing I hate is when authors who clearly don’t speak Spanish (and who usually claim they are latinos) put “Spanish words” for no reason, but, not speaking the language, end up writing nonsense. FYI, Mamí and Papí don’t have that accent (or however it’s called in English) on the i. To think this is his sixth book… unbelievable.
2.- The dialogues. This is in a similar tone, but almost all the dialogues feel unnatural and cringy. And sometimes instead of having real dialogues the person narrating would say “X says something, and Y says something back”; changing that for “real” dialogues would have been better.
3.- Some plot points don’t make sense. I’m not really sure how to name this one, so I’m gonna use some examples:
3.1.- In chapter six Brighton says ”But what if we trusted more people with powers? What if we could use creature blood to strengthen soldiers (...), police officers, (...)? We can’t assume that everything will go wrong just because a select few might abuse that privilege.” but then, in chapter ten, he says ”I hate every celestial who has donated blood to power all of these so-called defensive weapons, as if it’s not easy for dangerous people to get their hands on them too?” so I’m like make up your mind? They are the same thing?
3.2.- At some point Ness goes “The twice a year constellation that made me a shifter. How has it already been eight months since I’ve had these powers?” so I’m left wondering, is their year 16 months long?
3.3.- I really hope Brighton never develops the ghost powers (not that I'm gonna find out), cause if he does then what was all that this potion is only going to work on Luna because it has the blood from her parents' ghosts (don't ask).
4.- I’m just going to link this one with the last one and say it: I hate Brighton. He’s just a self absorbed asshole who thinks he’s a good person and better than everybody else, but he’s just a bad person who is clearly gonna be the bad guy by the end. From the stuff he thinks (e.g. “Not that there’s anything powerless Emil could’ve done about it.”, and how when Ruth tells him about her difficult past and trauma all he can think about is wow, this would have been great for my show) to the stuff he does (e.g. trying to lift Emil’s shirt live when he knows how he feels about his body) I just can’t stand him and I can’t believe there are people who like him. I want him dead, and to think it almost happened with the poisoning and all... we could have had it all.
5.- Mirabelle is so annoying here too, putting Emil down and being all oh, I wish Brighton had powers, he’s the real fighter between them. I want her dead too.
6.- I just think it’s really funny how Adam Silvera wants so desperately to make gleam crafters, who in this world are suffering discrimination, the equivalent of queer people suffering from queerphobia here in our world, to the point where he uses phrases like I’m tired of having to defend my humanity. My life shouldn’t be a debating point. and creating words like gleamphobia. For me, it feels like he’s screaming to my face LOOK, THIS IS A BRILLIANT PARALLELISM I'M MAKING AND YOU HAVE TO PICK IT UP SO I’M GONNA THROW IT AT YOUR FACE cause god forbids we try and make this stuff more implicit.
7.- The whole meta thing is really in your face too, to the point of being annoying: “(...) a fantasy novel (...) who opens a portal that sends them into an alternate New York where powers aren’t real. If I lived in a gleam-free world, (...). But that’s a fantasy world, (...).” and “Our lives aren’t someone’s entertainment, or aren’t supposed to be, at least.” (don’t worry about that one; your lives aren’t entertaining at all) and “Our show —(...) The Infinity Cycle—(...) ”. I just can picture him being all omg I’m a genius for doing this... no, you aren’t.
By the end I had a) removed him from my favourite authors list and b) deleted all my five stars rating from his other books because after reading this, I don't think he deserves either of those things.
In a word: trash.
This is, quite possibly, the worst book I’ve read in my life (or at least one of the worst ones).
Honestly, after not enjoying that much the first one (the only thing I liked was Emil and Ness’s obvious future relationship) I started this book with the lowest possible expectations… and this is somehow worse than I had anticipated.
So, in a not too exhaustive list, here’s everything wrong with Infinity Reaper (from my perspective)
1.- The writing. To put it simply, it’s bad and painful. It felt so robotic and bland, and in desperate need of better editing (assuming it got edited at all); I lost count of all the that that shouldn’t have been there, and some words felt oddly placed. I know not every book needs to have beautiful writing, but it feels like he didn’t even make an effort (and when he did, or at least when I think he did, we would end up with edgy sentences like “I’m someone born into chaos” or “deep” nonsense like "[The Heroic Crime is] what happens when innocent people get caught in the crossfire of war." and “The eyes that look like doorways into different corners of the universe.”). To be honest, it reads like a wikipedia article. And one thing I hate is when authors who clearly don’t speak Spanish (and who usually claim they are latinos) put “Spanish words” for no reason, but, not speaking the language, end up writing nonsense. FYI, Mamí and Papí don’t have that accent (or however it’s called in English) on the i. To think this is his sixth book… unbelievable.
2.- The dialogues. This is in a similar tone, but almost all the dialogues feel unnatural and cringy. And sometimes instead of having real dialogues the person narrating would say “X says something, and Y says something back”; changing that for “real” dialogues would have been better.
3.- Some plot points don’t make sense. I’m not really sure how to name this one, so I’m gonna use some examples:
3.1.- In chapter six Brighton says ”But what if we trusted more people with powers? What if we could use creature blood to strengthen soldiers (...), police officers, (...)? We can’t assume that everything will go wrong just because a select few might abuse that privilege.” but then, in chapter ten, he says ”I hate every celestial who has donated blood to power all of these so-called defensive weapons, as if it’s not easy for dangerous people to get their hands on them too?” so I’m like make up your mind? They are the same thing?
3.2.- At some point Ness goes “The twice a year constellation that made me a shifter. How has it already been eight months since I’ve had these powers?” so I’m left wondering, is their year 16 months long?
3.3.- I really hope Brighton never develops the ghost powers (not that I'm gonna find out), cause if he does then what was all that this potion is only going to work on Luna because it has the blood from her parents' ghosts (don't ask).
4.- I’m just going to link this one with the last one and say it: I hate Brighton. He’s just a self absorbed asshole who thinks he’s a good person and better than everybody else, but he’s just a bad person who is clearly gonna be the bad guy by the end. From the stuff he thinks (e.g. “Not that there’s anything powerless Emil could’ve done about it.”, and how when Ruth tells him about her difficult past and trauma all he can think about is wow, this would have been great for my show) to the stuff he does (e.g. trying to lift Emil’s shirt live when he knows how he feels about his body) I just can’t stand him and I can’t believe there are people who like him. I want him dead, and to think it almost happened with the poisoning and all... we could have had it all.
5.- Mirabelle is so annoying here too, putting Emil down and being all oh, I wish Brighton had powers, he’s the real fighter between them. I want her dead too.
6.- I just think it’s really funny how Adam Silvera wants so desperately to make gleam crafters, who in this world are suffering discrimination, the equivalent of queer people suffering from queerphobia here in our world, to the point where he uses phrases like I’m tired of having to defend my humanity. My life shouldn’t be a debating point. and creating words like gleamphobia. For me, it feels like he’s screaming to my face LOOK, THIS IS A BRILLIANT PARALLELISM I'M MAKING AND YOU HAVE TO PICK IT UP SO I’M GONNA THROW IT AT YOUR FACE cause god forbids we try and make this stuff more implicit.
7.- The whole meta thing is really in your face too, to the point of being annoying: “(...) a fantasy novel (...) who opens a portal that sends them into an alternate New York where powers aren’t real. If I lived in a gleam-free world, (...). But that’s a fantasy world, (...).” and “Our lives aren’t someone’s entertainment, or aren’t supposed to be, at least.” (don’t worry about that one; your lives aren’t entertaining at all) and “Our show —(...) The Infinity Cycle—(...) ”. I just can picture him being all omg I’m a genius for doing this... no, you aren’t.
By the end I had a) removed him from my favourite authors list and b) deleted all my five stars rating from his other books because after reading this, I don't think he deserves either of those things.
In a word: trash.
considering-read
June 21, 2020the cover is literally screaming You must have me in your bookshelf :0
June 19, 2021
Infinity Reaper is the second installment of the Infinity Cycle series. Now while I absolutely loved the previous one.. this one just kind of confused me. I would like to blame the waiting period between the two books but I honestly don't think 4 months is that long in my eyes. I just think it was the audiobook this time around. For some reason mine kept pausing or skipping certain things and I had no idea why.
So, yeah, it was hard to concentrate in the beginning of this book so when it started to work correctly. Well, I had no idea what to do with my life and just sat back and listened to the book. It also doesn't help that there was just way too much for me to focus on. Or maybe I'm just in a weird mood but I just couldn't keep track of who was who and all that jazz.
At least I knew who Emil and Brighton freaking were but their drama was also kind of annoying to keep track of. Once there was talk about Brighton's powers, I just knew that he wasn't going to give them up. No matter what. The world could be on fire and he would be cool as a cucumber with everything. So it's safe to assume that I wasn't surprised one bit with how this ended. I do feel bad for Emil though but not surprised.
In the end, I will definitely have to re-read this before the next one comes out. Maybe even the physical so that I don't have to deal with the confusion this time around.
So, yeah, it was hard to concentrate in the beginning of this book so when it started to work correctly. Well, I had no idea what to do with my life and just sat back and listened to the book. It also doesn't help that there was just way too much for me to focus on. Or maybe I'm just in a weird mood but I just couldn't keep track of who was who and all that jazz.
At least I knew who Emil and Brighton freaking were but their drama was also kind of annoying to keep track of. Once there was talk about Brighton's powers, I just knew that he wasn't going to give them up. No matter what. The world could be on fire and he would be cool as a cucumber with everything. So it's safe to assume that I wasn't surprised one bit with how this ended. I do feel bad for Emil though but not surprised.
In the end, I will definitely have to re-read this before the next one comes out. Maybe even the physical so that I don't have to deal with the confusion this time around.
March 14, 2021
Since this is a sequel I’m going to be brief. I didn’t love the first book in this series, but I was hoping that book two was going to be a little stronger so I gave it a try.
CW: descriptive death of a parent, grief, murder, sex.
The characters in this are honestly give or take for me. I had a hard time connecting with anyone, and don’t think I really ever did. Emil is a good character, but I couldn’t stand Brighton personally. Brighton was just such an asshole in all honesty that I found it hard to enjoy anything related to him. Emil started off good, but I feel like his motivations went a little sideways near the end. Everyone else was really just fine. Silvera is really great at developing characters, I just didn’t like any of them personally.
The plot of this started off with a lot of action, which was a fun way to start. The writing did a good job at easing me back into the world very well, which some books definitely have trouble with. I understood the plot of this book and could easily follow it, I just honestly didn’t care about the characters enough to want to pay attention to the plot. The world building in book one was complicated and I didn’t love it, and it unfortunately didn’t get any better in this one for me.
I do want to say that I think there was a lot of good that went into this book. There is a lot of diversity easily woven into this story, Silvera is so good at that. There are all types of relationships, non-binary characters, a gay male lead, and lots of BIPOC characters.
Overall this book just wasn’t for me. The writing was there, I just personally had trouble connecting with any character, and found the world lacking.
CW: descriptive death of a parent, grief, murder, sex.
The characters in this are honestly give or take for me. I had a hard time connecting with anyone, and don’t think I really ever did. Emil is a good character, but I couldn’t stand Brighton personally. Brighton was just such an asshole in all honesty that I found it hard to enjoy anything related to him. Emil started off good, but I feel like his motivations went a little sideways near the end. Everyone else was really just fine. Silvera is really great at developing characters, I just didn’t like any of them personally.
The plot of this started off with a lot of action, which was a fun way to start. The writing did a good job at easing me back into the world very well, which some books definitely have trouble with. I understood the plot of this book and could easily follow it, I just honestly didn’t care about the characters enough to want to pay attention to the plot. The world building in book one was complicated and I didn’t love it, and it unfortunately didn’t get any better in this one for me.
I do want to say that I think there was a lot of good that went into this book. There is a lot of diversity easily woven into this story, Silvera is so good at that. There are all types of relationships, non-binary characters, a gay male lead, and lots of BIPOC characters.
Overall this book just wasn’t for me. The writing was there, I just personally had trouble connecting with any character, and found the world lacking.
February 24, 2021
WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL????
I have never encountered a character more annoying than Brighton! Omg, I want to shake some sense into him. I was already annoyed by him after book 1 but now? Wow, just wow.
So many things happened and I'm mad about most of them. Like I have this rage inside me I can barely contain!
Arghhhh Adam, why are you doing this to me? I'm in pain!!!
I have never encountered a character more annoying than Brighton! Omg, I want to shake some sense into him. I was already annoyed by him after book 1 but now? Wow, just wow.
So many things happened and I'm mad about most of them. Like I have this rage inside me I can barely contain!
Arghhhh Adam, why are you doing this to me? I'm in pain!!!
August 25, 2022
3.5 / 5 ☆
! TW PRZEMOC, LĘKI I NAPADY LĘKOWE !
[ opis zawiera spoiler dotyczący zakończenia pierwszego tomu : ]
Po tym jak Brighton wypił Krew Pogromcy, sprawy przyjęły nieoczekiwany zwrot. Esencja miała dać mu nieograniczoną moc, ale wydarzenia potoczyły się wręcz przeciwnie - z każdym dniem zabija go coraz bardziej. Wszyscy obawiają się, że chłopak zakończy swoje życie, przyjmując scenariusz ojca. Jednak przyjaciele walczą do końca poszukując antidotum, które nie tylko go ocali, lecz także postawi kres przygodzie z mocami feniksa. W trakcie tych wszystkich zajść, muszą mierzyć się z drugim problemem – skorumpowanym społeczeństwem i senatorem Ironem, który pragnie wykończyć wszystkie Niebiańskie istoty. Jak potoczą się dalsze losy naszych bohaterów?
„Pogromca nieskończoności” to kolejny tom serii fantastycznej Adama Silvery. Mimo, że w mojej opinii nie dorównał poprzedniej części, wciąż pozostał ważnym elementem, który dokładał kluczową cegiełkę do całej historii.
Lekkość z jaką udaje się pisać Silverze jest niezwykła. Jego styl ma w sobie to coś, że po spędzonym z nim czasie, ciężko się oderwać od czytania. Mimo wszystkich pozytywów, opisy walk i bardziej dynamicznej akcji, momentami wydawały się nieco chaotyczne. Pozycję czytało się także o wiele wolniej w porównaniu z „Synem nieskończoności” – myślę, że była to wina czcionki, a nie samego języku. W zestawieniu z poprzednią częścią, rzeczywiście widać różnicę pomiędzy wielkością liter.
Fakt, że rozdziały są przedstawiane z perspektyw różnych bohaterów, pozwalał budować silniejszą więź – byłam w stanie bliżej ich poznać, dzięki czemu każdy wyróżniał się na tle innych. Wśród nich znalazłam nawet kilku swoich faworytów, lecz jeśli przejdziemy do drugiej strony historii, spotkałam również Brightona, którego darzę niesamowitą nienawiścią. Czasami wydawało mi się, że przeszedł jakąś przemianę, ale koniec końców pozostawał taki sam. Z każdą kolejną stroną moja niechęć do niego rosła - jest to po prostu bohater do znienawidzenia.
W książce wciąż były kontynuowane wartościowe wątki zapoczątkowane w poprzednim tomie. Droga do samoakceptacji, a z drugiej strony droga do sławy, gdzie jesteśmy w stanie poświęcić dla niej wszystko. Dodatkowo pojawił się motyw wyborów i walki o władzę, który absolutnie przykuł moją uwagę - jestem nad wyraz ciekawa jego finału.
Zakończenie ponownie zwaliło mnie z nóg. Poważnie się wkręciłam w całą serię i nie mogę się doczekać jej kontynuacji. „Pogromca nieskończoności” to świetne rozwinięcie wykreowanego świata z dawką nowych bohaterów, a także relacji pomiędzy nimi - pełne porywającej akcji, gdzie nie ma chwili, aby się nudzić.
! TW PRZEMOC, LĘKI I NAPADY LĘKOWE !
[ opis zawiera spoiler dotyczący zakończenia pierwszego tomu : ]
Po tym jak Brighton wypił Krew Pogromcy, sprawy przyjęły nieoczekiwany zwrot. Esencja miała dać mu nieograniczoną moc, ale wydarzenia potoczyły się wręcz przeciwnie - z każdym dniem zabija go coraz bardziej. Wszyscy obawiają się, że chłopak zakończy swoje życie, przyjmując scenariusz ojca. Jednak przyjaciele walczą do końca poszukując antidotum, które nie tylko go ocali, lecz także postawi kres przygodzie z mocami feniksa. W trakcie tych wszystkich zajść, muszą mierzyć się z drugim problemem – skorumpowanym społeczeństwem i senatorem Ironem, który pragnie wykończyć wszystkie Niebiańskie istoty. Jak potoczą się dalsze losy naszych bohaterów?
„Pogromca nieskończoności” to kolejny tom serii fantastycznej Adama Silvery. Mimo, że w mojej opinii nie dorównał poprzedniej części, wciąż pozostał ważnym elementem, który dokładał kluczową cegiełkę do całej historii.
Lekkość z jaką udaje się pisać Silverze jest niezwykła. Jego styl ma w sobie to coś, że po spędzonym z nim czasie, ciężko się oderwać od czytania. Mimo wszystkich pozytywów, opisy walk i bardziej dynamicznej akcji, momentami wydawały się nieco chaotyczne. Pozycję czytało się także o wiele wolniej w porównaniu z „Synem nieskończoności” – myślę, że była to wina czcionki, a nie samego języku. W zestawieniu z poprzednią częścią, rzeczywiście widać różnicę pomiędzy wielkością liter.
Fakt, że rozdziały są przedstawiane z perspektyw różnych bohaterów, pozwalał budować silniejszą więź – byłam w stanie bliżej ich poznać, dzięki czemu każdy wyróżniał się na tle innych. Wśród nich znalazłam nawet kilku swoich faworytów, lecz jeśli przejdziemy do drugiej strony historii, spotkałam również Brightona, którego darzę niesamowitą nienawiścią. Czasami wydawało mi się, że przeszedł jakąś przemianę, ale koniec końców pozostawał taki sam. Z każdą kolejną stroną moja niechęć do niego rosła - jest to po prostu bohater do znienawidzenia.
W książce wciąż były kontynuowane wartościowe wątki zapoczątkowane w poprzednim tomie. Droga do samoakceptacji, a z drugiej strony droga do sławy, gdzie jesteśmy w stanie poświęcić dla niej wszystko. Dodatkowo pojawił się motyw wyborów i walki o władzę, który absolutnie przykuł moją uwagę - jestem nad wyraz ciekawa jego finału.
Zakończenie ponownie zwaliło mnie z nóg. Poważnie się wkręciłam w całą serię i nie mogę się doczekać jej kontynuacji. „Pogromca nieskończoności” to świetne rozwinięcie wykreowanego świata z dawką nowych bohaterów, a także relacji pomiędzy nimi - pełne porywającej akcji, gdzie nie ma chwili, aby się nudzić.
March 4, 2021
I need to start off by saying I'm a big fan of Adam Silvera's other works, but this series just isn't it for me. I do find it alright to read, but I mainly read this sequel to see if there would be improvements to make me engage with it more (Adam has like discussed how he realised they were shortcomings in his first book, 'cause it was his first fantasy novel/series), but I just finished the book with the same feeling I had at the end of the first: I don't care to see what happens to the characters.
And that doesn't mean I don't like the characters, don't get me wrong. I really love the relationship (mainly their conflict) of Emil and Brighton, and I love how Brighton is written because god damn he's such a self-obsessed dickhead I hated reading his chapters (which I feel is the author's intention). But I just don't care THAT MUCH to read the next book to find out what happens.
I feel the rest of this review is gonna be me just saying random comments that will contain spoilers. So my non spoiler closing thoughts are I'm probs not gonna read the next one.
And that doesn't mean I don't like the characters, don't get me wrong. I really love the relationship (mainly their conflict) of Emil and Brighton, and I love how Brighton is written because god damn he's such a self-obsessed dickhead I hated reading his chapters (which I feel is the author's intention). But I just don't care THAT MUCH to read the next book to find out what happens.
I feel the rest of this review is gonna be me just saying random comments that will contain spoilers. So my non spoiler closing thoughts are I'm probs not gonna read the next one.
April 1, 2021
If there was a book award for creating the most hateable character in literature, Adam Silvera should win it for Brighton. The number of times I wanted to punch Brighton is too damn high and at the same time not high enough. Seriously, major props to Adam for creating such a hateable character. If I were to write my own book (I do have ideas), I would hope to create half as hateable a character as Brighton. Adam has set the bar high. Some people might have similar thoughts about Maribelle, but I actually admire her in regard to her drive for revenge.
Infinity Reaper is a strong continuation of the story started in Infinity Son. Adam has fleshed out more of the characters while also introducing new characters, like the Halo Knights. We see the continued struggle between Emil and Brighton, Emil trying to get rid of his powers and Brighton wanting to take center stage with (or without) Emil. Like any Adam Silvera book, there are some scenes that destroy the reader. I was waiting in my car for my friend to get back from his first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine when I read such a scene. I was definitely not almost crying the moment my friend got into my car. Regardless of my emotional status with this book, Infinity Reper had a great balance of action scenes and calm moments. Yes, there’s a greater war going on between the Spell Walkers and Blood Casters, but we do get to see the characters enjoy themselves. But the story is also not a slow read, towards the end the pace picks up so much that you can’t not finish the last chunk in one sitting. Speaking of the ending, THAT ENDING. I know that Adam is busy with a bunch of other projects, but I do hope that we get the third book soon.
Bonus content: This edition of Infinity Reaper includes a short story, about Ness called First Face. We get to see Ness before he became a shapeshifter. This gives us a look at what Ness’s life was like under the rule of the Senator, and we get to witness two important events, the Blackout, and Ness becoming a specter. Plus, there is a special shout out to an awesome person in this story. There is a star with a very special name.
Infinity Reaper is a strong continuation of the story started in Infinity Son. Adam has fleshed out more of the characters while also introducing new characters, like the Halo Knights. We see the continued struggle between Emil and Brighton, Emil trying to get rid of his powers and Brighton wanting to take center stage with (or without) Emil. Like any Adam Silvera book, there are some scenes that destroy the reader. I was waiting in my car for my friend to get back from his first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine when I read such a scene. I was definitely not almost crying the moment my friend got into my car. Regardless of my emotional status with this book, Infinity Reper had a great balance of action scenes and calm moments. Yes, there’s a greater war going on between the Spell Walkers and Blood Casters, but we do get to see the characters enjoy themselves. But the story is also not a slow read, towards the end the pace picks up so much that you can’t not finish the last chunk in one sitting. Speaking of the ending, THAT ENDING. I know that Adam is busy with a bunch of other projects, but I do hope that we get the third book soon.
Bonus content: This edition of Infinity Reaper includes a short story, about Ness called First Face. We get to see Ness before he became a shapeshifter. This gives us a look at what Ness’s life was like under the rule of the Senator, and we get to witness two important events, the Blackout, and Ness becoming a specter. Plus, there is a special shout out to an awesome person in this story. There is a star with a very special name.
March 5, 2021
Wow. That was a lot better than I expected. I went into this book with pretty low expectations because I wasn’t a huge fan of infinity son. However, I love Adam Silvera so much so I decided to give Infinity Reaper a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. The characters and world were more fully developed in this book. I also absolutely love where this story is going. If you read Infinity Son and didn’t plan on picking this one up, I’d urge you to reconsider. This book was great and a huge improvement. The only thing that hasn’t improved since the first book is Brighton’s attitude...
March 13, 2021
Definitely better than Infinity Son, but still not my favorite. I'm looking forward to Adam Silvera going back to his contemporary and speculative fiction roots. These books just don't compare when compared in just about any way, and it's kind of disappointing. I would've loved for this to be the queer urban fantasy story of my dreams, but it never hits the mark.
There's some very fun action in this book. Several large battles happen quite close together, and it gives the book a sense of excitement that makes pages fly by. While the first book's action sequences seemed somewhat random and loosely connected, these felt much more like a series of cause and effect. Which is good!
Silvera fixes some of the pacing issues from Infinity Son here, managing to give more explanations for the world building without the (significantly increased) page count feeling too slowed down. These extra explanations are nice, as it makes the world feel more full, but sometimes push into a bit extraneous for my taste. Some are a bit clumsily done, and it makes the flow of the scene awkward. It's weird to give an entire backstory for a minor character in between two lines of his dialogue, especially when it has no bearing on the plot. Even with the extra information, though, some of the world building just felt...silly, for lack of a better word. Everyone is so intensely saying these words and phrases that sound just ridiculous, even in context. It's all just a little bit clunky for my liking.
The dialogue and internal monologues still have all of the issues of the first book, unfortunately. So much of it is meant to sound casual, even conversational, and comes out feeling forced. Brighton's fame obsession and general thoughts about his status as an influencer almost felt like a parody at points. The dramatic declarations of him not being powerless, being important, people seeing him as unimportant...just didn't feel organic. Sure, I get that those are his motivations, but they're laid out so plainly and so repeatedly it feels like we're not trusted to understand that. Besides, that being his fatal flaw, he probably shouldn't be telling it to everyone? It goes beyond this, but none of it was the emotionally charged writing I love from Silvera's books.
The characters were...fine? I liked Wyatt, and I wish Emil could've gotten his head out of his ass instead of spending so many pages focused on a boy he knew for like...a few days? Ness and Maribelle get to be off on their own for a lot of the book, which is a nice way to keep the story moving even when the others are safe somewhere. It also gives some fun dramatic irony . Brighton is exactly as you'd expect Brighton to be after the events of the first book. There are some interesting ideas brought up about abuse of power and whose right it is to make decisions, but there's no subtlety or nuance to the exploration. Again, it's all laid out too clearly. The characters all seem to disagree with each other most of the book, which is annoying but does mostly feel true to their characters, except sometimes when plot-wise they need to be able to hash it out in a few lines of dialogue and are good to go. There are so many other instances where Brighton or Emil or Maribelle voicing any thoughts would have solved a fight between characters, and it doesn't happen. It feels like they're intentionally misrepresenting what the other is doing to be angry. Emil does something not angsty, and Brighton is pissed about it, then Brighton goes and does something that ignores the problem even more like it's not a big deal. This could be attributed to character choices, I guess, but it happens too frequently, with too many different characters, and with no acknowledgment.
Also, that ending wasn't really a twist . Don't get me wrong, it's a fine emotional beat to end on, but.
The plot was fine, but I wish that the characters had enough foresight to not fall into like...every trap. Even when they succeed, it hurts them. Which in theory is interesting! But in practice it left me thinking "you could have just done it differently and NOT made everyone's life harder?"
TL;DR: Fun, quick read. Fun magical creatures, some good action scenes. A definite improvement that shows Adam Silvera is paying attention to what is working and what isn't. But nothing stellar, despite all of the mentions of the stars.
There's some very fun action in this book. Several large battles happen quite close together, and it gives the book a sense of excitement that makes pages fly by. While the first book's action sequences seemed somewhat random and loosely connected, these felt much more like a series of cause and effect. Which is good!
Silvera fixes some of the pacing issues from Infinity Son here, managing to give more explanations for the world building without the (significantly increased) page count feeling too slowed down. These extra explanations are nice, as it makes the world feel more full, but sometimes push into a bit extraneous for my taste. Some are a bit clumsily done, and it makes the flow of the scene awkward. It's weird to give an entire backstory for a minor character in between two lines of his dialogue, especially when it has no bearing on the plot. Even with the extra information, though, some of the world building just felt...silly, for lack of a better word. Everyone is so intensely saying these words and phrases that sound just ridiculous, even in context. It's all just a little bit clunky for my liking.
The dialogue and internal monologues still have all of the issues of the first book, unfortunately. So much of it is meant to sound casual, even conversational, and comes out feeling forced. Brighton's fame obsession and general thoughts about his status as an influencer almost felt like a parody at points. The dramatic declarations of him not being powerless, being important, people seeing him as unimportant...just didn't feel organic. Sure, I get that those are his motivations, but they're laid out so plainly and so repeatedly it feels like we're not trusted to understand that. Besides, that being his fatal flaw, he probably shouldn't be telling it to everyone? It goes beyond this, but none of it was the emotionally charged writing I love from Silvera's books.
The characters were...fine? I liked Wyatt, and I wish Emil could've gotten his head out of his ass instead of spending so many pages focused on a boy he knew for like...a few days? Ness and Maribelle get to be off on their own for a lot of the book, which is a nice way to keep the story moving even when the others are safe somewhere. It also gives some fun dramatic irony . Brighton is exactly as you'd expect Brighton to be after the events of the first book. There are some interesting ideas brought up about abuse of power and whose right it is to make decisions, but there's no subtlety or nuance to the exploration. Again, it's all laid out too clearly. The characters all seem to disagree with each other most of the book, which is annoying but does mostly feel true to their characters, except sometimes when plot-wise they need to be able to hash it out in a few lines of dialogue and are good to go. There are so many other instances where Brighton or Emil or Maribelle voicing any thoughts would have solved a fight between characters, and it doesn't happen. It feels like they're intentionally misrepresenting what the other is doing to be angry. Emil does something not angsty, and Brighton is pissed about it, then Brighton goes and does something that ignores the problem even more like it's not a big deal. This could be attributed to character choices, I guess, but it happens too frequently, with too many different characters, and with no acknowledgment.
Also, that ending wasn't really a twist . Don't get me wrong, it's a fine emotional beat to end on, but.
The plot was fine, but I wish that the characters had enough foresight to not fall into like...every trap. Even when they succeed, it hurts them. Which in theory is interesting! But in practice it left me thinking "you could have just done it differently and NOT made everyone's life harder?"
TL;DR: Fun, quick read. Fun magical creatures, some good action scenes. A definite improvement that shows Adam Silvera is paying attention to what is working and what isn't. But nothing stellar, despite all of the mentions of the stars.
March 13, 2021
Omg 😳 this was epic. I screamed out loud at certain parts of this book. This starts right up from where Infinity Son ended. That was in the middle of an extreme battle that changes everyone’s lives for the worst. I tried to wait as long as possible to read this book because I knew once I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. Baby was that an understatement I started this book honestly right before work yesterday and I had to put it down until 7 pm. From 7 pm- 2 am I read and I slept for a few hours then opened it back up to finish the last 15 chapters. I hate cliff hangers with a deep burning passion. But give me a hero and an enemy and I don’t give a darn.
This was amazing and I can’t wait for book 3 because Brighton just started some real awful stuff.
Yes 🙌🏽 I needed this now more please. Lol 😂
This was amazing and I can’t wait for book 3 because Brighton just started some real awful stuff.
Yes 🙌🏽 I needed this now more please. Lol 😂
March 2, 2021
After wrapping up ‘Infinity Son’, I was a little apprehensive to pick this up just due to the first novel not meeting my high expectations. But thank the book Gods above for blessing me with this piece. The phenomenal character development, romance (more so a love triangle I refuse to speak about because we all look how I feel about them), LGBTQIA representation, magical components and actions scenes that had me sitting at the edge of my seat, writing style, built up and direction of the storyline surpass the first installment in every single way.
If you want engaging material, then look no further—‘Infinity Reaper’ has everything you need in a young adult fantasy novel including characters that are well written, memorable, and distinctive despite the many character POVs.
All in all, an amazing novel from start to end, and that ending…! 2022 can’t come fast enough!
Read
January 9, 2022How does this series manage to make me so *infuriated* while also making me search for a release date of the third book?
I can't tell you.
I struggled a lot with getting through Brighton's chapters the longer the story went on. Even though he is a very relatable character and I've had a lot of compassion for him, he still makes decisions and falls into thought spirals that are so toxic, and so sad. I know everybody calls him selfish in the book, and his decisions certainly are. But i find it even harder to wade through his immense fear of not mattering, of dying, of not being able to protect his loved ones, and the tons of unprocessed trauma he carries around with himself.
I did enjoy the rest of the story though. I really do love Emil and Ness, even though it was hard to not feel their helplessness too hard. And Wyatt is a lovely character introduced in this book. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes Adam has good things planned for this one, anything else would really make me lose my composure.
In the end this book did make me lose some of my mind a bit anyway. There are plot twists in there that made me *scream*, even when i didn't find them too far out there or unreasonable.
I'm still not sure how i would rate the whole thing. I enjoyed it, i read it in only a couple of days, but i can't say i screamed with joy while doing it.
One thing is for sure though, I'm not forgetting any of it any time soon. And i will say it was incredibly easy to fall back into this world and i was looking forward to it because i enjoyed Infinity Son and didn't understand the hate many readers had for it.
I can't tell you.
I struggled a lot with getting through Brighton's chapters the longer the story went on. Even though he is a very relatable character and I've had a lot of compassion for him, he still makes decisions and falls into thought spirals that are so toxic, and so sad. I know everybody calls him selfish in the book, and his decisions certainly are. But i find it even harder to wade through his immense fear of not mattering, of dying, of not being able to protect his loved ones, and the tons of unprocessed trauma he carries around with himself.
I did enjoy the rest of the story though. I really do love Emil and Ness, even though it was hard to not feel their helplessness too hard. And Wyatt is a lovely character introduced in this book. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes Adam has good things planned for this one, anything else would really make me lose my composure.
In the end this book did make me lose some of my mind a bit anyway. There are plot twists in there that made me *scream*, even when i didn't find them too far out there or unreasonable.
I'm still not sure how i would rate the whole thing. I enjoyed it, i read it in only a couple of days, but i can't say i screamed with joy while doing it.
One thing is for sure though, I'm not forgetting any of it any time soon. And i will say it was incredibly easy to fall back into this world and i was looking forward to it because i enjoyed Infinity Son and didn't understand the hate many readers had for it.
March 20, 2021
in the name of writing an honest review, i’ve got to say that this book was so, so underwhelming. right from the off, the writing felt choppy and weird and somewhat disjointed, which i felt was a step down from the first book in this series, and made the plot really hard to get into. as for the plot itself, it just felt like nothing was really happening, and when something did happen, it was totally underwhelming with little or no build up. the moments that were supposed to be big just kind of felt more like “oh” moments. more than that, none of the narrators with the most page time were likeable, and emil and ness (who seem to be the most likeable characters) just didn’t get enough povs in this book for me. i supposed that brings me to brighton - i hate his character so much that i feel like i could scream. i COULD NOT stand his attitude, and every time it got to his pov i felt like putting the book down because i just couldn’t read any of his narrative without getting mad. this paired with the fact that most of the narrative seemed fake deep and most of the dialogue being cheesy meant that by the end when you get that classic adam silvera heart-breaking ending, i just didn’t care enough to be bothered by it at all.
October 23, 2020
PART SPOILER PLEASE DONT READ OFF U HAVENT READ BOOK 1——————————————-|
I’m not gonna lie I think that Brighton deserves to die *at least I won’t be powerless* WHY may I ask is he prizing power beyond his life it should be the other way round I’ve not read this but I LOVED infinity son and I’m hoping that in this book he does I’m not sure iff u reply no spoilers please I can’t believe he did this I was like f*ck this when he drunk it and I won’t be able to sleep until I find out iff he does LOL
April 4, 2021
DNF @ 30%.
I think I convinced myself I liked this story more than I actually did. I love Silvera’s writing, but I’m not connecting with these characters. All the elements I love are here, but it’s just not clicking for me. I probably would have forced myself to finish this usually, but I just finished another “meh” book and I don’t have the energy. Not sure if I’ll pick this one back up or read the next book, but I’ll still buy anything Silvera writes and I’m eagerly anticipating his next release that isn’t in this series. 3/5 stars.
I think I convinced myself I liked this story more than I actually did. I love Silvera’s writing, but I’m not connecting with these characters. All the elements I love are here, but it’s just not clicking for me. I probably would have forced myself to finish this usually, but I just finished another “meh” book and I don’t have the energy. Not sure if I’ll pick this one back up or read the next book, but I’ll still buy anything Silvera writes and I’m eagerly anticipating his next release that isn’t in this series. 3/5 stars.
Want to Read
June 23, 2020That dazzling cover alone got me, nothing more.
April 3, 2021
I do enjoy reading about characters that have no clue what they are doing.
I mean, honestly, same.
I mean, honestly, same.
April 28, 2023
Yeah so it turns out I was just way too nice on book one and the fun climax was a fluke while the bad first 70% of Infinity Son were more indicative of the trend.
I understand that the whole point of the book is Brighton's corruption arc, the issue is that…he's just kind of too vapid for it to feel engaging. He felt like he was already a villain from the word go in this book, which is a problem because a corruption arc requires a villain whose motivations are at least engaging, and not "he's an influencer with a massive ego who stumbled into godlike powers". No, I don't think having lost his dad and being therefore terrified of death is a sympathetic reason for him to do any of this. It's literally Voldemort's motivation. Not to mention, while it is his stated reason, it has nothing to do with his ego.
This is a problem because he—I think, I didn't run the numbers—hogs most of the POVs. This means the other plot lines move at a glacial pace, and in honestly frustrating ways sometimes. Like, oh no, maribelle decided to help luna instead of killing her because she might bring her boyfriend back from the dead, an act so grossly out of character that it feels like a desperate move from an author who can't let go of a character. And oh no, emil thinks his love interest is dead, gets a new love interest, and i don't know if it's shaping up to be a love triangle or if the hasty "yeah it's fine it was your business" conclusion will be final, but I don't care, because it doesn't matter.
None of this is helped by the fact that the book reads like a zombie fic. You know the ones, where the chapters are very short and tend to mostly meander on the POV's angst, which is repeated over and over without much progress and honestly isn't even earned half the time. I don't understand why Emil feels any responsibility for his past lives since he's essentially a different person altogether, and I don't know why anyone else would, which makes his angst, and the stinger that Brighton exposes it to the world, completely blank.
And when the characters aren't angsting, they're talking, which is also bad. I used to dismiss when people said they don't like when characters talk like they're in therapy and not like people who are having a conversation, but now I think maybe I just hadn't found the right (wrong?) books, because this is definitely that trope. Like, my god. It's fine for the characters to have flaws other than "essentially evil" and for those flaws to show in conversation.
Speaking of, that gets me to the primary antagonist and his plot line. Which, um. This book is peak liberalism, and I do mean that in a negative way, and I want to make it clear that when I do and say that, I am coming at it from the left (if that baffles you, hi, welcome to the world outside America where we have a marginally healthier political spectrum!). I was literally tempted to bring the Snark Theater out of hiatus so I could dissect this in more detail, but by the time I had the idea, I was 25% of the way through the book, and the thought of re-reading that first section honestly felt painful. Though, you know, maybe I will if/when I get to a better place personally. I don't have the time to do it right now, but I'll just say that to focus your main(?) plotline around a US presidential election and frame it in this way. Well. It's a choice. Emil, in particular, who is framed as our moral compass, abhors the idea of breaking the law, despite establishing the world as systemically oppressive towards magic users, i.e. something that should show legal does not equal good. I'm not touching on the framing of the police. But I am touching on the way prison is viewed as, like, good? And criminals deserve to be in a prison designed to torture and abuse them (like, on top of the usual ways prisons do) and it's only bad when the love interest is sent there? I mean, sorry, but Ness did in fact do all the crimes he's accused of. If you were consistent—but, well, that's the issue, isn't it? Liberalism loves to present itself as the ultimate nonviolent ideology, but that's only because it hides all the ways violence is made acceptable by framing the victims of violence as deserving. Criminals at the top of that. I mean, literally, after spending so long talking about how killing is bad, we get Maribelle shooting prisoners in the chest, and it's like, well, they're doing an organized manhunt for one of them, what are you gonna do, right.
Before anyone accuses me of going on a tangent, well, I am, but only because it's relevant because this unwillingness by the book and its author to critically examine their underlying ideology results in the book itself, and especially its world, to be similarly hollow. Gleamcrafters are oppressed, we're told! We never see any of it, but we sure are told! But also no, it's just specters, but actually it's fine with specters, because they ~stole~ the powers and weren't born with it, and maybe they're just inherently dangerous, you know?
Basically, if you've seen that meme of someone explaining why Harry Potter's world is so hollow through the lens of JKR's blairite liberal politics, it's the same thing here.
But to come back to the powers thing, that's another problem for the book's themes. I think the book wants to state that power corrupts? Maybe? Or maybe it's just if you try to acquire power. So ambition corrupts. Except Emil wants to get rid of his powers, but he inherited them via resurrection and never wanted them. So wouldn't it be okay in his case? And are we going to examine the implications of saying "some people are born with powers, and that's good, and others aren't, and they shouldn't try to do anything about it"? Probably not, because the book doesn't actually believe anything, ultimately its attempts at theming feel more like regurgitated platitudes than any actual statement being made.
And um. Yeah. I think that's a good place to leave it. When Adam Silvera did the NFT thing with a few other authors, I decided I wouldn't read this book, but since that got canceled and I had already bought it before all of it, I figured I'd give it a shot anyway, and I honestly regret it now. I mean, look at how long it took me to read it. Consider the fact that I powered through it in the past few days, mostly by skimming over a decent chunk of the book just so I could get through. I honestly regret the time spent on finishing this, and I feel like a fool for hoping it would turn around in the third act like the first book did. I should have just DNFed at 25% when I felt the urge to bring it to the snark theater's chopping block and moved on to read something actually good and fun.
Oh, and one last thing. Delving into memories is not time travel. No matter how you spin it. That's just not what that means.
Edit: WAIT I DIDN'T EVEN POINT OUT THAT IT'S ABSURD TO HAVE NEW YORK EXIST AS JUST NEW YORK IN A WORLD WHERE MAGIC AND FANTASY CREATURES ARE REAL AND HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED AS IF THAT WOULDN'T DRAMATICALLY CHANGE WORLD HISTORY JUST GO WATCH THE LINDSAY ELLIS BRIGHT VIDEO I GUESS
I understand that the whole point of the book is Brighton's corruption arc, the issue is that…he's just kind of too vapid for it to feel engaging. He felt like he was already a villain from the word go in this book, which is a problem because a corruption arc requires a villain whose motivations are at least engaging, and not "he's an influencer with a massive ego who stumbled into godlike powers". No, I don't think having lost his dad and being therefore terrified of death is a sympathetic reason for him to do any of this. It's literally Voldemort's motivation. Not to mention, while it is his stated reason, it has nothing to do with his ego.
This is a problem because he—I think, I didn't run the numbers—hogs most of the POVs. This means the other plot lines move at a glacial pace, and in honestly frustrating ways sometimes. Like, oh no, maribelle decided to help luna instead of killing her because she might bring her boyfriend back from the dead, an act so grossly out of character that it feels like a desperate move from an author who can't let go of a character. And oh no, emil thinks his love interest is dead, gets a new love interest, and i don't know if it's shaping up to be a love triangle or if the hasty "yeah it's fine it was your business" conclusion will be final, but I don't care, because it doesn't matter.
None of this is helped by the fact that the book reads like a zombie fic. You know the ones, where the chapters are very short and tend to mostly meander on the POV's angst, which is repeated over and over without much progress and honestly isn't even earned half the time. I don't understand why Emil feels any responsibility for his past lives since he's essentially a different person altogether, and I don't know why anyone else would, which makes his angst, and the stinger that Brighton exposes it to the world, completely blank.
And when the characters aren't angsting, they're talking, which is also bad. I used to dismiss when people said they don't like when characters talk like they're in therapy and not like people who are having a conversation, but now I think maybe I just hadn't found the right (wrong?) books, because this is definitely that trope. Like, my god. It's fine for the characters to have flaws other than "essentially evil" and for those flaws to show in conversation.
Speaking of, that gets me to the primary antagonist and his plot line. Which, um. This book is peak liberalism, and I do mean that in a negative way, and I want to make it clear that when I do and say that, I am coming at it from the left (if that baffles you, hi, welcome to the world outside America where we have a marginally healthier political spectrum!). I was literally tempted to bring the Snark Theater out of hiatus so I could dissect this in more detail, but by the time I had the idea, I was 25% of the way through the book, and the thought of re-reading that first section honestly felt painful. Though, you know, maybe I will if/when I get to a better place personally. I don't have the time to do it right now, but I'll just say that to focus your main(?) plotline around a US presidential election and frame it in this way. Well. It's a choice. Emil, in particular, who is framed as our moral compass, abhors the idea of breaking the law, despite establishing the world as systemically oppressive towards magic users, i.e. something that should show legal does not equal good. I'm not touching on the framing of the police. But I am touching on the way prison is viewed as, like, good? And criminals deserve to be in a prison designed to torture and abuse them (like, on top of the usual ways prisons do) and it's only bad when the love interest is sent there? I mean, sorry, but Ness did in fact do all the crimes he's accused of. If you were consistent—but, well, that's the issue, isn't it? Liberalism loves to present itself as the ultimate nonviolent ideology, but that's only because it hides all the ways violence is made acceptable by framing the victims of violence as deserving. Criminals at the top of that. I mean, literally, after spending so long talking about how killing is bad, we get Maribelle shooting prisoners in the chest, and it's like, well, they're doing an organized manhunt for one of them, what are you gonna do, right.
Before anyone accuses me of going on a tangent, well, I am, but only because it's relevant because this unwillingness by the book and its author to critically examine their underlying ideology results in the book itself, and especially its world, to be similarly hollow. Gleamcrafters are oppressed, we're told! We never see any of it, but we sure are told! But also no, it's just specters, but actually it's fine with specters, because they ~stole~ the powers and weren't born with it, and maybe they're just inherently dangerous, you know?
Basically, if you've seen that meme of someone explaining why Harry Potter's world is so hollow through the lens of JKR's blairite liberal politics, it's the same thing here.
But to come back to the powers thing, that's another problem for the book's themes. I think the book wants to state that power corrupts? Maybe? Or maybe it's just if you try to acquire power. So ambition corrupts. Except Emil wants to get rid of his powers, but he inherited them via resurrection and never wanted them. So wouldn't it be okay in his case? And are we going to examine the implications of saying "some people are born with powers, and that's good, and others aren't, and they shouldn't try to do anything about it"? Probably not, because the book doesn't actually believe anything, ultimately its attempts at theming feel more like regurgitated platitudes than any actual statement being made.
And um. Yeah. I think that's a good place to leave it. When Adam Silvera did the NFT thing with a few other authors, I decided I wouldn't read this book, but since that got canceled and I had already bought it before all of it, I figured I'd give it a shot anyway, and I honestly regret it now. I mean, look at how long it took me to read it. Consider the fact that I powered through it in the past few days, mostly by skimming over a decent chunk of the book just so I could get through. I honestly regret the time spent on finishing this, and I feel like a fool for hoping it would turn around in the third act like the first book did. I should have just DNFed at 25% when I felt the urge to bring it to the snark theater's chopping block and moved on to read something actually good and fun.
Oh, and one last thing. Delving into memories is not time travel. No matter how you spin it. That's just not what that means.
Edit: WAIT I DIDN'T EVEN POINT OUT THAT IT'S ABSURD TO HAVE NEW YORK EXIST AS JUST NEW YORK IN A WORLD WHERE MAGIC AND FANTASY CREATURES ARE REAL AND HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED AS IF THAT WOULDN'T DRAMATICALLY CHANGE WORLD HISTORY JUST GO WATCH THE LINDSAY ELLIS BRIGHT VIDEO I GUESS
April 4, 2021
I so enjoyed this long ride! Filled with reveals and action packed scenes, this was a marked improvement from INFINITY SON! I really enjoyed this.
I knew Brighton would turn out to be an asshole in more ways than one, but I kind of find myself rooting for him a little bit (inserts covered eyes emoji).
I just hate that Ness seemed stagnant as a character in this book.
Adam seemed to have taken in all the feedback from the first book and applied it. Definitely ready for book 3!
I knew Brighton would turn out to be an asshole in more ways than one, but I kind of find myself rooting for him a little bit (inserts covered eyes emoji).
I just hate that Ness seemed stagnant as a character in this book.
Adam seemed to have taken in all the feedback from the first book and applied it. Definitely ready for book 3!
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