Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle Book 1)

This is the first of the trilogy, and there are only two books out as I write this (2021) and I've read both. So far, so good. This first one sets up the rules of the world nicely, lays out the characters and hints at the overall problems, while giving us plenty to deal with. It feels like a complete book, not a tease, and even though it sets up the second one, you don't feel cheated out of an ending.The story mainly follows two brothers, Brighton and Emil, who couldn't be more different. One is an introvert, the other is obsessed with fame. The magical elements in the world serve as a platform to play on much larger issues of humanity, friendship, identity, family and belonging, and done in a way that isn't preachy or heavy-handed. I appreciated the voice a lot, and it reads like a conversation with a teenager would. I'm not sure how well these books will age, but they are very now. I also love how Silvera handles LGBTQIA+ characters, with no drama and no coming out, just this is me, I'm gay, moving on. Also really appreciated the insertion of LatinX bits of culture and cuisine, and especially loved that Colombia gets a loving and respectful mention. As a Colombian, I often tense up when I see my country in a book or a movie because it is almost always a sign that the bad guy is Colombia, that there is a drug shipment involved or that some terrorist event is going to drive the plot at some point, but that is not the case in these books, for which I am very grateful. I actually read that the author has a Colombian friend and wants to make sure their culture gets treated well, which is awesome. Other than that, the magical elements are really cool and the fantastical beasts, phoenixes and basilisks and the like, are written in a way that seem almost mundane. Very, very cool.

It hurts my heart to have to write this review but like so many others before me have said, Infinity Son misses the mark in just about every aspect.There are two positives:1. The idea itself is great. I'm a lifelong lover of every shade of Fantasy and it is clear that Silvera is as well. He had all of the ingredients for greatness here, unfortunately the execution was lackluster.2. QUEER POC LEAD CHARACTER. The majority of our cast of characters are POC and a good number of them are LBGTQIA+. It is unfortunate that the majority of the characters themselves were 2 dimensional carbon-copies of one another personality-wise.The negatives (Or every other part of this book):1. The plot is so insanely cliche that the only thing that could have made it bearable was if it were written brilliantly. It is not written brilliantly. Silvera lost himself in this world and it shows.2. The world building goes from non-existent to info-dump central and never finds a happy medium. Things are either never explained or over-explained to the point of paragraph skippage. There are also huge gaps in logic within the world, the magic system, etc. It's such a mess that I am shocked this book made it to print without someone saying something about it.3. The characters were AWFUL. My favorite thing about Silvera's writing is his way of getting you to like his characters--no matter their flaws--without you realizing it's happening. That was not the case with Infinity Son. Brighton is unlikable out the gate and remains so until the last page. His last act in the book, though I saw it coming from the beginning, is the only thing I found remotely interesting about him. Emil on the other end of the spectrum is wishy-washy AF and Silvera needs to sit down and do some serious character revision moving forward. This is your lead character, give him a personality, please. The supporting cast was the same person over and over again, just given a different name, physical description, and one alternating personality trait.4. The writing is straight up bad. In an attempt to have his teenagers sound like actual teenagers Silvera loses everything about his writing style that makes his books worth reading.5. After reading this book I feel like someone (literally any one of the dozens of published, NYT bestselling authors that Silvera thanks in his acknowledgements) should have sat down with Silvera and told him that this book was not how to start this series. The last chapter of this book was how to start this series. The events of this book are backstory that we can be given in small snippets throughout a story that follows the rising antagonism between these brothers. This book is the origin story of Brighton vs. Emil but I can't care about the origin story because I don't care about the characters or the world.I hope Silvera redeems himself and this series with the second installment but I doubt it.

Infinity Son is a solid enjoyable story that you won't regret reading at all. I did kinda regret reading the description because it made part of the early story feel like I'd been spoiled.My personal commentary: Someone get Brighton a giant Snickers bar cuz that boy needs to chill like wtf someone stop him from raising my blood pressure!!! He's got his good moments but like most of the time I was just like, can you go somewhere else my g?! Oh boy my internal ranting was so feverish that I had to remind myself that he's a fictional character just to move on. Oh and just wait till you see what this man does later on and tell me I'm not supposed to start a petition to have him just literally spanked in the next book.Emil is best boy and bro and literally just deserves a whole book of self appreciation in my opinion and I disagree with any and all negative comments on his character and I am totally not biased in that assessment.

I loved this book! Adam Silvera never fails to devastate my heart (in the best way!!) and Infinity Son lived up to expectation. The setting was ambitious and combined wands/superheroes/mythical creatures/&YouTube in a way that was both unique, epic, and warmly reminiscent of my favorite superhero, fantasy, and supernatural universes. The bond between Emil and Brighton was strong and complicated. The brothers have each other's backs even if they sometimes want to be at each other's throats. I can't wait to learn more about the Spell Walkers and specters as the rest of their journeys and relationships play out. The last line of Infinity Son left me with some emotions 🤯 and I will be *desperately* waiting for book 2!If you like X-Men, Harry Potter, or plot-twisty stories about siblings and diverse bands of heroes (& villains, & maybe some characters who are in the middle...) then give this a read! It's a fun world with some sweet and complicated characters.

I really loved how Adam Silvera writes his books.I mean how can you ever put his book down. A true masterpiece.

It was good, but that’s all I can say. Maybe it’s unfair to compare this to his other stuff, but sadly, that’s how it works. Where this one fell short is, I just didn’t care about any of the characters. Maybe it was too many introduced too fast with a complicated world backstory being introduced at the same time. Maybe it’s just that superhero stories aren’t my thing.The things Adam Silvera does great are here: amazing LGBTQ representation, great blending of supernatural with technology and social media.But i just didn’t feel the heart here.Will I read the second? Yes. It was a nice twist there on the last page, and in the second book, I’ll know the world more.Should you read it? Yes. Because phoenixes are gorgeous and it’s obvious Adam put his heart and soul into this.I’m just... empty.

I have loved Adam Silvera for a quite long time now and when I saw, that the book was out I was hyped.Synopsis:Emil and Brighton are a pair of brothers living in a alternative New York. While Brighton is very eager to learn about the so-called celestials, people born with powers, and posts about them in his blog. Emil on the other hand does not care about celestials as much as he cares about phoenixes and their breeds. And yet it happens that both of them fall into a world full of celestials, phoenixes and power.PLOT:The plot of this book is simple, yet so detailed and complex. Silvera is using not too much and yet not to less plot twists. Every turn this book made, I watched closely and was surprised of these reveals.CHARACTERS:Silvera has this agenda his characters are. Gay/Queer and hispanic/latino, yet every character he creates has this own soul and person. The two main characters Emil and Brighton are wonderfully written and the other main characters are following their example. My favourite are Emil, Prudencia and Ness and each of these characters are having such a good character arc, like the others.WORLD:The world he made is simple, as it plays in New York but with complex alternative details, such as powerful beings, phoenixes, just as, etc. You could call it a mix of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson put into one universe.STYLE:The book is for everyone beginner or daily reader. There is a certain language in the book but it gets explained and one gets used to it very fast.CONCLUSION:I have loved this book and these characters and their relationships. I look forward to the second book and am very eager to learn more about that world.

Good for teens

I consider myself a fan of Adam Silvera. "They both die at the end" is one of my favorite books and I genuinely enjoy his style of writing. So I was thrilled when I learned that he published a fantasy series as well. Sadly this book did not meet my expectations.Of course there were positive aspects as well. I really liked the setting and the magic system that was introduced. It was easy to understand and stayed constant.The problems began with the main cast of the book. While I was intrigued by the idea of the "wrong" brother being the chosen one that concept stayed kind of flat. I would have wished for more character development especially when it comes to Brighton.Over all I liked a lot of the ideas the story had but I couldn't relate to a lot of the characters which made it hard to stay engaged.