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

This was such an interesting read.
Sci-Fi isn't usually my genre, but I was very intrigued by this book from the very start. The cover is beautiful and the summary sounds super unique and different, and I just had to read this. However, I feel like my expectations weren't met completely.
The worldbuilding was really complex and unique and I really liked the general concept and idea, but the execution wasn't always the best. I struggled with visualizing certain things and some aspects from the past or the world itself were never properly explained, which led to plotholes. I felt like the worldbuilding was the thing that intrigued me most, but which also disappointed me the most.
I liked all the characters, the side characters were amazing - especially Annika and Gil - and their powers were really cool to read about. I struggled with liking the protagonist from time to time since she made really unreasonable decisions sometimes and just irritated me, but she was overall also fun to read about.
The plot itself was strong in the first half, with lots of suspense and a good built up, but I felt like it lost me somewhere around the 200-page mark. The book could definitely have been shorter because there were a lot of scenes and storylines which could have been shortened. I was really confused while reading because so much was going on and yet I was still bored.
The ending felt a little rushed and short, and there was no epic battle or confrontation, although the reveal was definitely well-done. I feel like it succeeded to make me excited for book 2, but I still feel like nothing significantly happened. Looking back this felt like I just read a 480-pages long exposition for a story that has yet to start in book 2.
I still enjoyed reading this, but I feel like there is definitely room for improvement in the series.

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC for The Infinity Courts. I went into this book completely blind, not really knowing much about it. I’d never heard of it before, nor have I read any of Bowman’s other works, so I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.

At first, I thought this was going to be predictable and so much like any other YA dystopian story I’ve read before, but there was a plot twist that changed my opinion for the better. Something else that makes this stand out is the fact that it takes place in the afterlife, which I haven’t really seen much of in YA at least. The only other series I can think of right now that kills off the protagonist at the start of the book and then follows their journey after their death is Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan. It was interesting to see Bowman’s imagining of what the afterlife could be like. After all, none of us know for sure what comes after this life.

Death is something everyone will eventually experience. It’s something we all know will happen to us one day, but we don’t know when that will be. In The Infinity Courts, Nami, our protagonist, has her life taken away sooner than she probably expected. Having just graduated from high school, Nami was just an ordinary girl. However, on her way to a graduation party, Nami was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ultimately, is murdered.

After dying, Nami finds herself in the afterlife. Nami quickly learns that she has ended up in a place called Infinity.
Once a place for humans created by humans to live after their death, it has now been taken over by an AI called Ophelia, whom Nami had already been familiar with during her life on Earth. When Nami was still alive, Ophelia was the name of an AI that helps humans with everyday tasks, which to me could be compared to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. So imagine a world in which the artificial intelligences we rely on in our everyday lives, such as Alexa or Siri, one day decided to fight back against us and declared themselves our rulers. That’s pretty much what happens in this book with Ophelia in Infinity. Ophelia has rid humans in the afterlife of their consciousness, making them her servants. However Nami joins a group of human rebels who plan to reclaim Infinity so that it’s a safe place for humans once more.

I won’t spoil or go into detail about the specific case in The Infinity Courts, but I love it when books have twists and turns and keep me on my toes, and this book succeeded in doing that for me, especially towards the end. Another thing I liked about this book was Nami’s love for her younger sister Mei. Her motivation for everything she does while in Infinity is driven by her wanting to make the afterlife a better place by the time Mei inevitably ends up there some day. Along those same lines, I appreciated the found family aspect of this book. Platonic love, whether it’s between siblings or friends or whoever, is such a beautiful thing. I think Nami’s characterization and development was done pretty well, too.

One criticism I would make is that the explanation for how Ophelia, the AI, managed to end up in the afterlife was kind of confusing to me. Other than that, this was a fun read.

When I read the description of this book on NetGalley, it was described as “Westworld meets Warcross,” and while I’m not familiar with Westworld, I do see the Warcross elements. I also found that at first this book almost reminded me of Crier’s War, namely because both have beings, who were invented to serve humans, rising up against humans and giving them a taste of their own medicine, I guess you could say. So in my opinion, if you’re a fan of Warcross by Marie Lu or Crier’s War by Nina Varela, there’s a chance that you might like The Infinity Courts.

For anyone considering reading this book, I do want to add a trigger warning for death from gun violence that happens early on in the story and also mentions of the death of an LGBT character. This character only makes an appearance once, but I still wanted to make note of this for anyone who might be triggered by it.

I feel so lucky to have received an ARC. This wasn't even on my 2021 release radar, but I am absolutely blown away.

This gave me everything I have been craving recently - a band of rebels, a compelling enemy, a unique world, root-worthy characters, engaging writing, and a high-stakes plot. There was actually a scene where my jaw DROPPED. It's one of the most shocking moments I have read in a book in a long time.

Honestly, if you told me Marie Lu wrote this, I would have believed you. This story feels like it came from a seasoned writer of the genre, so I am very impressed. This is an absolute must read when it comes out in a few months!

The Infinity Courts is a fantastic premise. The afterlife has been taken over by an artificial intelligence who is angry at being enslaved by humanity, and after dying young Nami discovers that she may be the key to freeing Infinity.

I really liked the characters in this book, and the twists (especially towards the end) were totally unexpected. The writing style is beautifully lyrical and although I read it in print, I'd imagine it works wonderfully as an audio book.

The only downside was that the world building felt a bit lacking. There were parts of Infinity that I didn't quite understand and some questions that never really got answered. However, it didn't stop me enjoying the story!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.