Thanks the ARC gods for blessing me with an advanced galley to review this book, my Black Mirror crazy self keeps on asking when will I finish this ever since I read that peculiar synopsis.

I've only read Starfish from Akemi Dawn Bowman and this one is still a recommended read. This didn't beat Starfish as one of my favorite authora but its a great book with a refreshing storyline so there you go 😍

Author Akemi Dawn Bowman (https://www.akemidawnbowman.com) will publish the novel “The Infinity Courts” in 2021 (April). This is Ms. Bowman's fifth publication. This novel is the first in her "Infinity Courts" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains mild violence and mature language. The primary character for this young adult novel is 18 -year-old Nami Miyamoto.

Miyamoto is just graduating from High School when she dies. She awakens in a place referred to as Infinity. She finds that others who have passed before her are in conflict with Ophelia an AI. Ophelia has somehow traveled to Infinity and is attempting to take over. Ophelia was popular as a personal assistant (think Siri or Alexa) when Miyamoto was alive on Earth. Miyamoto had spent hours talking to Ophelia before she died.

Now Ophelia is trying to rule Infinity with a population of androids. The people there are becoming their unwilling servants. Miyamoto becomes part of a resistance group. She has taken on an Android-like appearance enabling her to move among Ophelia's minions.

I enjoyed the 10+ hours I spent reading this 480-page young adult novel. The book follows the typical teen thrown into an apocalyptic environment of many young adult novels. There are a few good plot twists and of course some romance. I do like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I'm afraid I'm putting this on my DNF pile. If I knew this would only come to me as a file on my computer, I probably wouldn't have requested it. The font is a little small which makes it difficult to read. I actually think the story is interesting and would like to see where it's going, but I don't want to strain my eyes in order to do so.

However, I don't want to give the book a bad score based on that. What I did manage to read I liked, and I am intrigued enough that I'll check the book out when it releases. I will say that NetGalley should probably indicate what formats the books are going to be sent in to make it easier on people like me who might have difficulty reading a book on their computer.

I think if you go into this book with high expectations, you will be disappointed. Luckily for me, I knew nothing about this book, and therefore didn't expect anything. I'm not saying by any stretch that this book is bad, but it just isn't as amazing as the cover and synopsis may suggest.

It's very hard to connect with he main character, as her personality is pretty bland. I loved the world-building elements, but it was just very surface level. There was little opportunity to get swept up in the world. Overall, this book is 3.5 stars; very average.

I so almost gave this 3 stars! Not because it was terrible but because of the main character!

She is fresh into death so I understand her feelings towards it but she was so adamant about making it a safe place for her sister to be welcomed into that it seemed like she didn’t actually accept her death.

Throughout the book she is constantly trying to convince everyone that the Residents (A.I) can’t be all that bad and they can coexist and all other characters around her disagreed. At one point I even believed that she was just caving to their whims so she didn’t get kicked out but was still defying them 100% because she couldn’t give up on her sisters afterlife. She is still very much alive but all she can think about is when her sister dies.

My biggest problem was the “romance”. The relationship she had with Gil was volatile at worst and indifferent at best but yet she had feelings for him the entire time he was mean to her. Not a school yard bully either. He seemed to truly hate her and I saw no connection.

This book has a slight "The Host" and "Divergent" kind of feel to it and it is fairly pop culture centered as well.

But you gave this 4 stars, you ask? Well... while I was having these issues, that ending made up for it almost tenfold. Everything makes sense in the end, right?

Nami has been in love with a boy for years and finally gets a chance to go to a party where he will also be! Only problem is, she dies before she gets to the party. When she “wakes up” she find herself in the afterlife, referred to as “Infinity”, where the soul goes when you die. In this world, Ophelia (an AI) has taken over and is trying to destroy the world. Nami is determined to stop her.

The world building was imaginative and intriguing. The story was well paced but I found it a little hard to connect with Nami. Since she dies right off the bat, I felt shorted in not getting to know who she was when she was alive. I am not sure if that’s why I had a difficult time connecting with her character, but I found myself being impartial to her.

Overall, this book was an average read.

Thank you to NetGalley + Simon Pulse for the ARC.

I recall reading and loving Akemi Dawn Bowman’s other book, Starfish, a few years ago, but The Infinity Courts is the first book of hers that I’ve read since, and I was blown away by it. I loved the characters, the premise, and especially the writing. It’s simple and easy to understand but still beautiful, which I appreciate. I do think that the world of Infinity and Ophelia could have been explored a little more, because I struggled to understand some aspects of them. Regardless, I can’t wait for book two, especially after that incredible ending. Would highly recommend!

(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.)

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book for review.

The Infinity Courts started off like a generic young adult novel, teenage girl going to a graduation party and hopes to build a relationship with a boy... but then quickly veers off course with her sudden death and transition to the afterlife.

I enjoyed this mixture of examination of free will/choice and human nature. I liked that Nami struggled to understand the choices her new family was making for the future of humankind.

While there were a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book, it was somewhat of a relief that it ended without a cliffhanger. Of course, sequels could be introduced, but the end was satisfying enough and left the reader with some questions that seem appropriate for a book about what happens after we die.

I unfortunately could not even read this title. It was not available on kindle so I had to download it through the net galley app and the text is so small, and can not be increased in size. Instead you have to zoom in and then pan over, it makes this book VERY difficult to read on mobile. Would be great if this book was available on kindle or if you could increase/adjust the font on the app. I even downloaded the app to my computer and its the same exact situation, but even then who wants to read a whole book on the computer. Anyway this is my only way to leave this feedback, I really wish I could have read this book because it looked amazing!

This book was received as an ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing - Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have been getting a lot of recommendations of futuristic books and books that have an afterlife fantasy and I loved this book to the point that I am super excited to add another book to my list of YA recommendations. Nami gets murdered before her life even has just begun with so many bright plans for her future. What really got my attention was the fact in this infinity world it is ruled by a human version of a digital assistant and in the afterlife (infinity world) she is the queen and she wants payback for the human race and their selfishness. Nami teams up and forms an army of warriors to defeat Ophelia and reconciles with her past in order for victory. A lot of our YA community will gravitate towards this book.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

If you're looking for a new, creative, genre-blending universe to get lost in, The Infinity Courts is everything you ever wanted and then some. Think of this as 'The Good Place' meets Westworld and cyber-dystopia: a dystopian afterlife ruled by four cruel princes and a Siri-esque AI gone rogue. When eighteen-year-old Nami dies unexpectedly, she's sent to an afterlife that, she quickly realizes, is not all it seems. She's rescued from eternal, mindless servitude by a band of rebels, and from there, she begins to learn the depths of her own powers as she struggles with fitting in and whether or not there's any way to win the fight without all-out war.

Every detail in the book is incredibly evocative. Genre and style mash-ups can be difficult to nail, but Bowman absolutely does - it feels totally natural and totally unique. Nami, too, is much more than your cliche YA "reluctant Chosen One": she's complicated, messy, angry, confused, and grieving. I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the side characters, though - at times, it felt like we were juuuuust on the brink of getting something good, then the story pulled back. I'd have enjoyed a few less scenes of Nami rehashing her motivations in her inner monologue and a few more giving us info about the rest of the cast to avoid feeling quite so much like familiar tropes (the wise mentor, the new BFF, the prickly potential love interest).

The plot itself follows familiar beats - if you've read YA SFF, you have an idea what's coming, even if you don't predict the specifics. It's the philosophy beneath it all that's intriguing. Beneath the story runs an undercurrent of hard-to-answer questions about life, death, morality, and what we "deserve." It's those questions that help elevate The Infinity Courts from a fun adventure to something worth revisiting.

I’m glad I didn’t go into this one with too high hopes. I quite enjoyed the world building and writing, but I felt a few of the characters were a little flat. Nami was one of the only characters that felt fully fleshed out, and I personally never really liked Gil, and found the rest of the characters were flat and didn’t get much time for the reader to get to know them.
A few of the scenes were a little difficult to understand, and I felt like Nami’s conversations with Ophelia could have been more useful to the characters, and provided more to the story.

I was into this book from the initial description and everyone that I tell I am reading a book about and "evil AI that has taken over the afterlife" is also excited about this book.

In fact, I was so excited I forgot to check that is was available for Kindle and read it on my phone. If it wasn't for my eyes I would have FLOWN through it.

The world building of this book was fabulous and I loved it. The plot was pretty compelling as well. And I will definitely be recommending this to people.

I did find Nami annoying at times. Her lack of understanding of being IN A WAR was frustrating. Despite being a YA librarian I do find that sometimes as I get older. But it wasn't so much I didn't want to continue to read and find out what happened.

And that part near the end - I was surprised and that doesn't usually happen. Given that I read so much, I can just usually figure things out. I will say the very very end, I didn't love but I am hopeful for sequels where more will be revealed and it won't feel simple.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review !!

I absolutely loved this book – it made me laugh, it made me cry, and feel pretty much everything in between.

The Infinity Courts follows Nami, an eighteen year old girl, who is murdered very near the beginning of the book. After her death, Nami finds herself in Infinity, which is a place where the human consciousness goes after physical bodies die. Back on earth, when she was alive, an AI assistant called Ophelia assisted Nami, and many others with their day to day lives – and, in Infinity, Ophelia rules, with humans serving her the way she once served them. The book goes on to follow Nami and a team of rebels who are working to bring down Ophelia and save the human afterlife.

As a reader, I personally found this book really thought-provoking and enjoyable. While reading, I grew to love many of the characters – Nami and Gil in particular. I found the way Nami faced moral struggles and challenges throughout the book extremely human and interesting to read about, and, all in all, I loved her as a character. She was well crafted and developed well throughout the book. The world-building in this book was also extremely engaging – I've seen it compared to Marie Lu's Warcross but, in all honesty, Infinity was in my eyes completely different. While the book retained some common elements and themes of the SFF genre, it was a refreshing and unique read and I personally did not find any of it overly predictable or boring.

Anyway, in short, you should all read this. I enjoyed it immensely and wouldn't hesitate to reread it. There's found family, enemies to lovers and I was kept fully invested in the characters, world and plot throughout. I'm extremely excited for a second instalment, and believe me when I say I will struggle through the wait.

Content warnings: murder, torture, mild gore, death, mention of underage drinking.

The infinity courts is the first book in the infinity courts series by Akemi Dawn Bowman. In this book Bowman takes a totally unique view of the afterlife in a science-fiction atmosphere.

One day when Nami is shot in the leg and unfortunately dies, she ends up in Infinity. The world of the afterlife which is divided into four courts. Each of these courts is ruled by a prince, but Infinity also has a queen named Ophelia. Ophelia, like all other residents of Infinity, is an artificial intelligence, and it just so happened that Ophelia was Nami's best digital friend when she was still alive. When Nami arrives in Infinity, she is offered a pill, but because she refuses it, she ends up being unaware in danger.

Nami is rescued by a group of people who have made the same choice as her, and she soon learns that Infinity is not a happily ever after at all. Queen Ophelia turns out not to be a good friend, on the contrary. Her purpose and purpose of Infinity is to take the consciousness of the people in order to control them. Nami is determined to prevent this from happening. Will she be able to prevent the plans of Queen Ophelia? Can Nami get used to life in Infinity? What dangers will come her way?

The infinity courts is a book you really have to get into. Because the story quickly moves over to Infinity, a lot of important information comes to light at the beginning of the story. But once you get into the story you will want to keep reading.

Akemi Dawn Bowman has a very defined writing style that reads very smoothly. She knows how to build the world of Infinity and she also gives you a clear picture of the difference between the residents and the humans.

During the story only the most important characters are worked out, so that you, as a reader, get a clear picture of how important the role of a particular character is. What I really liked is that the story mentions six locations, but in this book only three locations, as the mortal world, the colony and Victory, play a part. Nevertheless, you will get enough information about the other locations as well.

I am very curious about what will await Nami in the next book, and partly due to the slight cliffhanger in the end, I can't wait to read the second book. I highly recommend The infinity courts to all readers who like science fiction in combination with a lot of adventure.

This was an amazing story that I could not put down! I loved the action and the character development. The characters were likeable, and the plot was interesting. It definitely kept me interested until the end. I highly recommend this read!

Sadly I can’t read this since it’s not a kindle book. I can’t read books on my phone or computer, due to the glare, and therefore I have no choice but to review it this way.

I received an egalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. First off, the cover of this book? Gorgeous! I love it so much. It’s bright and colorful, but also ominously serious at the same time, given that the main character, Nami, is holding what looks like a dagger behind her back.

Nami Miyamoto is your average girl on the brink of life. She’s eighteen, recently graduated from high school, and on her way to a party with her friends. She’s thinking about Finn, her potential maybe boyfriend/best friend she’s had a crush on for ages and about her future. Instead, she’s killed during a gas station robbery. She wakes up in Infinity, the afterlife, and is offered the choice to take a pill and be in paradise. Something feels wrong, though, and she refuses the pill, escaping with the help of a group of rebels, people who also refused to take the pill. Turns out, the pill erases your consciousness and makes you a pawn.

Ophelia is this world’s Alexa or Siri. She’s who you mindlessly ask for facts or to play your music or to text your friend. She finds a way to infiltrate Infinity and take it over, creating four princes to rule over everything. An afterlife ruled by an AI is such an interesting concept. Also a technological afterlife, capable of being run over by an AI, like it’s a complex computer program, is very intriguing. It reminds me of Upload, where a person can pay to be uploaded into the afterlife and experience all kinds of amenities, if they can pay.

I was drawn in by Nami’s descriptions of her life, of her friends, of Finn, and the fandom references, particularly to Star Wars. It was all wonderful introduction and then action, pulling me in. After that, weeks or months passes in spurts, with things happening, then a bunch of time passing under the guise of ‘training’ and ‘practicing.’ I struggled with these times, trying to stay interested. I knew action was coming, and that these times contained important information on how Infinity worked. But I wish there had been more descriptions as to just how Nami trained and what she did during these times.

She deals with what makes a person human, and her own humanity in the afterlife. If she gives up all ties to her family, moves on so she can become more powerful in the afterlife, she feels like she’ll forget who she is. It’s her sister, Mei, that she’s even fighting so hard for. She wants her sister to be happy in the afterlife and so works hard to change how things work. But the references to Mei drop about halfway through but it doesn’t feel like another motivation takes its place, if that makes sense. She’s driven to save the people of Infinity, the ones who took the pill. She wants to protect the Residents, as well. Though they are artificially created, she thinks of them as people, who can perhaps live with the humans in harmony.

I did struggle at picturing the surroundings sometimes, particularly of the market and the world the residents inhabit. Some things were described in detail, but I found it hard to think of the larger picture, enough for me to place myself in that universe anyway.

The writing was very well done, particularly Nami’s inner thoughts, despite the disconnect I felt in her motives and actions. I feel the world building could have had a bit more detail put into it but the focus was very much on Nami’s feelings and internal conflict. I would have liked more focus on the other characters and their relationships with Nami. It seemed, much of the time, that Nami spent all her time in her room, away from the others. Meaningful relationships were glossed over, hinted at having formed later on, but sort of off-screen.

I really do enjoy the idea of an AI taking over the afterlife and I very much enjoyed Nami and Ophelia’s conversations. I wish there had been more of them, to give us more insight into Ophelia as a person. Maybe some flashbacks from her point of view, or more legends regarding the formation of Infinity as we see it.

So, I’d’ve liked more character building outside of Nami, stronger worldbuilding and more explanations about Ophelia and her powers and motivations. As well as more power over the afterlife itself. It seems like there’s so much that can be done, but most people don’t do it. You could do anything, wear anything, be anything, but you don’t. And somehow, you still need to invent things, not just bring them into being with a strong imagination. I would definitely like more information on just how that works and the limits of what can and can’t be done. And I really want to know how Nami’s family and friends took her death. I’m hoping further books will go into this somehow. I rate this book a high three stars, with the series having great potential.

This book has a lot of potential, and I really wanted to like it. And at times I really did. But a lot of the time it felt like it never quite reached the potential it so clearly had.

This book is amazing!!! I’m thankful to have been provided a free advanced reading copy digitally in order to provide a true review. I read and loved Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman. So, my expectations weren’t low going in, but they were so far surpassed!

I was afraid the book would drag as it isn’t super short, but it flew by. I’m ready for the next one, please! This science fiction novel where Ophelia, similar to Alexa type of technology, takes over the afterlife. It kept me guessing throughout the whole thing. Engaging, science fiction novel.