This book was an entertaining dark read that fused art, time and zodiac. I really enjoyed many elements and then there were others that were not for me. While this was a good fast paced read and one I would recommend to my students, I did not find enough talking points to add it to a syllabus.

A seriously different story about time travel, A rich guru finds kids with home problems and invite them to a remote island where they are taught to time travel to steal from the rich..
Not really for me.
Voluntarily reviewed.

There needs to be a better synopsis for this book, because I didn’t realize it was about time travel. Natasha is sent to live on a remote island owned by a billionaire tech giant who has become a recluse. She joins a group of conniving, secretive teenagers willing to do whatever it takes to further their own agendas and she doesn’t know who to trust. But as soon as she gets a chance to time travel, there’s no way she’s leaving Grey Wolf Academy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, even though I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did find the lack of answers about Natasha a bit annoying, and the book ended quite abruptly. I know it’s the first in a series, but it felt like episode 8 out of 10 rather than a season finale.

I didn’t really care for the love interest, but there was a late introduction that has me intrigued about a possible love triangle in the next book. That late character was probably my favourite character, as well.

In the end, I’ll have to read the next one, because it doesn’t even feel like I’ve finished the first. And for the possible love triangle. And answers. So many needed answers.

Edit to add there should be a trigger warning for attempted rape.

Wow! This book was so good! Time traveling teens wrecking havoc on the past? Yes please. Art, tarot and numerology? Heck yes! So many things I love about this book! It was definitely a book that was building up a lot of the story. The author did what a lot of YA authors do and built you up just to drop you off at the end for the second one. I feel like she’s leading more into NA for the future book. I listened to the audiobook of this but I do feel like I am going to be reading the physical as well. The narrator was great but I would love to read it in a different perspective. Thank you the netgalley and publisher for the chance to listen to this audiobook!

I received an audio ARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

I got capture in the begining od the story, and it sounded promising. But what effected my review is the main character bugged me alot. Cause she just goes with what ever get thrown at her with out questioning any thing. She just goes with it blindly.

But I did find the story interesting enough and can see others would like it.

And as for the audio book, I listen to it at the speed 2.0 and it was fine, I liked the narrator she did a really good job.

So all in all that's why my review is where it is.

What a book!!! I’ve received an advanced audiobook from
NetGalley and let me tell you, AMAZING. I got hooked from the beginning. I loved some of the characters (little spoiler: there’s always nasty ones!) The way the author included art and history in a fantasy world about time travel. I have so many questions and got so many troubled feelings towards the end. Even trough out the book, the mystery, the doubts, the characters, they always manage to really get you in deep, it’s like you’re one of the characters. I can’t wait to the next one!!
If you can, read it please!!!

I was sent an audio book arc like two days before this was released.

I've finished it finally aaaand it was alright. I like other books by Noel and I've been satisfactorily entertained.

I like the idea, it sounded interesting. I feel like something is missing, but I can't put my finger on what. I wish there was more magic and mystery. I like the tarot card details and numerology, but I want there to be more. I want a deep dive.

I also agree that it may have been better in 3rd person. I don't think I like being in Natasha's head.

There is sooooo much going on. This story never stops and has no slow parts. Every chapter is just constant. Even the relationship is so fast. It was like a week. wtf

I am not a fan of Arthur.

The cover is pretty and I'll probably read the next one.

I think that the concept for the story is amazing and I may find it electronically or read a physical copy but the audio was just hard to listen to. It is not just the voice of the FMC it's the whiney tone that comes through that I could not get past.,

DNF at 25%.

This book is bone dry. I haven’t even gotten to the time traveling yet because I am just not invested in this story.

The story is trite - the chosen one with absent parents (one dead, one withdrawn into herself) whisked off to an adventure with a mysterious, handsome strange with a fabulous accent.

It sounds great in theory but it's utterly predictable and boring.

I had high hopes for this book after the extremely unique author’s note at the beginning as well as the intriguing prologue. Unfortunately, the story that followed did not live up to that for me. The first 50% of the book felt pretty bland and I had a hard time staying engaged of getting invested in the characters. The second half of the book had some better moments but overall remained just okay in my opinion. I still think there’s a chance that I would read the sequel to learn more about a character I liked who comes in towards the end of the book.

The pacing of this story was one of the things that did not work well for me. At first it felt like things were moving too rapidly and then all of a sudden there was a time jump we get in the middle that felt very awkward and disjointed. The romance also suffered due to these issues and fell short for me.

The overall concept and premise of the story I really liked and I think the author was onto something that could be a hit in the YA genre. Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t quite there, however I see a lot of room for growth in subsequent books in the series.

As an audiobook, this one read fairly well. It’s not too complex of a fantasy magic system to keep track of while listening. It’s set also set in the modern world which helps with that as well.

This book was unique and fun. It kept me listening. It could be a little bit slow at times, but the author needed to build the world for the reader. It was fairly suspenseful, and I really enjoyed that. This book was well written. I loved the time travel angle. The narrator did a good job. Overall, I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

I think I'm going to have to DNF this one at 47%. Nothing is really happening and at nearly 200 pages in I think this is an unacceptable use of my time considering how many books I want to read.
Natasha and Braxton are characters probably better suited for a 2000s to early 2010s YA books (not that there's anything wrong with that, but now that I'm 23 I find them very juvenile and it also tells me that Alyson Noel hasn't updated her writing style for nearly a decade). How so?
a. They're manic-pixie dream girls/boys,
b. Nat harbours a lot of internalized misogyny
c. They're both literally perfect in behaviour and appearance but are self-deprecating
d. Don't have any particular talents but are considered "special" by other supporting characters
I can't tell you much about the plot apart from it was slow, involved some sort of time travel, and the end-game because very obvious very quickly. You don't need to pay attention to figure out which character would be revealed as the villain.
Anyway, not my thing. Alyson Noel does have a writing style that vibes with me though: easy and not overly superfluous. So, I rated in 2 stars... but like a low-ranking 2 stars.

Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I loved that there was so much more than just a great story. It was one of those books that make you think, feel and look beyond the regular world and into something much greater. I think that lovers of fantasy will be engrossed from page one and will think about this book long after they finish it.

✅️ YA
✅️ High School /Acadamy
✅️ Single POV

✔️ Tarot Cards
✔️ Numerology
✔️ Art History
✔️ Time Travel

● I listened to this as an audiobook 😁

The book opens with a bomb of information. 🤓🤯 This is the foundation of information that helps shape the book. (It isn't necessary to take notes though 😉 As Alyson writes, she reiterates what things mean so you aren't left in the dust wondering what the heck. 🤔)

If you were a fan of the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown- think of this as similar information given. Art history facts, lesson in numerology, and tarot card usage as the story goes on.

Natasha gets recruited to attend a posh boarding school called Grey Wolf Acadamy run by elusive billionaire tech guru Aurthur Blackstone. It is essentially a school for time travelers. They learn how to travel back in time. Natasha meets Braxton and starts falling for him. The only problem is, is that everyone at the school seems to have their own agenda.

Who can you trust?

⭐️ The book starts off slow with facts, but starts picking up about the 45% 🤓

Excellent word building and descriptive settings so it seems more like watching a movie than listening to an audiobook.

I am impatiently waiting for the second book in this series to know what happens next!!!

The narrator did an excellent job! 👍

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to/read and review this audioARC!

First of all, let me start off by mentioning that I find Alyson Noel's books very addicting. Growing up she was one of my favorite authors and initially the person who got me into reading. Therefore I did feel a certain nostalgia when reading this; it was almost an upgraded version of The Immortals.

This is a young adult fantasy book, which deals with time travelling, numerology with a splash of romance. It did take me a while to really get into the story, but especially after the halfway point, I was so invested in what was happening. The ending left me with a longing for the 2nd book in the series, and I can't believe I have to wait until next year to know what ends up happening to everyone! I ended in a very dramatic way and with a lot of open ends leading into the 2nd book.

Another book that I need to buy a physical copy of, so that I can show it off on my shelf!

(Can we also talk about how nice this cover is?? Alyson Noel finally got the stunning cover she deserves!)

Nice plot, several elements that have a lot of potential, but it is insufficiently and weakly developed.

The synopsis promises a lot of mystery, adventure and intrigue. Natascha comes across as a strong character, she knows what she wants, and she also knows she cannot trust Braxton. In reality, however, Natascha comes across as rather weak, she barely stands up for herself and gets completely carried away by everything that is going on around Gray Wolf Academy. I felt like the school was more like a cult where everyone is brainwashed to find the ideals and ways of Gray Wolf normal. The inscrutable billionaire tech guru, as described in the synopsis, who leads the school, is absolutely unbelievable as a person. How he gets away with everything he stands for and what he asks of the students is beyond me, how disturbed do you have to be for all this? None of the characters really have much depth when you think about it. Also Natascha's so-called friends in Gray Wolf, how they treat her, I really don't understand why she thinks they are her friends. As for the development of the story, in the first half of the book, hardly anything worth mentioning happens. Also further on in the story, the characters jump from one event to the next, instead of the storyline being giving more space to unfold. For example, regarding the lessons given at Gray Wolf, the reader gets to see absolutely nothing of them. You only know that Natascha has been training for X weeks, full stop. Not only do you not get to see that, but you also don't get the feeling that she is really learning much during that time, if you look at how she is behaving. On top of that, they are making a big deal of being a Green - Yellow - Blue, on the one hand so much importance is attached to the distinction between the groups, but on the other hand the transition is sometimes very sudden and without much build-up, leaving you wondering why the division even exists. In summary, this story lacks a lot of elaboration in my opinion, and there are several aspects that do not make sense at all or that raise a lot of questions. The characters of Natascha's father and Braxton also raise a lot of questions, but without spoilers, I can't go into it any further.
What I did find positive about this book: the idea behind the synopsis, the principle of Gray Wolf Academy and what they do there (partly, because there are also a lot of dubious things), Natascha's gift (both the gift itself and what the possibilities of that are, but also this is not elaborated on in the book), it was a reasonably smooth read, the cover (so gorgeous). Unfortunately, these things do not really outweigh all the things that annoyed me. So I cannot yet say for sure whether I would like to read the sequel or not.
I have listened to the audiobook, which was a good experience. The narrator has a pleasant voice and succeeds in conveying the story well. It did take quite a while to listen to the whole thing, given the length of the book, while in my opinion it could have been done in a lot less time. But this is not related to the narrator's work.
Hence a score of 3/5, because the potential is there and there were some good things in the story, but at the same time there are too many things that just don't make sense.

I am leaving this review voluntarily, based upon an advance review copy I received for free (through Netgalley). Nevertheless this hasn’t influenced my review of this book, my opinion is and remains 100% my own.

First things first— time travel! This is the first time travel YA book I’ve read since the Ruby Red series. I LVE THE CONCEPT OF TIME TRAVEL. It’s so mysterious, and as a lover of all things historical (ok, just the beautiful things historical) I am here for it. It’s the best way to learn history, honestly. 🥰

Now, that aside, I love the mixture of history and time traveling art thieves. But it goes much deeper. Natasha becomes one of a bunch of underage people who go around time stealing jewelry and art and power in some ways. She has a father who knew about time travel but has since gone missing (when she was young), and the rest of the people are totally untrustworthy with an abundance of secrets.

Favorite thing about this book? Probably the mystery. Unfortunately that’s also what makes it hard to read. I want answers and this is only the first book of an unknown quantity. So you read and gather up all of your questions in a basket, and then you end the book sad, with a basket of unanswered questions. I should have waited until the series was over. 🫠😂 But at least I’ll pick up the next book, right? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also, I listened to this one on audiobook. I’ve heard this narrator before (How to Defeat a Demon King is 10 Easy Steps) and I like her. She has a young voice that lends itself well to teen stories, and her inflections are good. I enjoyed it. There were two male readers at the beginning and end who suited their characters as well. My only critique would be that the gentleman that read the last chapter as Braxton had an English accent, but read Elodie with the same accent. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Not a big deal, but something I noticed.

Four stars because the story is incomplete and I feel like I can’t understand so much of it. I hope the second book will give me a LITTLE answers

A very fun YA boarding school fantasy! The book does end a little abruptly, but I'm hopeful that the sequel will resolve that. The characters are compelling and realistically teenage. The world Noel introduces sucks the reader in. For every answer there are more questions but it never feels like a copout or a problem. I'm highly invested in seeing where this series goes.

Siento especial debilidad por los libros que hacen uso de los viajes en el tiempo para contar su historia, pero que me gusten tanto estas novelas implica también que he leído bastante ejemplos de ellas y que me vuelva un poco exigente a la hora de disfrutarlas. Y, por desgracia, en Stealing Infinity el viaje en el tiempo es un elemento accesorio, inexplicado y decepcionante.


No es ni la primera ni la última novela que utiliza como entorno una exclusiva escuela que aísla a sus alumnos de la sociedad buscando explotar todo su potencial, aunque en este caso no se trata de magia como en la reciente The Atlas Six, libro con el que tiene algunas semejanzas. Los alumnos de la escuela en Stealing Infinity son más jóvenes, y durante el proceso de reclutamiento tampoco tienen muy claro que se espera de ellos.

El ritmo de la novela es bastante rápido, eso es algo que hay que concederle a Alyson Noël, que consigue presentarnos más de 100 capítulos en esta primera parte de una serie. Por desgracia, ese es uno de los escasos puntos favorables de la publicación.

La explicación de cómo se llevan a cabo los viajes en el tiempo es sencillamente inexistente, pero el por qué se realizan quizá sea que se lo esté guardando para los siguientes volúmenes, porque tras más de cuatrocientas páginas que sea por el capricho de tener objetos valiosos de un multimillonario se queda bastante coja. Deja entrever que hay otras razones, pero como deja entrever tantas otras cosas en una primera entrega que apenas tiene cohesión como obra independiente, dejando una gran cantidad de tramas abiertas con un final que te deja una sensación de incompletitud, como si la autora hubiera cortado en esa página porque la máquina de escribir se le quedó sin tinta, no porque fuera el final que había planeado.

Los personajes son bastante planos, entiendo que estamos ante una novela juvenil pero es que parecen arquetipos de instituto americano, la animadora con mal fondo, el amigo comprensivo secretamente enamorado de la protagonista… Como digo, todo demasiado previsible.

La recreación de las escenas históricas en las que interviene la protagonista es más plana que Castellón, y que cada vez que la protagonista se encuentre en una encrucijada le vengan recuerdos de su padre desaparecido que casualmente le explicaba lo que le hacía falta, es un insulto a la inteligencia del lector.

La interpretación en el audiolibro por parte de Suzy Jackson, Pete Bradbury y Julian Elfer es muy correcta, pero es que el material de partida ya era deficiente. No puedo recomendar esta lectura.