I received a free eBook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

Infinity Alchemist offers a fun YA fantasy read with LGBT and Poly representation. However, the beginning feels both rushed and slow-paced, setting up world-building elements that don't immediately matter, making things initially feel disjointed. Additionally, the characters can sometimes feel a bit flat and have the same voice. Despite this, it remains an overall fast, enjoyable, and simple read.

Tor Teen does it again, but I am not surprised. Kacen Callendar is great, and Infinity Alchemist hits it out of the park. I love seeing the queer representation and the characters are a true delight. I can't wait to see what else comes from this series.

I really liked what this book was doing. It had a lot to say about power and rage, but there was also a strong feeling of compassion that really worked to elevate this book from something I liked and would recommend to something I loved and want to read again. I highlighted more quotes while reading this than I have in a while, in fact.

I loved the characters, as well as their relationships with each other. I thought the book did a really good job emphasizing the differences between them and still managing to make me feel equally invested in all of them. I genuinely couldn't pick a favorite, which, of course, is the point.

I thought the magic system was interesting and well-done, but in all honesty, I am never particularly invested in magic systems, so I'm sure other people can speak to that more. What I particularly liked was the detail that everyone can recognize people's correct gender identity through Source, including always being able to tell what pronouns are correct at any given time for genderfluid people like Ramsay. (Also loved seeing a major character who is genderfluid in a traditionally published YA fantasy novel! My teen self is positively <i>vibrating</i> with excitement.)

This was my first Kacen Callender book, but it will certainly not be my last. I can't wait for the next book in this series, but I will almost certainly be checking out their backlist now as well.

Thank you to Tor Teen for the ARC!

Infinity Alchemist is a gripping, imaginative fantasy novel that will have you on the edge of your seat. It takes place in a world where magic is real and know as alchemy. The novel follows three teens through harrowing adventure, romance, and self-discovery. It explores family dynamic and trauma with the balance of the world hanging in the outcome.

The LGBTQIA+ rep in Infinity Alchemist is amazing. While integral to who the characters were as people, it wasn’t who they are or the entire plot, it simply was. Callum, Ramasy,and Ash are the most adorable pollicule and show and amazing ability to communicate thoughtfully and truthfully. I sincerely hope for a second book, between them and the state the world was in when left, I have a strong desire to see what is in store for them next.

I received an ARC and am leaving a review of my own volition.

Infinity Alchemist is the kind of book I wish I could have read when I was in high school. I thought the descriptions of the characters' sexualities and exploration of polyamory were excellent. It's a very complex conversation, and having these characters explore that together in a loving and trusting way is important. Even if you are not queer or interested in polyamory, reading books like this can broaden your understanding of other communities, even if it makes you uncomfortable.

Ashen Woods is an unlicensed alchemist, which is a crime. He practices his alchemy in secret and works hard not to get caught. One day while cleaning the office of alchemy professor Ramsey Thorne, Ash spies interesting writings on the Book of Source. He can't help but glance through the notes and becomes inspired to use alchemy to create one of the symbols drawn in Ramsey's notes. Of course, Ramsey chooses that moment to return to their office and catches Ash in the act. Instead of turning Ash in, Ramsey offers a bargain. Help them find the Book of Source and learn alchemy from Ramsey, or be turned in. Obviously, Ash helps Ramsey.

This is where the story takes off as we learn more about Ash and Ramsey. Ramsey is a genderfluid character whose parents committed mass murder in the search for the Book of Source. Ash is a trans man whose mother passed away a few years ago, and whose father is a prominent advisor to a top house. Of course, his father doesn't know he exists. Further on in the story, we're also introduced to Callum, who is Ramsey's ex-boyfriend and a member of the Redguard (the police).

I did think this was a wonderful, complex story that deals with class and barriers to education/wealth. So often in the story, people of the higher class will tell Ash that if he wants something, then he simply has to work hard for it. Ash tries to point out barriers to entry and other systemic issues, but most of the time the ruling class's response is "tough luck kid, try harder." This type of rhetoric is so common, and I think it can be helpful for younger readers to read these arguments.

The thing I didn't love about the book was that the main storyline dragged for me. I found the personal relationships way more interesting than the search for the book. None of it was very engaging, and the description of how alchemy worked was so confusing. I felt like the author could have easily added about an extra chapter of information about how alchemy worked and the levels. In the front of the book, there is a breakdown of the houses, and I felt like they could have easily included a list of alchemy levels.

This is a good book, but I don't think I'll read the next in the series.

Thanks NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

I have mixed feelings about this book. We are introduced to the world of Alchemy, and the main character Ash. I, like Ash, was excited to learn more about Alchemy and the magic system of this book. When Ramsay was introduced, I was excited to see how she would teach Ash about Alchemy. While some of this magical teaching did happen, there weren’t a lot of details on how the magic worked, and I felt a little bit lost on the importance of alchemy and the magic in the world. Ash only really tells us that alchemy is forbidden to anyone without an Alchemical License, and we don’t really meet many other alchemists. The fight scene at the end with Alchemy was so intense and interesting, and I would have liked to have seen this expanded on throughout the novel.

I found that I liked Ash’s character, but found Ramsay and Callum to be more compelling characters. They had more depth to them, especially Ramsay, who was definitely my favorite! I had a hard time accepting the romance between Callum and Ash. Where Ramsay and Ash spent a lot of time developing their relationship, it felt rushed between Callum and Ash. It was also a little difficult for me to believe that the main character would be the object of every other characters desires. Perhaps if the romance between Callum and Ash had occurred after reuniting with Ramsay, allowing it a little more time to develop, this would have felt more natural to me.

In terms of plot, I enjoyed the beginning and the ending the most, as the dealt with more questions pertaining to the world and the magic system. The middle, however, felt slow, mostly dealing with traveling and character interactions. I didn’t feel like I learned a lot regarding the world or how this journey would help advance the plot, besides reuniting the characters. I would have enjoyed Ramsay’s perspective during this time, as she had been a POV character in the beginning, and we don’t get any other snippets of her thoughts after that.

Overall, I enjoyed the book! I enjoyed the LGBTQ+ characters and the polyamory. I was just hoping for more magic/world building. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC.

The review above has been posted to Goodreads.

This book is one of the most diverse books that I have ever read. The main character known as Ash is a well fleshed out character throughout the entire story, and the genderfluid other main character known as Ramsay is one of the best characters that I have ever read about. Please, please pick up this book on release day, because it has not only the best characters, but some of the coolest world building that I have ever seen done in a book!

Alchemy, grimoires, queer love, and magic come together as we set across on a journey for a book that holds extraordinary power.

Ash Woods gets rejected from his dream college, Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, and must work as a groundskeeper in order to practice his magic in secret. When he gets caught by Ramsay Thorne, instead of facing charges, he is tasked to help find the Book of Source, and face the danger that journey holds.

As intriguing as the plot sounds, I found it difficult to stay engaged. The magic system should have been explored more, and I wish we got to know more of Ash’s motivation to study alchemy and risk imprisonment, especially in the beginning. The queer poly romance was done well, and I felt more intrigued by that than the actual story. If you are interested in a queer poly romance set in a magical world, and not much into high fantasy and complex magical systems, then this book is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for this ARC.

I really wanted to like this. I have loved this author’s work in the past but after hitting 40% last night I am throwing in the towel. I like the idea of this book but it’s too chaotic for me. I feel like a couple more trips to the editor and I could’ve stuck it out. Excellent non-binary rep, as to be expected.

I received this book as a free e-ARC from Tor Teen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars. We follow Ash, a trans man wishing to become an alchemist in a world where this trade is licensed and tightly controlled by the ruling, monied elite and practicing unlicensed is punishable by death. Ash may not have been accepted into school to learn how to become an alchemist, but he soon finds himself begrudgingly working with Ramsay, a sarcastic genderfluid alchemist, to find the Book of Source for her in exchange for teaching him alchemy. What transpires is an interesting take on a hierarchical world in which Ash’s finds himself struggling to seek out the Book of Source while simultaneously navigating a budding polyamorous relationship. This all happens with the backdrop of a society full of inter-house political tumult, elitism, and propaganda against the alchemists.

The queer representation in this came across as genuine and authentic. Particularly, I liked how both Ash and Ramsay’s discussion on their gender identity tied in with their conceptions of “Source”—the energy connecting all life and a central part of the alchemy and religion of this world. I also liked how the author used the house advocating against alchemists to give a religious zealotry dynamic that didn’t have that zealotry focused on the queerness of the characters. It felt like a clever way of adding in that aspect of religion vs queerness that is part of the struggle of being queer in a veiled and symbolic way. Ash’s passion for practicing alchemy in a world where him doing so is forbidden is also symbolic of the queer experience of embracing your true self despite society. I genuinely appreciated the creativity of these aspects.

My only reservations were with how quickly Ash went from attraction to love with the other two characters as well as with the pacing feeling off occasionally. However, I still enjoyed it overall. For being a Young Adult novel, I would have loved to have seen this on bookshelves when I was in high school.

This was really cute! It was awesome to see Kacen jump into the fantasy world, and I had fun with this! A very interesting world, with some good commentary, 10/10 representation, and I would definitely purchase a physical copy!

Finished it tonight and loved it, thank you to the publisher for the arc

I want to talk about the representation in this book but first I want to talk about how delightful the World Building was. To me the way to do Alchemy in this world was such a breath of fresh air. The idea that you can create by your power of believe is so artistic and my artist heart loved this way of creating. The Houses of this world also are so interesting, each one having a specific role to play. Interested to see how the houses are rebuilt.

Now onto the representation, this book had beautiful Trans and polyamorous relationships. Ash as a character was delightful to follow through the book, Callum and Ramsay became such great characters as well. I specially loved the communication between the trio when it came to stating boundaries when they had sex. The fact that the binder was often brought up in the book made this feel like a real representation, for me it reminded me of how often I would think about my binder when I was doing anything. Like yes it would be in the back of my mind if I needed to take a shower and I had hurt my hand by punching a red guard. 100% accuracy.

I also loved the way that being in the wrong body is explained in this world and how people would just know your pronouns by you projecting those thoughts into the world.

Giving it 4 stars because the beginning was rough for me, specially when Ash's backstory started at the beginning of the book, a lot of the sentences started with “Ash” so it took me a bit out of the book with how often his name was mentioned in sentences instead of other ways to describe we were reading about Ash. I also think looking in the past at some of the stories made the pacing a little confusing, like when Marlowe’s backstory happened I thought it was in the present until later I realized that Marlowe was not a child anymore and the first memory was in the past.

Overall though I loved the story, the witty banter between all the characters was so enjoyable and will for sure be buying a physical copy to annotate.

Infinity Alchemist was an inventive, unique approach to fantasy that I found engrossing for a few different reasons, first and foremost being the unique and interesting magic system. I loved the concept of Source and the nature of alchemy, and I loved that the very use of it was political. At times the magic felt almost sci-fi-like with vibes that kind of felt like Interstellar, and seeing it manifest differently across characters made alchemy feel limitless. Combined with a society steeped in oppression and a lot of ongoing political scheming, it was a magic-steeped plot that kept me wanting to keep reading.

The book was also exceptionally diverse and tackled topics like gender fluidity seamlessly, integrating it into the story in an organic way that represented the characters authentically and without judgment. Admittedly the romantic subplot wasn’t my favourite aspect of the book, but I did have a lot of appreciation for the representation that Callender incorporated and how much it added to the overall story.
I loved the way that Callender used Source as an exploration of power and what it meant within the society it created. Ash is young and still deciding for himself what it means to be conventionally successful and powerful, and as he’s exposed to different types of magic and different motivations, he works through what power would mean to him and how he wants to wield it. Simultaneously, almost everyone around him is also going through power struggles, both with themselves and with each other.

I did struggle a little with the characters, particularly Ash and Ramsay, who felt a little angsty for me. Ash was always brash and at times abrasive and while he grows, he kind of retained that a little more than I would have liked. That said, I’m cognizant that this was a YA novel and that the characters themselves were supposed to be young and growing, so I’m chalking up some of it to that.

I loved how fast-paced this book was, loved that there was consistent action, and enjoyed the magic system. I felt like this was a unique YA fantasy and I think it will hold a lot of appeal for YA readers looking for an intellectual-style fantasy with great LGBTQ+ representation.

Young adult fantasy is not usually my favorite branch of SFF, but I enjoyed this one! I appreciated the dynamic personalities/arcs of all three main characters—especially the thoughtfully-crafted nonbinary representation of Ramsay. The romantic plot took me on an emotional journey that reminded me of how I felt reading Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy (but obviously it was tamer for the YA audience and also polyamorous!), so if readers are romance fans who read and loved Marske but haven't tried Callender, I would tell them to go for this one. I would also absolutely recommend this to anyone else who is a sucker for well-crafted magical education worlds and/or who want a delightful, inclusive story about standing up to corrupt systems of power and looking for yourself along the way. Very thankful to Tor for giving me access to this digital ARC, and I look forward to reading more from Kacen Callender.

It was fun! The romance was well done and the world building was fabulous! It felt so immersive and I loved all the alchemy. Did not like the main character at all though. He felt annoying and his inner monologue felt very juvenile. From his POV it felt like a middle grade novel

Other than the MC, fun book with an amazing world

3.75/5

I had enjoyed this book. I like the way the romance was done. It is just so refreshing compared to typical love triangles where they are constantly fighting or competing with each other. I feel like the romance happens a bit fast in terms of the actual time that passed in the book but in terms of pacing it was done well. One thing that I am a bit sad about is that the romance seemed to take up the majority of the story. I thought it would be a lot more in depth about uncovering secrets regarding the book and getting in over their heads, But this was still a good time for me.

This is the second YA book I've read by Kacen Callender, and I enjoyed it! I found the worldbuilding to be fleshed out, and I enjoyed the tidbits about alchemy and how alchemists fit into the world. None of the characters were particularly memorable for me, however, and I often found myself annoyed with Ash due to his lack of self-preservation and tendency to act before thinking. However, I did like how Callender handled Ash's trans identity and Ramsay's gender fluidity. I would recommend this novel to anyone wanting to reach for a YA fantasy with lots of action, tension, and a bit of romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC!! :))

3.75 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for the ARC of this book. The first 25% of the book starts out slow, but then it starts heating up around the 30% area. Lots of alchemy, love, even some politics, the author even incorporated a lot of LGBTQ+ characters and a polyamorus relationship(my first time reading something of that nature), and I didn't hate it. I enjoyed this book and look forward to what'd next for Ash, Ramsey and Callum.

3.5 stars

I thought I was going to like this a lot more than I actually did. I’m not sure why, whether it was the pacing or something else but the book just felt so freaking long. I had to force myself to read it at times.

I did enjoy the main characters and the polyamory aspect. I just wish I had enjoyed the story more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

This book was a cool take on the magical learning environment, with a pretty intensive licensing process for alchemists. You could definitely feel Ash’s anger at the way this process helps the wealthy and privileged, and that is what fuels him at least through the first portion of the story.

I liked the characters, especially the main three we see interacting, but sometimes their choices felt a bit out of left field. There were some occasions while reading that it felt like the development had jumped ahead and skipped pages that would have explained things a bit more clearly or shown the growth more fully.

The way that alchemy worked in this world was pretty cool, and it seemed limitless at times. I did get a bit confused with how each of the houses reacted to alchemy and the way that the government worked. I feel like I never really got a full grasp of how the system worked.

Would be interested in reading a second book, even though I didn’t love this one. I think there is a lot of room to expand on things for sure! 3.5⭐️