# Infinity Alchemist

★★★★★ - 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender
༘Spoiler free ༘

⭐️4.75/5

🌶️🌶️ (There are three scenes that the start-up and afterglow is described on page, without being explicit in describing the acts that occur. The primary focus is on kissing)
Young Adult, Fantasy, Genre
Multi-POV
➳ ⚧️ LGBTQIA+
➳ ✨ Forbidden Magic/Power
➳ 🛏️ One Bed
➳ 🔗 Forced Proximity
➳ 🌑 Dark
➳ 🏙️ Dystopian

✨“It’s lazy to put a multifaceted human being, created from the alchemy of the universe, into a box of good or bad. No one is only one of the two.“ ✨
Welcome to a world where privilege, power and love intertwine and embark on a dangerous journey that captivates the heart and mind.

📚📚📚
Three young alchemists set out on a quest that uncovers some risky truths, legendary love, and extraordinary powers.
Ash Woods, is an alchemy enthusiast living in a world where practising this alchemy without a license is illegal. When Lancaster College of Alchemic Science rejects Ash's application for admission, he ends up working as a groundskeeper’s assistant there, practising alchemy in secret. Ramsay Thorne, a snarky and condescending apprentice, stumbles upon his hidden talents.
Instead of reporting him to the authorities, Ramsay offers Ash a deal. She'll keep his secret if he helps her track down the legendary Book of Source, a tome that gives its reader immense power. As they embark on this mission together, their bond deepens, and Ash realizes this quest is more dangerous than he’d anticipated. They're up against prominent and powerful alchemists, including Ash's estranged father. Their journey spans across the bustling cities and untamed wilderness of New Anglia, forcing Ash to redefine what power means and how far they'll go to take it.

❧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*❦*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧❧

Kacen Callender succeeds in writing a beautifully-constructed imaginative world with an intriguing magic system. This is a foundational necessity when writing YA Fantasy, and Infinity Alchemist delivers. I loved seeing alchemy as the form of magic practised, as it’s one of the less commonly selected magical routes when it comes to YA Fantasy. What sets this book apart from other YA Fantasy books is the way Callender wove diverse representation into this book in a natural and authentic way.

I found myself emotionally invested in all of the characters. They were well developed and felt truly multidimensional to me. Callender succeeded in creating beautifully complex, and lovable characters that housed the same intrinsic flaws we all have. Callum’s blend of strength and softness was a soothing blanket I wanted to curl up with. I found myself wanting to hug Ash and tell him that he’s worthy regardless of how other’s treat him. I wanted to tell Ash the way he has been treated by other people is a reflection of who they are, and that it does not determine his worth. Ramsay is determined and feisty and she has a certain fire that draws you in and makes you love her so easily. (Please note: I am referring to Ramsay as “she” as that was the way she identified when we last saw her at the end of the story.)

[Quotation Pending Verification, will be updated once a response is received from the Publicity Department]

The way Callender tied gender fluidity and gender identity into the concept of the Source, past lives and energy was beautiful, vulnerable and incredibly raw and authentic. I found that element touched me on a deeper level, and truly spoke to me. Not only was gender identity handled delicately, but the relationships within the books were viscerally beautiful. There was a level of heartfelt vulnerability between the characters and i found all of the relationship arcs to be emotionally evocative. While some might’ve found the development to be fast paced, when you consider the memory sharing that occurred between characters you find that they were repeatedly connecting on a soul level we’ve never truly been able to experience ourselves. Seeing them literally share their past memories with each other made me long to do the same in the real world.

One of the prominent themes was the exploration of power, privilege and societal class divisions. This theme was effectively expressed from start to finish. Seeing characters cross the divides regardless of their privilege was satisfying. Everyone was coming from a different angle and melded beautifully. I found the power of love to transform and transcend boundaries to be particularly emotionally poignant. It was the glue that held our unlikely crew together.

After the end of the story I found myself wondering what happens next. I would love to see how power, privilege and societal class and house divisions are handled in the future. I would love a second book, but would settle for an epilogue.

As with many fantasy novels the first 25% of this story packed in a lot of world-building, there was so much to be established and if the book itself was longer this could’ve been more slowly addressed. That being said there are often genre & audience specific guides authors are expected to try to stick to that dictate book length. This is a fast paced book, and it stays fast paced. A lot happens in the course of this book, so much that I felt it could’ve even been split into two books and each part have been elaborated on. That’s not a bad thing in my opinion, I loved the book enough that I wanted to slow down and savour it.

I found the writing to be engaging, vivid and thought-provoking. Kacen Callender created a richly imagined world and brought the magic of alchemy to life. It was immersive and I found myself living within the pages. Kacen Callender’s seamless incorporation and representation of diverse characters should be the gold standard for all fiction authors. The authenticity and inclusiveness was god-tier in Infinity Alchemist.

100% Would recommend this book to all YA Fantasy readers, and truly fantasy readers in general. This book exceeded my expectations and I look forward to reading more from Kacen Callender.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

**Fantasy Scoring**
Worldbuilding ➷ ✅ 5/5
Foreshadowing ➷ ✅4/5
Plot ➷ ✅ 5/5
Relationships ➷ ✅ 5/5

Thank you to the Kacen Callender, Tor Publishing Group, Tor Teen, and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide my honest opinion on the ARC of this book.

Holy cow, this may sound harsh at first but I fully expected to not enjoy the is boom and was pleasantly surprised that I was left wanting more!! The character development is to die for, and even though it could be hovering just about YA, barely, it is devouringly good!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book*

I really liked Callender's "Felix Ever After" and have also taught it at university, so I was quite happy when I saw that I'd been approved for "Infinity Alchemist", which is a very queer dark academia-ish YA fantasy novel with a trans protagonist and a genderfluid love interest. I really liked how queer it was and I liked the overall idea of the novel: magic is inherently elitist and regulated by said elites, which is why you can't do magic without having a license. Our protagonist is self taught and is drawn into magical conspiracies that go way beyond his scope.

What I did not enjoy about the novel was both the pacing (too much happened in too little time) and how quickly relationships evolved. I loved that a poly relationship was being portrayed but like all relationships in this book, it happened to quickly. While I also enjoy redemption arcs concerning one's parents, I think it's always somewhat disappointing if one's abilities, especially as an orphan, always come back to one's family. What about somebody who really is a nobody? And not Somebody's (capitalised on purpose here) lost son & blablablabla.

I think the ending of the novel was sweet & I enjoyed more of the book than I disliked, so it's a 4 star rating for me. I think with a bit more editing and toning some things down, this book could've been better.

If you're looking for a fast-paced and very queer fantasy book, go buy it. :)

3.5 stars, rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and TorTeen for my advanced readers copy!

Infinity Alchemist, while it did take me quite a while to really sink my teeth into, was an overall fun time! This YA fantasy follows our main character, eighteen year old Ash Woods, through his life in a world full of magic, or alchemy as it is in the book, and strained by political tension. I absolutely loved the world building and magic system used in this book. I think Callender did a great job of joining together politics and magic in an interesting way.

I also really enjoyed how magic mixed with gender identity regarding two of the characters, while I still have a few questions on some parts, I'm also glad that it was left up to readers interpretations. It was a really fun way to incorporate magic into ideas of our own world. Overall, the representation just in general in this novel is stellar! I loved it!!!

I think the few problems I did have had to do with pacing. Until about 30% of the way through, I felt like I was pushing through this book, trying to get to the adventure. But after that mark, I was absolutely devouring the book, and managed to finish the last 70 percent in a day.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I think the romance, although a bit rushed in some areas, was really fun, and Ash was a fun main character to be with. The ending left me very excited and very hopeful for more from these characters, and I also look forward to dipping into more of Callender's works!

I didn't end up finishing this because I can tell it's not for me, but I didn't hugely dislike what I read either.

Infinity Alchemist follows Ash, an eighteen-year-old who shows an aptitude for magic yet is barred from studying it and therefore can't get an alchemy license. He works at the university as a groundskeeper instead, but when he's caught doing alchemy by the graduate apprentice Ramsay, Ramsay offers to keep his secret and teach him everything he needs to know about alchemy if he'll help them find a legendary magical artifact.

I think the general premise is excellent, the execution just could have been better. The idea that you can move to different planes of reality reminded me a little bit of The Poppy War, but I struggled with being introduced to the most complex and forbidden aspects of alchemy more or less simultaneously as I was learning the basics.

Something I heard at an author talk recently about building a magical world was that it helps to start simple as you can always find ways to naturally expand out from that and introduce more complex rules that don't feel forced. But when you start by developing the most complex facets of your magic system, it's hard to go simple after that. I felt like I needed more time as a reader to just live in this world for a little while and start to understand it more thoroughly before getting thrown into this quest to find the most powerful magical object that exists in this universe.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC!

This book had such an interesting magical system. When the first page had a list of the houses and their specialties, I was worried it was going to become confusing and have too much to remember, but the worldbuilding was done really well, and the houses were clear as they were introduced in context really well. I loved learning about how the magic worked through the characters teaching each other, it fit really well into the story and didn't feel too faux-scientific. The themes of all being one, and love being powerful fit really well with the story and the magic system.

I loved the three main characters and their distinct personalities. Especially Callum, sweet boy! Ironically, I think the character I related to least was Ash, but I can see how others would relate to him. I was confused by Ramsay's pronouns changing at the beginning of the book, and thought that could have been addressed a bit sooner to avoid confusion (I thought it was related to flashbacks of her younger life), but it was really well done and easy to get used to once I understood it. I appreciated that trans-ness wasn't a discrimination issue in-world.

I liked how the characters grapped with moral dilemmas in their relationships with each other and their families, and though I thought at some points they were spelled out a little too obviously for the reader, it was really good to have clear motivations throughout.

I thought this was a really fun and enjoyable read and I flew through it. It provides wonderful representation for trans, genderfluid and polyamorous people, and the fantasy elements and world-building was fun without being intimidating.

We only followed these characters for about a month, and I would love to see more of them, especially Callum, as they continue to grow.

This was a fun, somewhat horny, delightful page turner of a young adult fantasy novel! It is a fairly classic turn of events for a fantasy book; I think the characters are the best part of the book.

Each of the main characters was really fun to get to know with Ash, and the magic system was fun. Flawed Queer characters in books like this are so important; I really wish I’d been able to read this as a teenager.

Infinity Alchemist met all of my expectations. It is beautifully done, the story well written and full of so many valuable lessons.

Kacen Callender presents us with a world that is absolutely beyond imagination. I haven’t experienced a cast of characters that’s quite as unique as the ones in this book. I loved every second of discovering their stories and learning more about each of them.

I finished with the feeling of needing more. I wanted more of this world, I wanted to know what other adventures this cast of characters could go on. I could not get enough of this story and the meaningful attributes it had within. This is the type of story I wish to see more of! This was my first book of Kacen Callenders and I am so grateful that it was!

Loved this book! read it in two days, obsessed with the queernorm setting, really great characters. I liked the thematic similarities between the House of Lune and the catholic church -- orphans being cared for in abbeys, keeping the common person away from the word of god (i.e. book of source). I wrote a fuller review on Medium :)

Thank you Netgalley and Torteen for this E-ARC and a chance to see what the hype was all about. Because yes, social media does have that type of influence.

This book is definitely a mix between Young Adult and New Adult. The main character is transgender who is in a polyamorous relationship with two people, one who is gender-fluid and the other homosexual. The MC is on this journey to find their family, and grow in power and social status. On their adventures, they find struggle not to fall into the bad crowd, falls in love with two others, finds out family isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be, and comes into their own. Take all that and place it into a world of political turmoil, like old school European hierarchy that despises and fears but needs alchemy magic, which the alchemy hierarchy is a problem in itself.

I did wish there was more to the story. For me, the love story didn’t blend well with the MC’s magical story. It just didn’t flow. It felt forced. The MC always falling for someone “better” or “stronger” because they don’t see themselves as great as they truly are/zero self confidence.

I did want more to the magical world, magical history and all that world building goodness. The rating would be higher for me, if things flowed a bit better between the love interests/story and the magical world/power.

I really liked the book; I had a hard time at the start getting into this book but the book progressed and it got better and better.

It was absolutely fantastic to see LGBT representation and the main characters relationships were fantastic. I loved the character development within the story.

It was definitely a great standalone!

Certainly not the kind of alchemy I was expecting, and selfishly I would’ve liked to have learned more about House Alder. Great gender/sexuality diversity representation though, as one might expect from Kacen Callender.

This was a really fun read that I'm glad I crossed paths with. I've been on a bit of a fantasy/magic kick lately, and getting to experience the way Alchemy works in this universe was a treat!

For starters, the lore of the book is so easy to follow and keep up with along the way, which I love. We follow Ash, an unlicensed alchemist (not for lack of trying) just trying to make ends meet and learn the craft he cares for. Along the way, we meet two more major players in this story: Ramsay, an apprentice at the school where Ash works as a groundskeeper, and Callum, heir to an important anti-alchemy family who has a natural gift for Alchemy he previously suppressed.

The relationship between this trio, from their meeting Ash to Calum and Ramsay's past, leaves a lot of room for growth, forgiveness, and self-discovery. Nothing between them is black and white, which allows for just the right amount of drama to unfold. You know, in addition to the drama of lives being threatened and power that could destroy the world being sought by all the wrong people.

Plus, we get some wonderful lgbtq+ representation! I love the way Trans and gender fluid characters are written in this novel.

All in all, it was a fun, adventurous story that’s worth the read!

In this book Ash Woods wants to practice alchemy in a world where the required schooling is only available to the rich and elite. I liked the academic setting and the dilapidated House Thorne, but the character development just wasn't there for me. I stopped reading around 40% in. I was having a hard time getting into it until I got to the chapter about Marlowe. She peaked my interest and I wanted to know more about her. I had a hard time with the romance between the MCs because they were very two-dimensional and the romance was so sudden. I felt like the pacing was very odd, I didn't really have a good timeline of things in my head while I was reading. If you like books with slightly dark scholastic vibes maybe give this one a try.

I want to thank Netgalley and TorTeen for an opportunity to review this ARC

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

A unique world where alchemy is gatekept and restricted behind academia that can rarely be afforded, Infinity Alchemist follows Ash as he stumbles his way into the most dangerous hunt for an alchemic artifact in all of history.

That very idea is a selling point for me, give me class war and alchemy and lost artifacts? Very much the sort of thing I eat up, and had this story been given the amount of care that the idea requires then I would have loved it. As it stands, the pacing was... strange.

Chapters that were trying to show the building trust and growth between Ash and Ramsay were somehow... glossed over and gave us no real insight into Ramsay until after Ash's attraction is made clear to the reader. The sudden tumbling into bed the moment they acknowledge attraction is a bit of a running theme in this as well and without fail I find myself going "oh that escalated quickly".

No less than two times the story seems to go "now it's time to start the quest", a start-stop 16 year old behind the wheel of a manual transmission at a stop light; this felt less like steps along the journey of the story and more like the story was chopped up to fit into one book.

Somehow, my favorite character ended up being one you don't even meet until half way through the book and until he showed up I didn't realize just how desperately I needed a solid character who can see two steps beyond his own nose.

The ending of the book seemed to happen all at once, and having read other stories with the same twist, it certainly could have been done... better.

There are two things that stuck with me from this book, and unfortunately they aren't good things.

1. There is reference to the splitting of the atom. There is a Lot of science before atom splitting, science that this world is shown to not have. They have trains and gramophones. How does the train run? Is it coal, steam, ALCHEMY!? We don't know. But apparently they split the atom and yet we're living in a world closer to High Fantasy than Urban Fantasy. I'm just really confused.

2. Apparently, if you're magic enough, you can just decide not to die. Not like this completely breaks the world, an alchemist just deciding he didn't want to be dead. Not to mention the other two don't even get to witness this?

All in all, good idea, poor execution. If this had been a multi book series that gave every moving part the love and attention it needed then it would have been fun, as it stands it's a lot of story being shoved into not enough pages.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!!! I really enjoyed this. It was a fun dive into a quick world building with different specialties in alchemy and a different understanding of what alchemy could be in a fantasy world. The representation is fantastic too and it is not one of the plot points that makes things harder for the protags. Overall, a really good book, but I would not have classified this for Young Adult, but rather as a New Adult title. The protags are all of college age and there is a level of intimacy that pushes it past YA.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this fantastic ARC!!

4.5/5 stars

Themes/Representation:
magic, elitism, love, LGBTQIAP+, polyamory, characters of color, genderfluidity

Synopsis:
MMC Ash takes on a position as a groundskeeper’s assistant at Lancaster College of Alchemy after being denied admission to study there. Alchemy, the updated term for magic, can only legally be practiced at the higher levels by those who are licensed alchemists - Ash’s reason for attempting to enroll in Lancaster. When discovered illegally practicing alchemy by graduate apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash joins Ramsay’s mission to find the Book of Souce: a text, thought to only be lore, that endows incredible power to those who read it.

There are SO many things to love about this book:

•The magic system is almost philosophical in nature, which can be a little confusing to my brain, but fascinating nonetheless.

•The presentation of gender. We have gender shifters (who have lived so many previous lives that their energy doesn’t feel a need to settle on one particular gender), a theory that those with no gender were reincarnated from a FUTURE when gender is an “infinite energy manifested into physical bodies”, those who currently feel uncomfortable with their current manifestation of gender who likely lived a majority of their past lives with that specific gender identity, and projections of gender so those projecting are always sharing the sense and feel of themselves as the gender they choose.

•The theory of death - lives are only illusions that energy forms. Energy leaves the body upon death on Earth and returns to Source to figure out its next venture, living thousands of lives.

•We see characters with higher maturity levels than Ash - seeing how they pull conversations from Ash to keep miscommunications from occurring. They break down the assumptions that Ash harbors about them and others. Bringing into focus Ash’s biases. They demonstrate to Ash that people can have deep feelings, the same feelings that Ash has, without showing it in their actions or on their faces. The assumptions that Ash has of others is because they do not meet his own personal demonstrations of said thoughts and feelings.

•A commentary on elitism and the ruling upper class whose privilege allows for access and control. Though Ash is arrogant that he can practice alchemy without having a “proper” education all while feeling inferior.

Additional Thoughts:
It’s easy to forget how much (or little) time has elapsed from the start to the end of the book (really only roughly one month). And I can see how it could be difficult to wrap our minds around how the MCs could fall in love after only two weeks of knowing each other. But we have to remember that alchemy is a powerful tool that really helped build their relationships quickly between sharing memories mentally and feeling energies. I can imagine that creates a MUCH stronger bond than being in a relationship for months or even years.

The beginning and ending of the book were very profound and philosophical. I wish this would have bled more into the middle of the book and is the only reason I am giving it 4.5 stars instead of 5. I feel like the meat of the book felt slightly disconnected from the very strong introduction and the very strong ending.

But I truly loved this book so much and cannot wait to purchase it when it’s released.

Infinity Alchemist follows the story of Ash Woods, a 17 yo boy who must hide his natural aptitude for alchemy because it’s illegal for unlicensed alchemists to practice. He wanted nothing more than to attend Lancaster, an alchemy college, and get his license, but after failing the entrance exams, he takes a role as a groundskeeper there instead. A chance encounter with the infamous Ramsay Thorne, in which the latter catches Ash performing alchemy, brings the unlikely pair together and sets them off on a quest to find the Book of Source.

The immersive worldbuilding and engaging characters sucked me right into the story and held strong throughout the book. At no point did the story lag, but I did feel like the ending was a little rushed. I really liked how many layers there are to the conflicts of the story. There’s the class divide—it’s easier for the privileged to get into the alchemy colleges and therefore get a license. Then there’s the divide between alchemists and the “regular” people (they feel like evangelists to me). And on the personal level, all three characters struggle to overcome the legacies of their families (very much a “sins of the father” type situation). New Anglia feels like an alt-world, early 20th century England and Wales with strong dark academia vibes. I really liked the set-up of different houses forming their society/government, with each house being known for specific characteristics and roles in New Anglia. The alchemy aspects of the story were very well-explained and thought out, and I really enjoyed the explanations of Source and how it played into the story and the characters.

Speaking of source, I thought the in-world explanation for Ramsay’s gender fluidity (the Source in some alchemists is so powerful, it can’t be contained in only one form) and Ash’s trans-male identity (Source never dies when people do, but rather reincarnates into new bodies, and Ash has memories of his past-lives in which he always had a male body before his current life) were really clever and well-done.

And that brings me to the three main characters, Ash, Ramsay, and Callum. All three are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and I believe Ash and Callum are also non-white (so great diversity rep in this book). All three characters felt fully-developed, and I had a vested interest in all of them (though Ramsay was my favorite because I’m a sucker for antiheroes). My one complaint is that I wasn’t initially sold on the Ash-Callum pairing of the polyamorous relationship, mostly because it felt a little insta-lovey and made it seem like Ash became attracted to anyone who showed him the barest hint of kindness (since he also at one point was attracted to his former best friend). They eventually grew on me, but it took a while, and I loved watching the three grow into their relationship with each other and overcome their jealousies with honest conversations and good communication.

All in all, I really liked this book, and the ending makes me think we might get to continue the story?! Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for the early copy!

Ash wants nothing more than to become a licensed alchemist so he can practice alchemy legally. When he is rejected form the school he gets a job there and practices in secret. Enter Ramsey Thorne, a brilliant but prickly assistant professor. They develop rocky alliance to help each other, Ash to learn alchemy on the down low and pass his exam for his license and Ramsey to locate the Book of Source and prove they're not a monster like their parents.

I loved the world building in this book and how the alchemy works. I enjoyed that everything was not easy and did take work to accomplish. I found myself routing for all three of the young alchemist in this book and loved Ramsey's gender fluidity and the LGBTQ+ representation was great!

I was irritated at Ash being told by people much more privileged than him that you make your own success/luck and everything else is just an excuse multiple times in the story.

The ending did feel a little rushed, like everything happened in the last few chapters of the book, but the action was engaging and I couldn't put the book down until I reached the climax.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor/Forge for the ARC. This was an exciting read and I'd highly recommend it!

Interesting magical world building. Great rep. I enjoyed reading a poly relationship that had some authentic feelings and conversations. Kacen is a great writer - I have enjoyed all of their books. Definitely planning on ordering this one at the library!