If being confined at home made one positive thing : it was that we were supposed to have the time to read more. But the reality was that I was not really in the mood to read at the time. We talked and talked with one of my closest friend, Solene and we realized that what would help was to read collectivelly. We started making a list of books we could read together and one struck : Infinity Son.
In March, we began our journey and oh boy… what an adventure that was ! This is our collective review and it is interesting to see that we agree on a lot of things.
Why did you decide to read this book?
E. : I really love Adam Silvera and wanted to read his first fantasy book. I saw the book on worldofbooks for 2£ and bought it before lockdown. I just thought it was a great opportunity to read the book without having to buy it full price. When Solene told me she had it on ebook and that we should start reading it together : I knew it was my chance to read the story.
S. : When everyone tells me not to do something, I want to do it. This applies to reading Infinity Son, I’m afraid. A lot of people around me told me that this book had great, wasted potential, which instead of pushing me away from it actually spiked my interest towards the story. Then, during the lockdown, I downloaded the ebook and started reading, mostly because I wanted to make my own opinion on it. Adam Silvera had also been recommended to me as an author, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Before reading it, what were your expectations?
E. : I had heard a lot of bad things about the book. Most of my friends who had read it advised me not to read it. Still, because I had loved other books from Adam, I was expecting it to be quite good. I really did not know what to expect.
S. : As I mentioned, I had been told that the book wasn’t good so my expectations were, I believe, quite low. That being said, I do try to enter every book and every universe with an open mind, so I wouldn’t say I was particularly biased against this book.
After the first chapter, did you want to read more?
E. : No. Honestly I was already lost. I got so confused when the book mentionned Instagram, Buzzfeed etc... I remember texting Solene asking her what the f we were reading and if she understood it better than I did (spoiler alert : she did not).
S. : The first chapter kind of lost me. There was already a lot of terminology regarding the magic world, and I couldn’t contextualize what was happening. But then again, it’s fiction, it’s another universe, so I kind of gathered that I had to be lost to better find my way around this story. It wasn’t a first chapter that made me want to keep reading because I was hooked, but at this point I was still sort of curious about what would happen, and what kind of world we would be evolving in.
Rate this book on a scale from 1 to 10?
E. : 2/10. I know it’s not much but I honestly did not enjoy the book.
S. : 3/10. It pains me to write that I did not like it. But reading this was also painful at times.
Favourite character? Most hated character?
E. : Ness maybe??? I could not relate to any characters. I mostly wanted to slap them in the face or shake them very hard. I do, however, have a most hated character : BRIGHTON!!!! I think Solene can agree with me: All the characters could have died and we would have not cared.
S. : I had a very hard time getting attached to any of the characters, so none really stand out to me. There are so many characters, some of them seriously lacking depth. It seems like they all want to be hero(s) except the one who's actually a hero, or maybe he wants to be, but also, not too much. I couldn't really get attached to any of the main characters, and to this day I'm still lost on who half of the others were. Also, I'm really tired of main characters making the stupidest decisions all the time.
Would you recommend this book?
E. : No. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book.
S. : Not really.
What could have been done by the author for you to enjoy even more the book?
E. : An introduction into the world created by Adam. Just a chapter or two before the book to explain where magic came from. I just needed more world building with an introduction. Names were thrown at me every pages and it was hard to follow.
S. : The world building is basically inexistant. I was thrown into a world that I'm sure makes a lot of sense in the author's mind, but it was barely explained to me. The story called for more background on its magic world. The mix of a fantastic storyline and the internet could have been a great idea, but it's done in such a way that I just ended up sighing every time Netflix, Twitter, Youtube or Buzzfeed were mentioned (bonus eye roll every time Brighton complains about his view count or number of followers). There is a uniqueness in the concept that I would have really loved to see a better execution of.
Final thoughts:
E. : I still love Adam Silvera and I feel bad for not liking this book. I feel like this book had so much potential. I am so grateful for the diversity in this book. It was actually fun to read it with a friend because we made inside jokes about the story. I hope the second book will be better but I do not think I will pick it up.
S. : Unfortunately, the many people who told me this wasn’t worth it were right. It’s kind of sad, really, because I can see that the author really wants us to step into his world. Sadly, this was too much of a mess for me to handle. I also don’t think this is a good book to start with if you’re interested in Adam Silvera’s work. Perhaps, though, I will pick up Book number 2. After all, if there is any time for having hope, it’s probably right now.
What is next?
After this book, Solene and I decided that it would be interesting to chose a book that people actually recommended and with good ratings on Goodreads. We both had The Cruel Prince in our list and it is rated 4.12 out of 5 stars. To know if we liked it or not... You will have to wait for another article !
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