Avaliações
I have had this book on my shelf for so long now and it was one of the ones where I would be reminded by other people that I would enjoy it, and then get distracted by arc books or finishing a series that I had started. So when there was a spin of the dice on #Prideopoly for a book that was ‘recommended by a friend’ - I knew that finally I had a 100% guaranteed reason to read this.I loved how diverse the representation was in the book with a gender-fluid character who I loved, a transgender character who expressed the valid frustrations of wearing a binder etc, and other queer representations that made this book appealing because we need more books out there with good queer characters and relationships. Talking of, I initially thought that the relationship between the three main characters was going to be a love triangle, something that I’m not all that keen on but instead it was a polyamorous relationship and I loved the dynamics between them all. What did let down Infinity Alchemist to me, was the lack of really immersive world-building where your senses as a reader can feel as though they’re being tricked but that’s my personal preference especially with fantasy novels - I want to be able to visualise the fictional world as the story progresses and whilst I could a little it needed more depth imho. I also wanted to know more about why Alchemists were treated so badly by so many, because whilst we’re shown a horrific incident in recent history? I got the feeling that the distrust had been there far longer than the incident we’re given glimpses ofThere is a great balance of showing the maturity of the characters, or the more horrific incidents that happen in Infinity Alchemist and remembering that this is a young adult series. I appreciated how, in regards to gender identity, the author explains it in a simplistic manner, and even with pronouns for the gender fluid character; Ramsey. It was covered by a conversation between Ramsey and Ash who simply acknowledged what Ramsey said and that was that - a reminder that this is how easy it can be. We also see a lot of character growth along the way, especially in my opinion with Ash who initially and understandably has a ‘me against the world’ attitude. Now yes, it’s understandable, he’s lost everything long before he should but he’s also emotionally stunted at the beginning of the book and we see through circumstance and the companionship and love of others; Ash matures considerably by the end of the book. I did wish to see a little less of the romance once it’s established and to be clear, I do love a good romance but it felt like it took the reader away from the sheer magnitude of the journey the characters were on and the battles they were facing from various sides because there’s such a good story with many twists and turns taking place but often the poly romance took precedence.I’m glad I got to read this finally, I intend to read the sequel Chaos King soon because I am very curious where the story will go from how it ended here. I hope in book two, that there will be a little less focus on the romance because whilst it was cute to see? I wanted more drama instead.