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!

The book excelled in creating an interesting magic system with a well thought out tapestry of abilities and a truly interesting new world. The book has a dual point of view with a type of student/teacher perspective and I unfortunately was not truly able to connect with either of the perspectives which made it difficult to continue to read and forced myself to keep reading it. The relationship seemed rushed with immediate feelings of attraction becoming deep founding lust.

Thank you Tor Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I really enjoyed this book. Ash wanted to attend college to study alchemy, but for some reason he didn’t get it. Now he works as a groundskeeper’s assistant for that same university and practices in secret. It’s against the law to practice higher levels of alchemy without a license. Then he gets caught by Ramsay and is forced to work with Ramsay on finding the Book of Source. Which is supposed to be an urban legend. Together along with Callum they go on an adventure in search for the book. Will they find it? I loved the LGBTQAIP+ rep in this one. Kacen Callender does a fantastic job of creating characters that are lovable and relatable! Great world building with a very interesting magic system! Highly recommend, can’t wait to read it again!

4.5/5

I loved “Felix Ever After” so when I saw that Kacen Callender was releasing a debut YA Fantasy I knew I had to read it! Infinity Alchemist was so unbelievably fun and a great debut into fantasy! Honestly, there wasn’t much about this book that I didn’t enjoy. Callender’s storytelling was engaging and vivid. The alchemy/magic system was so intriguing (gave me The Name of the Wind vibes at times) and the world building was well done. I loved all the diverse characters and the different representations included in this book such as polyamorous relationships, genderfluid and trans characters and queer POCs! The characters felt fully fleshed out and had great character development. I loved each of the 3 MC’s (Ramsay, Ash and Callum) individually as well as when they were together. I thought the plot was well-paced, the fight scenes were entertaining, and the romance aspect was so sweet! I hope there will be another book set in this world because I’d be interested in discovering more about it. This was a fantastic YA fantasy and I can’t wait to see what Kacen Callender has in store for us next!

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

For me, it had a slow start but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. The love story between the three and the plot was amazing.

Both of Ash’s relationships jumped from budding attraction to deep love real quick, which I didn’t fully buy. I appreciated the polyamory rep and that the three of them talked out their jealousy and insecurities regarding that setup. It’s refreshing to see characters in a “love triangle” actively work to figure out a way to be happy that makes sense for them instead of just competing to see who gets a typical monogamous relationship and who gets shoved to the side. I just didn’t necessarily think the way these relationships were developed and discussed always worked. The characters were being pushed a little too hard to show a perfect, healthy, and deep relationship. Given who they are and where they were in their lives some of the resolutions to their problems didn’t fit or felt rushed for their characters.

The ending also suffered from being rushed forward. It felt condensed and resolved too easily to be very satisfying. Maybe in part because I never had a strong sense of the main characters’ limitations or abilities. Ash and Ramsay are prodigies who routinely and with little difficulty accomplish things that we’re told are near impossible even for alchemists who have been studying, training, and practicing for decades. Everything was near effortless with the biggest obstacles being getting hungry or tired. So, to me, it wasn’t satisfying or interesting to see Ash get another never-before-seen ability without effort to win the day.

Disclaimer, though, a major theme of this story was ‘love is everything (literally)’. Due to personal reasons relating to my own relationships with my queerness, that sentiment is very uncomfortable to me. I can’t say if I was able to enjoy that theme whether or not some of these elements of the story would have been more emotionally resonant at least, even if I didn’t think they were written in the best way. So ymmv regarding my critiques.