Ashen Wood lives in a world where most everyone has access to magic if they care to find it, but few are allowed to study it and use it. The laws of his nation are such that power is concentrated amongst the wealthy houses and someone like Ash, born to an unwed woman in the slums, is unable to legally practice alchemy. As unfair as his start to the world has been, Ash is determined to meet his father, a well-known and powerful alchemist at Lancaster Mage's College, as well as obtain his own license to practice alchemy. Taking a job as an assistant to the groundskeeper at Lancaster isn't the start he was hoping for, but when a run in with the young apprentice, Ramsey Thorn, at the college turns from animosity to a tenuous exchange of knowledge and power life begins to change. Soon Ash becomes just as invested in Ramsey's quest to find the Book of Source.

Kacen Callender creates a beautifully queer and magical world in this first book in what will be the Infinity Alchemist series. There is magic in the way that the gender and sexual identity of characters is so varied and accepted as part of who they are in this society. The hate and prejudice characters face is more to do with the acts of their parents and monetary means. That's not to say everyone in this world is on board, but for the majority the focus is elsewhere, and it must be as political forces are work stirring up strife between licensed and unlicensed alchemist. There is ALOT happening in this book and the pacing at times was a little slow, but I find that to be true with a lot of fantasy novels. I like the exploration of different romantic connections between characters and the idea of love being uninhibited as Ash, Ramsay, and Callum explore various ways to connect as a trio and embark on polyamorous journey. I do think this book is geared more towards older teens, the age of the protagonists, descriptions of physical intimacy, and moments of physical violence would lead me to classify this more as new adult.

*Arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *

4.75 Stars

I liked this book way more than I thought I would.

It had well written action scenes at kept me on the edge of seat, there was unexpected romances that had me giggling and blushing with excitement . And don’t even get me started on the magic system..so good. It wasn’t overly complex or hard to understand. Easy to grasp and the writing was so well done it was easy to follow along.

I received the audiobook but I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy

I love alchemy, but give me queer alchemy and I’m even happier! I will say I think the first third was the strongest. I wasn’t in the mood for a fantasy, but this one really sucked me in! But the pacing staggered a little bit and could have been tighter

Infinity Alchemist was one of a few vooks that I had to recommend to others even before I had finished it. In addition to acouple of friendly metaphors, lots of good banter, and an exciting fantasy-quest storyline, it is inclusive and respectful. It pushes back against binary restriction and and assumptions about fidelity and jealousy in relationships involving more than two people. I loved this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC of the audiobook!

I really enjoyed the representation, it was outside of what I normally read so I really appreciated reading this. I’d say that was its biggest strength.

There were times when it felt a bit slow and times where the dialogue and thought processes were more middle grade than YA, but I still overall had a decent time.

Infinity Alchemist is an interesting queer YA fantasy book with lots of promising ideas but ultimately it was just okay.

The fantasy aspect was really interesting, the world has different tiers of magic, and it would've been cool to delve more into that. At times, it got somewhat confusing with all the tiers, several Houses, and different lore but overall I was very intrigued. I also really liked the exploration of identity and power.

The characters were 18-20 years old but I'm honestly surprised they survived to adulthood because they were all really dumb. It was frustrating to read because they all, Ash especially, continued to make the absolute dumbest decisions possible. I did like the main characters, mostly, but man were they frustrating. I also didn't really buy the chemistry of the triad together, which was in part due to my problems with the timeline - more on that later. The queer and gender representation among the characters was excellent, with Ash being trans, Ramsay being bigender, and both of them as well as Callum being queer.

My main issues were with pacing, the timeline, and some writing choices.

The pacing felt really strange. The book's got a fairly slow beginning but in the last few chapters EVERYTHING suddenly happens, and it's way too fast. It was like the author realized the book was already pretty long and they needed to resolve things asap.

There are 3 main characters in Infinity Alchemist: Ash, Ramsay, and Callum. Ash continuously had POV chapters, Ramsay had some until about halfway into the book and then just stopped having any, and Callum had none. But a 4th character would pop up now and then and have little POV sections at the end of some chapters which felt very odd.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

As for the timeline… Where do I start? Ramsay and Ash meet, dislike each other but resolve to work together, build a friendship of mutual trust and respect, and then they fall in love. Ramsay ends up leaving Ash to literally die because she's decided sacrificing his life is worth it if she can escape and possibly find the Book they're looking for.

Ash is distraught that someone he loves so deeply would do that after all they've gone through together while studying at Ramsay's house for the TWO WEEKS they've known each other. Two weeks! I was so thrown when I realized they'd only known each other for two weeks, definitely hadn't liked each other for that long, and had been lovers for even less time. And yet Ash decides to dedicate his life to finding Ramsay and helping her. I just didn't understand why.

After he manages to not be executed, Ash meets Callum, Ramsay's ex who broke her heart. Ash spends another two weeks as Callum's prisoner so obviously those two also fall in love since I guess that's the amount of time it takes Ash to fall in love with someone. When they meet back up with Ramsay, she's raging at Ash for betraying her by falling in love with Callum (keep in mind, she and Ash spent 2 weeks together and then Ramsay left Ash to die but she did realize later she made a mistake so I guess that's okay?), and Ramsay's raging at Callum for betraying her trust and leaving her years back (the same thing she did to Ash recently by the way.)

The timeline of these relationships combined with the characters' over-the-top reactions felt so strange.

Unfortunately, I didn't love the narrator of the audiobook.

Overall, I was hoping for more from Infinity Alchemist. There were lots of things to like but just as many that frustrated me and I'm still confused about whether it's a standalone or part of a series.

There is so much to love about this book, and I honestly think it would have been at least a 4 star book for me if I'd read it instead of listening to the audiobook.

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender follows Ash, a young, self-taught alchemist who works as a groundskeeper at the school that rejected him as a student. Practicing alchemy is illegal without a license, so Ash's substantial alchemical skill is his closest guarded secret. That is until Ramsey Thorne, fastidious scholar and child of an infamous pair of murderers, discovers his power and blackmails him into helping her uncover the location of the powerful and dangerous Book of Source.

Kacen drew me in with the way they craft their characters. Ash is fiery and determined, but he has a gentle side that he only allows Ramsey to see. Ramsey is particular and demanding, but she is also caring, going out of her way to make Ash feel at home when he stays with her. I love their chemistry and the considerate way they engage with one another, especially when they kiss and touch each other.

Kacen's physically intimate scenes beautifully illustrate what it looks like to obtain ongoing, enthusiastic consent. They are age appropriate for YA, not at all explicit, but they normalize the experience of asking questions about how one wants to be touched, seen, and how they want to experience their body. The characters are open and curious with themselves and each other, and these scenes were really beautiful to read.

The narration fell flat for me. There is a single narrator, which makes sense since Ash is the only POV character, but their narrative style didn't engage me in the story. I prefer a mkrr dramatic presentation, especially during scenes with high action and tension. This narrator felt better suited to a contemporary novel rather than a fantasy novel.

I recommend Infinity Alchemist for readers who are excited to see diverse experiences represented in fantasy, who enjoy complex family dynamics, and the excitement of building a found family.

I've been procrastinating on writing this review because I didn't want to admit that I just felt meh about the book.

A secretly practicing magician works as a gardener at the prestigious university to which he was denied admittance. He strikes an uneasy alliance with a talented young apprentice who will teach him if he helps the apprentice find a powerful magical artifact. Unfortunately, they aren't the only ones looking - and many people would kill to gain such an omnipotent source of power.

The sort of new age-style magic crafted here is a new and different system for a YA story. The queer characters always make me happy, with a trans main character, a genderfluid love interest, and positive polyamory rep. If there's one thing you can be sure of finding in a Kacen Callendar story, it is queerness!

Despite the danger and conflict and mystery to unravel, I struggled to care about this story - and I continue to struggle with identifying exactly why. The romance feels like it happens because it's supposed to, without the emotion that should be there. The story itself is overlong and reads a little like two separate segments mashed into one volume.

On the more positive side, the audiobook version is pleasant to listen to! with only a note that the narrator falters at maintaining the character voices they set up.

I'm sorry, but that was a confusing slog.

If you want a love triangle that's *actually* poly, this book has you covered and then some. The main character is a trans boy, the first love interest gender fluid, and the second gay (I think, although pan may be the better descriptor). So with a queer ploy romance, all boxes = checked. For everything else, not so much.

The world building is the weakest part of the story and made the plot difficult to understand. Far too much detail is thrown at you in the first few chapters about alchemy that it was hard to find my footing. I had the same vibes as I had while reading Lightlark: just here for the ride and hoping it'll make sense later. Houses, tiers, unlicensed, Source, higher planes, remote viewing—it's too complex for its own good, or simply not explained well.

This read like a standalone so it does have a concrete ending. If it does continue, I'm afraid I'll have to pass.

This book was a lot of magic and action rolled into one. The plot continued to build just when you thought you knew what was happening. I did enjoy the introduction of a person who changed their gender depending on how they were feeling that day and the idea that you can love more than one person. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a unique fantasy world, alchemists, a Source of power, and a people divided.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

This book had amazing LGBTQ+ representation and a great story too. I was excited to read this because I loved reading Felix Ever After and it didn’t disappoint. I loved the magic system and the story was gripping.

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender features multiple trans and queer characters in a world where alchemy both rules and is feared. There are specific schools to learn alchemy, which is referred to as science but works practically more like magic, and our main character, Ash Woods, works on the grounds of one such school after having been rejected as an applicant. But alchemy is regulated and only legal for those with a license, which Ash, along with many others, does not have.
I truly wanted to like this book. The concept was very interesting, and I love a diverse cast of characters. I did not enjoy reading this though. The early switching of pronouns for a gender fluid character was very confusing without context, and in the midst of the complex world building of a fantasy novel, it was even more so. I found two of the three main characters to be unlikeable, and unfortunately they were the two with the most time on the page. Their choices did not make sense to me, nor did often the consequences.
I did like that no one questions another's gender identity. Acceptance without question should be the norm, but it was positively surprising that none of the trans characters needed to explain themselves to anyone else. For this reason alone, I would still recommend this book to those especially struggling with gender identity and conformity.

I am grateful to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, & NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this book. I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the well-created and interesting world and magic system, but not so much the slow start and the plot really dragging in places. It’s a solid 3 stars for me.

If you're looking for a YA fantasy romance with trans characters and polyamory, Infinity Alchemist is worth checking out. It does read very YA- complete with an intensely emotional and often angry main character who makes some stupid decisions. But I think it makes sense for the intended audience, and I'll remind fellow adult readers that this isn't uncommon when your pre-frontal cortex is not yet fully developed and your body is flooded with hormones.

I liked the way that gender, sexuality, and love were handled and while there is plenty of injustice in the world, gender identity is not included in that. There is a trans boy main character, and a gender fluid character who literally changes gendered presentation and all of that is no big deal. Is there oppression and hatred? Absolutely, but not about gender or sexuality. The fantasy world is a fun one. It's a little different from our own with magic (alchemy) and what amounts to a segregated class system where only the wealthy and powerful are typically granted entrance to study alchemy and then licenses to practice it.

Not a perfect book, but one that is probably going to be somebody's new favorite thing and one that I enjoyed. The audio narration is excellent. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I was beyond thrilled to be approved for this ARC! I saw Infinity Alchemist on a list of fantasy books to diversify your reading in 2024 and immediately added it to my TBR.

I found the story to be rich, endearing, and it has a school for magic - which is always an immediate read for me. Full honesty, it took me a bit to feel like I understood the magic and politics of the world, but I was unbothered because I was so compelled by Ash and his relationship with Ramsey. This book discusses gender and its intersection with magic in ways I'd never considered, and I found it to be so compelling!

This book is marketed as YA, and it definitely falls toward the Middle Grades end of YA for me in terms of the dialogue. I found some of it to be a little clunky and obvious, but I think for a younger reader, especially one seeking queer representation, this could be an immensely powerful book.

If you're an adult reader, I highly recommend listening as an audiobook. Some of the issues with pacing and dialogue are a lot easier to disregard when listening at an increased listening speed. Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Tor Teen for this ARC Copy of Infinity Alchemist!

I'm so sorry, I was not a fan of this book. The main character, Ashley, at first was a little likeable, then grew on my nerves. It's forbidden that he practice alchemy, but he's doing it whenever possible and in public. He's irrational.

The one thing I did like is the gender identity and how young adults could identify with the characters.

I loved this audiobook, it lends itself to the story!

The story itself was so amazing, magical, and everything I want in an alchemist YA novel!!!!

This was a solid book in the YA fantasy realm. The only parts that were lacking for me was the world building and magic system, but I think it was done in a way that was approachable for YA readers and easy to follow which is definitely a good thing for most. I enjoyed the characters and representation as well.

I really enjoyed this fantasy novel! There weren't too many characters and the world building wasn't too complicated to keep track of. I think a lot of readers will really enjoy this!

Infinity Alchemist was a wonderful YA fantasy read and my first book by this author. I loved the premise of this book, specifically the use of alchemy as a power. The world building wasn't too difficult to understand, and kept me intrigued. The characters were interesting and it was nice to get LGBT rep in a YA book when so much of the world is trying to make them feel unseen. There's also a poly relationship in the book and the communication that they had within their relationship was quite impressive.

Well done!

thank you NetGalley, Kacen Callender, and TOR Publishing for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.