Review | The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Infinity Courts (The Infinity Courts #1) by Akemi Dawn Bowman

“Infinity was never built for you; it was built for dreamers. I might never be free, […] but neither will you.”

I listened to this audiobook on the Storytel app // 30 days free

‘The Infinity Courts’ is a fast-paced, action-packed and mind-blowing science fiction novel that you won’t be able to put down

As Lady Gaga once said, this is talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before. I have found a new favourite book. Watch me recommend this book to literally everyone. I knew I was going to love this just by looking at the cover and blurb. The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman is everything and more that I could possibly want in a sci-fi book.

Synopsis
Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.

The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.

When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.

As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.

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What first drew me to this book was the cover. As you can see, it’s gorgeous. I loved the colour scheme and thought the girl on it was really pretty. After reading the blurb I was sold. I just knew this was going to be good.

In The Infinity Courts we follow Nami who was murdered before she could attend her graduation party. Nami is a very interesting character. She has a strong moral compass and questions everything. She gets thrown into a world she doesn’t understand. I also loved the others characters but would’ve loved to learn a bit more about them. We got some information about Theo and Annika, but I wanted to know more about Shura and the others. Prince Caelen definitely was my favourite character.

The storyline is so unique. I don’t think I have ever read a book like The Infinity Courts before. This book is a beautiful mix between science fiction and fantasy. It has the awesome science fiction elements I love, but also more magical fantasy elements that complement the story. The story is quite fast-paced in the beginning. You get a lot of information. After a couple of chapters the pace does slow down a bit, but it never gets boring.

The world-building was also fantastic. Infinity was well-described and I could picture everything. I loved listening to the audiobook. It felt like I was walking through the city. It felt like I was a resident. The world-building was complex, but still easy to understand because of how Dawn Bowman described everything. There were some things that weren’t really explained like the powers the humans have.

I listened to the audiobook on Storytel, but I’m totally going to buy the hardback. This book has become my new all-time-favourite.

Would I recommend it?
Yes!!! Please read this, so we can gush about it together. I highly recommend this book.

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Trigger warnings
Death, gun violence, references to torture, threat, forced servitude, mind control/manipulation, ai taking over
Representation
LGBTQ+ rep, biracial main character (japanese/white), lesbian/bisexual(?) side character, ownvoices
Genre
Science fiction, fantasy (young adult)
Pages
482
Publication
April 6th, 2021
About the author
Akemi Dawn Bowman is a critically-acclaimed author who writes across genres. Her novels have received multiple accolades and award nominations, and her debut novel, Starfish, was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. She has a BA in social sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and currently lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She overthinks everything, including this bio. You can find Akemi on Instagram @AkemiDawnBowman.