Review: Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

Two brothers have unexpectedly been thrown into a war that has been running for generations. Brighton is dead keen to be a part of things and wishes that he has powers, but in the meantime is happy to settle for being a star on social media. Emil, meanwhile, wants a quieter life but finds himself thrown into the spotlight shortly after his eighteenth birthday when a dangerous situation fuels powers that he never knew he had. And both brothers need to make choices that may have deadly consequences.

The novel starts out well, and certainly features an interesting pair of opposites as lead characters. The concept is interesting enough for an Urban Fantasy, but it is let down by some issues with pacing, and the world building is nowhere near as strong as it could be, leaving me to feel a little lost in places. I was also left scratching my head as to why Emil would even be asked to go into battle with a mere two weeks of training. (Sure, he may have had powers, but he had yet to learn how to control them.) One of the novels strengths, however, lies in the fact that it has a gay lead character and that nothing about that particular aspect of the story feels forced or as though it was done to check a box, which can sometimes be the case in YA.

If the name on the front cover sounds immediately familiar, yes, Infinity Son is written by the same Adam Silvera who penned History is All You Left Me and They Both Die at the End, both of which are clever contemporary YA novels that feature diverse characters and realistic situations that are handled with sensitivity and depth. 

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for my ARC of Infinity Son.

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