The Infinity Courts by: Akemi Dawn Bowman
Release Date: April 6th, 2021
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Pages: 482
Cover Artist: Casey Weldon
Cover Designer: Laura Eckes
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. From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.
Review
Thank you immensely to Turn the Page Tours, author Akemi Dawn Bowman, and Simon Pulse for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and allowing me to be on this book tour.
The Infinity Courts unique storyline really prompts you to think about how you use technology and AI in your daily life and the affect it could have on your future. Thinking about how much I say “Alexa” or “Siri” on any given day makes me feel sort of sad, especially after reading about how Ophelia feels in this novel.
The story itself is truly unique. I have never thought about the possibility that something other than a spirit would be controlling the afterlife of humans. Ophelia is the equivalent of the Alexas and Siris of today, but this AI has developed into something all-encompassing and also developed consciousness. I have to admit, this portion of the story was somewhat frightening to me. After being told what to do on the daily from who knows how many humans on earth, Ophelia is tired and wants to become one with the human world as well as the afterlife. Now, I am not saying that what Ophelia is doing to the souls in the afterlife is good or justified, buttt I can understand where she’s coming from.
After Nami dies, she enters the afterlife where Ophelia rules, the Infinity. As Nami tries to prevent Ophelia from taking over the human world, she reflects on how she felt towards Ophelia when was just a piece of AI back home. This definitely allowed the story to come full circle in terms of how we feel, as readers, towards Nami and Ophelia.
The characters can also be frustrating at times, but they were still lovable none the less. Nami frustrated me mainly because she doesn’t know how to take advice, which is fine! I don’t know how to take advice either on a good day. I truly believe that sometimes we forget that characters in books are allowed to have flaws just like real people do. But, something that made me really love Nami was the love she had for her sister and her fight to make sure her sister stays safe. It was just a beautiful addition to the story.
If you’re a fan of black mirror, AI, love, and sacrifice, then The Infinity Courts is the right novel for you. Definitely put this on your TBR and pick it up or request it at your library if you can.
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Turn the Page Tours: The Infinity Courts Launch Post
*includes tour schedule
Meet 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.
Meet the Cover Designer
Hello!
I’m a Designer at Simon and Schuster, as well as a freelance illustrator, and author of Doodle Bug Diaries.
My work has been featured in the New York Book Show, Entertainment Weekly and Spine Magazine.
I like stale Oreos and do not like statues anywhere near water. I usually have the Brace Face theme song stuck in my head.
Please contact me at lauraeckes@gmail.com for any inquiries!
Check out my other posts here!
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