Hey Chosen Ones, the time has come to recap Adam Silvera’s fantasy debut, Infinity Son, in anticipation for the sequel, Infinity Reaper, hitting bookshelves March 2! If you’ve read an Adam Silvera book before, he’s probably made you cry. In the Infinity Cycle books, he (slightly) eases up on the emotional gut punches, and takes us to an alternate New York City where rare mythical creatures exist and humans can be born with powers! It’s an epic adventure you shouldn’t miss.
Without further ado, here’s what you need to know heading into Infinity Reaper!
Glossary
Gleamcrafters: practitioners with powers, both celestials and specters
Celestials: individuals either born with powers, or whose powers surface later in life. The Spell Walkers are a notable group of celestials
Specters: individuals who develop powers through stealing the blood of mythical creatures. The Blood Casters are a notable group.
Recap
A Tale of Two Brothers: Brothers Emil and Brighton catch a fight in the street between celestials Maribelle Lucero (who can levitate), her boyfriend, Atlas Haas (who can conjure wind), and a specter. Emil would like to haul a** out of there, because DANGER, whereas Brighton wants to get in the middle of the action to film it for his YouTube channel, Celestials of New York. It’s a recurring theme that Emil wants to stay out of the spotlight while Brighton craves it.
Cute Boys and Phoenixes: Emil meets a cute boy at the phoenix exhibit of the museum he works at. We learn Emil is fascinated by and fiercely protective of phoenixes, as they’re endangered by all the people trying to kill them for their blood to become specters. After a quick chat where the guy makes an insensitive remark about killing them, Emil’s feelings fly out the window.
The Dreamers Festival: Emil, Brighton, and their best friend Prudencia attend the Dreamers Festival in Central Park. There’s a fan meet up for Brighton’s YouTube following, an appearance by presidential candidate and celestial extraordinaire, Congresswoman Sunstar, and to top it off, Bright tries buying a suspicious potion! Bad, Brighton!
Not Your Normal Subway Ride (and That’s Saying Something): After the deal doesn’t go well, Orton, the specter selling potions, follows the trio. They’re attacked on the subway and it turns out three teens are no match for a dangerous specter. That is, until, EMIL’S POWERS MANIFEST AND HE BLASTS ORTON OFF THE TRAIN WITH PHOENIX FIRE!!
The Spell Walkers: Elsewhere, Maribelle, the celestial from the street fight, continues researching the Blackout, a massacre in which the founding members of the Spell Walkers appear to have taken part in the attack. Maribelle, whose parents died as villains in the attack, doesn’t believe her family would have turned evil, and has been obsessed with figuring out what happened that night. We also meet other members of the Spell Walkers, Iris and Wesley.
The Blood Casters: And then we meet everyone’s favorite shape-shifting bad boy, Ness. He’s fallen in with this specter gang, who also seem to be involved with the Blackout. Their leader, Luna, is the alchemist who created them.
A Wanted Man: In no time at all, both the Spell Walkers and Blood Casters show up to capture Emil, for well-intentioned and nefarious reasons, respectively. A fight ensues, and the Spell Walkers are able to escape with the brothers to their headquarters, Nova.
A Confusing Family Tree: Ready for another plot twist? Turns out Emil was actually adopted as a newborn, and he’s the reincarnation of one of the original specters, as phoenixes are reborn after they die, it turns out the same thing happens to the specters who steal their essences! He’s gone from being a wallflower to a pivotal player in the war between celestials and specters. Homie needs time to adjust.
Time to Be a Hero (I Guess): Reluctantly, Emil agrees to become a Spell Walker, keeping his true origins a secret. And so the training begins. While Emil learns how to use his powers and goes on missions, Brighton is in the wings filming all the content, both to grow his own fame, and to build some good PR for the Spell Walkers after the Blackout disaster.
Heroes Vs. Villains: Upon getting word of a mythical creature cage match, the Spell Walkers show up to stop the fight. Only the Blood Casters are also there, and a fight ensues. Maribelle is obsessed with catching June, a specter with phasing abilities who was seen the night of the Blackout, while the rest of the team captures Ness. As it turns out, he’s the supposedly dead son of a (spoiler alert) terrible Senator running against Congresswoman Sunstar.
Ness: While Maribelle would prefer to beat the information out of Ness, Emil thinks it better to treat him with kindness. Ness, formerly Eduardo, fled from his father, as apparently it’s a safer bet to live with murderous criminals. Is it just me or are there sparks between this tortured bad boy and the chosen one?
What’s A Little Romance Between Enemies: There are, in fact, sparks. Emil sees Ness for the tortured soul he is. Ness has never met anyone as good as Emil. And so Ness spells out the Blood Casters plans: Luna is dying and she’s been working on the ultimate potion that will make her invincible. She’s also in possession of an infinity-ender, a dagger that will kill a phoenix and prevent it from being reincarnated. Stay away, Emil!
An Eye for an Eye: With their new inside information, the Spell Walkers show up to get the jump on the Blood Casters. Emil grabs the urn containing the ingredient Luna needs for her potion (the ghosts of her late parents) and uses his powers to fly away. He misses, however, the specters capturing Brighton. And so a deal must be made.
A Botched Rescue Mission: However, not all the Spell Walkers are willing to save Brighton at the risk of Luna becoming invincible. Emil teams up with Prudencia, Maribelle, Atlas—and even trusts Ness—for this rescue mission. They aren’t that outnumbered, as, plot twist, Prudencia has been a celestial with powers all along (go, girl)! It’s not enough in the end though, as Ness betrays them and knocks Emil out. While Brighton has been saved, the Blood Casters now have Ness back, Emil, and the potion ingredient.
The Halo Knights: Luna and the Blood Casters need a phoenix that’s never been reborn for their potion, and when they show up to steal a phoenix egg, they have to fight off Halo Knights, devout protectors of phoenixes. In the battle, we see June use her powers firsthand, possessing a Halo Knight to kill his comrades. Meaning June possessed the Spell Walkers the night of the Blackout to make them look like the villains of the attack!!
Adam Silvera Breaks Our Hearts (in Fantasy too): The Spell Walkers show up and another fight ensues. In Maribelle’s rage to kill June, the ghostly specter possesses her, and forces her to kill her boyfriend, Atlas. Please, Adam, it hurts! In her grief, Maribelle discovers new power, and it turns out she’s not just a celestial, she’s a specter as well by birth! In the chaos, Ness triple-crosses the Blood Casters and helps to save both Emil and the phoenix egg! Is he a hero? A villain?
Family Bonding: We don’t get to find out, for now at least, as law enforcement storms the Nova base and captures Ness. Why? Because Senator Iron discovered Ness was alive and wanted his son back. Let’s just say Ness is none too pleased about the reunion.
The Final Battle: Down but not out, the Spell Walkers show up to stop Luna once and for all. There’s fire and blood flying everywhere! In a heart-stopping moment, Luna stabs Emil with the infinity-ender, and the last thing he sees before his vision goes dark is his brother Brighton drinking the ultimate potion himself!!!
Well, after that action-packed rollercoaster, you are ready to start the next book in the series!
- Find more recaps here
- Buy Infinity Son
- Preorder Infinity Reaper
- Add Infinity Reaper to your Goodreads