The Genesis Wars

An Infinity Courts Novel

By: Akemi Dawn Bowman

Narrated by: Mizuo Peck

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Black Mirror meets Marie Lu’s Warcross in Nami’s continuing adventures as she fights to free her friends in this “fast-paced” (Kirkus Reviews) sequel to The Infinity Courts by award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman.

It’s been ten months since Nami narrowly escaped the Four Courts and Ophelia’s wrath. Ten months since she was betrayed by someone she once considered a friend. Someone she poured her heart out to. And now her family here in the afterlife are gone, captured, and Nami is utterly alone.

On the run, only steps ahead of the AI forces pursuing her, and desperate to free her friends, Nami must take the allies she can find, even if she doesn’t fully trust them. And as she tests the limits of her own power, she must also reckon with the responsibility that entails.

Stakes are high as Nami navigates old enemies, unexpected allies, and an ever-changing landscape filled with dangers and twists at every turn. Along the way, she’ll learn powerful truths about who she can trust and the sacrifices that must be made in order to fight for a better, freer world for all.

©2022 Akemi Dawn Bowman. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Really good!

Love the character growth and constant surprises. Fast-paced, action-packed, and so imaginative! Can't wait for the next one!

So good!

I finished this so quickly, it was great, such a good follow up to a book I just thought had a really frustrating ending lol

Filler Book, Disinterested Narrator

With the cliffhanger left by the first book, I was excited to read this one, hoping the series would be a duology. It is not, but that’s not what does this title in. There are 3 things that bring this book down.

One, the book starts off with a fight scene with a person the reader hasn’t yet to meet. Mind you, the first book ended with Nami on her way to safety. This feels like waking up in a car going a hundred miles per hour with no clue who’s driving, let alone the destination. More scenes like this occur where characters are suddenly (to the reader) inserted without any introduction. Explanations of who they are and their relationship to Nami come across as afterthoughts, as if the reader is supposed to already know them even though the author knows we’ve never met. It’s like there was another book in between the first and second, but there isn’t. Things move along like oil skimming water, and as the reader, you’re not allowed to delve deeper. Because of this, the additional characters come across as paper thin, and disposable.

Second, Nami is still not a likable character. She is still trying to tell people who’ve been living in this land what to do and how they should do it. Her actions come across as annoying and entitled in ways that shouldn’t exist in someone who knows she fighting for the freedom of others and herself.

Finally, the narrator. This book was read like a term paper on parliament. The narrator sounded bored, disinterested, and almost sleepy. Because of this, the book was grating to get through.

All in all, the 2nd book in the series lacked the luster, excitement, and engagement of the first. I’m still on the fence about checking out the next installment, but I do have my DEEP reservations.