Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Immortalists

This book, though not always engaging, makes up for it by delving into a variety of inner conflicts people may have as a result of: descending from immigrants, the religion they grew up in, their relationship with their siblings and other relatives, their role in current social/political events, and their approach to love and life. I admired how Benjamin was able to tackle so many different issues, and in four wildly different characters on top of that. The natural problem that arises for the reader is that they will likely be more interested in one of these issues and one of the main characters than the others, so reading about the other issues and characters can get tiresome. However, I personally find the way Benjamin approached the perspectives (by giving each character their own section) more enjoyable to read than the most common approach which is to give each character alternating chapters. The way Benjamin did it, you get enough time to dive into the mind of each character, understand their problems and their philosophies, and reflect on your own in relation to theirs. It might be annoying, though, when you finally become close to a character and then their section ends and you don't get to revisit their mind again. Basically, it feels like Benjamin tried to do a little too much. Finally, I feel like I didn't really get the thing I was most looking for in this book based on the blurb: how would someone change their approach to life, knowing their death date? I felt like no character took their death date seriously, except in their final moments, except for one.

Why in the world does the youngest sibling die first, the next youngest sibling die second, etc.? Isn't that way too much of a coincidence?

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