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adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, War
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The concept is amazing & parts of this story work well, but it was poorly written and didn't reach anywhere near the full potential of where this concept could go. Characters didn't feel fleshed out enough, like I got to the end of the story just not feeling anything towards our main characters and their romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Car accident
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A very readable book with a compelling, high-concept story. I liked the romance, but it goes without saying that intimate partner violence is a key aspect of the story. Major trigger warnings on that.
This author is apparently known for her YA work, and it shows in the ways that the story bridges adult themes and YA moralizing and angst. This worked in some places more than others. Arden's brooding, for example, is A-tier (if you're into that flavor of romance). However, I have to say that I found the 1000-year love poetry a little saccharine. The heavy-handed moralizing around "love conquers all" and "love transcends race/class/gender etc." likewise felt slightly overdone, especially in the book's final act.
In the end, I also found the historical vignettes more distracting than enlightening. Some of these periods in history felt like very surface-level research.I kept asking myself why Arden and especially Evelyn's beliefs are always so modern (i.e., things like opposing the death penalty) and never inflected with the superstitious/religious/prevailing beliefs of the day--even before the characters come to recall their past lives. There were also some flippant statements that I wanted to challenge. Like, the mostly-female-throughout-history Evelyn drops out of school in the modern era because she's bored with education, education isn't as good as it used to be, etc. I had to wonder when exactly, as a woman, she was getting all of this wonderful modern education? As a teenage girl in post-war El Salvador? As a villager in the 1960s in the Pacific islands? Doubtful. Ditto for Evelyn's claim to have lived through many postcolonial periods. Like, when? The book's refusal to engage realistically with historical notions of gender also felt anachronistic, especially given the author's desire to make queerness historically visible. It feels highly dubious that Evelyn (and sometimes Arden) lived as 18-year-old women dozens of times over 1000 years, yet Evelyn remained a virgin, both MCs were only married/betrothed once, and neither ever had children or experienced gender-based violence (beyond one guy in the Civil War being a creeper). Dramatic license, I guess, but it did add to the aforementioned YA-feel of the story.
That said, I was glad I went out of my way to pick this up. There is so much to think about in this story, I'll be pondering it for a while and would definitely consider reading it again.
This author is apparently known for her YA work, and it shows in the ways that the story bridges adult themes and YA moralizing and angst. This worked in some places more than others. Arden's brooding, for example, is A-tier (if you're into that flavor of romance). However, I have to say that I found the 1000-year love poetry a little saccharine. The heavy-handed moralizing around "love conquers all" and "love transcends race/class/gender etc." likewise felt slightly overdone, especially in the book's final act.
In the end, I also found the historical vignettes more distracting than enlightening. Some of these periods in history felt like very surface-level research.
That said, I was glad I went out of my way to pick this up. There is so much to think about in this story, I'll be pondering it for a while and would definitely consider reading it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, War
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Painfully slow
While a fairly unique idea, reads like a writing assignment with a prompt about soulmates and/or reincarnation. I cannot recall another book that had such little plot and such limited character development simultaneously
While a fairly unique idea, reads like a writing assignment with a prompt about soulmates and/or reincarnation. I cannot recall another book that had such little plot and such limited character development simultaneously
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, War
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, War
Minor: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I just "liked" this book until about 60% and then I basically cried my way to the end. Overall, I did find the pacing of Wales kinda slow at the beginning, but having it broken up by the other times/locations kept things interesting. I really liked the way this book talked about love so expensively and grief in so many ways. The plot twist felt like it came out of nowhere in the best way possible. But I would have liked it earlier so we could explore the massively unexpected conclusion to the book a bit better. One thing that consistently bothered me was that nearly everything Evelyn experienced was "both hot and cold", "at once soft and hard", etc... and it took me out of the story. I felt like while it really hammered home the idea of feeling two opposite emotions towards someone as the theme of the book it also had me begging for an accurate description. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes I felt like the author just didn't want to describe what was going on. The way the author was able to have such diverse representation with just two characters is great, though, and I loved the inherent queerness of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization, War
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
I thought the concept was so interesting, and it could have been fantastic, but it was just ok. I wanted so much more. I think if this had been developed a bit more it could have been amazing. Instead, it felt a lot like The Invisible Life of Addie LauRue but not done nearly as well. I thought the writing was beautiful, and I loved diving into the different time periods and locations around the world and the different personas the characters embodied, but I wanted more depth from each time jump.
To be fair, I did read this in like 48 hours because I needed to know the answer to the mystery, but, honestly, I was a bit let down by the reveal. Again, I wanted more development.
I also have a very hard time accepting this as YA when it has so much sexual tension/content throughout.
To be fair, I did read this in like 48 hours because I needed to know the answer to the mystery, but, honestly, I was a bit let down by the reveal. Again, I wanted more development.
I also have a very hard time accepting this as YA when it has so much sexual tension/content throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this, but not as much as I hoped I would. I didn’t realize it was YA at first and I think most of the issues I had with the book may have been improved if it was Adult instead of YA.
I loved the concept and got hooked by the plot pretty quickly. I also really enjoyed that we got to see Evelyn and Arden’s lives (briefly) through the last 1000 years. The end was probably the most impactful for me and I enjoyed the twist at the end.I also loved the Greece chapter to wrap up their origin story.
On the flip side, I felt very little connection to the characters because of the consistent switching of time periods and lives. I wish that the book was actually longer so as to spend more time in each life,rather than generally just finding out how they find each other and die . This also made it difficult for me to believe that Evelyn and Arden had a deep, epic love. It shined in the last few chapters, but I wanted it throughout. I also wanted to explore the twist more.
Overall, Our Infinite Fates was good and I may read it again in the future. The writing was also pretty good and I may read more by this author in the future.
I loved the concept and got hooked by the plot pretty quickly. I also really enjoyed that we got to see Evelyn and Arden’s lives (briefly) through the last 1000 years. The end was probably the most impactful for me and I enjoyed the twist at the end.
On the flip side, I felt very little connection to the characters because of the consistent switching of time periods and lives. I wish that the book was actually longer so as to spend more time in each life,
Overall, Our Infinite Fates was good and I may read it again in the future. The writing was also pretty good and I may read more by this author in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, War
Minor: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Classism
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness