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Our Infinite Fates
‘Maybe that’s all love is, in the end. An endless tempting of fate.�
Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday.
The problem is that she’s quite fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. So now she has to:
1. find the centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life and destroy them forever
2. figure out exactly why she’s being hunted in the first place,
3. try quite hard not to fall in love with them
…a.
Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday.
The problem is that she’s quite fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. So now she has to:
1. find the centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life and destroy them forever
2. figure out exactly why she’s being hunted in the first place,
3. try quite hard not to fall in love with them
…a.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2025
3,687 people are currently reading
144k people want to read
About the author
Laura/L.K. Steven
12books1,329followersLAURA "L.K." STEVEN is a #1 New York Times, Indie & USA Today bestselling author from the northernmost town in England. She has published several books for young adults, such as the instant bestseller Our Infinite Fates, while the forthcoming Silvercloak trilogy, written as L.K. Steven, will mark her adult fantasy debut. When she’s not writing, you can find her trail running, reading chunky fantasy novels, baking cookies, playing old men at chess, or ignoring her husband and son to perfect her Stardew Valley farm. You can find her on Instagram (@laurasteven) and TikTok (@authorlaurasteven).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,529 reviews
March 16, 2025
4.25!
“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.�
I honestly was not expecting it to be this good??? like, I was expecting it to be good, enjoyable but not to this extent because honestly I was so invested in the story, the very idea and the concept of the storyline was so unique and interesting and I truly thing the plot was the aspect of the book that kept me hooked throughout. While I loved the concept, the execution could have been a bit better. The pacing of this book was also very slow. Yeah, yeah, I finished it in 2 days but that's because I pushed through, otherwise the pacing was slow but I found it enjoyable. The writing style was very fun to read. It wasn't like Addie Larue, I would say but it did have a similar vibe which I enjoyed reading and yeah this was heartbreaking!
"I hope you never lose that bottomless love. I hope you hold onto what makes you human.�
So basically, Evelyn and Arden are cursed. This shit made me feel so claustrophobic because I felt like I was stuck and I wanted to escape but I couldn't so Arden has to kill Evelyn before the age of 18 and if she dies, he dies and they both get reincarnated in another era, in another life and this cycle keeps on going on and we're pretty much like Evelyn because we're not getting any answers and it was so frustrating to read because I wanted answers so bad!! I liked how it was divided into the present perspective and the past perspectives which took us through the journey of some of the eras they were reincarnated in and tbh the way it was written made it so interesting because it gave us glimpses of their relationship and it kind of took our mind of the questions we had and I liked it.
“The cruelest fate the gods and stars had ever written: the person I loved most in the world was the person that would ultimately destroy me.�
Evelyn, Our main character, and uff her story was so frustrating to read because she's the one who's killed in every lifetime by her lover and she's kept with these questions as to why all this is happening and Arden just tells her to trust her and that the outcome of letting her live over 18 would be worse and ahhh I had no idea how she was trusting him because if I was her I would have not but thank god I'm not in fantasy but I felt so bad for her because she was a very loving character and she fell in love with each of her family over the years and she was taken from there and placed into another family and it just hurt to read that. Arden, at first it was very hard to like his character because we didn't really know why he was doing all of the things he was doing but then slowly we learned and it made so much more sense, I loved the dialogues that he dropped, the swoon worthy moments but I also liked how heartbreaking all of this was for him as well. I just don't understand why he didn't tell Evelyn all of this.
"If a hero is someone who will give up love to save the world, then a villain is the reverse. Someone who will give up the world to save love."
The romance, was well written, I really enjoyed reading it, fated mates with slow burn and kind of enemies to lovers and with angst so that was very fun to read, the sad moments blend in here so well and the yearning was one of my favorite parts. I didn't really focus on the romance more because I was way more invested in the plot of the story and the romance as subplot felt good and shaped the story to be better but if romance is supposed to be the main plot than yeah I dont really think it was developed that well for me to be invested in it like that.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable read!
___
I just know that this has a pretty cover and is like The Invisible Life of Addie Larue and honestly say no more 🤭✋�
*Thank you to Wednesday books for an E-Arc of this book*
“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.�
I honestly was not expecting it to be this good??? like, I was expecting it to be good, enjoyable but not to this extent because honestly I was so invested in the story, the very idea and the concept of the storyline was so unique and interesting and I truly thing the plot was the aspect of the book that kept me hooked throughout. While I loved the concept, the execution could have been a bit better. The pacing of this book was also very slow. Yeah, yeah, I finished it in 2 days but that's because I pushed through, otherwise the pacing was slow but I found it enjoyable. The writing style was very fun to read. It wasn't like Addie Larue, I would say but it did have a similar vibe which I enjoyed reading and yeah this was heartbreaking!
"I hope you never lose that bottomless love. I hope you hold onto what makes you human.�
So basically, Evelyn and Arden are cursed. This shit made me feel so claustrophobic because I felt like I was stuck and I wanted to escape but I couldn't so Arden has to kill Evelyn before the age of 18 and if she dies, he dies and they both get reincarnated in another era, in another life and this cycle keeps on going on and we're pretty much like Evelyn because we're not getting any answers and it was so frustrating to read because I wanted answers so bad!! I liked how it was divided into the present perspective and the past perspectives which took us through the journey of some of the eras they were reincarnated in and tbh the way it was written made it so interesting because it gave us glimpses of their relationship and it kind of took our mind of the questions we had and I liked it.
“The cruelest fate the gods and stars had ever written: the person I loved most in the world was the person that would ultimately destroy me.�
Evelyn, Our main character, and uff her story was so frustrating to read because she's the one who's killed in every lifetime by her lover and she's kept with these questions as to why all this is happening and Arden just tells her to trust her and that the outcome of letting her live over 18 would be worse and ahhh I had no idea how she was trusting him because if I was her I would have not but thank god I'm not in fantasy but I felt so bad for her because she was a very loving character and she fell in love with each of her family over the years and she was taken from there and placed into another family and it just hurt to read that. Arden, at first it was very hard to like his character because we didn't really know why he was doing all of the things he was doing but then slowly we learned and it made so much more sense, I loved the dialogues that he dropped, the swoon worthy moments but I also liked how heartbreaking all of this was for him as well. I just don't understand why he didn't tell Evelyn all of this.
"If a hero is someone who will give up love to save the world, then a villain is the reverse. Someone who will give up the world to save love."
The romance, was well written, I really enjoyed reading it, fated mates with slow burn and kind of enemies to lovers and with angst so that was very fun to read, the sad moments blend in here so well and the yearning was one of my favorite parts. I didn't really focus on the romance more because I was way more invested in the plot of the story and the romance as subplot felt good and shaped the story to be better but if romance is supposed to be the main plot than yeah I dont really think it was developed that well for me to be invested in it like that.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable read!
___
I just know that this has a pretty cover and is like The Invisible Life of Addie Larue and honestly say no more 🤭✋�
*Thank you to Wednesday books for an E-Arc of this book*
February 7, 2025
˗ˏˋ � ˎˊ˗ 3 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 ˗ˏˋ★‿︵� ˚ ₊⊹
I'm so upset that I didn't love this one more. And, to be fair, I don't think the audio copy that I had did the book any justice. It wasn't that I thought the narrators did a poor job, because she ( Sofia Oxenham) did a great job, but the pacing of the story is really slow and it just made it hard to stay engaged with and focused on... if that makes sense?
₊⊹⁀� The book is told in alternating chapters of historical events between the characters and modern day. It's a love story strewn across time.
Evelyn and Arden are fated to be together no matter when in history they meet. But they are also fated to die together over and over again by their 18th birthdays. In modern times, Evelyn finds herself fighting to stay alive to ensure her sister can be saved from the cancer she is enduring by a bone marrow transplant.
Overall, the story was nice. I liked the background the author chose to give with the chapters that take us back to other times in history. It gave a good amount of background as to why the characters interact with each other the way they do. However, I did find the back and forth a bit choppy and it slowed the pacing for me a bit.
I also felt like we didn't spend enough time in those chapters to truly get a sense of the relationship between the two characters. I wanted to be immersed in this epic romance but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters or invested in why their love story was important.
I think this is one I may go back and revisit once it releases and try reading the kindle version instead. Some books just don't work for me on audio and I'm not sure if that was the whole reason that this wasn't more enjoyable for me, or if it was just the pacing and the sometimes repetitiveness of the story that took some of the enjoyment out.
➽┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶�
'The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries. They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one.'
Anticipated Release Date - 03/04/25
Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (besties ily) for the complementary advanced audio copy, all thoughts are my own.
⋆✴︎˚｡� ˗ˏˋ★‿︵� ˚ ₊⊹
I'm so upset that I didn't love this one more. And, to be fair, I don't think the audio copy that I had did the book any justice. It wasn't that I thought the narrators did a poor job, because she ( Sofia Oxenham) did a great job, but the pacing of the story is really slow and it just made it hard to stay engaged with and focused on... if that makes sense?
₊⊹⁀� The book is told in alternating chapters of historical events between the characters and modern day. It's a love story strewn across time.
Evelyn and Arden are fated to be together no matter when in history they meet. But they are also fated to die together over and over again by their 18th birthdays. In modern times, Evelyn finds herself fighting to stay alive to ensure her sister can be saved from the cancer she is enduring by a bone marrow transplant.
Overall, the story was nice. I liked the background the author chose to give with the chapters that take us back to other times in history. It gave a good amount of background as to why the characters interact with each other the way they do. However, I did find the back and forth a bit choppy and it slowed the pacing for me a bit.
I also felt like we didn't spend enough time in those chapters to truly get a sense of the relationship between the two characters. I wanted to be immersed in this epic romance but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters or invested in why their love story was important.
I think this is one I may go back and revisit once it releases and try reading the kindle version instead. Some books just don't work for me on audio and I'm not sure if that was the whole reason that this wasn't more enjoyable for me, or if it was just the pacing and the sometimes repetitiveness of the story that took some of the enjoyment out.
➽┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶┶�
'The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries. They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one.'
Anticipated Release Date - 03/04/25
Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (besties ily) for the complementary advanced audio copy, all thoughts are my own.
⋆✴︎˚｡� ˗ˏˋ★‿︵� ˚ ₊⊹
April 21, 2025
Oh boy! I think I’ve found my new obsession—the book I’ll be chanting “I love it! I love it! I love it!� at least a thousand times over!
The poetry, the lyrical and sensational prose, the way it wraps around you like the softest blanket—it’s a breathtakingly beautiful tale of endless love and reincarnation. This book doesn’t just tell a story; it takes you on a journey through time and space, redefining the very essence of soulmates, making you cry, filling your heart with joy, and shocking you with its mind-blowing twists. And let’s not forget the revelation—the reason why these two connected souls are doomed to kill each other to be reborn! That twist made me scream—it pulled the rug right out from under me. It was so clever and masterfully executed!
Suffice it to say, I don’t have the talent to write a love song or compose a poem grand enough to capture how deeply this book touched my soul. Words aren’t enough! It may be early to decide, but I’m certain this book has already secured its place as one of the top ten must-reads of the year. This isn’t a book to let get lost in your ever-growing TBR pile—it needs to be read!
The plot follows Evelyn, an immortal soul who has lived countless lifetimes in different bodies, only to be killed each time by Arden—her soulmate, her home, her true love... and also her executioner. They are bound together by fate, cursed to find each other in every reincarnation, with one always taking the other’s life before they turn 18. Now, Evelyn is living a peaceful life on a cozy Welsh farm, still grieving her father, cherishing her loving mother, and adoring her sarcastic, quirky sister—her person. But her sister is battling leukemia, and Evelyn’s spinal cord is her only hope for survival. The surgery must happen before her 18th birthday. The problem? Arden is out there, once again in a new body, and she has to find him before he kills her.
But who is Arden this time? The charming blond newcomer who just moved to town and asked her on a date? Or her quiet, bookish coworker—who just so happens to be reading a newly published novel, anonymously written by Arden himself, recounting their days in Siberia?
How can she stop him this time before he takes her life? Why does he keep doing it, even though it breaks him, too? Are they cursed? Did they make an irreversible deal with the devil? Is this all about revenge? Evelyn is determined to uncover the truth and convince Arden to break the cycle—so she doesn’t have to leave behind the people she loves yet again, including Arden, the only one she has ever loved, the only one she will ever love.
Final verdict? Ten billion stars! Five stars aren’t even close to enough! I loved this book with every fiber of my being! Read it! Read it! Read it!
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with a digital review copy of this fantastic book in exchange for my honest thoughts—I truly appreciate it!
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
The poetry, the lyrical and sensational prose, the way it wraps around you like the softest blanket—it’s a breathtakingly beautiful tale of endless love and reincarnation. This book doesn’t just tell a story; it takes you on a journey through time and space, redefining the very essence of soulmates, making you cry, filling your heart with joy, and shocking you with its mind-blowing twists. And let’s not forget the revelation—the reason why these two connected souls are doomed to kill each other to be reborn! That twist made me scream—it pulled the rug right out from under me. It was so clever and masterfully executed!
Suffice it to say, I don’t have the talent to write a love song or compose a poem grand enough to capture how deeply this book touched my soul. Words aren’t enough! It may be early to decide, but I’m certain this book has already secured its place as one of the top ten must-reads of the year. This isn’t a book to let get lost in your ever-growing TBR pile—it needs to be read!
The plot follows Evelyn, an immortal soul who has lived countless lifetimes in different bodies, only to be killed each time by Arden—her soulmate, her home, her true love... and also her executioner. They are bound together by fate, cursed to find each other in every reincarnation, with one always taking the other’s life before they turn 18. Now, Evelyn is living a peaceful life on a cozy Welsh farm, still grieving her father, cherishing her loving mother, and adoring her sarcastic, quirky sister—her person. But her sister is battling leukemia, and Evelyn’s spinal cord is her only hope for survival. The surgery must happen before her 18th birthday. The problem? Arden is out there, once again in a new body, and she has to find him before he kills her.
But who is Arden this time? The charming blond newcomer who just moved to town and asked her on a date? Or her quiet, bookish coworker—who just so happens to be reading a newly published novel, anonymously written by Arden himself, recounting their days in Siberia?
How can she stop him this time before he takes her life? Why does he keep doing it, even though it breaks him, too? Are they cursed? Did they make an irreversible deal with the devil? Is this all about revenge? Evelyn is determined to uncover the truth and convince Arden to break the cycle—so she doesn’t have to leave behind the people she loves yet again, including Arden, the only one she has ever loved, the only one she will ever love.
Final verdict? Ten billion stars! Five stars aren’t even close to enough! I loved this book with every fiber of my being! Read it! Read it! Read it!
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with a digital review copy of this fantastic book in exchange for my honest thoughts—I truly appreciate it!
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
March 7, 2025
5 stars
Guys, guys, guys, IM OBSESSED. I expected this to be good, but to be THIS good??? I want to reread it RIGHT NOW. Omg.
Picture this: You and your soulmate are reincarnated over and over and over again. Sounds romantic right? Not when you are destined to kill each other in every single life.
This was SO beautifully written. I was fully immersed and it PAINED me to have to put it down to sleep and work. The love story, UGH, the love story was tragically beautiful and getting to see all the different versions of Arden and Evelyn throughout time was just... I have no words for it.
I'm a sucker for "I will love you in every lifetime" and this gave me exactly that, and more.
Perfect.
"In the last thousand years: empires have risen and fallen and I have loved you, plagues have leaped from rat to daughter and I have loved you, humanity has conquered sea and sky and I have loved you, kings have been slain and forests razed and witches burned and gold struck and maps redrawn and fortunes traded and volcanoes erupted and moons landed and cathedrals sculpted and rivers dirtied and masterpieces painted and battlefields bloodied and I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you."
Guys, guys, guys, IM OBSESSED. I expected this to be good, but to be THIS good??? I want to reread it RIGHT NOW. Omg.
Picture this: You and your soulmate are reincarnated over and over and over again. Sounds romantic right? Not when you are destined to kill each other in every single life.
This was SO beautifully written. I was fully immersed and it PAINED me to have to put it down to sleep and work. The love story, UGH, the love story was tragically beautiful and getting to see all the different versions of Arden and Evelyn throughout time was just... I have no words for it.
I'm a sucker for "I will love you in every lifetime" and this gave me exactly that, and more.
Perfect.
"In the last thousand years: empires have risen and fallen and I have loved you, plagues have leaped from rat to daughter and I have loved you, humanity has conquered sea and sky and I have loved you, kings have been slain and forests razed and witches burned and gold struck and maps redrawn and fortunes traded and volcanoes erupted and moons landed and cathedrals sculpted and rivers dirtied and masterpieces painted and battlefields bloodied and I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you."
March 18, 2025
you see that girl? 👇 such hope. such naivety. this has nothing going for it tbh. being marketed as the invisible life of addie larue x this is how you lose the time war but actually getting THIS is disappointing. being star-crossed lovers who kill each other is only worthwhile if i understand how they came to have this ~great love~ and i don’t! it is THE biggest plot hole! also, a book like this can get very repetitive and after a point the flashbacks were so useless.
i saw so many good things about the writing and how the prose was especially gorgeous but it felt like when i try to meet the word count for my essays 😔 without any depth, the lines were very extreme and throwaway for characters who seem to mean so little to each other??? yet their love story transcends anything we or THEY can comprehend?!
a very particular pet peeve of mine is the cover giving off fantasy vibes when this was honestly very modern day/historical fiction. like this is so magical realism to me?? i digress, but i didn’t have a grand time
🦋 pre review: inspired by exile???? ohhhh i am going to eat this up!!!! i need to start prioritizing my physical tbr and then get hit with arcs like this 😭😭
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc
i saw so many good things about the writing and how the prose was especially gorgeous but it felt like when i try to meet the word count for my essays 😔 without any depth, the lines were very extreme and throwaway for characters who seem to mean so little to each other??? yet their love story transcends anything we or THEY can comprehend?!
a very particular pet peeve of mine is the cover giving off fantasy vibes when this was honestly very modern day/historical fiction. like this is so magical realism to me?? i digress, but i didn’t have a grand time
🦋 pre review: inspired by exile???? ohhhh i am going to eat this up!!!! i need to start prioritizing my physical tbr and then get hit with arcs like this 😭😭
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc
March 26, 2025
� 5 stars
𓍢� � thank you to netgalley and wednesday books for the advanced readers copy!
𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆 - 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒚
𝒖𝒑 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕: 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒍𝒆 - 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒕, 𝒃𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓
� reincarnated enemies to lovers
🩷 doomed to kill each other in every life
� lush, epic settings spanning 1000 years
� soulmates/fated mates
🩷 pain and yearning
� “i love you, im sorry� as the knife sinks in
“The cruelest fate the gods and stars had ever written: the person I loved most in the world was the person who would ultimately destroy me.�
saudade - a kind of longing, a nostalgia, a sense of incompleteness, not just romantic but existential, rooted in the very fabric of our people.
“the whole world a backdrop for our doomed love, for our infinite fates.�
this book. THIS. BOOK. oh gosh this review is gonna be a long one; i loved every second of this book. it was so beautifully heart wrenching and those type of books always find a place in my heart.
before i read this, i’d see the authors posts every now and then and would think, ‘wow this sounds like it’s gonna hurt!� and oh did it hurt in such a beautiful way. the plot of this is so utterly gripping and impossible to put down.
we follow our main character, evelyn, who pretty much knows and much as we do! finding things out as we read along gives that feeling of want to keep turning the pages and i loved every second of it! the questions, the theories; having a book pull these thoughts out of my head is one of my favorite things about being a reader!! i was so utterly immersed in this story and couldn’t wait to reach the end while at the same time, i didn’t want it to end!!! it was such a lovely reading experience <3
“There’s, like... a tether, or something. It thrums between us. Draws me to you, like a magnet. And until it finds you... it’s like always being hungry. It gnaws at me. You don’t feel it too?�
“I do, but it doesn’t point me to you like a compass. It’s more like a deep yearning. Only, it doesn’t ease when we’re together. It intensifies.�
there is a dual timeline(s) of sorts in this book. we have alternating chapters between the present time and past lives and oh were the past lives chapters soul crushing. imagine each life when they turn 18, they have to kill each other and be wrenched apart for another 18 years ARE YOU KIDDING?! intense yearning and pain is what it is!! on top of that, the banter was banteringgg!!!
“You piss me off, you know that?�
“I love you too.�
“Until we meet again, my love.�
“Oh, my love.�
“I hate you,�
“I know.�
𓍢� �
“A girl who wanted to let herself love, and be loved in return. A girl who wanted to live. The most human things of all.�
evelyn has so much love in them, and so much love to give. they love and love and love, despite it all. despite losing everyone in every life, that hope to live a beautiful and ordinary life never went away. they are compassionate, empathetic, full of love and hope.
“My love for you could fill an ocean, Evelyn.�
arden was so intriguing to me. there was so much mystery to them and i just wanted it all to unravel! they are a poet at heart and AHHHHH i was actually screaming internally every time they said something!
one of my favorite things in books is when the romance is more than just romance; an intimate type of love. a love so beautiful with so many layers and this book had just that and even more than i could’ve ever thought. a soul only they can truly know, a language only they can speak. the three quotes above heavily show what i’m trying to say so i’ll let those do all the talking!!!!
“It was a yearning so complex that it defied all reason.�
the YEARNING in this book????! THIS BOOK IS LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF YEARNING. having to be ripped apart by each other’s hands life after life and to go on years before finding each other again? YEARNINGGGGGGG!!!!!!!
“Though, without you, there would be no poetry. I would have only the harsh lens of my own worldview. I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of life, because I only see it through your eyes. Muse is too simple a word for what you are to me.�
Arden wrote a thousand years� worth of love poems about Evelyn. A THOUSAND YEARS� WORTH OF LOVE POEMS. a old journal of an unknown author of poems was found and a book was published under with the poems arden wrote for evelyn called ‘ten hundred years of you� AHHHHHHHH!!!! not only that but:
“Littered all over the world—scattered through history like confetti—were notebooks full of Arden’s love for me. How many more had been discovered? Discarded, published, tucked away in dimly lit museums?�
yeah. i’m deceased.
if people are songs
written in the major or the minor key
then you, my dear, are major.
a climb, a crescendo, a thousand trumpets,
a clashing of cymbals, joy and awe,
rousing, reaching, always to the stars.
and I am but a dirge, a requiem, a lamentation,
a melancholic harp in D minor,
forever wondering why you chose me.
—author unknown
in the last thousand years:
empires have risen and fallen
and I have loved you,
plagues have leaped from rat to daughter and I have loved you,
humanity has conquered sea and sky
and I have loved you,
kings have been slain and forests razed and witches burned and gold struck and maps redrawn and fortunes traded and volcanoes erupted and moons landed and cathedrals sculpted and rivers dirtied and masterpieces painted and battlefields bloodied
and I love you,
and I have loved you,
and I will love you.
—author unknown
“If a hero is someone who will give up love to save the world, then a villain is the reverse. Someone who will give up the world to save love.�
“So you’re a villain. You admit it.�
“There’s no line I wouldn’t cross to keep a loved one safe.�
“By design, you don’t have any loved ones.�
“I have you.�
i cannot even begin to describe how much this book HURT!!!! i loved the suspense of not knowing ANYTHING and getting glimpses/hints as we read along!
“I do this to protect you. Do you understand that? That I would lay my body over yours, war after war after war, life after life after life?�
“I would do anything to protect you. And it will torture me forever to know that I can’t protect you from me.�
throughout this entire book my main question was just “why?� WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? i kept theorizing what it possibly could’ve been and this is the only time in a book where i actually had to idea!!! i was so far off and everything made so much sense at the end and tied together so beautifully. i only wish that it was longer! i could truly read this forever.
𓍢� �
“I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.�
“They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.�
𓍢� � thank you to netgalley and wednesday books for the advanced readers copy!
𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆 - 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒚
𝒖𝒑 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕: 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒍𝒆 - 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒕, 𝒃𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓
� reincarnated enemies to lovers
🩷 doomed to kill each other in every life
� lush, epic settings spanning 1000 years
� soulmates/fated mates
🩷 pain and yearning
� “i love you, im sorry� as the knife sinks in
“The cruelest fate the gods and stars had ever written: the person I loved most in the world was the person who would ultimately destroy me.�
saudade - a kind of longing, a nostalgia, a sense of incompleteness, not just romantic but existential, rooted in the very fabric of our people.
“the whole world a backdrop for our doomed love, for our infinite fates.�
this book. THIS. BOOK. oh gosh this review is gonna be a long one; i loved every second of this book. it was so beautifully heart wrenching and those type of books always find a place in my heart.
before i read this, i’d see the authors posts every now and then and would think, ‘wow this sounds like it’s gonna hurt!� and oh did it hurt in such a beautiful way. the plot of this is so utterly gripping and impossible to put down.
we follow our main character, evelyn, who pretty much knows and much as we do! finding things out as we read along gives that feeling of want to keep turning the pages and i loved every second of it! the questions, the theories; having a book pull these thoughts out of my head is one of my favorite things about being a reader!! i was so utterly immersed in this story and couldn’t wait to reach the end while at the same time, i didn’t want it to end!!! it was such a lovely reading experience <3
“There’s, like... a tether, or something. It thrums between us. Draws me to you, like a magnet. And until it finds you... it’s like always being hungry. It gnaws at me. You don’t feel it too?�
“I do, but it doesn’t point me to you like a compass. It’s more like a deep yearning. Only, it doesn’t ease when we’re together. It intensifies.�
there is a dual timeline(s) of sorts in this book. we have alternating chapters between the present time and past lives and oh were the past lives chapters soul crushing. imagine each life when they turn 18, they have to kill each other and be wrenched apart for another 18 years ARE YOU KIDDING?! intense yearning and pain is what it is!! on top of that, the banter was banteringgg!!!
“You piss me off, you know that?�
“I love you too.�
“Until we meet again, my love.�
“Oh, my love.�
“I hate you,�
“I know.�
𓍢� �
“A girl who wanted to let herself love, and be loved in return. A girl who wanted to live. The most human things of all.�
evelyn has so much love in them, and so much love to give. they love and love and love, despite it all. despite losing everyone in every life, that hope to live a beautiful and ordinary life never went away. they are compassionate, empathetic, full of love and hope.
“My love for you could fill an ocean, Evelyn.�
arden was so intriguing to me. there was so much mystery to them and i just wanted it all to unravel! they are a poet at heart and AHHHHH i was actually screaming internally every time they said something!
“We had loved each other for so long, through the darkest times in history, through impossible circumstances, through terrible fates and insurmountable grief. The joy and pain we shared had knotted the very fabric of us together.�
“Nobody knew me better. Nobody else understood what this was like. There was a kinship between us, our shared secret a fortress that could never be breached from the outside. Without Arden, I felt utterly alone in the world.�
“You see me to my very core. I know that to be true. Nobody has ever known me, or will ever know me, like you do. That’s such an intimate thing. You can’t help but be drawn to someone who understands your every word, your every step, your every heartbeat.�
one of my favorite things in books is when the romance is more than just romance; an intimate type of love. a love so beautiful with so many layers and this book had just that and even more than i could’ve ever thought. a soul only they can truly know, a language only they can speak. the three quotes above heavily show what i’m trying to say so i’ll let those do all the talking!!!!
“It was a yearning so complex that it defied all reason.�
the YEARNING in this book????! THIS BOOK IS LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF YEARNING. having to be ripped apart by each other’s hands life after life and to go on years before finding each other again? YEARNINGGGGGGG!!!!!!!
“Though, without you, there would be no poetry. I would have only the harsh lens of my own worldview. I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of life, because I only see it through your eyes. Muse is too simple a word for what you are to me.�
Arden wrote a thousand years� worth of love poems about Evelyn. A THOUSAND YEARS� WORTH OF LOVE POEMS. a old journal of an unknown author of poems was found and a book was published under with the poems arden wrote for evelyn called ‘ten hundred years of you� AHHHHHHHH!!!! not only that but:
“Littered all over the world—scattered through history like confetti—were notebooks full of Arden’s love for me. How many more had been discovered? Discarded, published, tucked away in dimly lit museums?�
yeah. i’m deceased.
if people are songs
written in the major or the minor key
then you, my dear, are major.
a climb, a crescendo, a thousand trumpets,
a clashing of cymbals, joy and awe,
rousing, reaching, always to the stars.
and I am but a dirge, a requiem, a lamentation,
a melancholic harp in D minor,
forever wondering why you chose me.
—author unknown
in the last thousand years:
empires have risen and fallen
and I have loved you,
plagues have leaped from rat to daughter and I have loved you,
humanity has conquered sea and sky
and I have loved you,
kings have been slain and forests razed and witches burned and gold struck and maps redrawn and fortunes traded and volcanoes erupted and moons landed and cathedrals sculpted and rivers dirtied and masterpieces painted and battlefields bloodied
and I love you,
and I have loved you,
and I will love you.
—author unknown
“If a hero is someone who will give up love to save the world, then a villain is the reverse. Someone who will give up the world to save love.�
“So you’re a villain. You admit it.�
“There’s no line I wouldn’t cross to keep a loved one safe.�
“By design, you don’t have any loved ones.�
“I have you.�
i cannot even begin to describe how much this book HURT!!!! i loved the suspense of not knowing ANYTHING and getting glimpses/hints as we read along!
“I do this to protect you. Do you understand that? That I would lay my body over yours, war after war after war, life after life after life?�
“I would do anything to protect you. And it will torture me forever to know that I can’t protect you from me.�
throughout this entire book my main question was just “why?� WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? i kept theorizing what it possibly could’ve been and this is the only time in a book where i actually had to idea!!! i was so far off and everything made so much sense at the end and tied together so beautifully. i only wish that it was longer! i could truly read this forever.
𓍢� �
“I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.�
March 8, 2025
The premise, set up, and cover of this book are flawless.
I just wish we had more of an understanding as to whyyyyy they loved each other. Felt like a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. It was chapter after chapter of insta love?
But the enemies part of this was really fun. I liked the conclusion and I was locked in all the way through. I just wish there was a bit more depth.
I just wish we had more of an understanding as to whyyyyy they loved each other. Felt like a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. It was chapter after chapter of insta love?
But the enemies part of this was really fun. I liked the conclusion and I was locked in all the way through. I just wish there was a bit more depth.
March 14, 2025
I’m afraid my inner hater has won this round
"They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one."
I was immediately intrigued by the tagline for Our Infinite Fates. The comparisons to This Is How You Lose The Time War and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue were even more promising. However, this book ended up being a huge disappointment. Though the premise showed potential, the story was frustratingly simple and the characters were one-dimensional and irritating.
Our Infinite Fates completely fails to live up to any of those comp titles. I don't understand how you can compare something to This Is How You Lose The Time War and have it be the most boring approach to a reincarnation story I have ever read. Our Infinite Fates is far too rooted in its present timeline to pull off the concept it is trying to execute. All we get from the reincarnation side of the story are repetitive flashback chapters that show the same moments over and over again. There is no time spent adding depth to the characters, establishing their unique nature as ancient, timeless beings, or even properly establishing the relationship. We are told repeatedly that these characters are supposed to be in love and yet the book never shows us this love. I don't believe that these two have ever been in love, in any lifetime.
I didn't like the characters or find them compelling. The flashback chapters do nothing to give them any depth or substance. Evelyn's entire character comes down to the fact that she's "too nice." That's it. That's her character. Her inner dialogue gave me major "not like other girls/old soul" vibes. I don't care if she is literally an "old soul," her reflections on society, time, technology etc. were cringe and shallow. Arden is... mysterious? An asshole? These characters are immature and childish. I don't care if they never get to live past 18, they have lived hundreds of 18-year lifetimes and should not be behaving the way that they do.
Another major component of the book is the mystery behind Evelyn and Arden's reincarnation and the fact that they can't live past 18 years old. I was expecting more of an "inescapable cycle of fate" storyline rather than a one-sided mystery where the person in the know can't possibly tell the truth (until it's plot-relevant). I think there is a way to do the "cat and mouse" dynamic with this story well. But we needed more time in the different lifetimes to establish them as their own plot points instead of substanceless flashback chapters. There is no tension to the mystery, no effort to slowly build to a reveal or to add suspense and foreshadowing for the reader. We just get the same argument between Evelyn and Arden that goes nowhere until the book decides to finally drop the big reveal at the end.
I pushed through until the end of this book because I was curious to see if the reveal behind the reincarnation would make up for the lackluster story. And it was not worth it. The reveal was honestly ridiculous. It was so disconnected from the story that it was impossible to take any of the end events seriously. It was anticlimactic and filled with plot holes and I just didn't like it as an ending. There is one single detail of the ending that I think was clever but that is the only good thing I can say about it.
Thank you St Martins Press for the eARC
Links to my |
"They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one."
I was immediately intrigued by the tagline for Our Infinite Fates. The comparisons to This Is How You Lose The Time War and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue were even more promising. However, this book ended up being a huge disappointment. Though the premise showed potential, the story was frustratingly simple and the characters were one-dimensional and irritating.
Our Infinite Fates completely fails to live up to any of those comp titles. I don't understand how you can compare something to This Is How You Lose The Time War and have it be the most boring approach to a reincarnation story I have ever read. Our Infinite Fates is far too rooted in its present timeline to pull off the concept it is trying to execute. All we get from the reincarnation side of the story are repetitive flashback chapters that show the same moments over and over again. There is no time spent adding depth to the characters, establishing their unique nature as ancient, timeless beings, or even properly establishing the relationship. We are told repeatedly that these characters are supposed to be in love and yet the book never shows us this love. I don't believe that these two have ever been in love, in any lifetime.
I didn't like the characters or find them compelling. The flashback chapters do nothing to give them any depth or substance. Evelyn's entire character comes down to the fact that she's "too nice." That's it. That's her character. Her inner dialogue gave me major "not like other girls/old soul" vibes. I don't care if she is literally an "old soul," her reflections on society, time, technology etc. were cringe and shallow. Arden is... mysterious? An asshole? These characters are immature and childish. I don't care if they never get to live past 18, they have lived hundreds of 18-year lifetimes and should not be behaving the way that they do.
Another major component of the book is the mystery behind Evelyn and Arden's reincarnation and the fact that they can't live past 18 years old. I was expecting more of an "inescapable cycle of fate" storyline rather than a one-sided mystery where the person in the know can't possibly tell the truth (until it's plot-relevant). I think there is a way to do the "cat and mouse" dynamic with this story well. But we needed more time in the different lifetimes to establish them as their own plot points instead of substanceless flashback chapters. There is no tension to the mystery, no effort to slowly build to a reveal or to add suspense and foreshadowing for the reader. We just get the same argument between Evelyn and Arden that goes nowhere until the book decides to finally drop the big reveal at the end.
I pushed through until the end of this book because I was curious to see if the reveal behind the reincarnation would make up for the lackluster story. And it was not worth it. The reveal was honestly ridiculous. It was so disconnected from the story that it was impossible to take any of the end events seriously. It was anticlimactic and filled with plot holes and I just didn't like it as an ending. There is one single detail of the ending that I think was clever but that is the only good thing I can say about it.
Thank you St Martins Press for the eARC
Links to my |
March 18, 2025
4.5 Stars
I really enjoyed this. Whether it's because it was that good or because I'm just a sucker for this kind of trope and very into Romantasy again right now is anyone's guess.
Some things weren't as fleshed out as they could have been...The relationship in general. But they had great chemistry and that's always a win for me. I also thought the ending was lackluster. And I actually didn't care for...how things turned out?
But I really enjoyed this overall. The pacing was great. I was entertained for sure.
I really enjoyed this. Whether it's because it was that good or because I'm just a sucker for this kind of trope and very into Romantasy again right now is anyone's guess.
Some things weren't as fleshed out as they could have been...The relationship in general. But they had great chemistry and that's always a win for me. I also thought the ending was lackluster. And I actually didn't care for...how things turned out?
But I really enjoyed this overall. The pacing was great. I was entertained for sure.
March 18, 2025
I will never be the same again.
March 25, 2025
Did I like this book? Yeah. Did it captivate my soul? No, honey😞. It was weirdly interesting and boring at the same time. I don’t have anything extremely negative to say. It was just one of those books that felt okay and failed to move me the way I could sense it intended to.
The premise is actually amazing: Two people—lovers, perhaps?—who are doomed to kill each other across multiple lifetimes. The moment I heard this, I knew I had to pick up the book when I got the chance. It promised intense emotions and angst, and at first, I really felt that potential. But after a while, I just wasn’t excited anymore. Not necessarily because it was repetitive (I mean, they keep killing each other DUHHH, that’s the whole point). I think the problem was that I struggled to fully connect with the characters or understand their motivations. And while we’re meant to be kept in the dark, even the big reveals felt underwhelming. On top of that, I just wasn’t convinced by their romance.
That said, I still enjoyed the experience. It was heartbreaking to see how hard it was for them to leave their lives behind in each lifetime, so I appreciated that I did feel something. I also really loved the historical settings. It was fascinating to see different time periods and parts of the world come to life. So, it’s not a bad book at all! I just think it was missing that extra something to make it truly unforgettable.
The premise is actually amazing: Two people—lovers, perhaps?—who are doomed to kill each other across multiple lifetimes. The moment I heard this, I knew I had to pick up the book when I got the chance. It promised intense emotions and angst, and at first, I really felt that potential. But after a while, I just wasn’t excited anymore. Not necessarily because it was repetitive (I mean, they keep killing each other DUHHH, that’s the whole point). I think the problem was that I struggled to fully connect with the characters or understand their motivations. And while we’re meant to be kept in the dark, even the big reveals felt underwhelming. On top of that, I just wasn’t convinced by their romance.
That said, I still enjoyed the experience. It was heartbreaking to see how hard it was for them to leave their lives behind in each lifetime, so I appreciated that I did feel something. I also really loved the historical settings. It was fascinating to see different time periods and parts of the world come to life. So, it’s not a bad book at all! I just think it was missing that extra something to make it truly unforgettable.
February 28, 2025
"I have concepts of a plan" ahhh book
this was my most anticipated read so I'm gonna say everything i was thinking:
- my biggest issue is - everything was told and I couldn't feel it: I was told this book will be deep, but it felt very shallow to me, couldn't connect to it, be invested in their stories, the only thing that kept me reading was the big mystery of why they're reincarnating and why he has to kill her before 18
- another thing - I was told, that their love story was so great and powerful and all consuming and she feels that hunger and he feels that thread connecting to her, but I did not feel their love when they were together, I did not feel their yearning or need for each other or any chemistry whatsoever
*insert here Tywin Lannister from GoT saying "Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king." and this is exactly how i feel abt this*
- the writing style was bad, I think it was mostly the reason why it was so hard for me to get into it, i think it was too rushed, too many things at once were literally thrown at me
- gonna be honest this was giving Marco Polo not in a good way (one blink and it's war, then mountain man and his assassins, then some descriptions of animals or travels and faraway places yk what I mean?) it was lowkey all over the place I !understand! that was the point, that they lived many lives, reincarnated as different people in diffrent places, but the longer i read i just found these boring and tiring
- overall it was supposed to be 2⭐️ BUT ENTER ENDING AND INSERT HERE CLOWN EMOJIS PLS I was reading only for the mystery and ofc the reveal was so dumb i can't
this was written in my notes after reading it all in 5h straight and it's almost midnight, so idk if any makes sense, hope somebody will understand🫶
this was my most anticipated read so I'm gonna say everything i was thinking:
- my biggest issue is - everything was told and I couldn't feel it: I was told this book will be deep, but it felt very shallow to me, couldn't connect to it, be invested in their stories, the only thing that kept me reading was the big mystery of why they're reincarnating and why he has to kill her before 18
- another thing - I was told, that their love story was so great and powerful and all consuming and she feels that hunger and he feels that thread connecting to her, but I did not feel their love when they were together, I did not feel their yearning or need for each other or any chemistry whatsoever
*insert here Tywin Lannister from GoT saying "Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king." and this is exactly how i feel abt this*
- the writing style was bad, I think it was mostly the reason why it was so hard for me to get into it, i think it was too rushed, too many things at once were literally thrown at me
- gonna be honest this was giving Marco Polo not in a good way (one blink and it's war, then mountain man and his assassins, then some descriptions of animals or travels and faraway places yk what I mean?) it was lowkey all over the place I !understand! that was the point, that they lived many lives, reincarnated as different people in diffrent places, but the longer i read i just found these boring and tiring
- overall it was supposed to be 2⭐️ BUT ENTER ENDING AND INSERT HERE CLOWN EMOJIS PLS I was reading only for the mystery and ofc the reveal was so dumb i can't
this was written in my notes after reading it all in 5h straight and it's almost midnight, so idk if any makes sense, hope somebody will understand🫶
March 4, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Update (3/4/2025): Happy publishing day to !
𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚� ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ �
(Get ready for a rant review; I'm editing my review to add this message on because I didn't realize how long it was until after I posted it the first time lol)
I'm sure many of you saw my rating and then maybe looked at my comments under this review and thought to yourself, "Hm, she seems to be enjoying it, what went wrong?" Trust me, I feel bad about giving this 3 stars. Even for ARCs, I don't necessarily care if I give a book a bad review; my thoughts are my own and I'm not going to sugarcoat a rating just because it's a highly anticipated book or a ton of people loved it or whatnot. I usually don't mind being in the minority if it means I get to write about what I genuinely think about a book. However, I would say Our Infinite Fates is probably the first book I've read since The Inheritance Games where I've felt bad about giving a lower-than-expected review, and I read The Inheritance Games in 2021. That's probably one of the worst feelings to have as a reader: thinking you're going to love a book but you finish it and you're left disappointed knowing that you're in the minority and everyone will be like, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
I REALLY wanted to love Our Infinite Fates. I really did. So many people, bookstores, etc. were hyping this up to be one of the most anticipated 2025 YA reads, and how could I not read it when it was pitched as The Invisible Life of Addie Larue meets This is How You Lose the Time War? The extra cherry on top was the beautiful cover. Even looking at the high ratings of the book now on ŷ 2 weeks before its release--it's currently sitting at a 4.19-star rating with 1,335 ratings at the time of me typing this out--I feel bad giving it the rating that I did. It sucks because I agree with the other reviews I've seen from ŷ friends so far saying that BookTok, Bookstagram, etc. will more than likely hype up this book A LOT and it will blow up a lot more after it's officially published than it already is now with ARC readers like myself putting up their reviews. Like, the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of the book sold out about a month before its publishing date, besides a super tiny restock that happened a few days ago. That's how highly anticipated this book is set to be.
It was lacking that je ne sais quois, that something special, that extra oomph would've pushed this to a 4 or even 5-star read for me. I kept reading because there were chapters that would end on cliffhangers so I would go, "DAMN IT!" and keep going. I also kept reading because I kept telling myself, "It's going to get better," but as much as the book sucked me into the story, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. I was told to expect a lot of emotion, thought, love, and to be in absolute tears when the story ended. I didn't feel a single thing. After thinking about it, I realize that lies in the relationship between Arden and Evelyn.
The story alternates between the past and the present, with the past being chapters featuring little snippets here and there of Arden and Evelyn together in their past lives over the course of a millennium. We see them in past lives all over the world, with different names, different backstories, and different personalities, yet no matter who they are or where they reincarnate, they will always find a way back to each other and kill each other before their eighteenth birthday. I don't mind a dual timeline; I think it's always cool to take a look into the past and see how things came to be in the present. I liked reading about them in their past lives and how they interacted with each other.
However, the issue I have with the story lies in that itself. There simply wasn't enough of that. We didn't spend enough time with them in their past lives for me to personally feel like there was this deep-rooted connection between the two of them, even throughout 1,000 years of history and backstory. There was no buildup, no backstory, nothing that made me feel like they truly loved each other. I know Laura Steven just picked specific points in their history together that marked major turning points in their relationships; I obviously don't expect her to write blurbs of EVERY past life Arden and Evelyn had together because that would take forever. No, seriously. I did the math, and if they've been reincarnating every 18 years for about 1,000 years, that would be about 56 different backstories and flashbacks that Laura Steven would have to write about Evelyn and Arden on top of the regular, present-day storyline. With that being said, I wish we were able to spend more time reading about the past lives that we were able to read about in the story. I would've liked to see multiple chapters from the different flashbacks/past lives that we were given in the story so there would be more depth to their backstory and relationship. Add onto that the fact that those "past" chapters were also randomly placed throughout the story in between the "present" chapters with no necessary rhyme or reason, and I felt it was super random at times and harshly interrupted the "present" storyline.
I think I liked the present timeline the most. I think it's super badass of Evelyn to donate her bone marrow to help her sister, Gracie, during her cancer treatment. Gracie, although she was a side character, had a funny, dry, sarcastic sense of humor and I loved her for that. I felt more love and connection between Evelyn and Gracie than I did with her and Arden, honestly. I was rooting for Evelyn to be able to help her sister and make it to her eighteenth birthday without getting killed by Arden.
The explanation as to why they keep reincarnating every 18 years makes logical sense once you read about it, but the reveal happened so close to the end of the book I almost thought I was reading an incomplete ARC. I think I would've been way more invested if that was revealed earlier in the story. A whirlwind of events happens after that revelation and I'm sure it was supposed to be this, big, crazy ending that makes you put the book down and stare into space questioning your existence, but for whatever reason I didn't feel that way? Like, the main story ended and I just went, "....uhhh, okay then." Maybe it's on me for having my expectations so high but I felt like it didn't stick the landing.
Overall, I'm just disappointed that this didn't work out for me like I thought. I'm hoping that other people will enjoy this way more than I did (and clearly, a lot of people are lol).
3 stars
𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚� ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ �
Trigger/content warnings (big thanks to Trigger Warnings Database for providing these warnings!): Ableism, racism, sexism, classism, sexual assault, domestic abuse, attempted suicide/suicidal ideation, blood, injury depiction including body horror, forced institutionalization, death of a child, torture, kidnapping, fire, loss of a loved one, cancer, car accident
𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒Ю𝒹: This is the ARC of the week! I've heard so many good things so far about Our Infinite Fates so I have high hopes. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the pretty cover art?!
Update (3/4/2025): Happy publishing day to !
"I hope you never lose that bottomless love. I hope you hold onto what makes you human.�
𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚� ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ �
(Get ready for a rant review; I'm editing my review to add this message on because I didn't realize how long it was until after I posted it the first time lol)
I'm sure many of you saw my rating and then maybe looked at my comments under this review and thought to yourself, "Hm, she seems to be enjoying it, what went wrong?" Trust me, I feel bad about giving this 3 stars. Even for ARCs, I don't necessarily care if I give a book a bad review; my thoughts are my own and I'm not going to sugarcoat a rating just because it's a highly anticipated book or a ton of people loved it or whatnot. I usually don't mind being in the minority if it means I get to write about what I genuinely think about a book. However, I would say Our Infinite Fates is probably the first book I've read since The Inheritance Games where I've felt bad about giving a lower-than-expected review, and I read The Inheritance Games in 2021. That's probably one of the worst feelings to have as a reader: thinking you're going to love a book but you finish it and you're left disappointed knowing that you're in the minority and everyone will be like, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
I REALLY wanted to love Our Infinite Fates. I really did. So many people, bookstores, etc. were hyping this up to be one of the most anticipated 2025 YA reads, and how could I not read it when it was pitched as The Invisible Life of Addie Larue meets This is How You Lose the Time War? The extra cherry on top was the beautiful cover. Even looking at the high ratings of the book now on ŷ 2 weeks before its release--it's currently sitting at a 4.19-star rating with 1,335 ratings at the time of me typing this out--I feel bad giving it the rating that I did. It sucks because I agree with the other reviews I've seen from ŷ friends so far saying that BookTok, Bookstagram, etc. will more than likely hype up this book A LOT and it will blow up a lot more after it's officially published than it already is now with ARC readers like myself putting up their reviews. Like, the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of the book sold out about a month before its publishing date, besides a super tiny restock that happened a few days ago. That's how highly anticipated this book is set to be.
It was lacking that je ne sais quois, that something special, that extra oomph would've pushed this to a 4 or even 5-star read for me. I kept reading because there were chapters that would end on cliffhangers so I would go, "DAMN IT!" and keep going. I also kept reading because I kept telling myself, "It's going to get better," but as much as the book sucked me into the story, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. I was told to expect a lot of emotion, thought, love, and to be in absolute tears when the story ended. I didn't feel a single thing. After thinking about it, I realize that lies in the relationship between Arden and Evelyn.
The story alternates between the past and the present, with the past being chapters featuring little snippets here and there of Arden and Evelyn together in their past lives over the course of a millennium. We see them in past lives all over the world, with different names, different backstories, and different personalities, yet no matter who they are or where they reincarnate, they will always find a way back to each other and kill each other before their eighteenth birthday. I don't mind a dual timeline; I think it's always cool to take a look into the past and see how things came to be in the present. I liked reading about them in their past lives and how they interacted with each other.
However, the issue I have with the story lies in that itself. There simply wasn't enough of that. We didn't spend enough time with them in their past lives for me to personally feel like there was this deep-rooted connection between the two of them, even throughout 1,000 years of history and backstory. There was no buildup, no backstory, nothing that made me feel like they truly loved each other. I know Laura Steven just picked specific points in their history together that marked major turning points in their relationships; I obviously don't expect her to write blurbs of EVERY past life Arden and Evelyn had together because that would take forever. No, seriously. I did the math, and if they've been reincarnating every 18 years for about 1,000 years, that would be about 56 different backstories and flashbacks that Laura Steven would have to write about Evelyn and Arden on top of the regular, present-day storyline. With that being said, I wish we were able to spend more time reading about the past lives that we were able to read about in the story. I would've liked to see multiple chapters from the different flashbacks/past lives that we were given in the story so there would be more depth to their backstory and relationship. Add onto that the fact that those "past" chapters were also randomly placed throughout the story in between the "present" chapters with no necessary rhyme or reason, and I felt it was super random at times and harshly interrupted the "present" storyline.
I think I liked the present timeline the most. I think it's super badass of Evelyn to donate her bone marrow to help her sister, Gracie, during her cancer treatment. Gracie, although she was a side character, had a funny, dry, sarcastic sense of humor and I loved her for that. I felt more love and connection between Evelyn and Gracie than I did with her and Arden, honestly. I was rooting for Evelyn to be able to help her sister and make it to her eighteenth birthday without getting killed by Arden.
The explanation as to why they keep reincarnating every 18 years makes logical sense once you read about it, but the reveal happened so close to the end of the book I almost thought I was reading an incomplete ARC. I think I would've been way more invested if that was revealed earlier in the story. A whirlwind of events happens after that revelation and I'm sure it was supposed to be this, big, crazy ending that makes you put the book down and stare into space questioning your existence, but for whatever reason I didn't feel that way? Like, the main story ended and I just went, "....uhhh, okay then." Maybe it's on me for having my expectations so high but I felt like it didn't stick the landing.
Overall, I'm just disappointed that this didn't work out for me like I thought. I'm hoping that other people will enjoy this way more than I did (and clearly, a lot of people are lol).
3 stars
𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚� ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ ࿔𓈒⟡₊⋆∘˚⊹ �
Trigger/content warnings (big thanks to Trigger Warnings Database for providing these warnings!): Ableism, racism, sexism, classism, sexual assault, domestic abuse, attempted suicide/suicidal ideation, blood, injury depiction including body horror, forced institutionalization, death of a child, torture, kidnapping, fire, loss of a loved one, cancer, car accident
𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒Ю𝒹: This is the ARC of the week! I've heard so many good things so far about Our Infinite Fates so I have high hopes. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the pretty cover art?!
March 30, 2025
ೃ⁀� 4.5 stars *ੈ✩‧₊˚
I’m unwell. This book has usurped my every waking thought this past two days. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.
Evelyn and Arden you will always be loved by me. This is what you call soulmatery supreme. My star crossed lovers destined for heartbreak 😭😭😭
The soul crushing yearning, the agonising devotion to each other, the complexity 😭😭 this book finished meeeeee
The lengths they would go to in order to save their loved ones 🤚
They love and adore but also hate and suffer- my gosh so much suffering it’s unbearable 🚶♀️�
No bc this man wrote a book of poems about her IN EVERY LIFETIME plssssss I’m choking on my tears rn someone sedate me ‼️‼️‼️
It’s one of the rare times I have loved past/present time jumps 😩🙏 it was done so incredibly well. The jumps were seamless, keeping me engaged, settings and times changing without taking me out of the story. The effect of each chapter was enduring and heartbreaking. I will never get over it. I’m never forgetting these two.
The writing was beautiful and absolutely devastating. The plot was amazing and the action was perfectly balanced. I’m genuinely so in love with this authors work I have no idea what to do now it’s over. It feels like I’m destitute. I just know I’ll never find a book like this again. I’ll never find again everything this book gave to me and did to me and evoked in me.
Their love was soft and tender while simultaneously sharp and jagged as a serrated knife. Both of their personalities are how I imagine stars to be, bright and evident, different but also complimentary. Guys I could write poems and songs and essays about them. I could fill up pages and pages but none of the words would be enough to describe how gone I am for them.
If you haven’t read this then you’ve not seen real yearning. DROP EVERYTHING AND READ THIS BOOK TRUST ME U WONT REGRET IT.
𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:
I was totally not expecting the plot twist to be THAT like omg??? It took me for a spin and shattered me to a million pieces.
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:
‘I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.�
“Before I could finish my sentence, there was a knife at my throat.
I sighed a long-suffering sigh, letting my eyes flutter close. ‘For fuck’s sake, Arden.� �
“our hearts stopped beating as one. Every fucking time�
“Ten Hundred Years of You.�
‘You piss me off, you know that?�
He chuckled bitterly. ‘I love you too.�
~STAB ME ALREADY
“He held me steady, thick arms around my waist as we climbed into the grave.�
~JUST SHOOT ME
‘Come here, habibi,� Arden whispered.
~I think I just died and went to heaven
‘without you, there would be no poetry. I would have only the harsh lens of my own worldview. I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of life, because I only see it through your eyes. Muse is too simple a word for what you are to me.�
“my skin sings for you, my bones ache for you,
but the ghosts stalking the hallways tell me
that we will not leave this place alive.�
“yuánfèn, from Mandarin–a tragic fate between two people.�
“Ya’aburnee was a favourite. It means “may you bury me�. It’s the idea that one person in a pairing longs to die before the other, because living without them would be too excruciating.�
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀:
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
I’m unwell. This book has usurped my every waking thought this past two days. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.
Evelyn and Arden you will always be loved by me. This is what you call soulmatery supreme. My star crossed lovers destined for heartbreak 😭😭😭
The soul crushing yearning, the agonising devotion to each other, the complexity 😭😭 this book finished meeeeee
The lengths they would go to in order to save their loved ones 🤚
They love and adore but also hate and suffer- my gosh so much suffering it’s unbearable 🚶♀️�
No bc this man wrote a book of poems about her IN EVERY LIFETIME plssssss I’m choking on my tears rn someone sedate me ‼️‼️‼️
It’s one of the rare times I have loved past/present time jumps 😩🙏 it was done so incredibly well. The jumps were seamless, keeping me engaged, settings and times changing without taking me out of the story. The effect of each chapter was enduring and heartbreaking. I will never get over it. I’m never forgetting these two.
The writing was beautiful and absolutely devastating. The plot was amazing and the action was perfectly balanced. I’m genuinely so in love with this authors work I have no idea what to do now it’s over. It feels like I’m destitute. I just know I’ll never find a book like this again. I’ll never find again everything this book gave to me and did to me and evoked in me.
Their love was soft and tender while simultaneously sharp and jagged as a serrated knife. Both of their personalities are how I imagine stars to be, bright and evident, different but also complimentary. Guys I could write poems and songs and essays about them. I could fill up pages and pages but none of the words would be enough to describe how gone I am for them.
If you haven’t read this then you’ve not seen real yearning. DROP EVERYTHING AND READ THIS BOOK TRUST ME U WONT REGRET IT.
𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:
I was totally not expecting the plot twist to be THAT like omg??? It took me for a spin and shattered me to a million pieces.
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:
‘I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.�
“Before I could finish my sentence, there was a knife at my throat.
I sighed a long-suffering sigh, letting my eyes flutter close. ‘For fuck’s sake, Arden.� �
“our hearts stopped beating as one. Every fucking time�
“Ten Hundred Years of You.�
‘You piss me off, you know that?�
He chuckled bitterly. ‘I love you too.�
~STAB ME ALREADY
“He held me steady, thick arms around my waist as we climbed into the grave.�
~JUST SHOOT ME
‘Come here, habibi,� Arden whispered.
~I think I just died and went to heaven
‘without you, there would be no poetry. I would have only the harsh lens of my own worldview. I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of life, because I only see it through your eyes. Muse is too simple a word for what you are to me.�
“my skin sings for you, my bones ache for you,
but the ghosts stalking the hallways tell me
that we will not leave this place alive.�
“yuánfèn, from Mandarin–a tragic fate between two people.�
“Ya’aburnee was a favourite. It means “may you bury me�. It’s the idea that one person in a pairing longs to die before the other, because living without them would be too excruciating.�
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀:
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
March 12, 2025
read this book if you have trouble sleeping because you'll be snoozing in no time!!!
this is supposed to be a YA book but the development was giving my first book draft in elementary school???? the characters are riddled with prose and flowery language like the author had a thesaurus next to her desk but it all still lacks substance. there's no reason for me TO CARE about them. they are one dimensional (and stupid) but triggered one of the best naps of my life, so yay!
this was truly horrible... i do not recommend. do not let all of these 5 star reviews fool you because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! this was SO bad i can't stress enough just how bad. i tried on multiple occasions to give this a shot and hated it all three times!!
this girl really broke into a man's house and then attempted murder on him, tied him up with rope and contemplated killing him for HER MISTAKE!!! meanwhile her "love" is helping her like PLEASE what is this
also every flashback chapter lacked development. is this a first draft???
whatever, i do not recommend.
this is supposed to be a YA book but the development was giving my first book draft in elementary school???? the characters are riddled with prose and flowery language like the author had a thesaurus next to her desk but it all still lacks substance. there's no reason for me TO CARE about them. they are one dimensional (and stupid) but triggered one of the best naps of my life, so yay!
this was truly horrible... i do not recommend. do not let all of these 5 star reviews fool you because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! this was SO bad i can't stress enough just how bad. i tried on multiple occasions to give this a shot and hated it all three times!!
this girl really broke into a man's house and then attempted murder on him, tied him up with rope and contemplated killing him for HER MISTAKE!!! meanwhile her "love" is helping her like PLEASE what is this
also every flashback chapter lacked development. is this a first draft???
whatever, i do not recommend.
March 23, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
respectfully, what the fuck
respectfully, what the fuck
March 27, 2025
this has destroyed me. “I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.� this was a painfully, tragically romantic love story that spans lifetimes. i fear i will never recover. i will be thinking about this story for a long time.
February 1, 2025
This could have been an email.
March 3, 2025
"and hadn't i always known this? that to be human was to love and love and love, knowing it could only end in tragedy? [...] to love was to live, and to live was to die."
(rambling and possibly oversharing review, please hold)
after experiencing what was probably my worst academic semester and final ever, i found myself back home, in the us, yearning for something comforting to read and somehow i ended up with this book that made me question my entire existence because of how goddamn fantastic it is. mind you, this is not a new time favorite, not a perfect book by any mean, but i think my poor boyfriend has had enough of me randomly dissociated for two days now every time i think about a goddamn quote from this.
my overall opinion is that this book absolutely succeeded in doing what it promised to do. i can definitely see the parallel with addie larue (a favorite of mine), who was criticized for being too limited to the "western world", this book does feel incredibly refreshing for the amount of places it took us (not very original destinations, but still amazing to read about nonetheless). its absolute winning point is that laura steven cares about what she writes and how she writes it. every plot of this book, cliché it might be, serves a purpose. it's one of the recurrent problems i have seen with romances lately is that they tend to be long for no reason, but this book is not one of them. i love the way steven intertwined the "soft" moments with the stakes of the story; there were numerous occasions where i gasped out loud at the progression of the plot, and overall the story maintained a constant tension that pushes me to continue reading when i was supposed to do other things. the ending was indeed quite expected, but i like it very much nonetheless.
the thing about this book is that it has fulfilled my deep desire for a traditionally published fiction to have the angst that i have known so well in the vietnamese kpop wattpad community circa 2017 (yes, i know). like what do you mean enemies to lovers across lifetime??? what do you mean "i need to kill you so we can both continue to love each other in another one??? like??? amazing concept, chief's kiss. i wonder if laura steven engaged with "good" fanfiction by any means because i feel like the elements i like about this are those that i have worshipped and/or written myself when i was still on wattpad. and that brings me to how laura steven portrayed "love" in this book because OH MY GAWDDDDD help me the more i think about evelyn and arden the more i want to rip my hair out. the yearning the angst the desperation and the love in the heart of it all sent me into the state of crying screaming throwing up especially for the second half. it was definitely quite cheesy sometimes (like the author wanted to write a specific line) but much of it was incredibly poetic.
MILD SPOILER: i adored the way that the love arden and evelyn held for each other wasn't already established at the "beginning" of time but rather hatred bc of the xxxx, but they came to love each other through the pain of the circumstances of it all, likeeeeee END OF SPOILERS
because besides from their individual love story, laura steven's narrative weaves a poem of the love that exists in every corner of the world, through the threads that link family, friends, strangers and lovers, those that link each individual to the space and the world they exist and live in. i must admit that i might take away more from this book from others (as i said, not a perfect book) because i just went through some very important changes in my life, and i pushed me to reflect on a lot of relationships in my life, particularly with my partner. ig this has somewhat comforted me in the idea that love, no matter how painful it is, is and will always be a part of every living human being, and at the end, it would be all worth it. (a lot of cheese yuck)
in conclusion: please give this book a try if you are 1. a loveless romantic 2. someone who believes in love no matter the circumstance and 3. a rascal who was on wattpad vietnam, specifically in the kpop shipping fandom, circa 2017-2021, and yearns to find the same angst :)))
bottom-line: i quite possible went insane over some passages of this, especially the last 25% or so bc what.
many thanks to st. martins press and netgalley for providing me with this e-arc in exchange of my honest review. this review is only posted bc of the end of the boycott. my thoughts are my own and only mine. quote at the beginning is from the arc and might be subjected to change upon publication.
March 31, 2025
DNF at 50%
I’m not the target audience for this book. I enjoyed the audio narration but there was way too much strong language, and it's labeled as a YA. Additionally, I was not expecting the amount of themes regarding gender content. I don’t mind reading that content when it pops up as a side plot or single instance, but when the book is focused around it I am not the target audience.
Those themes were not included in the blurb at all and it was misleading, especially when books with gender rep are highly marketed and popular right now. I loved the writing style, the author is talented and I liked the idea of the premise as well. I did not finish reading this book, I stopped at a little over 50%, and would not recommend this to readers with similar reading convictions.
I’m not the target audience for this book. I enjoyed the audio narration but there was way too much strong language, and it's labeled as a YA. Additionally, I was not expecting the amount of themes regarding gender content. I don’t mind reading that content when it pops up as a side plot or single instance, but when the book is focused around it I am not the target audience.
Those themes were not included in the blurb at all and it was misleading, especially when books with gender rep are highly marketed and popular right now. I loved the writing style, the author is talented and I liked the idea of the premise as well. I did not finish reading this book, I stopped at a little over 50%, and would not recommend this to readers with similar reading convictions.
April 22, 2025
RATING BREAKDOWN
Characters: 3⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 3⭐️
Themes: 4⭐️
Emotional Impact: 4⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 3.75⭐️
I loved the premise of this book! I thought it was well-executed at times, but not consistently enough to land perfectly. The idea that two souls can be tethered through time—reincarnating every 18 years across history, and fall in love in each life, regardless of gender, class, ethnicity, or world event—it's poetry. The why of it all will keep readers hooked and make up for some repetitiveness that can slow pacing, but whether the answer will satisfy will depend on the reader.
I found the themes to be simple, beautiful, and powerful. I loved the focus on the soul of a person rather than their physical being or other aspects of their persona. I was totally invested in an exit strategy from this cycle, and hooked on the flashbacks.
The aspects that didn't work for me came down to repetitiveness in the thinking of the characters, dissatisfaction with the answer and ungroundedness of the twist, and that some of the characters' choices and behaviors were in service of saving the twist for the end. It really felt like any character, and definitely the readers, wouldn't take so long to get to the bottom of the thing. These parts felt a little gimmicky and lend themselves to the more young-adult audience this is written for. It comes down to sophistication for me. If this concept was written up for a more adult audience and the ending was refined, I think this could have been a top book of all time for me. As it is, I had a good time, and can definitely think of readers (like my sister Kristen) who will turn a blind eye to any and all flaws because the concept and characters will make up for everything else!
Characters: 3⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 3⭐️
Themes: 4⭐️
Emotional Impact: 4⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 3.75⭐️
I loved the premise of this book! I thought it was well-executed at times, but not consistently enough to land perfectly. The idea that two souls can be tethered through time—reincarnating every 18 years across history, and fall in love in each life, regardless of gender, class, ethnicity, or world event—it's poetry. The why of it all will keep readers hooked and make up for some repetitiveness that can slow pacing, but whether the answer will satisfy will depend on the reader.
I found the themes to be simple, beautiful, and powerful. I loved the focus on the soul of a person rather than their physical being or other aspects of their persona. I was totally invested in an exit strategy from this cycle, and hooked on the flashbacks.
The aspects that didn't work for me came down to repetitiveness in the thinking of the characters, dissatisfaction with the answer and ungroundedness of the twist, and that some of the characters' choices and behaviors were in service of saving the twist for the end. It really felt like any character, and definitely the readers, wouldn't take so long to get to the bottom of the thing. These parts felt a little gimmicky and lend themselves to the more young-adult audience this is written for. It comes down to sophistication for me. If this concept was written up for a more adult audience and the ending was refined, I think this could have been a top book of all time for me. As it is, I had a good time, and can definitely think of readers (like my sister Kristen) who will turn a blind eye to any and all flaws because the concept and characters will make up for everything else!
March 27, 2025
um. okay. i don't know how to feel about this one?
on one hand i loveddd the concept and the vibes and the whole idea of the book. like, i totally love what was going on in the author's brain and what they were trying to do.
HOWEVER there was zeroooooo character development imo and it drove me absolutely insane. it felt so two dimensional and boring and was such a snoozefest at some points. also just didn't love the writing style which is a me thing but still.
now give me this entire concept but written by someone else and i'll eat it up thank u xx.
pre-read:
heard some amazingggg things about this one 🤞🏼
on one hand i loveddd the concept and the vibes and the whole idea of the book. like, i totally love what was going on in the author's brain and what they were trying to do.
HOWEVER there was zeroooooo character development imo and it drove me absolutely insane. it felt so two dimensional and boring and was such a snoozefest at some points. also just didn't love the writing style which is a me thing but still.
now give me this entire concept but written by someone else and i'll eat it up thank u xx.
pre-read:
heard some amazingggg things about this one 🤞🏼
March 19, 2025
IT'S GIVING THE PROPHECY BUY TAYLOR SWIFT. And it's also giving Timeless and Exile. That should convince you right now to drop everything and read it lol. If you're like me and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of your favorite books, Our Infinite Fates was written for you.
I absolutely LOVED the historical fiction snippets of their past lives, as well as the themes of reincarnation and fate. Seeing Evelyn and Arden meet and fall in love over and over again throughout the centuries was astoundingly beautiful. They're essentially ethereal souls whose love transcends time, gender, fate, etc.
Also the plot twist and the way everything was interconnected. Unwell. One of the best YA fantasies (even though it didn't feel entirely YA because the characters were centuries-old souls) I've read recently!
I absolutely LOVED the historical fiction snippets of their past lives, as well as the themes of reincarnation and fate. Seeing Evelyn and Arden meet and fall in love over and over again throughout the centuries was astoundingly beautiful. They're essentially ethereal souls whose love transcends time, gender, fate, etc.
Also the plot twist and the way everything was interconnected. Unwell. One of the best YA fantasies (even though it didn't feel entirely YA because the characters were centuries-old souls) I've read recently!
March 9, 2025
5+⭐️ Fucking profound. This book was everything I hoped it would be a more 😭 It crushed my soul in every possible way and somehow mended it together again. I don’t think I will ever be the same after reading this one. The way Our Infinite Fates tackles love, loss, and grief was incredibly poetic. I’m obsessed with anything that has to do with fate & soulmates and this book took that to the next level with the most fascinating take on reincarnation. I don’t even really have words for how deeply this book struck me. All I know is it made me sob on 20+ occasions and I will be thinking about this one for a long, long time 🥹 Honestly, it would make an INCREDIBLE movie. Maybe one day 🤞
Quotes that killed me:
“How could anyone ever bear the weight of never.�
“I had tried to cup them in my palms for so long, and now the time had come to part my fingers.�
“All the years I’ve prayed for an end to this. And now that the ending is finally here, I’d do anything to live just one more life with you.�
“even when we are but bones in the earth
my eternal heart will love you still,
for even when a star does perish
its light burns on for millennia�
Quotes that killed me:
“How could anyone ever bear the weight of never.�
“I had tried to cup them in my palms for so long, and now the time had come to part my fingers.�
“All the years I’ve prayed for an end to this. And now that the ending is finally here, I’d do anything to live just one more life with you.�
“even when we are but bones in the earth
my eternal heart will love you still,
for even when a star does perish
its light burns on for millennia�
September 9, 2024
4.5⭐️
Sitting here crying after the last page😫
This is beautifully written, almost mesmerising how the sentences flow to create such a vivid narrative.
We’re following Evelyn & Arden who have met in every lifetime and in every lifetime they kill each other.
However Evelyn doesn’t know why Arden keeps on hunting her down so thats where the mystery comes in.
Their love is already established by the time we meet them however the chapters going back in time to their previous lives really helped build the picture of who they are and how they fell in love over a thousand years.
This story is quite slow so perfect for fans of Addie LaRue if you like questions and theories about souls, the meaning of life, love, afterlife etc
The only reason it didn’t get a full 5⭐️ from me is because the ending felt a bit far fetched so I had to remind myself that the book is YA and had to allow myself to suspend disbelief
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Bravery is picking up the fear and carrying it alongside you, rather than allowing it to block the path."
"If I show the universe how much I love my family, they'll be taken from me in spite. Maybe that's all love is, in the end. An endless tempting of fate."
Sitting here crying after the last page😫
This is beautifully written, almost mesmerising how the sentences flow to create such a vivid narrative.
We’re following Evelyn & Arden who have met in every lifetime and in every lifetime they kill each other.
However Evelyn doesn’t know why Arden keeps on hunting her down so thats where the mystery comes in.
Their love is already established by the time we meet them however the chapters going back in time to their previous lives really helped build the picture of who they are and how they fell in love over a thousand years.
This story is quite slow so perfect for fans of Addie LaRue if you like questions and theories about souls, the meaning of life, love, afterlife etc
The only reason it didn’t get a full 5⭐️ from me is because the ending felt a bit far fetched so I had to remind myself that the book is YA and had to allow myself to suspend disbelief
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Bravery is picking up the fear and carrying it alongside you, rather than allowing it to block the path."
"If I show the universe how much I love my family, they'll be taken from me in spite. Maybe that's all love is, in the end. An endless tempting of fate."
April 26, 2025
“It is all so foolish, to love and be loved, knowing it will always end like this, and yet I yearned for it more than I yearned to breathe.�
“This was all some cruel mistake. I was just a girl. A girl who wanted to please her Mother. A girl who wanted to let herself love and be loved in return. A girl who wanted to live.�
“I would love Calliope until the sun devoured the earth; that much I knew.�
�.I fear I will never recover from this book. 💔
“This was all some cruel mistake. I was just a girl. A girl who wanted to please her Mother. A girl who wanted to let herself love and be loved in return. A girl who wanted to live.�
“I would love Calliope until the sun devoured the earth; that much I knew.�
�.I fear I will never recover from this book. 💔
July 28, 2024
Laura delivered, I devoured
January 28, 2025
I almost wish I’d never read this book. I want to go back and change every five-star review I've given to a four because it’s so rare for a book to make me feel the way this one has. I almost have no words, but I need to somehow express just how urgently everyone needs to experience this story.
The premise grabbed me instantly: two people who’ve loved each other in every lifetime, yet have killed each other in every one? And it’s inspired by Exile? Sign. Me. Up!
This book is more than a story—it reads like poetry, a love letter to life itself. Lauren writes with such care for each word, perfectly capturing the complexity of love, loss, and how scary and beautiful it is to be alive. Her prose is so intoxicating, so raw, that it felt like I was devouring it piece by piece, feeding my soul with every sentence.
If you've ever been told you're too emotional, too empathetic, or that you feel things too deeply, then Evelyn will resonate with you. Her character cares so deeply for people, seeks out the beautiful things in life and focuses on the small joys. There is such softness in her love, and yet it’s fierce and unflinching. One of my favourite lines describing her is: “They love softly, and fiercely, and openly, and it’s the bravest thing I know.�
Then there’s Arden—who sees beauty in language, who treasures finding the perfect word for every complex emotion, who is enthralled by nature, and keeps a diary like it’s their lifeline. His character is both intricate and mesmerizing, and I savoured every detail that was revealed about him and always needed more.
I feel as though this book was meant to find me. I heard about it for the first time through Laura’s TikTok around 9 PM and, five minutes later, I was begging Penguin for a copy. Unknowingly, it was already on its way to me, arriving at my doorstep the very next morning. I cried when Exile was my surprise song at the Eras Tour, but I cry even harder now listening to it imagining these characters and their story. Laura, I will read anything you ever write—send me your grocery lists and notes app ramblings and I’ll devour every word.
I’ve put off writing this review because I don't know how to do justice to the magnitude of how much this book has impacted me. This is a MUST-READ for 2025. If you listen to me only once, make it this. I beg you, because I need someone to talk to about this book with.
Infinite stars. �
Thank you to Penguin Australia for so generously providing me with the book I'll be buried with, and to Laura for this masterpiece.
The premise grabbed me instantly: two people who’ve loved each other in every lifetime, yet have killed each other in every one? And it’s inspired by Exile? Sign. Me. Up!
This book is more than a story—it reads like poetry, a love letter to life itself. Lauren writes with such care for each word, perfectly capturing the complexity of love, loss, and how scary and beautiful it is to be alive. Her prose is so intoxicating, so raw, that it felt like I was devouring it piece by piece, feeding my soul with every sentence.
If you've ever been told you're too emotional, too empathetic, or that you feel things too deeply, then Evelyn will resonate with you. Her character cares so deeply for people, seeks out the beautiful things in life and focuses on the small joys. There is such softness in her love, and yet it’s fierce and unflinching. One of my favourite lines describing her is: “They love softly, and fiercely, and openly, and it’s the bravest thing I know.�
Then there’s Arden—who sees beauty in language, who treasures finding the perfect word for every complex emotion, who is enthralled by nature, and keeps a diary like it’s their lifeline. His character is both intricate and mesmerizing, and I savoured every detail that was revealed about him and always needed more.
I feel as though this book was meant to find me. I heard about it for the first time through Laura’s TikTok around 9 PM and, five minutes later, I was begging Penguin for a copy. Unknowingly, it was already on its way to me, arriving at my doorstep the very next morning. I cried when Exile was my surprise song at the Eras Tour, but I cry even harder now listening to it imagining these characters and their story. Laura, I will read anything you ever write—send me your grocery lists and notes app ramblings and I’ll devour every word.
I’ve put off writing this review because I don't know how to do justice to the magnitude of how much this book has impacted me. This is a MUST-READ for 2025. If you listen to me only once, make it this. I beg you, because I need someone to talk to about this book with.
Infinite stars. �
Thank you to Penguin Australia for so generously providing me with the book I'll be buried with, and to Laura for this masterpiece.
April 20, 2025
“Maybe that’s all love is, in the end. An endless tempting of fate.�
� ♾️💖🔮💫🏳️� �
˗ˏˋ� 𝟛.𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 � �
𝓣𝓻𝓹𝓮𝓼:
Star-crossed lovers � Fate and reincarnation � Magical realism � Found family � Love beyond time and gender
𝓐𝓽 𝓪 𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮:
� Standalone romantic fantasy with little to no spice
� Fated to fall in love, cursed to kill each other
� Reincarnation with multiple timelines and past lives
� Mystery origins with an unraveling plot
� Poetic prose and beautiful writing
� Historical settings
� LGBTQ+ representation
𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻̯:
Evelyn can remember her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by a centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life. The problem is that she’s pretty fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. She must end this cycle by finding her fated enemy and unearthing the origins of their story. But can she prevent falling in love with her immortal nemesis before it's too late?
“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.�
─── � ｡ﾟ�: *.� .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮:
Hmm. I'm a little conflicted about rating this story. On one hand, the premise and overall concept immediately grabbed my attention. I love fairytales of reincarnation and past lives. There is something so inherently romantic about it. Finding your fated love in different timelines, physical bodies, and genders. It truly defines the meaning of love and soul mates. It's beautiful.
Unfortunately, as many pointed out, the execution was off the mark. It was not as emotionally impactful as I would have liked. This was mainly because we did not see the main characters fall in love. We were TOLD they loved each other, over and over again. We're told these characters have a long history and multiple past lives. Without witnessing or experiencing it with the characters, it felt like inta-love. It attempts to catch us up to speed by going backward in time, reliving each past life and subsequent murder. But in the end, I still felt like I was trailing behind their love story, never reaching it. As a result, I never really felt their love. Instead, their romance felt somewhat distant, more of a concept than something tangible.
It would've been more impactful if we spent more time in the past. The most compelling aspect of the book was the fact that we explored past lives, and it was not capitalized in the right way. A few more scenes filled with longing and tension could've made a big difference. Each flashback was an attempt to enrich the world, but it felt too short and, at times, unnecessary for the plot. The novel would've benefitted from fewer, more detailed flashbacks to allow us to sit with the characters. I wanted to exist with them and see them learn to love each other. I wanted to see them fall in love. Making the book longer may have been worthwhile, and I don't say that often. A few may disagree with me here, but a slow-paced, emotionally charged novel beats an indifferent, fast-paced one every time.
The highlights of this book were its uniqueness, originality, and LGBTQ+ representation. The writing was profoundly beautiful, and the poetic aspects were genuinely captivating. The mystery component was gripping and kept me engaged. The shocking twist surprised me, and I loved how it recontextualized everything. I just wished we had gotten snippets of it earlier in the story. Instead of holding back all the information until the big reveal, I think small hints woven throughout would have added more intrigue and suspense, keeping me more invested in the mystery earlier on.
The ending left me feeling bittersweet but nonetheless satisfied. The resolution did feel rushed, and I wanted to spend more time on it. There were pacing issues, but despite these flaws, I found myself still ruminating about this story several hours after finishing.
***Side note: I also can't help but compare this to Fairydale by Veronica Lacet, given the reincarnation aspect. Fairydale was far superior in the emotional and mystical aspects compared to Our Infinite Fates, so if you want a recommendation with fated mates and pastlives, then read Fairydale.
─── � ｡ﾟ�: *.� .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝓑𝓶-𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮:
If you love stories that span centuries and thrive on slow-burn mysteries, this might be the perfect read for you. Although the inconsistent pacing and low emotional impact may leave you yearning for more, the sheer uniqueness of this story will be worthwhile.
“And so, in the absence of any abiding religious convictions, this was the one blind faith I had: that love was a physical force, and it was never wasted. Once it was called out into the universe, it would echo back to us forever.�
� ♾️💖🔮💫🏳️� �
˗ˏˋ� 𝟛.𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 � �
𝓣𝓻𝓹𝓮𝓼:
Star-crossed lovers � Fate and reincarnation � Magical realism � Found family � Love beyond time and gender
𝓐𝓽 𝓪 𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮:
� Standalone romantic fantasy with little to no spice
� Fated to fall in love, cursed to kill each other
� Reincarnation with multiple timelines and past lives
� Mystery origins with an unraveling plot
� Poetic prose and beautiful writing
� Historical settings
� LGBTQ+ representation
𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻̯:
Evelyn can remember her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by a centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life. The problem is that she’s pretty fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. She must end this cycle by finding her fated enemy and unearthing the origins of their story. But can she prevent falling in love with her immortal nemesis before it's too late?
“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.�
─── � ｡ﾟ�: *.� .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮:
Hmm. I'm a little conflicted about rating this story. On one hand, the premise and overall concept immediately grabbed my attention. I love fairytales of reincarnation and past lives. There is something so inherently romantic about it. Finding your fated love in different timelines, physical bodies, and genders. It truly defines the meaning of love and soul mates. It's beautiful.
Unfortunately, as many pointed out, the execution was off the mark. It was not as emotionally impactful as I would have liked. This was mainly because we did not see the main characters fall in love. We were TOLD they loved each other, over and over again. We're told these characters have a long history and multiple past lives. Without witnessing or experiencing it with the characters, it felt like inta-love. It attempts to catch us up to speed by going backward in time, reliving each past life and subsequent murder. But in the end, I still felt like I was trailing behind their love story, never reaching it. As a result, I never really felt their love. Instead, their romance felt somewhat distant, more of a concept than something tangible.
It would've been more impactful if we spent more time in the past. The most compelling aspect of the book was the fact that we explored past lives, and it was not capitalized in the right way. A few more scenes filled with longing and tension could've made a big difference. Each flashback was an attempt to enrich the world, but it felt too short and, at times, unnecessary for the plot. The novel would've benefitted from fewer, more detailed flashbacks to allow us to sit with the characters. I wanted to exist with them and see them learn to love each other. I wanted to see them fall in love. Making the book longer may have been worthwhile, and I don't say that often. A few may disagree with me here, but a slow-paced, emotionally charged novel beats an indifferent, fast-paced one every time.
The highlights of this book were its uniqueness, originality, and LGBTQ+ representation. The writing was profoundly beautiful, and the poetic aspects were genuinely captivating. The mystery component was gripping and kept me engaged. The shocking twist surprised me, and I loved how it recontextualized everything. I just wished we had gotten snippets of it earlier in the story. Instead of holding back all the information until the big reveal, I think small hints woven throughout would have added more intrigue and suspense, keeping me more invested in the mystery earlier on.
The ending left me feeling bittersweet but nonetheless satisfied. The resolution did feel rushed, and I wanted to spend more time on it. There were pacing issues, but despite these flaws, I found myself still ruminating about this story several hours after finishing.
***Side note: I also can't help but compare this to Fairydale by Veronica Lacet, given the reincarnation aspect. Fairydale was far superior in the emotional and mystical aspects compared to Our Infinite Fates, so if you want a recommendation with fated mates and pastlives, then read Fairydale.
─── � ｡ﾟ�: *.� .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝓑𝓶-𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮:
If you love stories that span centuries and thrive on slow-burn mysteries, this might be the perfect read for you. Although the inconsistent pacing and low emotional impact may leave you yearning for more, the sheer uniqueness of this story will be worthwhile.
“And so, in the absence of any abiding religious convictions, this was the one blind faith I had: that love was a physical force, and it was never wasted. Once it was called out into the universe, it would echo back to us forever.�
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