Arc review - I have never read a book like this before! I found it so interesting the concept of living all these lives, loving family after family but with no direction. She is hunted every lifetime before she turns 18 by her lover. They must die before they turn 18. But what I loved most was all the different locations and years through history, we saw Ancient Greece, various wars, Russia, and many more! But the main story set in wales which I love (as a fellow wales resident). ‘I thought I was supposed to be the poet.’ ‘Though, without you, there would be no poetry’

I love fated mate storylines, but this book I far preferred the different ways they were presented, especially that it was very queer friendly, they loved eachother nomatter what gender or identity they reincarnated as, as their love defied all other. The ending I wasn’t expecting at all and the mystery of what was behind it all was great! The only thing I have to say is that ‘Arden’ the main love interest, I was not drawn to him. Instead I was routing for the big Ceri who wanted to help her!

As a big fan of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, as soon as this book was announced, it was instantly on my radar.

The books jumps between different lifetimes and the present but it was super easy to follow. There were points at which I was confused, especially with all of the different names but that didn’t take any enjoyment away.

There were parts of the book where I balled my eyes out and wanted to jump straight into the book and give the characters a massive hug.

The plot twist… dammnn…. I kind of guessed it when it got closer to the reveal but my jaw was still on the floor.

All in all, Our Infinite Fates is a beautifully written paranormal/fantasy with a dash of romance. This was my first Laura Steven book and I’ll definitely be working through their backlist!

Evelyn and Arden have both been reincarnated, century after century, in different times, places and genders, but they are always drawn together somehow and they always kill each other before they turn 18.

In their latest incarnation Evelyn is a Welsh girl called Branwyn, her sister Clara is dying of cancer and a bone marrow transplant from Branwyn is her only hope of survival. But Bran is about to turn 18, she hasn’t met Arden yet in this life but she knows she won’t make it to her birthday unless she can finally get him to tell her the truth about their history and give her a little more time to save her sister. She just has to find him first.

The main narrative is interspersed with stories of their past lives and how they ended and it is testament to the skill of the author that even though we only see a glimpse of each lifetime, the settings feel vivid and authentic and our understanding of these two characters grows.

The gorgeous book cover was the first thing that attracted me to this story as well as the brilliant and intriguing line: ‘They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.’ The concept is reminiscent of ‘The Invisible Life of Addie Larue’ but although I am a huge fan of Victoria Schwab, I actually enjoyed this book more.

Despite the inevitable murder, this is an achingly romantic story with a compelling mystery at its heart that, when it is revealed, is both devastating and satisfying. Highly recommended!

Thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

4.5 ⭐️
An absolutely fascinating concept. It was really compelling and addictive, such a clever, twisty and unexpected love story.
This is going to be a definite recommendation, and best of all I can recommend to a wider audience than my usual romantasy fare.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it being a YA title made it better in my opinion. Instead of spice we got a much richer story, and it was a wonderful mixture of current day with a variety of historical flashbacks. The author painted such vivid colours of love around our protagonists.

Thanks to publisher for an early proof, I just wish I’d gotten to it sooner.

I would just like to say thanks to NetGalley and this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved every second of this book! The best way to describe it is lovers to enemies but then not really enemies as they still love each other but there are factors surrounding them to make it hard for them to truly love each other. I don't want to say much more and ruin the plot as I think you just need to read it to understand.

I have to say that I was not expecting the plot twist at the end and left me having to re-read to make sure I hadn't misread it. I kind of wish that we could have spend more time delving into this plot twist but also glad we got to spend so much time with the mystery and reading about so many lifetimes the characters have spent together.

This is a perfect story if you enjoy questions and theories about love, the afterlife, souls and the meaning of life.

I know I have already read the ARC but I needed a physical copy for my collection as the cover is also beautiful.

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 – An Absolute Masterpiece!)

“I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.”

I haven’t read a lot of books this year yet, but Our Infinite Fates is the one that completely captured my heart and refuses to let it go. From the first page, I was mesmerized by its hauntingly beautiful plot — two souls destined to find each other in every life before they turn eighteen… only to end it in tragedy.

Every version we get of the two main characters, felt so real. Their love was passionate, tragic, and beautiful. With each chapter, I found myself desperately hoping they would find a way to break the curse.
There were so many breathtaking moments, but the Russia chapter took the crown. Their love felt especially raw, in that part. She was desperate to know why they both weren’t allowed to live past their eighteenth birthday – and so was I. Having them both die in Russia hurt on a different level.

Overall, I think this book is a masterpiece and I enjoyed reading every single page. The pacing was perfect too, there weren’t any ‘slow’ or ‘dull’ moments. I cannot wait to actually have this book at the store so I can personally recommend it to everyone who will listen.
If you love star-crossed romances, stories about fate, and books that leave you emotionally wrecked (in the best way), this is an absolute must-read.

even when we are but bones in the earth
my eternal heart will love you still,
for even when a star does perish
it’s light burns on for millennia
-author unknown

This book was beautiful, from start to finish I was enthralled with these characters, and the need to know why these two characters had to kill each other in every life, just to be reborn and do it all again. I loved how the dual timeline allowed us to see snippets of their previous lives in between their current one and how this book took place all across the world

Having read and loved The Invisible Life of Addie Larue I was captured by the description of Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven and had to get my hands on it, then it was just a case of finding the time and space to sit and experience the many lives of Evelyn and Arden.

Evelyn has lived many, many lives and can remember them all, the people she has loved and lost, the multiple incarnations, genders and chapters of lives that she has lived, all of which end with her death or murder before her eighteenth birthday. Evelyn can’t remember why she has lived all these lives or why in each and every one she has had an irrevocable bond with Arden but, she can remember that in each she dies and in this life that’s a very real problem.

Evelyn loves the life she has now, despite the loss of her father in an accident, and the hardships her family have faced, including her sister’s urgent need for a bone marrow transplant that only Evelyn can provide. Evelyn must live long enough to save her sister and to do that she must find who is hunting her and find out why they are hunting her, and most importantly of all NOT fall in love with them.

I was totally drawn into this story, whilst firmly set in present day there were numerous flashbacks to past lives and timelines that Evelyn and Arden have shared, each providing insight into their past lives, love and deaths. The interweaving of their past lives with their current lives added insight, depth and pure poetry to their story, truly embedding the line ‘Love can make a villain of anyone.’

The flow of the story as snippets from their past lives emerged from the flashbacks laid a path towards the reveal near the end, which was beautifully tragic, and I had no idea before I read it. This gradual development of the plot and journey towards the reveal as Evelyn and Arden’s 18th birthdays approached truly touched my soul and broke my heart piece by piece.

“ ‘Like the sway of the sea and the tug of the tides, love is a moving, eternal thing. Let us not be afraid of the wax and the wane, the rise and the fall, the eternal undertow. Each time our souls meet, let us submerge our bodies in the bright-blue cold, and let the waves make us anew.’ A tear slid down the apple of her cheek. ‘I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.’

Laura Steven has delivered a work of art that is truly majestic in it’s beauty, pathos, lyricality, perspectives, pacing, and sheer heartbreak and totally deserves all of your attention. Thank you so much, Penguin Random House, Netgalley and Laura Stevens for the devastation of this beautifully tragic ode to life, love and grief. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book had such an amazing premise but sadly it did not deliver. Being really honest, if this hadn’t been an arc and I hadn’t already DNF’d an arc this month, I would have DNF’d at around 25% because whilst there were kernels of story that peaked my interest on the whole I was mostly bored.

I was mildly interested in finding out why they had to die/kill each other before their 18th birthday, and I liked some of the different lives we got to see but eventually switching to different time periods and trying to work out what was happening constantly became annoying. I wanted to know more about certain lives and find out more about this epic love between the two MCs but it only ever felt surface level.

We did get more insight into Evelyn and Arden through the ‘Wales’ chapters but again this wasn’t enough to hold my interest. Thankfully these chapters had some fantastic side characters in Gracie and her mum who were brilliant, but I was disappointed that they were forgotten about and not given a fitting conclusion.

From a writing perspective, everything just felt so slow. I understand the need to build in the emotion and angst given the content of the story but it was far too slow for my liking and again I think that prevented me being more engaged.

Finally, I was hoping the twist at the end would be worth the wait and would explain everything but unfortunately it was anticlimactic and felt forced.

Sadly this just wasn’t for me but the idea is fantastic and I’m sure there will be many readers who love it.

2 ⭐️⭐️ (for the premise, Gracie and some of the past lives).

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher (Penguin Random House UK Childrens and Puffin Books) for providing a copy of the book for review. All opinions are my own and provided willingly.

This book ate me up. I've admired Steven's writing for a while now but this book is next level. Reading it is as bizarre an experience as the set-up itself. Two souls are going through centuries always destined to kill each other before they turn 18. Their relationship is disturbing, emotional, moving. The book moves between a 'current' narrative plot and previous lifetimes, slowly revealing the complexity of their existence and pulling you into their emotional vortex. I can't say much about the plot other than it moves in ways I could never have predicted and held me so fast that I couldn't think about anything else while I was reading it. Beautiful writing, careful plotting and pacing, characters that will stay with you long after it finishes- read it already!

A heart-wrenching, glorious, utterly superb read.

I haven't read something like this in a very long time, if ever!

Evelyn and Arden (and by extension Laura Steven) had my absolute heart and soul through this book. I devoured it - as I just couldn't tear myself away from the next chapter in the love story spanning millenia.

The premise of loving someone throughout time is not new, but this? This definitely is something gloriously new.

I will attempt to dry my eyes and 'I still believe' that everyone deserves to hear 'I love you. I have loved you. And I will love you.'

Absolutely incredible.

Gorgeous book that had me hooked from page 1.

I loved every new lifetime and I was utterly rooting for the couple.

❤️ Emotional
❤️ Beautiful yet traumatising romance
❤️ Brilliant ending and twist!

✨4.5 stars✨

This was such a beautiful story following Evelyn and Arden who are destined to meet in every lifetime, and kill each other before they turn 18.

I really enjoyed following the two characters in every iteration, but especially the modern day where Evelyn is trying to stay alive in order to donate bone marrow to her sick sister.

I honestly couldn’t put this book down as the different lives and the reveals throughout the book had me hooked!

I would 100% recommend this book to all when it is published in February.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Our Infinite Fates was simply magnificent. It was easily one of the best books I read last year.

It has such a fantastic premise—I mean these lines are irresistible: “They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one”. That is a killer hook that draws you in and promises an epic, tangled knot of a story to unravel. Luckily, Laura Steven builds on this brilliant premise to deliver a devastating and delightful ode to the power of love. It is the type of book that imprints onto your heart and leaves a trace long after the final page.

While being careful not to spoil anything, the characterisation is stellar in this book. We get a main timeline with two central characters and also various glimpses into the lives they have inhabited before. As a long-time reader of Steven’s work, I knew going in that characterisation was one of her strengths in her extensive toolbox but this aspect really shines here. They just feel so believable, with great development, dialogue and chemistry. Everyone feels three-dimensional and you find yourself caring about their hopes and dreams. A special shout-out has to go to the snarky, hilarious Gracie who you will lose your heart to.

Truly, it is an epic tale that stretches across aeons and countries. The excerpts from each lifetime are haunting fragments that establish character deftly and effectively in just a few lines. You get a sense of each person and the life they have inhabited, as well as the sense of love and inevitable loss about to hit them. It is doomed and tragic and yet you still root for them to succeed. The skill to be able to pull this off in often just a few pages is incredible. Steven pours so much heart and soul into this book. It is emotional lightning in a bottle—fraught and tender. You find yourself being pulled into these pages and hoping for a happy ending this time despite all the odds.

These excerpts also serve as chilling reminders of the effectiveness of this endless cycle. It is fated to always end in death. You have that ticking clock on your mind throughout, after one hell of an opening chapter clearly establishes the stakes and set-up of the journey you are about to embark on. It is action-packed and has a deliciously dark sting in its tale. From there, Steven has you in the palm of her hand. It is exquisitely paced, with a constant sense of tension permeating the pages. We move from timeline to timeline and person to person seamlessly. I was astounded to never feel a let-down in tension despite these interludes. Instead, they had the opposite effect of just reemphasising this vicious cycle over and over again. There is also a touching celebration of love overcoming all within these—it is a force regardless of gender and sexuality, meaning that we get various examples of potential match-ups throughout time but that central connection is between these two souls. It powerfully emphasises love being beyond a body or physical appearance, instead as an unknowable, intangible thing that just brings people together. That kind of message is wonderful.

Also, this is packed full of surprises and twists. Throughout, you have the mystery of this cycle and what kickstarted it. Steven keeps you guessing through the pages, leaving little crumbs along on the path. It is such a well-crafted mystery and the twists are nothing short of jaw-dropping. I think about those final few chapters most days since reading. Every detail is sewn together excellently and feels cohesive.

Our Infinite Fates delivers superb characterisation that builds on an ingenious premise and spins it into a story that you will never forget. It was absolutely phenomenal, moving and bound to be the book on everyone’s mind.

5 STARS ⭐️

“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.”

Our Infinite Fates is one of those rare, unforgettable reads that reminds you why you love books in the first place.

This book is so beautifully written. I loved every part of it. The way it shows their bond throughout the years kept me hooked. The entire story was just perfect.

The premise of this book drew me in. The protagonist, Evelyn, is cursed to die before her eighteenth birthday, always at the hands of the same soul—Arden. Their relationship is complex, spanning multiple lifetimes, but this time, Evelyn is determined to break the curse because her younger sister’s survival depends on it.

This was the first book I had read by this author, and I really enjoyed her writing style. The way the story wove between past and present, revealing glimpses of Evelyn’s previous lives, was compelling. As someone fascinated by the idea of past lives, I appreciated the historical context and the unique take on star-crossed lovers destined to find each other again and again.

While the story unfolded at a gradual pace, I found the final section especially engaging. Readers who enjoy slow-burn, atmospheric storytelling with a touch of the supernatural will likely find a lot to love in this book.

Our infinite fates is a YA Romantasy that spans hundreds of lifetimes. They have lived thousands of lives and they are destined to love and kill each other. In the end will love be strong enough? We see glimpses of the characters throughout their lives and see what they mean to each other in flashes. Alongside their current lives where the ultimate query is will they die before trying to save her sister? I really did enjoy this book, I feel like we saw a spark in some lives and others we caught the ending but through it all Arden was always there to hold Evelyn. This book shows no matter what love will always be left.

I would give six stars, if that were possible but, alas, five will have to do.

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Stevens is an epic YA romantic fantasy. Not necessarily in terms of fantastical worlds or physical journeys but through the sheer scope of emotional depth and history.

Fated to kill each other before their 18th birthday in each life, Evelyn (through whose eyes we see their lives play out) and Arden seem destined to find each other in each of their reincarnations. After well over a thousand years, Evelyn is unwilling to continue, especially since in her current life, a loved one dearly needs her help in order to survive. Will their break the infinite loop of love and violence?

I received the prologue as a freebie and it made me curious about the rest of the novel. Now I am incredibly grateful to the author and her publisher for this ARC. The novel is set in present-day Wales, with each chapter defined by its place and time. Its protagonists defy gender, reborn as souls in bodies of varying gender over the centuries. This inclusivity was beautifully and sensibly executed and Laura Stevens demonstrates a fine understanding of the transitive nature of gender. Both characters, as well as those around them, are beautifully crafted and very distinct, even across time, space and physical existence (no mean feat!). I absolutely tore through the book, as it was not only grippingly well-written but also very well paced. There are some cruel twists, which make Our Infinite Fates a true page-turner of a novel. Stevens use of foreign settings and languages is gentle and thoughtful, as far as I can judge for my own native language which has been included. If you are a lover of literature, travel and history, the rare words peppered in are a real treat. Steven weaves in the past lives into the present plot to show the reader consequences to potential solutions, rather than telling them. This kept my brain very engaged at guessing and then learning of the consequences my ideas would have had. I generally cannot get over how well chosen the locations and plot lines of the past lives are! This book is truly hard to put down, especially with the delicately crafted plot, leading to several full-circle moments you won't see coming.

There is a little YA-appropriate steaminess and some violence and descriptions of blood etc. but they are sparse and not off-putting.

As a study on the nature of love, suffering and free will, this book is a feat of nature and the ending is beautifully tied together. I hope you can let it sweep you away!

💬: "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."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

I loved Laura Steven's books The Exact Opposite of Okay and A Girl Called Shameless when they came out several years ago, but hadn't read anything else from her up until this point.

When I saw this up on NetGalley, I was immediately drawn in by the gorgeous cover and the premise, so knew I had to read it.

💜 What I liked about it 💜
✨️ The writing is beautiful and mesmerising. I highlighted so many sentences and passages as I was reading, because I didn't want to forget a single thing
✨️ Everything about Arden and Evelyn's complicated, wonderful and heart-wrenching relationship - the tension, the yearning, the love and the hatred. It was all so compelling and damn near broke my heart
✨️ It was fun getting to see Evelyn and Arden across the centuries, finding out what their lives were like back then and how they'd inevitably meet each other. It really felt like a lot of thought and research went into the book
✨️ The story kept me on the edge of my seat. I was desperate to find out how the pair's story would end and also for Evelyn to unravel the secrets Arden was keeping from them
✨️ This book explores some really complex themes like love, fate, souls, humanity and reincarnation which was fascinating

For fans of:

🔮 YA romantasy
💕Enemies to lovers
🏳️‍🌈 Queer characters
🤔 Themes of identity

💫 Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.