
Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic
by Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev
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Pub Date 17 Nov 2020 | Archive Date 28 Jan 2021
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Description
"The first time I committed suicide I was ten years old.
There have been many more suicides since."
Adam is cursed. He cannot die.
But one man’s burden is another man’s blessing, and there are people who are out to harness Adam’s special talents.
However, Adam soon discovers that immortality comes at a cost; every time he dies, he loses a little bit of himself. So when Adam meets Lilyanne—his reason for living—he’s forced to choose between life and love.
A Note From the Publisher
Please leave your review on Goodreads and Amazon. If there's anything I can do for you, please email me at mosesmikheyev1 [ @ ] gmail.com. Let's work together! Thanks!
Advance Praise
“An engaging, complex thriller about an unusual man’s search for love and answers.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Simmering with dark comedy and questioning the boundaries between magic and physics, this is a crafty novel that can easily make a reader forget it’s fiction. The writing is smart and confident, and the relationships feel real, as does the mounting pain of this uniquely cursed protagonist. Gritty and patient, with authentic dialogue and a bizarre plot that has broad appeal, this is a uniquely strange novel you should not miss.”—SPR, ★★★★½
Marketing Plan
Available for interviews and other wonderful what-have-yous.
Available for interviews and other wonderful what-have-yous.
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9780578779140 |
PRICE | 11.99 |
Featured Reviews

Talking about the book, I'll start with the cover because it's always the first part of a book you see, so automatically the first impression is made at this point.
I think the cover is quite interesting; it seems to have some flair of native American folks but at the same time, it's designed very modern. It's like a collage of paper, pictures and between those pieces, you see the glimpse of a girl, which stares far away. After reading the book, the girl could portray the idea of Lilyanne, a seemingly perfect girl.
The story is about Adam Micah, who discovers at the age of ten years, that he cannot die. After dying, he reawakes naked somewhere, without any control about where he lands. Every time he dies, he loses more and more memories about his lives before. As he meets the love of his life, his life seems normal again, though he knows barely who he is. Adam, who gave himself a new name: Aristotle, enjoys life again, but soon he realises again, that there are people who want to use and examine his gift/curse.
The main parts are narrated out of Adams sight in I-narrator, but there are parts about other characters too, those perspectives get told by a personal narrator. Those different perspectives confused me firstly, because I didn't know the characters and why they're relevant, but soon it brought spice into the whole storyline because it showed different connections and led to own thoughts about what could happen next.
Mikheyev's writing style was very figurative, for me, it was like being there and live this life full of chaos together with the main character. That affected a very uncomfortable feeling while reading the bloody parts, which fit perfectly well in the Thriller genre. But the writing style also made me get lost in the romantic parts. The poems transported so many emotions but even more did the prose describing the scene around. Considering how it was written stylistically, it is definitely worth reading.
But to be honest, I cannot say the same thing about the storyline, especially about the end. As I finished the book, I was heartbroken and a bit disappointed, it always seemed, like there was a lot potential for an interesting, good end but it didn't happen, it was suddenly all over and brought no sense to anyone. In the author's comment at the end of the book, Mikheyev told the reader about the process of creating this novel. He explained how it started, why he created Lilyanne without character development, how he struggled to finish the novel, how he published it and that he thinks it's an awful book. Reading the final statement helped me a lot to understand why the end is how it is, but that does not make it any better. Some might consider endings of such kind as romantic, I think it's just sad. The story had such an interesting, thought-out start and developed in a good way, but the end was weak. The book started dramatically and exiting but ended sadly. Additionally, I recognised more mistakes in logic or rather in continuity at the last pages, for example, said Adam at the beginning, that he lost his mother as he was ten years old, at the end, he said he was seven as she died. This could be interpreted as a sign of his lost memories, but why should he be mistaken just in the age, when he lost other disturbing memories completely and not just partly? Why place such a small, alone standing hint? Also, there is said it's about the year 2025 as Adam reawakes in a field, but that would make no sense because he died in 2010 and it's said in the second part of the chapter, that it was fifteen years ago, that he woke up in this field, so why not say it's about the year 2025 at the beginning of the second part, like it was done before?
As this is the first version published, I assume mistakes like that get corrected, so that's no reason to say the book would be no good. To judge a book, I always ask myself, if I would read it again. Well, for this one I can say, by all means, I'm gonna read some parts again. I'm sensible to bloody and cruel scenes and love romantic, so the parts I'm gonna rereading are probably the good times between Aristotle and Lilyanne. As said, I really like the style of Mikheyev's writing, but the story wasn't that good. So, I'll do what one can do only in literature and movies: I'll pick the good parts and live them over and over again.

This book is INSANE. Total modern day Romeo and Juliet. But plot twist - Romeo is cursed where he cannot die. There is a whole bunch of extra caste stuff going on that has a total True Blood/X-men vibe and even had some Notebook thrown in. I know right you’re probably thinking I am insane. Love story cursed from the start and mutants being chased down by a bigger agency. This book is legit packed. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic
Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev
I haven't really read anything quite like this book. I found myself sucked into the story from the beginning, and I enjoyed the suspense of not truly knowing what was going on for most of the book. It's part love story, part mystery, part sci-fi, part everything! The book follows the story of Adam Micah or Aristotle Zurr-McIntyre, a young man who cannot die. Every time he tries, he ends up in a strange new place with fewer memories of who he is. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that.
Likes:
- The suspense
- the way my attention was grabbed from the get-go
- the general premise
Dislikes:
- The romance/love scenes (maybe it's just not my thing, but I found it pretty over-the-top). To me, it seemed quite forced and it wasn't all that romantic. At times, it was cringey (calling her "my kitten")
- It was challenging to follow the plot because of the numerous Jon Smyth's and I feel like some of that wasn't fully explained. There were a lot of characters, a lot of moving pieces, and not a lot of explanation. I found myself waiting to hear what happened to certain people or not understanding their role in advancing the story.
Overall rating: 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book although I found it confusing and hard to follow at times and I wasn't a huge fan of the intense romance because it seemed more forced than actually romantic. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a unique read.

Love, loss, the mysteries of death and what could follow. Absolutely heartbreaking and truly romantic.

This is a strange book, in my opinion. It's a romance, but it's also a thriller. We have Adam Micah. He commits suicide several times over the course of the story, but he doesn't stay dead. Instead he is transported to another location. What controls his landing place, we don't know. He doesn't know where he's going to end up. He just knows he'll get there without clothes and missing part of his memory.
We have Lilyanne Beloshinsky. She is the daughter of a minion of a cartel of very rich men who want to live forever. If they can't live forever, they want one of their descendants to do so, mostly to keep their fortunes in the family. Another minion of the group, Dr. Bunn, posits a mutation that allows a person to recover from death. He says it is a mutation of a gene cluster. You have to have the mutation from both parents to have the death defying ability. Otherwise, you are just a carrier. Lily is a carrier. She is also Adam's love interest.
Adam needs to keep track of his deaths, so he creates a new name for himself. Because Adam Micah is an ordinary name, he renames himself Aristotle Zurr-McIntyre. Each time he dies, he looks for that name in the obituaries. The day does come when he needs to hide better than just dying. It takes Lily years to find him again.
I liked the story. While most of the characters had long, hard to pronounce last names, the story moved quickly.
I read the copy of this book for this review on Netgalley.

I loved this story. I wish there was more information about the years in between their last meeting and their final days. The ending...just so beautiful in a crazy way..

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#StrangeDeathsOfTheLastRomantic
#StrangeDeaths
#MosesYuriyvichMikheyev
Pulled me in right away. So easy to read. Simple writing (a good thing), simple concepts (also a good thing) and a few poems (of course this is about a romantic).
Almost like four stories in one. Adams early life before his first death (not a spoiler, um, the title). His college years. His life after his great love. And the epilogue. Together these stories put together make a lovely book. It crosses genres. As the author himself says in his notes at the books end "I have a tendency to write the unexpected, the peculiar, the strange."
I would definitely recommend this book to others. I will definitely be in search of other books by this author. If you love books of all sorts of genres and you can handle a little romance, take a look at this one. You won't regret it.
Thanks to #NetGalley and the author himself (I believe he self published this book, I only just discovered) for a free copy of this book to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.

Well...strange would probably be in every descriptive phrase used to review this book....but, that's not always a bad thing. After all, the title warns us to look for strange. The story line is unique, so unique it really does not fit any genre label. It definitely has elements of scifi, romance, fiction, a little thriller and probably lots more that you might see that I didn't list. But, again, it was definitely not a bad thing.
The story of Adam/ Aristotle and Lilyanne follows no clearly defined romantic path. Adam "returns" from death each time so has no fear of dying. He has an unhealthy fascination with suicide as a means of leaping from one life to the next. He cannot predict where he will be when he "returns" so changes his name to Aristotle. Why? Because then he can google himself and find out what happened in his prior life, since he loses that part of his memory with the leap. Still with me? Now the path twists...
Adam "returns" because he has a genetic code that gives him that ability. He meets a girl, Lilyanne, who has the same code and they fall in love. But remember, when they leap, they do not know where they will land so must search for each other each time. In the interest of keeping this strange, Adam and Lilyanne have a group of rich men looking for them also. They want to figure out how to keep from dying.
So, yes, this is strange. But it is also totally different from anything you may have read before. It may not be the next classic in the making but it was definitely worth the reading time to see where the story would take me next. If you need something different...and strange... to read, you have found it!

I found the Strange Death of the Last Romantic very strange and unique. It had a touch of multiple genres a little suspense, a little science fiction and a little romance. It kinda gave me the vibe of a science fiction version of Romeo and Juliet. I was very interested right from the start. Adam’s story was quite interesting. Thank you net galley for my arc,

Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic has a stunningly original storyline, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more brilliance from this author in the future. The plot was gripping, especially in the second half, and I never could predict what was coming next. Rather than flowing smoothly from scene to scene, the writing jumped around—though I liked that this disjointed confusion mirrored the main character's fascinating situation (and kept me on my toes). I enjoyed the poetry embedded throughout the work, though I didn't always agree with the author's representation of romance. I absolutely loved the ending; kudos to the author for creating such a wondrous story that successfully haunts the reader's consciousness after the last page!

Strange. This novel is…strange.
With an unusual plot and genre-bending acrobatics, ‘Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic’ is thrilling, romantic, strange, and DARK.
While the title implores readers to expect strange, I was pleasantly surprised by just how original subject, fascinating characters, and twist plot all combined to create a unforgettable reading experience.
Novels like this one deserve to be explored because they deviate from the #’s of publishing trends and it instead projects the flair and depth of fine, intriguing literature.

This is a genre-breaking book with elements of thriller, science fiction, New Adult, and even romance. Which may or may not be a good thing. A boy commits suicide, but doesn’t die—he simply is transported to another location—sans clothing. He soon learns to use his ability to get out of difficult situations. Unfortunately, every time he does this he loses some of his memories of his past. He names himself Aristotle and writes his own obituaries.
He eventually learns that he has a genetic abnormality that allows him to to this, an ability that some unscrupulous people—rich men who want their lineage to be perpetuated ad infinitum and scientists—want to harness his genetics.
Aristotle falls in love with Lilyanne who is a carrier of the same recessive genetic mutation. Aristotle dies one more time and loses Lilyanne.
Suicide is romanticized and Aristotle is “addicted” to killing himself and seems to have neither any particular emotional revulsion about repeatedly killing himself or significant psychological trauma from doing so. There are some sex scenes that really aren’t X-rated, but also aren’t in keeping with the rest of the story; they do, however, add to the New Adult genre.
Though there is a romance and Aristotle is billed as “the last romantic,” I didn’t find him particularly romantic. His idea of romance seems to be stuck in the early adolescent phase.

It was hard to start but so rewarding once I did. This is a thriller that's filled with romance and mystery. A really good read once you get into it. The cover is very intriguing too which is always a plus if you judge by that but yeah. Good read.

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Solid Four Stars
I was very late to this party with this imaginative story but the romantic in me loved it.
This is a genre-breaking book with elements of thriller, science fiction, New Adult, and even romance. Which may or may not be a good thing. A boy commits suicide, but does not die—he simply is transported to another location—sans clothing. He soon learns to use his ability to get out of difficult situations. Unfortunately, every time he does this, he loses some of his memories of his past. He names himself Aristotle and writes his own obituaries. Awesome concept, right? I at first could not wrap my head around this one but I managed to enjoy it. I also would love to be able to control my own fate like that.
As the story unfolds, he learns that he has a genetic abnormality that allows him to have this, an ability that some unscrupulous people—rich men who want their lineage to be perpetuated ad infinitum and scientists—want to harness his genetics.
Aristotle falls in love with Lilyanne who is a carrier of the same recessive genetic mutation. Aristotle dies one more time and loses Lilyanne. That was heart breaking and I almost stopped right there. My issue with this story is that suicide is romanticized and Aristotle is “addicted” to killing himself. He seems to have neither any particular emotional revulsion about repeatedly killing himself or significant psychological trauma from doing so. There are some sex scenes that really aren’t X-rated, but also aren’t in keeping with the rest of the story; they do, however, add to the New Adult genre.
Though there is a romance and Aristotle is billed as “the last romantic,” I didn’t find him particularly romantic. His idea of romance seems to be stuck in the early adolescent phase. I do like the come of age feel to it and will actually read more from this author in the future just to see what imaginative story comes next.

This was an excellent book! With a riveting plot, and detailed - and realistic - character development, you will definitely enjoy reading this title!

It's hard to write a review of this book. As the title implies, this book has a romantic heart, replete with love poems. But it is also a mystery story and a bit of a suspense drama. That seems like it would be complicated, but in reality author Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev somehow manages to marry all these genres together in a way that is easy and pleasant to read. This could have easily been a very complicated and heavy tale considering the storyline, but instead, it is a quick read that is not confusing or confounding like I feel so many overly-complicated books are these days. This is good, as we follow Adam, the protagonist, as he tries to figure out why he seems to come back to life each time he dies. But at the same time, it may leave you wanting a bit more. Also, calling your love interest a 'kitten' or worse 'my kitten' sounds possessive and sexist. It took me out of the story several times. Adam doesn't mean it that way, but that is how it comes across. If you can get past that, this is an easy weekend read that is more complicated than your average beach read but still a breeze to finish.
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