Four siblings in 1969 go to a witch to hear the day of their death. Some of them take their day and run towards it by doing everything recklessly. Others try and pretend it won't happen. You follow each sibling leading up to their death. Once the first sibling dies you move on to the sibling who dies next. Generations span in an instant and everything moves very quickly even though 50 years pass. I liked all the characters a lot and I definitely liked hearing each point of view. I didn't care for the ending so much, and the last sibling wasn't my favorite, but the plot was interesting and kept my attention. Definitely recommended!

What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? Would you change everything, trying to change fate? Or would those changes simply be what they were supposed to be, carrying you to the end of your days, exactly how it was predicted?

The Immortalists is a thought provoking read, pulling you into the lives of 4 siblings who learn when they will die from a local gypsy. Each part of the book focuses on each sibling, where each story is equal parts predictable and surprising. You devour this book, needing to know how it all ends. Was the prediction true? How did it shape their lives? And most importantly, when do they die?

Thank you to the Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team for a galley of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was honestly kind of disappointed with The Immortalists. I was super excited to read a book about how knowledge of death can influence life, because my favorite book of all time ever, Everything Matters! deals with this topic in a way that is so perfect and relatable it's just magic.

Not so much here, unfortunately. While there are definitely good parts to it, overall I felt it was a swing and a miss. I was expecting to read an examination of the consequences of believing in pre-destiny and it's effects on the individual lives of 4 siblings; this was more just a story of their lives and deaths, only some of which had to do with the fact that they knew their destiny. She was more successful in some stories than others. For instance, Varya's story was a direct reflection on the result of the whole "fortune," whereas Klara and Daniel's fell very flat. I didn't get a sense of who either of them were as characters and thus their actions did not make very much sense to me.

I will say that the Simon portion of the book was phenomenal. It was the first one, it was well done, relevant and it really had me excited for the rest of the book. Perhaps the book would have been better if it had been constructed a little differently. I thought the flow was kind of weird that it was completely chronological - I understand why this was done to an extent but it really just made the whole book feel disjointed and choppy. Also, the really good bits were at the end and the beginning.

Overall, I felt that the concept behind the book was interesting and it definitely had the bones of a great novel, but I just didn't feel like it was quite there yet. Concepts like fate and predestination need to be handled with care and quite frankly I didn't feel like the author had the writing chops to pull it off. This coincides with many of the reviews I read about her other book, The Anatomy of Dreams. Maybe I'm being to harsh, but I don't think Benjamin's style is right for me.

You're told that you're going to die on a specific impending date. What would you do with this information? Is it true? Is it nonsense? Do you alter the way you live to "beat" the date? All questions pondered by a group of siblings after a visit to a local seer which uncovers their fates as youngsters. It's a game and they all laugh about it until the visit is over and then they don't.

As time progresses, Simon, the youngest, picks up with Klara, the free spirit, and moves to San Fransisco in the 80s to begin the lives they feel they would be denied within the walls of the Gold family. Daniel and Varya, the more stable, level-headed of the kids, go to college and move through life as expected to proceed into the workforce with jobs of security. As the prophecies begin to evolve, the siblings question the authenticity of the word of the mystic they heard all of those years ago.

When one sibling dies, supposedly due to medical complications, the seer is not even questioned, but as all of the siblings begin to be impacted by her words, not only do they suspect the possibility of truth to her words, but others including law enforcement become skeptical of the mystic's words. The power of suggestion comes into question as each remaining family member comes closer to THE date.

Written in a format that discusses each character separately while weaving in the experiences of life with the family unique to them works well from this talented author. Nicely done.

want a book that will make you think. What wold you do? Honestly now would if you could??? Should you if you could?? Loved this novel

Is it good or bad to know the date of your death. Will it give you time to make the most of your life? Does it give you permission to keep that date? Or is it something that can destroy you? That is the question and perhaps the answer found in this book. Yes it can be a good thing to know, but it can also destroy you.

How would you live your life if you knew when you were going to die? That is the somewhat contrived premise of this book. Even without this premise however, this is a very good book about four Jewish American siblings in New York City, their fraught relationships and the choices that they make. The Gold family is comprised of the parents Saul and Gertie and their four children Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon. One day in 1969 the children decide to go see a fortuneteller who supposedly can predict the day on which you are going to die. When Gertie finds out about this visit many years later her reaction is similar to mine "How could you believe that junk?" However the children, to one degree or another, are all affected by that prediction.

After this opening setup the book is written in four sections covering a period in the life of each of the siblings. I think that it is hardest to see how the youngest child, Simon, is affected by the prophecy. He moves to San Francisco with Klara when he is a teenager and goes to work as a dancer in a gay club. When it is apparent that he can't dance, he is sent to a ballet school. Young man on his own for the first time, predictably he has a lot of sex, just like all of his friends who were not similarly burdened by a death prophecy. Klara is the closest to Simon and is more affected by knowing the day she is supposed to die. She is a magician and mentalist and perhaps believes in magic too much.

Daniel and Varya are much more closed off and unlikeable characters than the other two. The prophecy either messes with their lives in a major way or they use the prophecy as an excuse. I was pretty much destined to hate Varya once I found out that her studies on the science of aging involved primate research, and there is one particularly painful scene at the research facility. Frankly, I wanted Varya to die at that moment.

This was an involving, well written book regardless of how much you buy into its premise and I would read more by the author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Absolutely incredible book. I was hooked from the first page, and couldn't stop feverishly reading until the very end. The relationships in this book, not only between the characters but between the characters and the reader, are what makes this book so special. It's impossible not to fall madly, hopelessly in love with all of them, although I must admit, the eldest sister seemed to me the least likable until I read her section. You can see fate careening toward each of them, and you know you can't stop it, but you want to love them and squeeze as much time with them as you can before it comes. [Spoiler included in goodreads review and excluded here.]

A thoughtul family drama beginning with a provocative premise: "How would you live your life if you knew the date of your death."

This book started out the way that I anticipated. I was really looking forward to reading the rest of it. However, the sexually explicitly was too much for me and I did not finish the book. I appreciate being given the opportunity to review this book but I am refraining from posting this on my usually sites, as I did not finish the book and I only write for review for books that I have completed.

In 1969 four siblings visit a mystical woman who tells each one the precise date of their death. This knowledge will define each sibling's life in various ways, be it because they live their life in spite of the knowledge or because of their knowledge. It is a novel about fate and agency, about finding a place in the world, about family and selfhood, about mistakes and guilt and forgiveness.

This book's prologue was absolutely bloody brilliant. It had me engaged immediately and I could not stop reading there (I actually read it again when I finished the book - it was that great). Chloe Benjamin had me, hook, line, and sinker. I needed to know what happens to the children and how the knowledge of their death date will influence their lives.

Each section of the book then follows one of the children until the day they die; I especially found the first two sections following Simon and Klara to be brilliant and unputdownable. They move to San Francisco in search of a place for them: Simon is gay and Klara wants to become a stage magician instead of anything serious. Simon's story broke my heart, his family's rejection to its inevitable conclusion; Klara's story was equally engaging and their relationship was absolutely beautifully executed. The following two sections following Daniel and finally Varya were still great but more difficult as those two were not as easily likable as their younger siblings.

It is fitting that I read most of this book while on holiday with my sister because at its heart this novel is about siblings - and I do love stories about siblings a whole lot. Weirdly enough, I gravitated towards the younger, less responsible siblings for a change (I have talked elsewhere how I am the Bert in most of my relationships). I think this shows how brilliantly the characters were constructed and how real they felt. As such the characters and their believable interactions were the best part about this book.

First sentence: "Varya is thirteen."

4 and 1 / 2 stars

It’s 1969 in New York City. It’s a hot and boring summer, and the eldest of the four Gold children Daniel gets the idea that his siblings Varya, Klara and Simon should go with him to get their fortunes told. The woman he wants to see can even predict when they will die. They gather their allowance and go to see the woman. For years none of the siblings tell one another the dates of their supposed deaths.

Daniel and Varya are the eldest children and Klara and Simon are the youngest.

Some years later, Varya is studying biology. Daniel is studying medicine and wants to be a military doctor. Klara wants to be a famous magician. Simon is to take over the family’s garment business. However, Simon is gay in a non-tolerant family. Klara is the only family member who knows Simon’s secret. She tells Simon that they ought to go to San Francisco where she can be a magician and Simon can be himself. He begins to think over the idea.

Simon is only sixteen when he and Klara arrive in San Francisco. He begs for a job at a nightclub and lands one dancing. The owner of the club sends him to ballet school. Scared at first, Simon takes to dancing the ballet. He has found a home so it seems. He avoids calling or speaking to his family, except for Klara. He revels in being gay in the Castro District, a predominately gay area of the city.

Klara is taking temp jobs and still dreaming of being a magician. Klara’s career is struggling when she runs into Raj a former friend from when she and Simon first arrived in San Francisco. Raj becomes her business partner. Raj is very mechanical and creates the props that Klara uses in her illusions. She calls her act “The Immortalist.” The book gives an interesting brief history of magicians and their tricks. Interspersed with this is a history of the Gold family.

Klara and Raj become very close and Klara has a daughter she names Ruby. She gets so wired after a show that she begins to drink to calm down. She forgets things. She hears knocks and believes it is Simon trying to communicate with her. She has a shameful secret. Against her better judgement, Raj and Klara move to Vegas where they audition. They are hired to open for Siegfried and Roy. On opening night in Vegas Klara loses the plot.

Some years later, Daniel is suspended from his military post as doctor for two weeks. It gives him plenty of time to think. He begins to think about Simon and Klara’s deaths. Did the fortune teller really predict the dates of the four siblings’ deaths? Or did she put the idea in their minds to obsess about and alter their behavior to bring about the predicted result? He knows and understands the relationship between psychology and physiology for he has participated in placebo studies as a student intern. He begins to become driven to find the woman.

Varya now works for the Drake Institute for Research on Aging with monkeys doing primate research. She is more than a little paranoid about germs and dirt. She is afflicted with OCD. She, like Daniel, believes in the power of the human mind. She tries to make the world conform to her rational outlook. She also harbors a secret.

This book is very well written and plotted. It is filled with likeable characters and memorable situations. The idea that psychology informs physiology is not a new one. However this book brings it home in a unique and thought-provoking manner. The trip to the fortune teller was the downfall of the family and one must wonder just how much the power of suggestion plays in our lives. Were the events inevitable, or were they a product of the mind?

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for forwarding to me a copy of this most remarkable book to read and enjoy.

I intended to just take a nibble of this novel before tucking in for the night and ended up savoring the whole book at one sitting. I knew what was going to happen but had to stick with the Golds until the bitter end. What an engrossing and entrancing story.

Daniel Gold overhears some older kids talking about visiting a fortune teller who told them the dates of their deaths. He and his three siblings gather all their allowances in a little bag and head for the Lower East Side where they hunt down the woman, who gives them what they asked for. The four Gold kids, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon think they have pooh-poohed the idea, but they hold these dates in the back of their minds as they grow and step out on their own.

Each of the Golds is a wonderful, believable character, heading in different directions in life but still bound to each others. Their exasperation with and joy in each other is so genuine, you'll be hooked and dawn will be glowing before you can leave them behind.

"The Immortalists" is a great book club pick because there is a lot to discuss and interesting places to go with those discussions. I recommend it for anyone who wants a thoughtful, exciting, engrossing, and satisfying read.

This is one of the most well-crafted, thought provoking novels that I’ve read in a very long time and I highly recommend it.

If you could find out when you were going to die, would you? Inquisitive siblings Varya, Daniel, Klara & Simon ranging from 13 to 7 visited the fortune teller on Hester Street and quite possibly changed their lives forever. Did their awareness shape how they lived their lives? Was their knowledge a conduit to a self-fulfilling prophecy? Did they hear their fortune and never think about it again?

The story evolves as these children become adults. Life choices can lead to a long life or one cut drastically short. The siblings must cope with love and loss, the dynamics of a less than perfect family, expectations and what’s expected as well as their own hopes and dreams. And subconsciously some of them hear the clock ticking. Whether the woman was a true sage or a total quack is almost irrelevant, it’s what each believes and internalizes is what matters.

I received an advance review copy of this book from Great Thoughts Ninjas. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars. This novel asks, what if you knew the date of your death? Four bored young siblings decide to visit a medium who can (and does) tell them the exact dates of their death. The youngest, Simon, has the earliest date:

It’s the prophecy, too, something he would very much like to forget but has instead dragged behind him all these years. He hates the woman for giving it to him, and he hates himself for believing her. If the prophecy is a ball, his belief is its chain; it is the voice in his head that says Hurry, says Faster, says Run.

All of the siblings are affected by the prophecy and what it says to them. They take risks or avoid them to the point of paralysis; they make plans or discard them; they look to the future or the past. Varya, the eldest: “it was evident in Simon’s spirits, in Daniel’s tendency toward anger, in the way Klara unlatched and drifted away from them.”

Read if: You think you would like a mash-up of San Francisco in the 70s (think Tales of the City), magic shows, a meditation on duty to others, and another meditation on connection, all in a family saga.

This novel opens with four young siblings meeting with a clairvoyant who gives each of them the date of their death. The novel then proceeds in four parts, each outlining the life of the siblings in turn and how they were affected by their death predictions. A strong premise that began strong but petered out about halfway through.

4 young siblings visit a woman and don't like what they hear. But does what she tell them become a self fulfilling prophecy? A beautifully written story.

I actually cried when it was over. I think you should get this book ASAP and read it.

I received an advance review copy of this book from The Great Thoughts Nina Review Team. All opinions are my own.

If you knew the exact date of your death, how would you life your life? Would the impending date loom over your entire life and cause you to leave in fear? Would you seek to live as full a life as you could, no matter how little or long you had? Or would you simply ignore the warning and live your life as you see fit?

Four young siblings sneak out of their house one day to seek out a woman who can predict the date you will die. Each sibling is given their own date in private, and the novel follows each siblings throughout their lives as they live (or don't) with the knowledge they hold hovering over them.

With characters who each have their own distinct voice and narrative, The Immortalists is an excellent novel exploring the possibility of a known death in a fun and exciting way. There was never a dull moment as the narrative raced towards the death dates of the protagonists.

This was highly enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to as many people as I could. I absolutely loved this novel!

This book examines the question: “How would you live your life if you knew the date of your death?” Would it cause you to live life to the fullest or live in fear? Four siblings visit a fortune teller and are each individually told their “death date.” The author focuses on one sibling at a time, and follows each through a portion of his or her life. Since they are siblings, each is influenced to some degree by the actions of the others, and lots of family dynamics are at play.

The storyline is creative and the characters are extremely well-developed. I almost felt as though I knew each of them personally, and could picture the psychological burdens they carried. The stories are interesting, touching on topics ranging from gay life in San Francisco in the 1980’s to performance magic to military medicine to scientific research on longevity. It brings up questions on the meaning of life, and does so in an entertaining manner. It shows how a single event can have far-reaching psychological repercussions. It explores how much of what one believes to be true leads to a self-fulfilling prophesy. Themes include science vs. religion, the power of words, dealing with uncertainty, the impact of knowledge (both good and detrimental). There was a bit of graphic sex in one of the parts, and another was a bit of a stretch on the suspension of disbelief, but overall, I found it almost spell-binding and particularly enjoyed the author’s elegant writing style.

Highly recommended to readers of thought-provoking literature.

The Immortalists is an incredible book. I could not put it down and was fully immersed in the lives of the Gold family. The premise may sound like a fantasy novel, but it is NOT. It is a remarkable, engaging and wonderful book and I am definitely keeping Chloe Benjamin on my radar from now on.