Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I have been unable to get into it. DNF @ 16%.

I read this shortly after The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - a book with a very similar theme - and unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much in comparison. The philosophy of the novel was interesting but tended to drag down the narrative, bringing a much slower pace to the book. However, the writing is lovely and really pulls together in the end.

Received from Netgalley for honest read and review.
The premise sounded really good for this book,but I found it really hard to get into.
It just seemed very bitty,jumping about a lot and I could not really focus on the story at all.

I loved the concept of the book, but the implementation missed the mark for me . In many ways it was like watching the TV show Lost. Lots of questions but unsatisfactory answers that just led to more unanswered or irrelevant questions. Got to a point where what happened next was no longer important to me. Still, the writing was very good and engaging, I just wish it had gone somewhere different.

I really couldnt get into this book and found it confusing so after a few tries I had to stop amd did not finish it

I'm sorry this book was not for me. I tried to get into the story and instead of being curious and excited to follow the story, I was confused and distracted. Perhaps at a later date this book will work for me, but at this moment in time, I did not finish, but thank you for the opportunity to read.

This one was a bit of a stretch. The story had potential and sounded like it could be original and different. Previously known as Tres can remember all of his former lives. The problem I had was right away when Tres was reborn as Aaron. Aaron was a super intelligent newborn baby that knew everything basically right away and this was what made me lose interest early on. The book did pick up again later in as Aaron grew up which made things a little more believable. This on wasn’t for me sadly to say.

I enjoyed the first part. A LOT. I loved every single scene with Aaron and Sancha or Aaron and Maria. It was so well written and I felt the love inside their house. I was so sad, at a certain time. Then, there were these strange things about overseeing and I struggled with words and concepts. I couldn't understand a lot of things and I'm sorry about that. They didn't interest me, I think. But I love the last 15% of the book. I was happy about Aaron and Emily and I was happy reading about their shared thoughts.
I understood every single thought of Aaron, about life, human existence and knowledge. People who love being alone are strange in other person's eyes. This is a sad story, but there are people who use their deep understanding to help other human being. So, I loved every single part about the "life of Aaron", but I found the part about the "other word" boring. It wasn't for me. I'm sorry about that, because at the beginning it was so interesting. At the end, I wasn't satisfied at all. However, there are a lot of interesting quotes, thoughts and meditation's starts.

•I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review •

I don't know about this one... There were some exceedingly strong elements - I really LOVED the main story about Sancha, Maria, and of course Tres/Aaron. I flew through those portions of the book. The concept was intriguing, the characters were great - the whole thing worked beautifully. Then there were the portions in the Apart, with Saig and Fei - those did not work so well for me... They felt very repetitive and I skimmed large swathes of that text. It just felt like they kept telling Aaron/Tres the same thing over and over, with even very little variation in how they said it. I understand the importance of the concepts they were relaying, and even understand how in reality one might have to hear such things numerous times before they actually sunk in and were understood. But in a novel, they rather severely slowed the pace of what was otherwise a really strong and interesting plot...

The initial premise of the book is an interesting one, but it has been done many times before -  I just recently read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

Nevertheless, Justine Avery has taken this premise and expanded it into the examination and philosophising of existentialism, spiritualism and reincarnation. Blending these disparate conceptual doctrines into a unique world that is The One Apart.

The extremely short chapters and the frenetic jumping between scenes within the chapters themselves jars and disrupts the narrative flow of the book.

The repeated philosophising, particularly in the middle of the novel, further slows the pace and becomes a chore as the same concepts are incessantly reiterated. The word "corporeal" and derivatives thereof are repeated in excess of 200 times in the novel.

The final chapters of the novel shine bright. Justine Avery pulls the entire narrative together and beautifully concludes her story in a deeply emotional and satisfying way - there is indeed a strong payoff to persevere through the middle and come out the other side.

This book is A-MA-ZING!! It's for fans of The Age of Adaline and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I stand by that. If you loved any of the movies or books, you can’t miss this. Even if you haven’t watched or read any, you should still read this book.

The beginning chapter draws the reader in with an ending line,

“Tres remembered everything“

And then, as you read on, you’re introduced to the two women that play a very vital role in Tres’life. That name however is the name he knows himself as (if that makes sense.) The name they give him when he’s born is Aaron.

Aaron proves to be a very very special child. He doesn’t cry (at all) and he and his mum have a very special bond. She’s the first person who in her own way helps him realise his true name.

“Tres… tumbled through the thoughts of the one given many names.

I am Tres, every cell in his body verified

Tres… of the ages. Tres… of countless lives. Tres… the afflicted”

Sancha is a quite spoilt girl shunned by her friends for the “disgusting” thing that happened to her. However, with the support of her mother, she grows into a wonderful parent who is very adult-like.

“So young and unknowing, she was the mother burdened with the oldest child ever to exist.”

And then…there’s Maria, the intelligent, hard-working mother and grandmother who sometimes allows her conscious mind override her subconscious. I loved her so so much.

She was the first one (probably because she had been a mother before) to truly see “Aaron” as the different child he is. When he smiles at her for the first time at I think two weeks, this happens

“When he smiled at his grandmother in an act of both defiance and amnesty, it was not received well

‘It’s too soon.’

Aaron’s aged awareness detected words of warning—perhaps, even friendly recommendation.”

She begins quizzing him and watching him and he shows himself to be a very intelligent boy who is far developed before his time. A one year old Tres says,

“He who is not satisfied with himself, will grow. He who is not sure of his own correctness, will learn many things.”

Like…😲😲😲

The middle of the book is quite boring (I wanted to remove half a star because of that) as Tres begins to learn who he is and what he can do. The grammar here confused me a lot and this section of the book was quite boring. However, it shows how much thought the author put into creating a special world. The quotes below should show just how confusing the world was.

“A notion, charged with desire, propelled by conviction, and formed by awareness alone, pulsed with energy, amping in electricity, magnetizing. It drew together inclinations, like-notions, and appeals. Particulate matter formed and faded, joining, swelling, growing in capacity and strength, gaining momentum.”

“He felt a distinctly foreign presence looming—close and consistent, radiating. It resonated; it urged. It made itself known with delicately increasing temperature and subtle electric energy.”

This is quite smart but to dumb people like me, paragraphs like these aren’t welcome.

The end on the other hand made me grab my pillow tight, pull my phone closer while grinning like a maniac. Very interesting. Can’t say more without spoilers.

I recommend this book to anyone who can read. It will make you laugh and smile. The nearly 500 pages are so worth it.