Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

I really just couldn't push past the relationship between a teacher and his 16 year old student. The premise around an elixir of immortality just wasn't enough for me to continue engaging the story. I finished it but it took effort.

I really just couldn't push past the exploitative relationship between a teacher and his 16 year old student. The premise around an elixir of immortality just wasn't enough for me to continue engaging the story. I did not finish this one.

Science is the new black. Here’s another interesting novel rooted in chemistry or physics or biology or astronomy. And it’s good - charming and fresh, if a little sentimental round the edges. Did I love it, or believe it? no. But I was engaged, and I’d like to read what he does next.

The quest for immortality is one on which people have embarked since we developed the existential understanding of what it means to die. Call it the fountain of youth, the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life – whatever it is, it is meant to extend our lives beyond the limits nature has set upon them.

But even those who are single-mindedly devoted to that quest may need fellow travelers – and those travels can sometimes lead to something more meaningful than life everlasting.

Jake Wolff’s “The History of Living Forever” is the story of one such quest – a quest that threads through the past, present and future and sweeps into its maelstrom two people whose all too brief connection would have widely rippling impacts on their lives and the lives of those around them.

It is a story of devotion, both to the ideas we hold dear and to the dear people who first conveyed those ideas to us. It is about different kinds of love and what it means to sacrifice. It is about bad decisions made for good reasons. It is about believing that science can explain everything – including magic.

Conrad Aybinder is far from your typical 16-year-old. He lives in the small Maine town of Winterville with his aunt – his mom passed away and his dad is in rehab for an alcohol problem he vehemently denies having. He doesn’t have many friends other than his pal RJ and his cousin Emmett. And he has a big secret.

He’s gay. But that’s not the secret. The secret is that Conrad has been in a torrid summer affair with Sammy Tampari – his high school chemistry teacher.

But when Sammy dies the night before school starts, Conrad begins to discover that there was far more going on here than he ever could have imagined. Sammy wasn’t just a chemist, but an alchemist, devoted to pursuing the ever-elusive elixir of life. And now that he has passed away, all of his notes and journals are now in Conrad’s hands … and now Conrad can seek the elixir for his own purposes.

The narrative splits, offering us glimpses of Sammy’s younger days and early alchemical pursuits via his exhaustive journal entries. We also get interludes set some years into the future, where Conrad’s memories of his past pursuits are reignited by turmoil in his current life. And in the midst of it all, the “now,” where Conrad devotes himself to perfecting Sammy’s formula – with a little help from some figures from Sammy’s own past.

Of course, such quests rarely exist in a vacuum. There are others who seek what Sammy sought, and they are willing to do almost anything to achieve the elixir themselves.

“The History of Living Forever” is a tough book to categorize. There’s a literary fiction vibe, but you’ve also got elements of sci-fi/fantasy genre stuff. There’s a love story, and a problematic one at that. You’ve got some family drama and some mystery. All in all, a lot going on – and that’s a good thing.

Carving the narrative into a sort of past/present/future triptych is an inspired idea, one that helps accentuate the relentless flow of time even as our heroes try desperately to divert or otherwise delay it. It’s a strong conceit. The only issue is the relative lack of exploration with regards to the future; it was the one leg of the three that felt a little underdeveloped. Granted, it’s also probably the leg doing the least heavy lifting in terms of the story, but I would have liked to see just a touch more balance.

It’s a small quibble, really, because the past and present make up the difference. Sammy’s globe-trotting journeys and tumultuous relationships juxtapose nicely with the frantic nervousness and familial angst of Conrad in the present. All that plus the EXTREMELY complicated (albeit only briefly explored) dynamic between the two.

There’s a lot going on here, but Wolff keeps the plates spinning. It would be easy to lose track of who’s who – particularly considering the many similarities between Sammy and Conrad – but the narrative shifts and the individual voices are distinct enough to maintain clarity. Considering the complexities, the degree of fluidity Wolff achieves in terms of both plot and prose is impressive.

“The History of Living Forever” is a literary Venn diagram at whose center is a brief and torrid romance that opened wide a door forward even as it closed another behind. Other aspects of the two lives intersect, but all in service to the shared journey at the story’s center. And the people – flawed individuals with their own hopes and fears – simply keep looking for whatever it is they think they seek. They look for answers that may never be forthcoming, because these are questions that are far more about the asking.

I don’t even know where to start with this review. So much went on and it was absolutely banana-pants. The historical anecdotes and recipes for the elixir were really interesting but also kind of sad. So many people died in such horrific ways just for the chance to live a longer than normal lifespan or to cure their diseases. This is only one of the shocking elements in this book which is really Sam and Conrad’s story. Conrad was a teenage student and Sam was his teacher but their “love” story is a big part of this book. It’s hard not to be uncomfortable with their relationship. This whole book was uncomfortable but so darn compelling.

This was a very unique story and unlike anything I have ever read. The writing is really well done and Conrad especially was very humorous. I was laughing within the first few pages and this light tone drew me right in. The book deals with serious issues like mental and physical illness but the humour alleviates the difficult and often sad content. It really is epic in scope and it isn’t a book I will ever forget. I will never hear “quicksilver” “mercury” or “elixir of life” without thinking of Sam and Conrad and their insane recipes.

It shocked me that all of the recipes included mercury. The explanation for this in the book made sense but I can’t imagine what would make me ever drink the stuff! When I was in high school a student dropped an old-time thermometer and the mercury ran out onto the floor. The school was evacuated and there were no classes the next day either as a hazmat clean-up team was called in. All this for one thermometer full! Sam and Conrad had gallons of the stuff just sitting in the house and it blew my mind! I know that people with terminal illnesses get desperate and I guess they have nothing to lose but holy crow this is scary!

This grand adventure in fringe medicine was hilarious, appalling, and shocking in all the best ways. I loved every minute I spent with these elixir seekers, even when it was uncomfortable and hard. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves weird medical stuff, explorations in science, or just shaking their head at the foibles of others (I love a good schadenfreude.)

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

This is the perfect Smart Summer Read. A poolside novel to be shared with an iced coffee or crispy chardonnay.

The premise of the novel is fresh and exciting and manages to maintain an air of magic while still delving into deeper topics such as love, mental illness and the intricacies of family life.

My only gripe is that each section, while enjoyably light and fluffy, lacks a certain....fulfillment. Each point of view is explored right up until the point of the reader grabbing onto the "why" of it all. Maybe that was intentional and I am being too picky.

Regardless, an impressive debut. I plan on reading it again.

An unusual read that requires you to push aside any disapproval you might have about a teacher having an affair with a 16 year old student (yep, that's just inappropriate). Sammy, the teacher, committed suicide and left his journals, detailing his quest for the perfect elixir of life, to Conrad. Conrad, in working his way through the data, finds that there's much more to this than science. His coming of age story forces him to make choices about people, to understand things that those more mature than he do not, and to cope with the challenges of lost love and disappointment. It's well written and quite engaging- and hard to review. Although you might think it from the promotional material, it's not really sci-fi or even science heavy. Thanks to net galley for the ARC.

The History of Living Forever hooked me at the first page. Jake Wolff begins his novel with an Author’s Note recounting a Women’s Day cookbook that contained a recipe that, if executed as instructed, would create an explosion in the kitchen. This novel, too, contains recipes, the author writes, that, “if ingested, will kill you. Every single one.” And, the book only gets quirkier from there.

The story that follows is told in hindsight by a middle-aged Connor Aybinder. The story Connor recounts details the aftermath of the death of his High School science teacher, Sammy Tampari by apparent suicide. In addition to being the brainy Connor’s science mentor, Tampari was also his first lover. After Sammy’s death, Connor receives his notebooks in the mail which leads Connor to investigate Sammy’s search to find an elixir for immortality. Hilarity does ensue, but Wolff’s debut novel also takes on some difficult and controversial topics: criminal drug activity, mental health, and pedophilia. Funny and heartbreaking, quirky and literary, The History of Living Forever achieves the alchemy that Sammy and Connor hope to find.

While I found this book to be a good read there was just something about the story that I personally found unfulfilling. The premise was fresh and interesting but I feel like maybe each of the personal stories contained within were not explored enough to completely satisfy me as a reader.

That being said I would totally recommend this as a read. The search for the perfect elixir recipe was a wild ride and I enjoyed reading Sammy's story more than Conrad's to be honest. Would have loved to have read more about Bogdi and Livia and their movement, this was an undeveloped plot point I felt. How did they work on their theories? How did they get all of these ingredients?

I give this book 4/5 sparklers of Dor.

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Conrad Aybinder, a sixteen year old genius, has been thrust into his recently deceased teacher's search for the formula for the Elixir of Life in THE HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER by Jake Wolff. The deceased teacher, Sammy Tampari, was also his first love. As Conrad digs deeper into Sammy's research, questionable people from Sammy's past appear and Conrad has to decide who to trust, all the while trying to determine why Sammy has orchestrated an elaborate plan to guide Conrad to the Elixir of Life.
The book is about the scientific and emotional discovery for Conrad that morphs into a high stakes adventure to find the elusive formula for eternal life that Sammy Tampari has been searching for. Wolff weaves Conrad's present, Sammy's past, and historical reference on self scientific experimentation harmoniously so that the story is always progressing and entertaining at the same time. Conrad is a character that a reader can connect with and cheer for almost immediately, as so many of us as teenagers struggled with who we are and what we want. As the plot moves forward, Wolff begins to subtly layer characters and events on top of each other so that at the climax of the book the story is rich with texture and presents pleasantly complex puzzle that Conrad has to find his way through.
Heartfelt and captivating, THE HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER is a book I won't soon forget. Wolff has created a book that is both moving and inspires introspection into one's soul; and all along the way, some thrilling and fun searching for missing pieces and people that keeps the book exciting.

The book begins with an author's note reminding readers that this novel is a work of fiction, and that every "recipe" contained in the book will kill you if ingested. Immediately my interest was peaked.

The book contains a cast of characters whose lives intersect around Sammy, a high school Chemistry teacher, who has a life long obsession with discovering a life-extending elixir. This is a story that drew me in and kept me reading late into the night. Though I didn't always agree with the decisions the characters made, you really feel for them as you begin to learn more about their history.

The novel is peppered with short chapters exploring the history of the pursuit of immortality. These sections added a great second layer to the novel. There were also of course the "recipes" mentioned in the author's note, and these too really added to the story.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what the Jake Wolff writes next.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The History of Living Forever is a really peculiar novel about the quest for the Elixir of Life.
Conrad is a bright 16 year old who has been having an inappropriate love affair with his teacher Sammy. When Sammy suddenly dies, Conrad must find out why. Sammy has had a secret life dedicated to finding the elixir, and Conrad feels compelled to finish the journey.
Both the recipe for the elixir and the quest are dangerous, and Conrad meets some odd and damaged people along the way. Will Conrad save his sick father, and will it be worth it?

The History of Living Forever is a complex story. It's the story of a 16 year old chemistry genius named Conrad. Following the journals of a beloved teacher, now dead, Conrad believes his teacher was onto something big. The Elixir of Life that you drink and live forever. If he can solve this mystery in time, Conrad believes he can save his dying father. The story line is complex and confusing at times. I got lost in the scientific stuff. It's a good overall plot. This elixir is something that many have died for throughout history. Is it a myth? Conrad is a clever dynamic character. I enjoyed the story for the most part. I recommend for an intriguing entertaining read with a unique premise. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A complex tale that's well-written with interesting characters. This author obviously has lots of talent! A complex and good mix of mystery and science, and great thriller/adventure aspects as well. Great writing and use of language along with a great protagonist. Highly recommended! Thanks so much for the advanced copy.

“The History of Living Forever” is a great science mystery thriller about a 16 year old genius chemistry student who uncovers an ancient quest for the secret of living forever. There is a lot to this book, it’s about science and alchemy. It’s a thrilling adventure that spans the globe. The writing is great and the storyline is excellent. I enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it. I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I made it through 20% before setting this aside. The writing just wasn't smooth enough to hold my attention.

This is a sly, witty tale of the quest for immortality and those who have been bamboozled, destroyed and killed in the effort to find it. Sixteen year old Conrad has a crush on his teacher, Sammy Tampari, but he’s shocked and broken-hearted to learn that the beloved Mr. Tampari has been found dead of an apparent overdose. He refuses to believe the man he knew and cared for would throw his life away so cheaply and as he examines the journals that Tampari left behind, he discovers he was right. Tampari has spent the two decades trying to concoct the “Elixir of Life”. Conrad, a chemistry genius is left with his teacher’s “recipes” and the chance to find the missing ingredient in the recipe. If he does so quickly enough, he may be able to save his father, who is dying an agonizing death due to liver failure. But Sammy and Conrad aren’t the only people who have tried to find the secret to immortality, and Conrad with have to face off with some really bad dudes. What would you do to save the life of someone you love? Wolff’s novel is both irreverent and profound, a story of a simple young man facing the question of the ages