I have very mixed feelings about this one. The premise was soooo promising - we have two lovers, who are destined to kill each other before turning 18 and reincarnate through eternity. Their souls are tethered to each other, and they found themselves in every single life. The book is divided into present and past. In the present, Evelyn doesn't know why is she trapped in this vicious circle with Arden but she is hell bent on helping her sister (she is sick) and surviving. In the flashbacks, we see the snippets of our couple in their past lives - on different locations, with different names etc. And while this was a very interesting concept, it is also where the book sadly failed for me. I was absolutely immersed in the present part, mystery of Arden killing Evelyn in each life and her attempt to somehow change their fate. The flashbacks though... a different story. They were slowing down the pace imo, and there were too many and too little at the same time. I understand we couldn't get flashbacks into all of their lives through thousand years but i think showing so many, in short chapters, was a mistake. I would prefer to read about 3-4 of their past lives, but to get deeper into their connection, so we could actually see them falling in love, feel that indestructible bond btw them. Because i was told that they are soulmates, and that their love is magical, but i haven't really felt it. If i take it from the aspect of present, the mystery and plot surrounding Evelyn and her sister, with a romance as subplot, it was great. But if look at this as romance, i feel disappointed bc the potential was enormous and it didn't work out for me.

I was hooked from the first chapter. This premise is not something I’ve read before and I really enjoyed it!

This story follows Evelyn and Arden, cursed fated mates who get incarnated every century but only can live for 18 years. They are never in the same body or gender and always find each other, even though Evelyn has tried to stay alive past 18. Only Arden knows why they can’t, even if they envision a future together.

I enjoyed the dual timeline and learning about past their past lives. I was anxiously waiting to find out about the curse and was surprised but also I guessed it! I was happy with the reveal and “the why” was interesting but a little lacking after all the build up.

I didn’t really understand or get that they loved each other in every lifetime. They wouldn’t see each other for 15+ years before the fated “die before they turn 18” but somehow always loved each other? Evelyn seemed too trusting and human like and Arden was too guarded and never telling Evelyn too much of her history. The love aspect kind of fell flat but overall I enjoyed this & would definitely recommend!!

3.25 ⭐️, 🌶️

the idea of this story really intrigued me but I just didn’t overall feel any attachment to these characters & their back story. It skips around far too much and the past doesn’t really hint much at their relationship just more of how they died. I just didn’t feel a deep connection with their story.

Around the 70% mark I was a little more invested into their relationship & what was going on.

It was a quick read and I did like the twist that I didn’t see coming.
I did really like this authors writing style!

This was such an incredible and captivating story. I loved Evie and Arden so much and the way Steven weaved their story was so beautiful. I loved how their history was slowly revealed through glimpses into their past lives. I have been thinking about this book since I finished it.

I just didn’t really connect with this book. The concept was interesting, but the execution was lacking. It kept me interested enough to want to see how it ended, but then again I was kind of happy when the book actually did end. Thank you to NetGalley for the copy.

🌶️ HOT TAKE: An atmospheric take on the fated lovers trope that delivers tension and aching romance on a dual timeline. While the ending didn’t fully land for me, this moody YA romantasy will work for many fans of the genre.

🧶 THE SUMMARY:
Evelyn has spent centuries trapped in the same devastating cycle: she builds a life, falls in love with the same soul—Arden—and before her 18th birthday, he betrays and kills her. Every time. But in this lifetime, there’s something new—her sister is sick, and Evelyn’s bone marrow donation is her only chance at survival. Determined to break the curse and make it past her 18th birthday, Evelyn must figure out why this fate keeps repeating… before time runs out again..

💁🏻‍♀️ MY THOUGHTS:
🔸 As a YA novel, this does a lot of things right. I have a soft spot for the fated lovers trope, and even though we don't really have time to fully explore Evelyn and Arden’s past lives, their longing and tragedy still hit hard. The alternating timelines and short chapters keep the pacing up, and the will they/won’t they tension is intense. I can see younger (and young-at-heart) readers devouring in a sitting.

🔸 That said, all that beautifully built tension leads to a resolution that… didn’t quite land for me. No spoilers, but in fantasy, phrasing and worldbuilding details matter, and something about the final 15% felt just a little too out of sync with the rest of the book. But even with that, I still had a great time reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC, provided in exchange for an honest review.

Our Infinite Fates is my first Laura Steven book and if her other books are anything like this one, she has instantly become an auto buy author.

Our Infinite Fates follows Evelyn and Arden through a thousand lifetimes, with snippets of world wars, distant islands and arctic tundras interspersed with modern day Wales.

There is something so tragic about about their story, in every lifetime they fall in love with each other, romantically or otherwise, then are forced to kill each other before they turn 18. Evelyn remembers snippets of the few lives before her current one, but with them both being reborn into different bodies each time, knowing who Arden is isn’t always clear.

I was hooked from the beginning of this book, I just couldn’t put it down, it was beautifully written and well paced, I was obsessed with finding out what was going to happen and if Evelyn would make it to 18 in the current life to save her sister.

The ending absolutely broke my heart, it was perfect and I wouldn’t change anything about it, but I’m sure some people will disagree with that!

This is the first book in a long time that I’ve read where I wanted to pick it back up and read it all over again as soon as I finished!

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the opportunity to review this ARC.

A book sold as "Addie LaRue" meets "This is How You Lose the Time War" is one of the combinations that I never knew I needed until I read this book. Taking inspiration from book these books is the perfect way to describe this book, without marking these books as carbon copies of either. When starting this book, my greatest fear was that it would not live up to this tagline, or that it would take too much from these books and not feel original, and that is not the case at all. This is a beautiful, unique story that twists two beautiful inspirations into a ground-breaking new novel that feels fresh and impactful..

Our Infinite Fates follows a soul, Evelyn, throughout time, as she is reincarnated throughout history, only to have another soul find her and kill her before her 18th birthday, every time. Destined to be killed by them, destined to love them. In this lifetime, Evelyn, has more than her life on the line though, and she must do everything she can to stay alive in this lifetime, before Arden can kill her..

One of the biggest things that stands out to me about this book is the inclusivity. We have two souls that find each other in every lifetime, in any lifetime, any country and in any body. A male and a male, a female and male, a female and female, Laura Steven writes love in so many different ways that are beautiful in every story, and I so appreciated the inclusivity she included in this story, as these were two souls falling in love, which made their journey and love THAT much more impactful..

Our story jumps from present- day to flashbacks, building our characters and world throughout their lives, and I loved getting to know a bit of backstory to our characters, building up to the climax to really understand them. I think this book could have benefited from an additional pov from Arden, as at times his character felt a bit one-dimensional, and getting to know him on a deeper level would have helped me feel more connected to him.....but his words and actions sold me on his character, and Evelyn and Arden's relationship re-defined the term, "soulmates" to me..

I can't recommend this book enough, it's a beautiful story and one that will absolutely stay with me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Evelyn and Arden have lived for thousands of lifetimes. In each of them, they're fated to fall in love and kill each other before they turn 18. Evelyn has grown to love the current life she's in and wants to stay alive long enough to be able to do a bone marrow transplant to save her younger sister. She's determined to find a way to break this curse and save her sister before Arden finds her first.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed the concept of this book. The idea of two people finding each other and falling in love across multiple lifetimes is intriguing to me. Unfortunately, the way it was executed didn't really work for me. I didn't feel the big epic love that Evelyn and Arden were supposed to have. The book alternates between the present day and flashback to their previous lives. Even with these glimpses into their shared past, I still had a hard time feeling the love that they shared that spans centuries. I liked how this book looked at gender and sexuality. It was interesting seeing Evelyn and Arden's thoughts about this with all of the different lives they've lead.

Another issue I had is more of a personal one than an issue with the book, but I really wasn't a fan of the cancer plot. I should've figured that it would be a major point in the book since the description mentions Evelyn is trying to do a bone marrow transplant to save her sister, but I didn't think about it. If I had known about this, I'm not sure if I would've read this book at this current moment in time. I recently finished my own battle with cancer, so I'm not really interested in reading books that involve cancer plots for the time being.

actual rating: 3 stars (I keep fluctuating between 2.5 and 3, so I'm just going to round up)

As a soulmate trope girly down to my core this was one of my most anticipated reads and it was just okay. It was missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on yet.

I was definitely into it in the beginning, I loved flashing back to their previous lives and love how the reincarnation of the souls was handled, but about half way through I found it starting to drag and become repetitive. Then the ending… was not for me.

It’s definitely not a bad book, but it wasn’t the amazing, immediately god tier, book that I had thought it was going to be (which is definitely partly on me).

I did enjoy this book quite a bit! There was a lot of going back in time and seeing their past lives fall in love with each other and it was literally my favorite part of the whole book. I knew going into this that it was a YA book but some of them writing at times I feel like could have went a step further but that may just be me. Overall a really enjoyable read for a person that doesn’t read much Young Adult books at all!

Evelyn and Arden have been in love for countless lifetimes. The catch: Arden kills Evelyn each time before they can turn eighteen. And she has no idea why.

This story follows their modern lives, with glimpses to their past lives and the love that they shared. The prose moved me beyond words over and over again. The themes of life, loss, love, and sacrifice are strong throughout the book.

With jumping timelines it can be tricky, but Laura masterfully weaves each iteration into the story. It is so interesting to see what Evelyn and Arden have dealt with in each life, and how their paths cross.

The love that these two share was both so clear and yet so layered. Evelyn is desperate to know why Arden kills her in each life, and the journey to the truth was long and yet rewarding. How all the chips fell in the end was a perfect summation of the characters and their undying devotion to each other.

This was an easy five star review for me, because I was moved in every step of the journey. That is a skill that is undeniable. I know that I am now a lifelong devotee of Laura Steven's work.

A beautiful concept. The struggle with pain, loss, love, and family was felt in every life portrayed. I liked that Evelyn wasn’t aware of the why and it gave myself a curiosity for the why also.

Evelyn waits and hopes with every life Arden won’t find her. But he always does. It’s as if there’s a tether tying them together. Always finding one another no matter what. Always before or on her 18th birthday. This time she has something to fight for. Her sister is sick and needs her, but Arden should be close. This will be the life that won’t end the same. She will live to save her sister.

Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress, and Laura Steven for the advanced reader copy.

QOTD: What would you do if you could live thousands of lives but would be killed before you turned 18?

4.25!

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

I honestly was not expecting it to be this good??? like, I was expecting it to be good, enjoyable but not to this extent because honestly I was so invested in the story, the very idea and the concept of the storyline was so unique and interesting and I truly thing the plot was the aspect of the book that kept me hooked throughout. While I loved the concept, the execution could have been a bit better. The pacing of this book was also very slow. Yeah, yeah, I finished it in 2 days but that's because I pushed through, otherwise the pacing was slow but I found it enjoyable. The writing style was very fun to read. It wasn't like Addie Larue, I would say but it did have a similar vibe which I enjoyed reading and yeah this was heartbreaking!!

"I hope you never lose that bottomless love. I hope you hold onto what makes you human.”

So basically, Evelyn and Arden are cursed. This shit made me feel so claustrophobic because I felt like I was stuck and I wanted to escape but I couldn't so Arden has to kill Evelyn before the age of 18 and if she dies, he dies and they both get reincarnated in another era, in another life and this cycle keeps on going on and we're pretty much like Evelyn because we're not getting any answers and it was so frustrating to read because I wanted answers so bad!! I liked how it was divided into the present perspective and the past perspectives which took us through the journey of some of the eras they were reincarnated in and tbh the way it was written made it so interesting because it gave us glimpses of their relationship and it kind of took our mind of the questions we had and I liked it.

“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.”

Evelyn, Our main character, and uff her story was so frustrating to read because she's the one who's killed in every lifetime by her lover and she's kept with these questions as to why all this is happening and Arden just tells her to trust her and that the outcome of letting her live over 18 would be worse and ahhh I had no idea how she was trusting him because if I was her I would have not but thank god I'm not in fantasy but I felt so bad for her because she was a very loving character and she fell in love with each of her family over the years and she was taken from there and placed into another family and it just hurt to read that. Arden, at first it was very hard to like his character because we didn't really know why he was doing all of the things he was doing but then slowly we learned and it made so much more sense, I loved the dialogues that he dropped, the swoon worthy moments but I also liked how heartbreaking all of this was for him as well. I just don't understand why he didn't tell Evelyn all of this.

"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."

The romance, was well written, I really enjoyed reading it, fated mates with slow burn and kind of enemies to lovers and with angst so that was very fun to read, the sad moments blend in here so well and the yearning was one of my favorite parts. I didn't really focus on the romance more because I was way more invested in the plot of the story and the romance as subplot felt good and shaped the story to be better but if romance is supposed to be the main plot than yeah I dont really think it was developed that well for me to be invested in it like that.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable read!

Where do I even start?? Our Infinite Fates weaves the most beautiful, heartbreaking and powerful story of love through millennia I’ve ever read. Two souls who are destined to kill each other in every lifetime, yet are so deeply connected by a thread of love.

Laura Steven does an incredible job keeping the story moving forward, while managing to give us a rich history of these two people’s tragic fates through time. I didn’t see the twist coming as to why Evelyn and Arden were in this endless cycle, which was such a cool way to bring everything to a close. The whole story was set with this magical realism/historical vibe, but the end brought the fantasy element into the world and I absolutely loved that! I was feeling my feels there at the crescendo of their story, almost bringing me to tears.

Seriously, what a gorgeous book that reminds me so much of Addie LaRue, but I think I may have liked this even more! This was shorter and faster paced, which I appreciated.

Please do yourself a favor and read this book asap!!

SOLID 5 STAR READ!

Evelyn and Arden became one of my all time favorite couples! I got to fall in love with them in every life, eighth alongside them. It’s beautifully written, and sometimes their heartbreak became MY heartbreak ; just as much as their happiness became MY happiness. I had the pleasure of receiving this ARC and immediately ordered a physical book, something I only do with books that live special in my heart, and this book definitely does.

This book tore me down and built me back up. Just do it all over again. And again. This book describes a soul deep love surviving over a tortured millennium, reincarnated over and over just to be repeatedly taken away without answers, full of pain, rage and so many questions. One of them remembers it all and the other is stuck fighting for the truth. Fighting for the love they have never been allowed to watch mature. "The cruelest fate the gods and stars had ever written: the person I loved most in the world was the person who would ultimately destroy me." As macabre as their tragedies are, Evelyn is so pure and hopeful. Her strength carries them through it all. I cried many, many times over these pages. This story will live with me for a very long time. "There was always Arden. There would always be Arden.... No matter how twisted and broken, we were the one true constant, our love like a river wending its way through the earth year after year, century after century, growing deeper and wider with every twist and bend."

Thank you so much #netgalley for this ARC opportunity!

Thank you to St. Marten's Press for my copy of OUR INFINITE FATES. This one publishes March 4.

I really really enjoyed this book. It's got love and poetry and heartache and characters you will be obsessed with. If you know me, you know I buy THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE for everyone I know, this one just might get added to that list too! I can't wait to talk about this book with everyone.

This was a good book. Though not my type. I was definitely sold on the blurb saying it has the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue feels, and I can see it, but the feelings were not there for me. I wish I actually read this with my eyes, instead of doing an audio book. The narrator was great, but the story itself was a slow slow burn. And repetitive.

The whole point of the plot is that these two souls are intertwined, and they keep finding each other every lifetime. And then they kill each other. One keeps saying that they are doing it out of love. But no more is told. And that suspense eventually lost its steam. I can imagine having to want the answer for ages.. I couldn't do it. But the fact is, they do love each other, and their love is fated. One of them just can't remember how or why.

The fact is, it just felt like it dragged out for too long. Yes, the writing style is very comfy and lyrical. It's a beautiful flow of actions, and not one of the typical YA drastic quick changes to what everyone is doing. Though that feeling of needing to change everything was there. Kind of an old soul in a young body, In the end the explanation wasn't clear, or the reasoning. And I really didn't care about this love story. It left a bit of a unsatisfyed taste in my mouth. It is what it is.

Still, I can see how the romantic souls would yearn for this kind of love story and how it will be a big hit. I'm just not one of them.

Five stars. Atmospheric. Romantic. Devastating.

Evelyn and Arden love each other in most lifetimes, but they kill each other in every one. Evelyn can’t remember what twist of fate tethers them together, and whether Arden is their greatest love or their greatest enemy. As they reckon with all their past lives, Evelyn is desperate to stay alive in this one to save Branwen’s (their current form’s) sister. Containing sentences and sentiments that will reverberate through lifetimes, this book is a worthy read and a definite recommend.