Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven (book review)

GENRE: YA Historical Romantasy

LENGTH: 339 pages

 

PLOT

Branwen/Evelyn (henceforward called Evelyn) and Arden have been reincarnated again and again over the past thousand years. In each lifetime they fall in love, and in each lifetime Arden must kill Evelyn before her eighteenth birthday - though he won't reveal why to Evelyn.

 

CHARACTERS

Evelyn remembers her more recent past lives, but the further back they go the fuzzier her memories become. Her paranoia is very well written – the anxiety and anticipation as she near her 18th birthday is palpable. My favorite part of her story line was her bond with her sister Gracie. Gracie has leukemia and Evelyn is her only bone marrow match. This gives Evelyn extra motivation to survive as her surgery is scheduled for after her 18th birthday. In spite of her repeated deaths, Evelyn maintains an optimistic outlook and still has dreams for her life.

Arden is a poet and much more somber than Evelyn. Even though we don’t really get their perspective, we still feel the heavy weight they carry in their role as the villain. We the readers can empathize with them as we know they don’t want to kill Evelyn. They occupy this interesting space of being both Evelyn’s love interest and also a pseudo-antagonist. It’s difficult to truly classify them, as I wouldn’t consider them an anti-hero. I suppose they are morally grey. They don’t necessarily lack heroic traits – in their own mind they are a reluctant hero. In many ways, I find them to be a more interesting character than Evelyn.

 

WRITING

The novel is told across multiple timelines/lifetimes of Evelyn and Arden. The primary timeline is the ‘present’ taking place in Wales in 2022. Interspersed throughout the narrative are chapters from their past lives. These give us glimpses of Evelyn and Arden’s love stories. They also serve to establish that, within this novel’s world, a soul isn’t tied to any one place, gender, or sexuality. Across their lifetimes, Evelyn and Arden have been both female and male, and been in both heterosexual and same-sex relationships. They’ve also been born into all different countries and cultures.

The main gripe I saw in other reviews of this novel was that the past lifetime chapters were too brief for the reader to feel connected to Evelyn and Arden’s love story. I am inclined to agree. If I were the author, I would have extended each past life chapter, especially as many ended quite abruptly. If length/word count was an issue, then I would have limited the number of past lifetimes within the novel so that each one included had more breathing room. That way, the reader still gets to experience the thousand-year love story between the characters, but they have more time to forge a connection with them as a romantic unit.

The novel is genre-bending. It incorporates fantasy elements (the reincarnation and reason behind it), romance (between our main characters), mystery (the question of why they reincarnate and why Arden must kill Evelyn each time), and historical fiction (we learn a little about each time period and culture the characters are born into). It also features excerpts from a book of Arden’s poetry written during his lifetime in Siberia. These poems offer glimpses inside Arden’s mind for both the reader and Evelyn.

Steven’s writing is very lyrical/poetic. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the novel that perfectly encompasses this: “Perhaps the raw material began as a simple expanse of goodness, of loyalty, of creativity and imagination, but with every life lived another section of elaborate beadwork was stitched through the silk. Each piece of knowledge gained was a jewel in the border, each new person they encountered was an intricate patch of embroidery” (page 73).

There are a number of trigger warnings for this novel including: alcoholic, controlling parents, suicide, mental illness, and medical abuse and neglect. Without spilling too much, there is a chapter that, as a person with a diagnosed anxiety disorder and depression, was extremely triggering. It takes place at an asylum in one of Evelyn and Arden’s past lives. So, if you also suffer from mental illness be mindful when reading that chapter. I almost skipped the chapter because it was so upsetting, and I even ended up having nightmares the night after I read it.

Finally, I liked the big reveal about the why behind it all, because it was a unique twist on a classic trope.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The concept of this book was what drew me in, and in many ways, I believe it delivered on its premise. As I mentioned above, I wish the past lifetime chapters had been expanded upon. Overall, though, the two main characters are well fleshed out and succeeded in making me invested in their story. I was rooting for them to find a solution the entire novel. The mystery around the why Evelyn has to die before her eighteenth birthday really hooked me.

 

FINAL RATING: 4.25⭐️