Hate to say it, but this was one of two books I did not finish in 2018. I found the premise very interesting, but the characters extremely unlikable in their pompousness. The "historical" section taking place in dreams moved much too slowly to hold my interest. Alas, I cannot recommend it.

The Heavens is an intriguing read with an engrossing plot. Sandra Newman has constructed a page turner.

I found this book to be interesting but I can't say that I loved it. Although it wasn't too long it did seem to drag out a little bit. It was a very interesting subject and definitely made me think. It's hard to say much without giving the plot away. I think maybe it's just not my typical genre as in not much into fantasy type books but I still wanted to give it a try from the description.

i have been thinking long and hard about how to write about this book, and haven't come up with a good plan. it's hard to say anything about this book without giving it away, but let me try.

first of all, the easy part: the writing is amazing. if you have read The Country of Ice Cream Star, you already know that sandra newman is a language wizard. in this book, which is divided between present-time and in-the-past chapters, the wizardry is most prominent in the set-in-the-past chapters, while the set-in-the-present ones are beautiful, lyrical, and mind-blowingly inventive.

another easy part: the conception is amazing. the idea behind it. it will make you think a lot -- what it means, is it plausible, what is going on -- while being quite simply a page turner.

i confess i'm a bit of sandra newman groupie. i follow her on twitter, this miraculous universe in which you can talk daily to your favorite writers and, if you are nice and they are nice, they answer. on twitter she is just as explosively inventive as she is in her books.

but this book, man, this book is rigorous. it's got all its philosophy worked out. there's no slippage (unlike Ice Cream Star, a fabulous book with an ending that leaves you panting for a sequel).

and there is a lot to check, because there is a massive amount, in this book, of world building. let me just say that this kinda slender book manages to jump, fairly effortlessly, between the 16th century, the future, and then, uncannily, as the chapters progress, more and more the present.

the link between all of these worlds is kate, a mad prophetess. in fact she is not mad at all but, like all prophets, inevitably condemned to be read as mad. the cast of characters, in all timelines, is fantastic and their evolution in relation to the timelines they are in is flawless.

there is also quite a bit a laughing cuz sandra newman is really funny. what stayed with me most, though, was the sheer beauty of it all and, sadly, the bleak representation of the mess we are making of this world.

oh, and this is also a love story. did i say this is a love story? this is a terrific love story between many lovers and, also, the same lovers again and again.

Rich and atmospheric, with wonderfully nuanced characters, this is a novel to sink into and love. The historical sections are a joy to read !

I mostly skimmed this one. I didn't like the writing or format and had a hard time with it all around.

Unique is the best way to describe this novel. It's not my typical genre and yet…I enjoyed it quite a bit. Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice it to say The Heavens is a love story about Kate and Ben, who meet at a party of young, active politicos on the eve of the Millennium. Kate has a recurrent dream since childhood where she vividly lives an alternate life as a person from Elizabethan England named Emilia. As the dreams increase in frequency and intensity, her lover confronts the ageless questions: how do we protect our love and how do we adjust when our partners change? Newman's poignant and rich writing brings alive the alternate worlds of the past and a perilous future. As I said, I'm not a fan of alternate realities or time travel novels, but this was a fun read.

The Heavens was an interesting read. It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I did I found it enjoyable. I loved the premise, and having William Shakespeare as a character appealed to the culture geek in me. The book poses some interesting questions on cause and effect, and on change--in particular the way relationships can evolve as people age and take different paths. I loved Kate, but I struggled a little to relate to Ben at times. Also, I tended to enjoy the scenes in Elizabethan England more than those in the present day. However, this was certainly a thought-provoking and compelling read, and overall I give it 4.5 stars.

The Heavens is a very different kind of book. There is the present day and then, through the dreams of Kate, we are placed in the past. But things get even more complicated than that because every time that Kate wakes again, in the present, things that she's done in the past, have made changes, big and small, to the present.

I enjoyed the parts of the book that were in the present but when Kate would go back to the past, things really bogged down for me. The manner of speaking of the past made reading very slow going and Kate never figures out what she is trying to do in the past, to help the future. I was left feeling very unclear about what was going on in the book and what was supposed to be going on. Towards the end, another character who dreams like Kate, does give us an explanation for what is happening but I had a hard time understanding it.

I thought the characters were interesting but because the future changed so often, they changed and their surroundings changed, so it didn't feel like we got to be with the same characters very long. I almost want to read the book again to see if I understand it the second time around except that I can't bear to read the past parts again.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this ARC.

I must admit that I couldn’t finish this book. The here and now real-life scenes were great, but the abstract, wishy washy dream sequences grated on me a lot and added little to the story.

Hmmm... this is an odd one. A beautifully written book about love and loss. Different in a unique way but I found it to be a slow read.

The Heavens by Sandra Newman
I love this book. It’s a book about love, about dreams, about reincarnation. It’s a very interesting book and different from any other I’ve ever read. I like the authors style. I highly recommend this book. I will be reading more of this author. Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I liked it! At first I wasn't so sure about it... but then I really got into it! Lovely writing... you will enjoy.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic, Grove Press and the author Sandra Newman for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Heavens in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I was excited about this book from the description. I thought it promised so much. Unfortunately, for me, the storyline did not live up to it's promise. I thought the story dragged for most of the book. I had a struggle to finish it.
Sorry but not a book for me.

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy loses girl to a previous life? Kate and Ben meet and fall in love at a party in New York in 2000. She soon confides she’s had the same dream her entire life, that she was Emilia, mistress to a wealthy man in Elizabethan England. Strange, but he considers it part of her charm. Until things in her life begin to change, just a little bit initially, but then with increasing frequency and intensity. Is Kate losing her mind or is she really the reincarnation of a woman dead hundreds of years. This book isn’t like anything I’ve read before, it kept me glued to my kindle until the last page