A fascinating book with a unique structure where obituaries and other bits of life and death are strung together, revealing deeper and more profound connections as the story is told. I loved the sense of a tapestry woven through centuries with lives and deaths intersecting, past and future interacting, pieces mirroring each other. Technology, societal upheaval, and climate change, as well space exploration all come into the mix as well.

A TREMENDOUS hybrid of speculative fiction, time travel, and grief. I'll admit it almost lost me in the beginning, but I refused to stop reading and eventually, I became so enamored as I started to see the loose threads start to come together that I plan to reread and annotate to better understand the different characters and how they merge to form this beautiful narrative. With that said, this is an experiment in memory for both the reader and (I suspect) the narrator, so it is not for everyone. I think this is one you either love or hate, but I LOVE it!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book just didn’t work for me. I had a hard time understanding what’s going on or why this book was even written. It just didn’t work for me.

I hope others love it.

Because this was the unedited version, I had a harder time reading it only because of the formatting - however it was a very interesting book and I will be buying a copy of the finished version to re-read and see if I missed anything!

This book requires a certain level of attention. It jumps from one time period to another, mostly through obituaries, even goes into the future of the human race. It is a statement on art and technology and science. And while it could be confusing at first, once you start to see the patterns, it gets easier.

“Remember You Will Die” by Eden Robins will blow your mind. The tale of a grieving AI mother told through obituaries is masterful work. Not only are you asked to consider an AI who can feel enough to grieve, but you will sit back and wonder how Robins wove this tale together. The interplay of the plot and structure makes “Remember You Will Die” a page turner. You will laugh at an epic concert. Be in awe of the artistry of tattoos. The folks we meet through their obits are both iconic and ordinary. Leaving you to ponder how we live and love, as well as what legacy means - a film, art, or simply the person who mourns you.

After rereading the synopsis, I guess this did deliver what it promised, but it played out vastly differently than I thought it would. So I am a little torn about how to rate it.

It is the most original book I've read this year, but it was also a little hard for me to get the thread. I'll give it an A for effort and while the execution will definitely find its audience, it wasn't me. But that is probably all on me being way outside my comfort zone.

I hate to DNF a book this early, but at 10% I’m hating every second. The gimmick of a book written in obituaries appealed to me, and the prose is good. The plot though is nonexistent. I’ve also recently (through no fault of the book) realized that I do not enjoy AI books.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were relatable and the flow of the book was a good pace. The author had me on the edge of my seat and I wanted to know what would happen next. I can't wait to see what else this author will come out with.

I usually love a puzzle book, but this one was too abstract even for my tastes. Told entirely in obituaries, Remember You Will Die traverses continents as well as galaxies as it unspools a story about family, love, and grief. It was fun to spot the connections between characters and places, with clever little details that reminded me of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. However, as enjoyable as it was to spot these easter eggs, I grew bored with the broader details, and found the plot to lack propulsion. The story is almost obsessive in its focus on specific concepts and idyosyncratic characteristics of people. While a fascinating deep dive, it doesn't always make for a coherent narrative.

2.5 stars - I think the premise for this one unfortunately was much better than its execution. I loved the idea of exploring motherhood between an AI and her daughter through exploring obituaries and news articles. Unfortunately, and maybe this is a me problem, I just didn't find the writing to really follow through with this premise. The obituaries (/articles/forum posts/definitions) are all interconnected yes, but they did not really connect often back to Poppy and Peregrine which is what I was mainly here for. I usually really love epistolary formatted novels and while I did appreciate that through these stories we looked at how humanity evolved over a century - but again, I really felt as though we were missing that thread to explain why we were reading more obituaries that loosely tied into what the premise promised. Maybe there is a larger convoluted plot that I am too dumb to have pieced together, but I found myself feeling meh whenever I picked this one back up.

The premise was promising but it didn't land for me. Grappling with grief in the world of AI is a tough take on modernity and mortality.

This was a weird book and wasn't what I was expecting but it was interesting. If I had known what it really was, I probably wouldn't have picked it up and it wasn't my cup of tea but still, I get what they were going for and it will have its audience,

3 stars

Partial review for 'Remember You Will Die', by Eden Robins

DNF at 50%

Summary: a story about what it means to be alive, across time, told through obituaries. The theme is also explored through an artificial intelligence (AI) character by the name of Peregrine, who has to deal with the death of her daughter.

Look, this book is hard to explain. It's very... experimental, which honestly I'm fine with. I like the concept of a story told through obituaries of people who are related in some ways. I also like how different people have different viewpoints and approaches to life, and it can be pretty entertaining to read about them with the knowledge that the characters have since passed.

On the other hand, we also have an attempt to tell the story of Peregrine, and get into the whole 'what makes a human, human' debate. Peregrine started off as an AI programme, and is eventually given a body through bioengineering. I personally find this idea to be pretty cool.

Here's the problem: this book tries to go for too much, in my opinion. Separately the two ideas - one of death and mortality, one of AI versus humanity - would have sufficed, in my opinion. When the author tries to gel them together, it gets really messy. It didn't help that we get a tonne of obituaries, where after a while they just blend into one another and I can't remember who's who. Did I mention that we don't get the obituaries in chronological order, i.e. sometimes we're talking about someone in the future and then we examine the life of someone in the past?

Oh, there was also something about what happens if Anne Frank didn't die? Yeahhhhh... sometimes less is more, really.

I really appreciate the premise and what Eden Robins was trying to do, but unfortunately this wasn't working for me. Once I put it down it was hard for me to pick it up again because I was mostly lost (hence, the DNF).

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC!

This was such an interesting book with a truly creative plotline! Told in a series of obituaries, we're meant to discover connections and uncover the themes of what it means to be human in a world increasingly populated with AI. It also asks us whether AI can feel, how AI can learn, and what death might mean to a non-living being.

This book was not for me at all. It hurts me to say this, the synopsis was better than the book. I truly wanted to like it.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a captivating read that held my attention from start to finish. The story was well-paced, and the characters felt real and engaging. I’m grateful to the publisher for providing an early copy—it was a pleasure to read!

Wonderfully weird is my final call on this one. I admit though, I was far from convinced that I wouldn’t DNF even close to halfway through. There are too many characters to follow for my liking and at times I felt I wasn’t smart enough to continue. But I am so happy that I pulled through because once it all came together together, I was blown away. It certainly isn’t going to be every readers cuppa tea but those who like their sci-fi very odd and offbeat will definitely appreciate it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy of REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE.

I couldn't get into this one. The writing style and the fact everything is in newspaper articles was strange formatting to read on my kindle. I might have liked it in it's physical version.

I could not finish this book. I ended up not liking the format of only written in obituaries and newspaper articles. It was confusing for me and didn’t flow well for me.