SIX STARS I was so lucky to get an arc of these I felt so deeply connected to Evelyn. I am often labeled as “too emotional and attached to people” and Evelyn shows me how that is a gift. This is the ultimate love story but it’s about so much more than that it’s about humanity and how our world is ever-evolving, but how in ways we stay so fundamentally predictable. We are all so connected in so many ways that we can’t even understand. Just one soul’s existence could have the greatest impact. This book really dove into that sense of urgency that comes with being human “to love was to live, and to live was to die”. And THE YEARNING!!! “Together we were sacrilege.” I am in awe of this book it is a gift. Thank you.

This book was highly anticipated for me and it did not disappoint! I loved following the love story across many timelines and seeing how their relationship developed. I also loved the twist at the end, which I did not expect! This author has such a talent for cinematic and lyrical prose. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.

4.5⭐️3🌶️

YA fantasy Romance
Stand-alone
17yo MCs
Soulmates
Non-linear Storytelling
Hunter/Hunted Romance
🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Narratives
Poetic
Historical Cultural Glimpses
Unique Plot

**The book covers a true historical timeline with every triggering societal issue you can imagine when it comes to non-cis love. It also has death, forced institutionalism, torture, cancer, attempted suicide/suicide idealism, kidnapping, loss of a loved one, and many more.

**This is on the spicy side when it comes to YA standards. The author notes on social media that while the bodies in the story are 17, the souls are over 1,000 years old.

I have to reiterate that this is a young adult book. The main characters are 17, about to turn 18 in every timeline. Within that context you see this story through the POV of Evelyn, and I think that is intended because they know less of their own back story than Arden. This does not feature the POV of Arden who struggles with knowing their 1,000 year timeline. This keeps the plot from being even darker and deeper than its intended audience.

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

Was this book perfect? No, not by a long shot. The characters, while rich and complex, felt as though there was a lot left unexplored. Their depth was there, but I couldn’t help but wish for more. Still, despite these gaps, it drew me in, and I was hooked.

One of the most powerful themes woven through the narrative is the idea of love transcending physical form—the idea that love is not confined to one body or one lifetime. It’s a notion that feels both timeless and profoundly moving. The thought of being able to recognize your soulmate, even in a completely different vessel, is pure, unadulterated romance to me. It resonates on a deep emotional level, tapping into that universal longing we all have for a love that outlasts time and space. That’s what made this plot so refreshing. It felt like a new perspective on an age-old concept, something I hadn’t seen explored in quite the same way before.

What struck me most was the sheer poetry of it all. And I don’t mean just in the literal sense, though the inclusion of poetry added a beautiful layer to the narrative. But beyond that, the writing itself exuded a kind of lyrical quality, almost like a rhythm that captured the aching, unfulfilled desire between the characters. Their tragic romance, filled with longing, loss, and the hope (and trepidation) of reunion, was so tangible. Every chapter that revisited their backstory was bittersweet. That longing made the entire journey feel profound and deeply emotional.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Our infinite fates was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and I was lucky enough to get an ARC from Netgalley. Unfortunately, I think I expected more. When I heard the plot of a tragic YA romantasy, I was sold. While the writing was beautiful and fully carried the piece, I found myself unable to connect to the characters. I usually love pieces by two categories, complex and lovable characters, and excellent prose. It had the prose, but the characters just didn't really get to me in the way I hoped. Nonetheless, I read the book in three days and was hooked to the plot, and the plot twist thoroughly shocked me. I'm giving this a solid 3.5 ⭐️

This book was a 3.5 for me.

As much as I enjoyed the premise of this book. It was missing that yearning that you would want from two beings who lived and loved each other through thousands of lifetimes.

The present day's chapters draw me more than the chapters that reveal their past lives. For me, the
different lifetimes don't connect well and don't make me feel like the present-day chapters do.

I wish we get more of the present day's chapters, more of their angst and yearning. More of everything that makes Arden and Evelyn who they are in today's time. In those few chapters, I rooted for them and hoped that through everything, their love remained.

The ending was plottin'. I can't say much. You'll need to read it to understand how plottin' it really was lol. I'm not sure if I really did enjoy that route. I wish this book were more than what it was because the premise was so good. It did fall flat for me, but I enjoyed present-day Arden and Evelyn. I wish we had gotten a bit more.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy, all thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed this book and really enjoyed Laura’s writing. It definitely gave me Addie LaRue vibes so if you enjoyed that, I would give this one a try! The plot twist towards the end absolutely caught me off guard and really took the story to the next level.

I did feel like because we were jumping lives so much, it was hard to feel connected to the FMC & MMC. I was not invested in their romance. I wish we could have gotten to know a few of the lives a bit longer to build that connection with them. I think that would have taken this to a 5 ⭐️ book for me.

Thank you so much to Wednesday books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.75 stars - The ending of this book really redeemed the rest. It has such a solid concept, and I was so excited to jump into this story. Unfortunately, it fell flat in may ways. I loved the chapters that went back in time to explore their previous lives, but I found myself struggling to get through the "present day" chapters. It felt long and drawn out. The ending of **spoilers** love being the answer to ending the Mother felt so cheesy, too. Overall, it was solid, and I can see some people really enjoying this book.

I really liked this book! Special thanks to netgalley for letting me read in advance. I loved how the author did not shy away from romance across different cultures and genders. The author definitely gave justice to all the cultures they were portraying. I also found the romance very heartwarming. It was more refreshing to see. The idea of loving someone for their soul resonated with me deeply. This book kept me wanting to know more about what was going on. The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars was that somewhere in the middle it was a bit slow.

3.75

Two immortal souls tethered by love, yet destined to kill each other in each life. Evelyn has murdered or been murdered by Arden before they turn eighteen in each life but Evelyn has grown particular fond for her most present life especially since her sister Gracie requires Evelyn's bone marrow to live.

The premise of this was so unique! Each time we were brought back to one of their past lives, the writing really set up picture-by-picture of what life they were living years ago. I was definitely told plenty of times how powerful their love was but I never saw how it really began. If the author would've added that storyline, it would've made this all-powerful romance more believable. I honestly would've preferred to see their beginning love alongside the present day and their past lives since it would've made the read that more enjoyable with Laura's stunning writing.

There a couple of things that bothered me towards the end since all of this suffering seemed to be resolved too easy for how complicated they made it seem for hundreds of years. I think the addition of higher stakes would've bumped up the rating since the this plot line was such an essential point to the story and why all of this even began.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the arc!

I would like to thank NetGally and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of Our Infinite Fates.

The story is told from the point of view of Evelyn, a soul who reincarnates through the centuries only to be murdered each time by Arden shortly before their 18th birthday. When one of them dies, so does the other. They both begin to remember their previous lives at around age 8. Arden remembers all details of their previous lives. Evelyn remembers pieces of them, but does not know why Arden kills her even though they love each other. Arden refuses to tell her. Evelyn is extremely fond of her current life, and is determined to keep it.

The story alternates between the present day and their past lives, which I really enjoyed. My least favorite part of the book was the origin story. I found it to be kind of confusing. It didn’t really feel like it fit with the rest of the story. It seemed rushed/like the villain was defeated too easily.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3

When I first read the synopsis for the book, I knew I was going to be hooked. The story of Evelyn and Arden consumed me. The gravitational pull and love they have for each other with each life they endure was epic, tragic, and so romantic. I was not expecting the origin story to turn out the way it did and absolutely loved the shock of the full story being revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are entirely my own.

I unfortunately have to give this book a 2.5 star rating.
I wanted to love this book so much. The cover art is so gorgeous and I absolutely love the concept of being soulmates in every lifetime. I just never could completely buy into this book, unfortunately.

We see glimpses throughout the book of the past lives Evelyn and Arden have lived. Some of them contain them falling in love again, some with them being childhood best friends, some of them being mortal enemies. It really felt the format of the story was both too overdone but also lacking critical details I felt were needed to really develop the whole “soulmates” aspect and by the end of the book, I still had a hard time believing in the epic love they said they had. I wanted more backstory of them falling in love and having real conversations that led to this crucial build up.

The ending also took me by surprise too and felt wildly out of place. Throughout the entire book, both the reader and Evelyn are left wondering why Arden is doing what he does and what could possibly have happened to cause the same chain of events after thousands of lifetimes. In the end, it was such a strange turn of events and change of direction that I almost felt it belonged in a separate world other than the one I just had been reading about. Then, it was over and I was still left with too many questions and not enough answers.

Overall, I was just confused. I do definitely feel the book did pick up in the last half of the book and it was enjoyable overall. I absolutely loved this concept and I do look forward to seeing more of Laura Steven’s work in the future!

3/5 stars. I really wanted to love this one—it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025. The story is told in alternating timelines, shifting between the present day and past lives of Arden and Evelyn. They’re destined to fall in love in every lifetime... and, before turning 18, they always end up killing each other. Definitely an interesting premise!

That said, I struggled with their relationship. We’re told they’re madly in love, but we never really see why. It’s all very “Nobody knows me like Arden does” without much depth to back it up. That, combined with the fact that he’s literally trying to kill her and rip her away from her family in every lifetime, made it really hard to buy into their love story.

I also found the glimpses into their past lives intriguing at first, but they started feeling repetitive by the middle of the book. Eventually, I just stopped caring what happened to them in the past, especially since those moments didn’t meaningfully connect to the present-day storyline or the resolution of the main conflict.

Speaking of resolution, I was surprised when we finally found out what the heck was going on, but after waiting so long for answers, the ending wrapped up way too quickly. It didn’t feel like a satisfying payoff, which left me a little underwhelmed overall.

That said, the writing itself was beautiful. The prose was excellent—lyrical, immersive, and full of emotion. I found myself highlighting multiple sentences / paragraphs. That helped bump this back up to a 3 star for me. Ultimately, while the story didn’t quite work for me, I can absolutely see how others might love it!

Seeing Laura Steven say she was inspired by Exile by Taylor Swift shot this straight to the top of my TBR—I wanted to love it more than I did. The concept is fascinating, but the execution didn’t quite land for me.

I think Steven was aiming to build a mystery around motivations, but they were so foggy that at times, I wasn’t even sure why we were following these characters. There are some truly beautiful moments in her writing, and while the themes of love and grief resonated, the prose often felt overly verbose—like it was trying too hard to be taken seriously. I’m sure the romantasy crowd will eat this up, but for me, it felt a little repetitive and fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for this eARC.

Our Infinite Fates is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching love story where we get many glimpses of Evelyn and Arden across 1000 of loving one another. Steven wrote so many iterations of Evelyn and Arden and they are each as poignant as the last. Using these different versions, we slowly learn about their history and the different people they've been, how they existed, and how they have loved one another over a thousand lifetimes.

I can't say enough nice things about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be encouraging everyone who loves fantasy, historical romantic fiction, love stories (where love is love is love), and happy endings.

This was an easy, lovely read and, although I found myself wanting a bit more texture of the characters and their lives/loves, I especially loved the delightful revelations at the very end. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy.

Do you believe in soulmates? Do you believe in reincarnation? In every lifetime to we find the one our souls yearn for? And what would you do if in fact, you found your soulmate and yet… in every lifetime you are condemned to kill each other?

This is a conundrum that Evelyn and Arden face. In this life and every life they have lived. Their love is so expansive and at the same time seemingly damning.

I was quickly taken in by the lyrical nature of the author’s writing style and the unique plot. I love a tragic love story and I am always a fan of fate.

There were a few things that kept me from giving it 5 stars.

-the pacing: to be honest it felt a bit slow at times
-redundancies: the history flashbacks I felt could have added more to the plot and just seemed to be the same variations
-the plot twist: I LOVE a reveal moment. However. I felt that this was seemingly out of no where? No hints and even when making sense of it at the time didn’t fit.


Overall I would recommend and did really enjoy it!!

*I was provided a copy on Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts and all thoughts below are mine and mine alone*

Wow, wow, and wow. I finished this book on the bus two hours ago and I have not been able to stop thinking about it. I feel speechless and this has made the list of favorites for 2025 FOR SURE!

"It's how you still allow your heart to be tender. How you never lose faith in humanity.' He wrapped his arm round my shoulders. 'Do you know how powerful that is? Do you know how rare you are, in a world where the sky rains fire?"

Evelyn has lived for a thousand years, cursed lifetime after lifetime to not reach the age of 18 at the hands of the person she loves most in this world, Arden. Arden has hunted her down in every lifetime, one way or another, tethered and connected. But why? Why has Arden hunted her so mercilessly and not allowed her to live and have a future together?

In her newest life, Evelyn has been reincarnated as Branwen Blythe, a girl in Abergavenny soon to fall at the hands of her love, but Evelyn is fighting to live until she can give her sister a desperately necessary blood cell transplant to save her life. Will Arden kill her before she is successful? Can she convince him to hold on long enough to save her sister or will she fall victim and lose someone else she loves because time is not on her side?

The way I could feel Evelyn's hunger and desire in this book, wow. I will keep saying wow throughout this review because I am still shocked at how everything happened. She wanted so badly a life, just to grow old and love with her entire heart. She wanted to hit milestones and be with the people who loved her back, but due to an unknown reason, she was never allowed to.

"The Evelyn I know...they love over and over and over again, even thought it can only ever end in tragedy. Even though they've lost everyone they've ever loved, and they miss them in the next life, and the next, and the next. Never have they developed hard edges, like I have. Never have they tried to protect themselves from that pain. They love softly, and fiercely, and openly, and its the bravest thing I know. The most human thing I know."

Arden is this shielded person who keeps all his pain inward and won't show any because he sees the good and selflessness in Evelyn, his other half. Arden was a very misunderstood character for most of this book as we just see Evelyn battling herself between hating him and loving him. Arden kept up this cold front a lot because he loved Evelyn so much and it killed him to kill her in every life they shared. He was the realist in this book, doing what needed to be done at any cost because nothing mattered to him but Evelyn.

"Because that's the thing about humans - we leave traces of our souls everywhere, as unique and identifying as fingerprints."

I loved the set up in this book where we got to see this alternation between present and past, various glimpses providing us this complete picture of who Evelyn and Arden are and why they are the way they are. My favorite point of view has to be the time known as Greece. That moment was when my heart truly shattered, not just broke. A close second and third are Mali Empire and Norway. All of the various time jumps were amazing and really brought this story a lot more depth, but these scenes were so precious to me and I swear I'm crying at the thought of them.

This book dips and soars in ways you can expect at times and at others be blindsided. I feel like one such moment is the way Arden wrestles with himself at the idea of killing Evelyn, but also reaching that dreaded moment of 18 is too great to fathom. I kept thinking about how unfair it is to them, but then remembering that love and life is not fair and all we can do is just hold on and love and live every moment to its fullest capability, a valuable message that this book is portraying.

I also loved Evelyn's mom and sister in her Branwen Blythe life, they were so cute and I just wanted to give them a big hug. The ending of this book killed me so much, but it felt like coming home and it was the necessary ending for this book too. Sometimes the ending is not what we want it to be, but it is what we need it to be.

"As he kissed my neck, my throat, the slope of my shoulders, his fingers traced the shape of my mouth, the apple of my cheek, his touch at once cold and scorching and alight, like he was trying to memorize every inch of me, like he had been thirsty for a thousand years and could finally drink."

The love they shared felt like it was going to leap from the page at how much potent and tangible it was. It was so heartbreaking to witness the pain and suffering they went through for their love just to grasp at it with slippery fingers and lose it every single time. A thousand years of loving each other and knowing each other so fundamentally and a future that escapes them every time. I feel at peace after reading this book because it also inspires hope, hope that there is so much love and good in the world even if we cannot see it at the moment.

I adored this book so much and would 100% recommend it to anyone looking for a heartbreaking, beautiful read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review! Our Infinite Fates will be officially published on March 4th, 2025!

I REALLY wanted to love Our Infinite Fates. I really did. So many people, bookstores, etc. were hyping this up to be one of the most anticipated 2025 YA reads, and how could I not read it when it was pitched as The Invisible Life of Addie Larue meets This is How You Lose the Time War? The extra cherry on top was the beautiful cover. Even looking at the high ratings of the book now on Goodreads 2 weeks before its release--it's currently sitting at a 4.19-star rating with 1,335 ratings at the time of me typing this out--I feel bad giving it the rating that I did. It sucks because I agree with the other reviews I've seen from Goodreads friends so far saying that BookTok, Bookstagram, etc. will more than likely hype up this book A LOT and it will blow up a lot more after it's officially published than it already is now with ARC readers like myself putting up their reviews. Like, the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of the book sold out about a month before its publishing date besides a super tiny restock that happened a few days ago. That's how highly anticipated this book is set to be.

It was lacking that je ne sais quois, that something special, that extra oomph would've pushed this to a 4 or even 5-star read for me. I kept reading because there were chapters that would end on cliffhangers so I would go, "DAMN IT!" and keep going. I also kept reading because I kept telling myself, "It's going to get better," but as much as the book sucked me into the story, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. I was told to expect a lot of emotion, thought, love, and to be in absolute tears when the story ended. I didn't feel a single thing. After thinking about it, I realize that lies in the relationship between Arden and Evelyn.

The story alternates between the past and the present, with the past being chapters featuring little snippets here and there of Arden and Evelyn together in their past lives over the course of a millennium. We see them in past lives all over the world, with different names, different backstories, and different personalities, yet no matter who they are or where they reincarnate, they will always find a way back to each other and kill each other before their eighteenth birthday. I don't mind a dual timeline; I think it's always cool to take a look into the past and see how things came to be in the present. I liked reading about them in their past lives and how they interacted with each other.

However, the issue I have with the story lies in that itself. There simply wasn't enough of that. We didn't spend enough time with them in their past lives for me to personally feel like there was this deep-rooted connection between the two of them, even throughout 1,000 years of history and backstory. There was no buildup, no backstory, nothing that made me feel like they truly loved each other. I know Laura Steven just picked specific points in their history together that marked major turning points in their relationships; I obviously don't expect her to write blurbs of EVERY past life Arden and Evelyn had together because that would take literally forever. I wish we were able to spend more time reading about the past lives that we were able to read about in the story. Add onto that the fact that those "past" chapters were randomly placed throughout the story in between the "present" chapters with no necessary rhyme or reason and I felt it was super random at times and harshly interrupted the "present" storyline.

I think I liked the present timeline the most. I think it's super badass of Evelyn to donate her bone marrow to help her sister, Gracie, during her cancer treatment. Gracie, although she was a side character, had a funny, dry, sarcastic sense of humor and I loved her for that. I felt more love and connection between Evelyn and Gracie than I did with her and Arden, honestly. I was rooting for Evelyn to be able to help her sister and make it to her eighteenth birthday without getting killed by Arden.

The explanation as to why they keep reincarnating every 18 years makes logical sense once you read about it, but the reveal happened so close to the end of the book I almost thought I was reading an incomplete ARC. I think I would've been way more invested if that was revealed earlier in the story. A whirlwind of events happens after that revelation and I'm sure it was supposed to be this, big, crazy ending that makes you put the book down and stare into space questioning your existence, but for whatever reason I didn't feel that way? Like, the main story ended and I just went, "....uhhh, okay then." Maybe it's on me for having my expectations so high but I felt like it didn't stick the landing.

Overall, I'm just disappointed that this didn't work out for me like I thought. I'm hoping that other people will enjoy this way more than I did (and clearly, a lot of people are lol).

3 stars

This book had such a unique premise, and I wasn't sure what to think of it. Maybe it's the V.E. Schwab blurb at the top of the cover, but I felt like Steven got this idea when reading Addie LaRue. The two main characters keep being reincarnated, but one must kill the other before they turn 18. Evelyn has no idea why. Oh, and they're soulmates?

First, I do not like insta-love, and while it's slightly different with the "soul mates" part, I still would have liked more exploration into how they fell in love initially. We do get great snippets into their prior lives while focusing on their lives in the present day, but I wanted more. Also, while I felt the book got a bit repetitive toward the end, I was so intrigued by the WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS that I had to keep reading. I ended up finishing the book fairly quickly, and while I enjoyed the ride, I was never on the edge of my seat. And the 'why' felt... anticlimactic to me? I don't know why, because it wasn't a bad reason, it just didn't feel compelling to me.

Looking at other reviews, I think this is just a book that didn't work for me, but will work for many other readers, such as those who absolutely loved Addie LaRue.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.