I was/am blown away and in awe of this story. Like most, I was instantly drawn to the premise: "They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one." is such a great hook. The writing, however, really solidified this as (possibly) one of my favorite reads this year. I tend to fall in the same category of readers who like to watch a love story unfold. There's little and big moments that you're see or read for yourself but there are nuances weaved between the lines of the page that make it obvious or believable.. "Show me, don't just tell me." as a fair critique I see as a reader often and I usually resonate with that but honestly I think Lauren Steven did something so brilliant here. This fated couple has essentially been loving (and hunting) each other for a millennium and it's at the detriment to Evelyn and we as the readers that we have literally no clue why this is. It's maddening!! We obviously just get little peaks into their past lives, each one so beautiful and meaningful 🥹, but even then I intrinsically know these two love each other so intimately. And it's an epic love that transcends time and gender. It's deeply moving and I couldn't get enough.

"And so, in the absence of any abiding religious convictions, this was the one blind faith I had: that love was a physical force, and it was never wasted. Once it was called out into the universe it would echo back to us forever.."

Thank you Wednesday Books and netgalley for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for this arc. I absolutely loved this book. It was amazingly written, emotional, and thought provoking.

There were quite a few chapters of the past lives of these characters and how they always found each other. However I wanted MORE of this. This book was still a five star read for me, but I could have read hundreds more pages of the stories of their past lives.

The description of “for fans of Addie LaRue” is incredibly accurate, but I did like this one a bit better. I found the plot of this one to hold my attention more, as I found Addie LaRue to be a bit slow. Both beautifully written books, though. Both had similar overarching themes and the plots feel reminiscent of each other. That being said, these two books are uniquely amazing.

3.5 ☆ "how could the soul fated to kill me be the one to make me feel so alive?"

our infinite fates had such an interesting and mysterious plot, so i was super excited to be able to get this arc! this follows 2 souls, arden and evelyn, who over centuries are cursed to fall in love and kill each other before their 18th birthday in every lifetime. we jump between their interactions and deaths of their past lives and the present where evelyn has been reincarnated as a girl who is determined to save her sister, who has cancer. in order to do this, she has to undergo a bone marrow transplant before her upcoming 18th birthday before arden finds and kills her.

the premise of their love story had me really interested and invested, however i wish there was more of a suspenseful nature added to the book. i wanted to feel more connected to their relationship - they're written as soulmates, but i didn't necessarily feel the pull of what was tethering them together until the very end. things started getting really repetitive at the halfway mark - we experience the reincarnation and death cycle over and over again without getting any answers of what the curse was. it felt like we were in the dark with evelyn up until 80% of the book. i was hoping it would be a more gradual story of having evelyn discover small clues. this was beautifully written, but at times i felt like it was trying to hard to be poetic and deep rather than telling a story. overall, i think this was a decent read and i'm curious about laura steven's other novels!

Because of all the hype, my expectations for this book were very high, and I was nervous it wouldn't live up to them. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. This was an incredible, engaging story I could not put down. Even though the author drops you into the middle of this story without much explanation, Evelyn and Arden's journey is easy to follow through all their lifetimes as they continually fall in love and kill each other, over and over and over again. I loved seeing all the different time periods and countries, and I loved, too, that both of them often swapped genders in each lifetime and loved each other regardless. The storyline in the present day was also super engaging as you can feel Evelyn's love not only for Arden, but for her family, too. Amazing book!

This book is an enchanting tale of love, betrayal, and an unbreakable curse that spans centuries. Evelyn is cursed to relive her tragic fate over and over. She is murdered by the one she loves in each of her reincarnated lives before she turns eighteen. Evelyn can remember all her past lives, like a recollection of love, loss, and treachery that haunts her through time. She faces an inescapable destiny of being hunted by Arden. Arden is both her executioner and the love of her many lives. Each lifetime, they are drawn to one another in a cycle of love and destruction.

The tension escalates while Evelyn is desperate to unravel the mystery of why Arden is driven to kill her. The romance is beautifully tragic. The push and pull of their relationship keeps the story moving forward. I loved the book; the previous lifetimes blend emotional love stories and thrilling dark ends. Evelyn wants to protect her sister, which grounds the magical elements with familial love. I enjoyed that her family and their love were an intricate part of her story. My only complaint is that it did wrap up quickly, but it was still a fantastic and unique story. I guess love really can be a matter of life and death.

I received an ARC ebook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books.

This. was. beautiful. There are no words to explain how much I rooted for Evelyn and Arden. Laura Steven’s way of describing and experiencing love is unlike anything else I’ve read.

There were times where I would get a bit frustrated with Evelyn for pushing Arden on the “why” of their situation because I knew once she knew, everything would change and I just wanted to stay in their little bubble for a little while longer. I empathized with her for wanting to know, but that made it that much harder to be angry with because I would feel where she was coming from.

I was a bit worried that when the big explanation came, it’d be kind of a let down, but ultimately, I was happy with how they tied that end.

I was also pleasantly surprised with how big family played a role in Evelyn’s story because I absolutely loved her mom and Gracie and their whole family dynamic.

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I was sucked into this book literally from 5% to the last page. Laura Steven’s writing was so lyrical, mesmerizing, and so beautiful. The story that she created with this book was so incredibly thought out. Evelyn and Arden are everything to me. In this story, Arden and Evelyn are soulmates but in each one Arden has to kill Evelyn and we as the reader and Evelyn don’t know why. I loved that we not only got to see their interactions in the present but also how their journey began in all of their previous lives. This book is the perfect blend between The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and This Is How You Lose The Time War. The ending chapter had tears in my eyes and was just the most heartwarming end. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy next year so I can transfer all of my annotations!

Some spoilers ahead: I feel like everyone else is going to really like this book, and I so wanted to. I read the description and thought if it was like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue I was going to be a big fan. However, the charm of going back every few chapters to their past lives started to wear thin for me. Other than seeing the "witch" in the trenches, I don't feel like we gleaned enough from these backstories (other than it was fun to see past lives/history/Arden and Evelyn's love and death). The first 75% of this book is just about Evelyn/Branwen trying to figure out who Arden is, get the procedure before her birthday to save her sister, etc. And then after ALL THAT, we never get any sort of resolution with what happens to Gracie (I assume she'll be fine?) and anything else from that life, because we just move on to the whole Underworld thing (which was way too quick and I know I didn't follow all of it) and then we fast forward in time and ta-da, we're done. I just feel like we stretched out the beginning way too long, and then the wrap-up was super fast. Also, I wish Ceri would have actually had a part in the story (maybe as a Reaper or something interesting) not just as a minor red herring. I feel like this had a lot of potential but didn't quite hit the mark. If you love all of the soulmate/I can't help but love someone who continues to kill me/no matter how awful things are I still see the good in the world/Pablo Neruda poems are so moving, you'll definitely swoon for this book. If you're a bit more pragmatic, you might be disappointed.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The ultimate epic fated mates story, and one for which, perhaps, the less said before reading, the better, so I’ll keep it brief here. Two souls—one the hunter, one the hunted—are linked for a 1000-year cycle of reincarnation as one kills the other before they turn 18 in every life. The hunter knows why, the hunted doesn’t, and much of the story revolves around the hunted seeking the answers the hunter won’t provide, until, at last, he does. Steven explores themes around mortality, grief, love, language, hope, fear, and fate as she takes us through the souls’ past lives, illustrating how variations in gender, race, class, ability, family, religion, and environment create different life journeys, yet how some human experiences are universal. To love openly and hopefully means also to fear what one might, and someday will, lose. I enjoyed the examination of that idea, the expansiveness of a story that’s largely a two-hander, and the cinematic quality of the writing, and I suspect this will be a reader favourite in the year to come.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven is a first person-POV YA contemporary fantasy romance. Evelyn and Arden have loved each other in multiple lifetimes and they will love each other in even more. Unfortunately, their love story in each life ends with them killing each other before they turn eighteen. Evelyn is determined to live her latest life so that she can save her younger sister Gracie, who needs a transplant and Evelyn is her best bet.

What I really liked was how we got a lot of chapters that showed a snapshot of Evelyn and Arden’s lives together, before and after they realize who the other is. I could feel love and devotion the two feel for each other as well as the desperation for them to find another way to have their love story. By the time we reach the present day, Arden has kind of given up and will kill Evelyn without hesitation and we can see how this slowly happened through the chapters centering on their previous lives. I also appreciated seeing how Arden and Evelyn’s gender has changed over the centuries and how they don’t really care about the gender of the other, what matters is that it’s them.

Evelyn is both very much in the present and very reflective. She has only so many of her memories from her past lives, partly due to the limitations of her own reincarnation and the sheer amount of time that she would have to remember would probably break anyone, especially given that it would include her own deaths, the deaths of many family members, and the deaths of the love of her life. Her biggest motivation is her younger sister, Gracie, and trying to make sure Gracie can live and that keeps her in the present but also makes her think about all the people she’s known in the past, all the families she’s lost.

Because everything is from Evelyn’s POV, we don’t get a ton of Arden’s feelings over the centuries beyond what he’s willing to share with Evelyn and the poetry at the end of every chapter that takes place in their past lives. Some of Arden’s poetry was found and published before the book starts and it’s the first time Evelyn has ever had the chance to read it. I really appreciated how we got those tidbits of how Arden is feeling through poetry he’s kept private for centuries as it not only shows us part of his character that is consistent across lives but also gives us a counterpoint to Evelyn who isn’t as inclined towards the written word.

I would recommend this to fans of fantasy romance and reincarnated lovers, readers how prefer a more tragic bent to their romances, and those looking for a YA contemporary fantasy that is both reflective and in the present

I've seen sooo many glowing reviews for this book. "The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue" meets "This is How You Lose The Time War" in a love story that defies death and time? Count me in! And if that isn't enough of a hook, readers are comparing its writing style to "Divine Rivals". On paper, this sounds like the ultimate romantasy!

Which brings me to my point: my expectations might have been a little too high. I wanted an epic love story with high-stakes romance, a fast-paced plot, and unforgettable characters. This book didn't deliver on any of those.

I think my biggest issue is with the pacing. I like how the story is set up. Two souls who fall in love, only to kill each other and reincarnate through the centuries? I'm intrigued! The plot starts strong... and slows to a crawl around the halfway point. Nothing essential seems to happen until the last 15%, and even then, the resolution feels underwhelming. I wish the flashback chapters had clues relevant to the mystery. As it stands, everything gets explained in the last few chapters, and by that point, I no longer felt invested in the mystery.

I also feel like soooo much of this book consists of pretty words strung together to make beautiful sentences. If you're someone who likes that style of writing, you're going to love this book! There are so many quotable lines that my pen ran out of ink from all my highlighting. But while I appreciate the pretty prose, I wish more happened with the characters to balance it out. I can only read so many overwrought proclamations of undying love before I start to lose interest.

Overall, this was an okay read for me. I definitely seem to be in the minority among so many rave reviews. I think this book is perfect for people who enjoy descriptive writing styles and slower-paced plots. I also think it'll appeal to readers looking for an unconventional love story. I'm giving it 3/5 stars and a lukewarm recommendation.

I received an ARC courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley; all opinions are my own.

Reincarnation trope is something I love reading about, but unfortunately not usually well done. This book blew my expectations out of the water and, genuinely, has changed my outlook on the trope. I'll be actively looking for more of the authors work and they may have just become a part of my insta buy authors list.

Wow. Our infinite Fates by @laurasteven was phenomenal. I love how she told so many different stories throughout time that were not only incredibly intriguing, but historically accurate. It was like taking a walk through all of the brutal paths of the world, but shining a light on those stories as well. Telling a tragic love story through time was a bold choice but man, it works. If I were to sum this up in one sentence for those of you who like to go into books blind, it is like Addie Larue's older sister meets Romeo and Juliet. Only... She is cursed to kill the man she loves every 18 years. Reincarnation after reincarnation over a thousand years. I am impressed at the research Laura did to make this book historically accurate for the stories in which the many timelines fell.

AND THAT PLOT TWIST?!? 💀

What is your favorite story that takes you through time?

This is my favorite. Make sure to pick this up February 27th 2025!

Our Infinite Fates was breathtaking. A novel that I found so irresistible that I finished it in a day. The way that Laura Stevens sweeps you away with her words is unmatched. More than once - I found myself looking up words in the dictionary or having to translate them to understand their full meaning and context. Each time - I was not disappointed. What a ride we get to experience with Evelyn and Arden who weave a masterful tale of love through time. A truly excellent book. Can't wait to buy a copy once it hits shelves!

Thank you to NetGalley, Laura Steven and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for my free ebook ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

"I love you, I have loved you and I will love you."

Our Infinite Fates is a novel that I found myself thinking about in the moments when I wasn't reading it and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come now that I have finished.

This is one of the most important books of our time. In this day and age where we find ourselves divided over who and how we love, Steven has given us a blueprint to understand that love transcends all of our human constructs.

I, like many others recently, have been caught up in the romantasy and historical fantasy trend with books like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Fourth Wing, Divine Rivals and more. These novels have high stakes, world-building, magic, and romance intertwined with satisfying results.

So high expectations have been set for what these types of books can deliver and I started this novel with some trepidation. The story of Evelyn and Arden is a slow-build. It requires some patience to understand the format of going back and forth in time and how these fated lovers have become entwined.

But the disorientation you feel as a reader mirrors what Evelyn is feeling as she searches for answers as to why she feels an overpowering love for Arden though they inevitably kill each other in every lifetime.

Eventually, the reader meets Branwen Blythe/Evelyn in present day in a life that she very much would like to keep that includes a terminally ill little sister, big hearted mum and beautiful countryside of Wales. This desire gives her the courage to finally demand the answers to questions she has had for hundreds of years throughout her reincarnated lives. Why do she and Arden kill or get killed by the other before they turn eighteen? Why does she love her murderer? What is the point of it all?

These existential questions open the door for Steven to lay down commentary on human behavior and emotions. She slips in views on climate change, social media and gender so fluidly that it never feels heavy-handed. I found myself highlighting sentence after sentence, sentiment after sentiment to the point that I'm going to have to buy a hard copy when it comes out March 4th 2025 just so I can annotate my own physical copy to refer back to again and again.

Steven is a literary phenom constantly playing with words and language. I now know what ruthful, confelicty and snerdle mean.

And the ideas that she drops...

"And hadn't I always known this? To be human was to love and love and love, knowing it could only end in tragedy?"

"Suffering is a pyramid scheme."

"The cycle of nature, of flora and fauna, of growth and death. Our earth is the most precious thing we have. We do not think enough about protecting it."

But the most impactful aspect of the book that I think is so timely is the idea that souls have no gender. That Evelyn and Arden are reincarnated as lovers who are both boys, both girls, girl and boy, boy and girl illustrates that love has no boundaries.

I found myself dreading and yearning for how this story could possibly end. Steven leads us to a page-turning conclusion to Evelyn and Arden's love story that is at once gut-wrenching and utterly hopeful.

I can't wait for this book to come out so the rest of the world can delight in it. Time to dive into Steven's backlist.

♾️ STARS!

“They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.”

The writing alone in this book deserves all the stars because WOW. From the first chapter the writing pulled my heart in and destroyed it in every way possible.

Also, the amount of research that had to be involved to include so many time periods and cultures is incredible and I applaud you @laurasteven 👏

I was drawn in and became emotionally invested to the characters journey. I love that they have depth and layers and that you get tidbits of the back story throughout the book. And the ending just blew me away.

Our Infinite Fates is an intriguing mix of fantasy, fate, and interwoven character arcs, and Laura Steven delivers some really compelling world-building. The premise of multiple destinies colliding feels fresh and exciting, with plenty of twists and turns that keep you guessing. Steven’s writing is sharp, witty, and, at times, beautifully poetic, which adds depth to the narrative.

However, the pacing can be uneven. There are moments where the story drags, especially in the middle, which made it a bit harder to stay fully engaged. Some characters feel more developed than others, and while the main plot is captivating, the subplots sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

The themes of destiny and self-discovery are well done, and there’s a lot to appreciate in the way Steven explores choices and their ripple effects. But it feels like the book doesn’t quite reach its full potential—there’s a spark of something great here, but it falls just short of being truly remarkable.

That said, if you’re a fan of fantasy with a thought-provoking concept and don’t mind a few bumps in the road, _Our Infinite Fates_ is still an enjoyable read. It’s a solid 3.5 stars, with some standout moments that make it worth picking up!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story presented a compelling premise; however, its potential was undermined by plotlines that failed to significantly contribute to the overall narrative and a magic system that was difficult to grasp. The core narrative, set in the present day with Arden and Evelyn, was particularly engaging.

However, the flashbacks to past lives detracted from the main narrative, as these chapters often felt superfluous, failing to provide new insights or propel the story forward. The repetitive dynamic between Evelyn and Arden—where Evelyn implores Arden for answers about why he kills her, and Arden continually withholds information—created a sense of stagnation.

This book was so good! First of all the cover is beautiful! The romance was very well written and the world building was very well done. Would highly recommend!

“I love you. And I have loved you. And I will love you.”

This is about two lovers who are fated to kill each other in every lifetime and they can never escape that fate. I loved how we got to explore their love throughout hundreds of years and settings. Their love transcended time and even gender. I would’ve read about them in every single lifetime.

This was such a unique and moving story. I’ve seen it compared to Divine Rivals and Addie LaRue, and while I can’t speak on Addie LaRue since I haven’t read it, I *sort of* get the DR comparisons. The writing is beautiful — almost ethereal feeling. The way Laura Steven writes about love and being human is UNREAL. I was immediately pulled into the story from the very first chapter. It’s clear Evelyn and Arden are soulmates in every life but the mystery of WHY this is happening is what is consistently pulling the reader into the story.

Our Infinite Fates is a gorgeous, compelling story about love, loss, and being human. Definitely recommend picking up in 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday for this ARC!