Our Infinite Fates is a book that will stay with you long after you finish it. I truly believe this is a book for everyone – it has the tender love of a romance, the bizarrely supernatural elements of a fantasy, the heart wrenching reality of a history, and somehow the innocence of a children’s novel wrapped up in the maturity of an adult’s.

The beauty of this book is how it can make you FEEL every possible human emotion (no joke, I cried 16 separate times) sometimes all at the same time. There were times when I couldn’t tell if I was crying because it was so beautifully written, or from the love between Arden and Evelyn, or from their pain, and really it didn’t matter as I was so engrossed in their story I couldn’t stop reading through my tears. I can’t say anything about the ending, as you must experience this book as blind as Evelyn is to the truth – but I can say that I shouted NO through tears many times during the final 60 pages.

As a fan of Steven’s other works, I already knew I loved her writing, but Our Infinite Fates takes their craft to a whole new level. The lyricism of her language so gorgeously wove together the past and present in a way that felt poetic – and then she goes and proves through Arden that she can write poems too! I will be shocked if anyone finishes this book without a renewed (or new) interest in literature itself sparking. If you’re more historically inclined, I can assure you that the chapters in their past lives have you diving into wonderfully rich descriptions of the past – from the beauty of a tiny trawler off the coast of Nauru in 1968, to the horrors of an asylum in 1862 Vermont, to the sweltering heat of the Sahara in 1290.

It's hard to talk about this book without getting overly personal as you are so intimately involved in Arden and Evelyn’s story that you can’t help but reflect on your own life. They made me yearn for a love so deep and meaningful; made me re-examine and cherish the loves I do have; and truly made me question who I am at my core. It takes a master to tell a story with so much heart you are forced to look at your own, and Laura Steven has truly cemented herself as such with this book. Our Infinite Fates is not only my top read of 2024, but has instantly become a firm favourite that I can see myself revisiting over and over.