This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. I was completely on board from the moment I heard about even the premise for this book, but even then it lived up to my expectations and beyond.

There were so many reason this book deserved the 5⭐️. First off, the characters. Evelyn and Arden and every iteration of the two we met were so well written. I really enjoyed seeing their personalities shine through no matter what form we say them in, and how each new life added a new layer of texture to their personalities and world views.

I really enjoyed the somewhere subtle and wholly normalised queerness throughout the book. What you've essentially got, despite the gender swapping throughout new incarnations, is a masc leaning character and a canonical nonbinary/genderfluid character. Though it's not a main plot point for the story, I think how queerness was handled was done so incredibly beautifully, and it really sat well with me.

I was also a big fan of the sort of alternate and opposite timeline changes. Our main timeline always moving forward but then the secondary timeline always rewinding back, one only progressing thanks to the other. I loved that, it took me till about hallways to realise we were slowly revealing using the second timeline to go back in time as a reader, but that's what makes it se well done.

The writing style is so easy to read, I devoured this book in about 2 days because it was addictive. And prose and poetry was so beautiful.

Plus that ending was perfect, heart wrenching and so satisfying all at once.

I could gush about how much I loved this book for hours but I'll leave it here with a solid 5⭐️, 10/10, a stunning book!

https://fable.co/review/9e93dc5d-5034-467a-86b1-f0e6f3ccd7f9/share

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211202756

4 Stars - upper YA romance with fantasy elements.

Evelyn has lived many lives, and in every one she is murdered by her soulmate before she turns 18. Evelyn doesn't remember why Arden needs to kill her as she can only remember details of her past few lives. In her current life her sister needs a bone marrow transplant so Evelyn is determined to stay alive this time in order to save her life.

The story is told from Evelyn's POV present day and intertwined with some of her past lives. The past lives are only one chapter per life but the author made me fall in love with them which I think is a hard thing to do given the page length. Each life was unique and heartfelt and I would of happily devoured a book about each life!

As Evelyn and Arden are reincarnated in multiple time eras and different genders the story explores a manner of world views from religion, war, gender identity, LBTQ themes that really makes you think about love and soulmates.

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read so you may be thinking why I rated it 4 stars and not 5. It was on track for 5 stars all the way through the book and becoming one of my favourites of the year until the reveal of the reason behind Arden's forced murderings and the ending. Whilst the reason wasn't bad it just wasn't what I was expecting and it it jarred me slightly - the book went from this beautiful love story to a sort of dark horror fantasy. The ending that followed this again wasn't bad but I wished and expected a different one.

I would still highly recommend the book but just keep your mind open at the end! I would recommend for fans of divine rivals - at heart, a romance book with a sprinkling of history and fantasy.

“𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱. 𝗔𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲."

Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday.

The problem is that she’s quite fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. So with her 18th birthday fast approaching, she now has to:
• find the centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life and destroy them forever
• figure out exactly why she’s being hunted in the first place,
• try quite hard not to fall in love with them
…again.

Unputdownable! Within the first few pages I was hooked, mesmerized and utterly enthralled.
I loved the set up of this book. Flashbacks interwoven through the current narrative, transporting the reading to various timelines and variations of Evelyn and Arden, each it's own glimpse of their reunion, their love and ultimately their deaths.

These little snapshots offering the reader more insight into these gorgeously complex characters, beautiful musings on life, love and living through grief, and how ultimately "𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲."

I enjoyed the slow reveal of the Why, that eludes the reader until closer to the end, which was as sad as it was beautiful. Although Stevens might break your heart, she offers a sense of mending it (slightly.) It'll have the reader thinking about life, love and the basis of human connection, how something can be so fleeting but equally endure lifetimes.

Beautifully devastating love story spanning through the eons - time and space. Wow, this book was so unique, the plot twist had me jumping up the sofa and putting down my kindle! When fated love takes on a new meaning.
This is exquisitely written and although I found it a bit slow - I didn’t struggle like with most YA Books I read.

I ADORED this with all that I am. The whole concept is just DELICIOUS: two souls through time finding each other, loving each other, being ripped apart from each other. The characters are just amazing and I could’ve kept reading for PAGES more. The ending gave my heart everything that it needed to be healed from all the tears I shed. I loved all of the stories through time of them meeting each other again; I just wanted more and more. God, I just adored this so much. The world better fall in love with this too.

'I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you'

I requested this because the pitch of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue x This is How You Lose the Time War intrigued me and let me tell you, this pitch was was spot on. It has that same tragedy and hopefulness; a love that is doomed and yet persists.

This book is paced perfectly, and there was not a single part of it that felt unnecessary to me. Despite not feeling overly connected to the characters at the start I absolutely raced through it; it was written in a very easy to read yet still beautiful way. I did begin to feel connected to the characters later in the book after learning more about them and there is a lovely message at the centre: 'big joy and small joy are the same'.

I loved the way the story was structured, with flashbacks to their past lives taking place in reverse chronological order. I did wish we got to see a little more of their previous lives and the historical time periods and I did feel it became a little bit too convenient at times to explain away the main character having skill or knowledge with 'they learned it in a past life' but this is probably a me problem.

I absolutely loved the choice to not have these characters reincarnate exclusively as one sex or the other, and this would be a real selling point for me in recommending the book to others.

Overall an enjoyable, easy read, that I look forward to gifting my niece when she a little older.

Thank you to Netgalley and Puffin Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very different from anything I’ve ever read.

I really liked the premise of reincarnation and I loved both Evelyn and Arden (how could you not?)
The twist and turns did catch me off guard a few times and I was not expecting one of the bigger twists to be honest!

I’m not sure there will be another book to follow on given how it ended but if it’s is just the one I still feel it was a good resolution.

There were a couple of grammar mistakes that I picked up on but nothing too serious. Overall an enjoyable book x

if you want a book that'll destroy you, let me present our infinite fates.

this book so beautifully encapsulates the unyielding strength of love. it's not just romantic love but familial love too. Evelyn has lived hundreds of lives but still find the hope in each one, she finds room in her heart to love her families so fiercely, that you feel nothing but anguish when she has to inevitably give them up.

Evelyn & Arden's love is immeasurable, in every lifetime he finds her, in every lifetime she can tell who he is by his mannerisms, his love for nature & words. despite knowing he will return to kill her in each life, she longs to see him again, to feel the comfort of Arden and his love. Arden is her homeland, her soulmate. their love defies gender, time, wars, and a fate that means death. they know each other so intricately, down to the very fibres of their being. no matter what came their way they, their love transcends all.

the nonlinear timeline was INCREDIBLE. the present day chapters gave us the opportunity to see what Evelyn was fighting for, answers, truths, survival and love. but the chapters showing their previous lives were some of my favourite scenes I have ever read. they showed the strength of their love, the lengths they would go to. the time periods range from the 1000's to 1900's and each period was so well researched that it felt like I was being transported to that moment. I think my favourite lives were Siberia and the Ottoman Empire but the USA one broke my heart. the depth and description in each one was fantastic and I cannot explain how much I loved them.

Arden stole, my heart. the poetry in '10 thousand years of you' was painfully beautiful. I hope this man knows nothing but peace in his life.

I don't think I can really describe the impact this book has had on me. my perspective has been altered and it makes you really take a step back and reflect. the pacing was perfect and the history of them was so wonderfully woven into the story that my heart just aches for them.

the only thing stopping this from being a 6 star read for me was the final chapter. I understand why it was done, I just hoped for something a little different. it was still a fantastic read.


thank you net galley & penguin for the e-arc, all opinions are my own.

With thanks to Pengin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't know how to describe how much I loved this book. It's very rare that a book leaves me at a genuine loss for words. I had high expectations for this book and it knocked every one of them out the park.

From the very beginning of the book, the writing was incredible and consistent. I truly believed our characters loved each other. The way it was described left me breathless, and I really have to commend the author for the powerful writing. It packs a punch, and was very emotional at times.

This book pulled me in from the very beginning and I couldn't stop reading. It was addictive and I had to keep reading to find out more. This very quickly became one of my top reads of the year, and I will definitely be looking to get my own copy for my shelf.

This book finished me. It was a slow burn that was bitter sweet the ending was a bit confusing but could see what the author was trying to do did leave on a cliff hanger as I am a fan of happy endings and it didn't feel like that to me but it kind of was I need another book to get the happy ending as not happy with the bittersweet one. But this is definitely one of my favorite books I have read this year I do recommend this if your in for an emotional journey strap in for this one

4/5
For as long as she’s remembered, Evelyn has not lived to see beyond her eighteenth birthday. Across lifetimes Evelyn has been hunted by Arden, a young man whose very soul is tied to hers. Evelyn has never been able to surmise why Arden hunts her, nor why they are connected in this way, but her current life has never needed her so badly – with her sister in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant that only she can provide. To bargain a way out of her established fate, Evelyn will turn to her murderer across lives for one final stand-down that may prove far deadlier than their connected pasts. Our Infinite Fates was an addictive thrill ride across various lives, and loves, of two complicated people tethered together by an unknown fate. Narratively layered with Evelyn and Arden’s past lives counting back to the truth behind their curse, Steven bridges a love story for the ages that stands against the fabric of time and asks whether love truly can win out against the weight of the past. The twists in this keep coming, unburied even as they seem fully excised against the truth behind this fated connection. Admittedly the final scene in this was enough to make me cry and the entire resolution was so wonderfully wrought you’ll be thankful for the tears.

This review is now featured on my blog!

I couldn't stop reading - I wanted to know what happened next and why the cycle of lives and deaths had started in the first place.
And by the end I had not only one but two explanations. How brilliant.
The premise is really clever but cleverer still is the way you're not really sure until towards the end what causes everything.
The characterisation and the narrative keep everything more than interesting enough, and I loved the snippets of different times.
Queer representation as well, which was done in a thoughtful way, a bit like Woolf's Orlando.

This book kept me reading all evening in to the early hours of the morning. I have been in a book rut recently but this woke me right up. The storyline was interesting and well researched, the characters were well fleshed out and their chemistry was palpable through the pages. It's a must read for anyone who likes movies like Age of Adaline.

Two soulmates fated to meet in every reincarnated lifetime but must kill each other in every one.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets They Always Die at the End are the best comparisons

Evelyn knows she is going to die before her 18th birthday, killed by her soulmate for some reason they can’t divulge. However, this time her life in Wales needs her more alive than ever before - her younger sister needs her for a bone transplant to survive cancer.

This was definitely as evocative as Addie LaRue. Many beautiful musings on life and love and living through grief. Evelyn is deeply empathetic. Outrageously humane. Arden shuts himself off from people so he can’t get hurt.

<b>We had blades to the throat. Poetry books found frozen in the taiga. Arrows through the heart. Great monuments burned to the ground. A sense of both permanence and impermanence. Transient, ephemeral, but also somehow enduring.
</b>
This only has raving reviews, however I felt this was too over the top for me.
Too cringy and big and the twist/reveal was very obvious to me from the start.

It had the potential to get tedious, due to the consistent ending of their love story, but this didn’t bother me too much. However, I think this might be an annoyance pointed out by many.

I did love how flashbacks were woven counterpart to the present. You get a glimpse of their previous lives in snapshots - their heartbreaking reunions and deaths.
I do have to mention the last flashback took some of the gut punch away and felt like a classic good v evil binary whereas I always like nuance.

There is also some poetry included which I found beautiful! I would read a pure poetry book by Stevens and I have only read like four collections in my life.

<b>My throat ached. ‘I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you.'
</b>
This is slow-moving until the last 15% where everything culminates and the action BAMS.

Will this be the next TikTok sensation? Probably. Is it a new favourite of mine? No, but it was evocative until it felt repetitive.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending me the arc in exchange for a review.

Nothing could have prepared me for this book. I devoured it in just a day and enjoyed every second of it. Laura Steven is an amazing writer; I could not have enjoyed this book any more. I loved the tension between Arden and Evelyn and their love for one another. Furthermore, I loved that I never knew what was going to happen next; I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. I also loved the poetry throughout and the rawness of it.

If you love romantasy, this is a must read! It is definitely my favourite read of the year and is in my top 3 books ever!

Thank you net galley, Laura Steven and the publisher for allowing me to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely adored this book! The twists and turns got me interested in finding out more. The romance was just beautiful. I both hated and loved the MMC! I will admit I was very quick to judge him at first but then you realise his intentions and I just couldn’t not love him. I wished the book was bigger but I adore this book! I’m excited to buy a physical book ❤️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This book pulled me in from the start and then didn't let go. I loved the concept of a reincarnated love/curse and the way that the story spanned different times and places in history. Overall it was an emmersive fast paced read and one I would thoroughly recommend, particularly if you like slow-burn enemy to lover tropes.

I just want to primarily say that I bawled my eyes out over the yearning in this book. It is full of it. I think Laura Steven wrote about love so eloquently. The small actions that make up love, rather than the words being said. I flew through this book in one night because I needed to know what would happen next. I don't think I've read a book that gripped me as hard as this one did. It cured my reading slump and then put me back into one. It was PHENOMENAL and I want to reread it for the first time again and again, for every lifetime.

Our infinite fates was a gorgeously written and deeply moving book. 110% recommend. The main characters were so interesting, as was the story between than that unfolded on these pages.

There is sadness and lonely woven through each word and page and it kept me hooked. I was desperate to know the past that took place between Arden and Evelyn, how they came to be in there situation. The build up was fraught with tension and the reveal did not disappoint.
Pick up this book immediately!

This gave me major The Invisible Life of Addie Larue and Divine Rivals vibes.

The writing was beautiful and quotable. I feel as though the plot was interesting but towards the end it started to get a little tricky. Of course there was supposed to be a twist (which was the answer to why they were going through their infinite cycle) but for me it didn't really hit the way I thought. I wasn't really surprised by it.

Laura's storytelling is beautiful though, especially romance wise. Though I don't recall reading about how the main characters fell in love to begin with, in several of their lifetimes I could feel their connection.

[Thank you Netgalley for the ARC]