The Immortalists

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin tell the fine, but often sad, tale of four siblings who learn as young children the exact date on which each will die. A Romani fortuneteller delivers this information and leaves the children to grow up knowing what no one is ever intended to know.

The book brought to mind Robert McCammon's book Boy's Life in the way that it presents us with extraordinary events and talents as almost banal. Ms. Benjamin is skillful as a writer and helps us to suspend disbelief where necessary.

The book is arranged chronologically and we watch as the siblings grow up and, one by one, die on their predicted day. We see how each child, so different from each other, approaches life knowing (or at least suspecting they know) exactly how many days have been allotted to them. At times it is heartbreaking - as when Simon, the youngest child who is terrified to come out to his conservative Jewish family as gay, succumbs to AIDS at a young age after finding love with a beautiful, older man. Or Klara, who is determined to become a magician but even after finding a loving partner and having a much loved child and achieving her dream in Las Vegas, is unable to escape the effects that the forbidden knowledge has on her. Or Daniel, the solid, predictable son who became a doctor but lived with growing fear that his time was short. Then there is Varya, the eldest and the sole sibling told she would live a long life, who struggles with even the most casual of human relationships. Finally, there is Gertie, the mother of the children who does not know their secret but yearns to watch them grow up and become parents themselves.

Besides the discussion of homosexuality, suicide, AIDS and mental illness, there are also troubling passages about animal experimentation on primates. I mention these things because I am aware they can be triggers for many individuals.

Despite the fact that none of the characters, aside from Ruby, Klara's daughter, are happy individuals, I very much liked this book. The entire premise is thought provoking and Ms. Benjamin crafts characters that are not easily forgotten.

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to read an excerpt from Chloe Benjamin’s THE IMMORTALISTS. Ever since, I’ve been musing over the intriguing premise of the book and wondering when I’d have a chance to finish it. As I eagerly sat down to read the newly published novel, I realized that my own experience mirrored (in a much less profound and life-changing way) what Benjamin is actually writing about here.

The novel opens in 1969, as siblings Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon Gold, more or less on a dare, follow clues to the apartment of a psychic about whom they’ve heard rumors. The children, who have grown up in a largely Jewish neighborhood near their family-owned tailor shop on New York’s Lower East Side, initially approach the adventure as a lark, a way to break up the monotony of summer vacation. But when the psychic --- who purports to predict the day you’ll die --- meets with each child individually, the siblings are never the same afterwards. They can’t even fully discuss what they’ve learned with one another, even though (as the reader soon discovers) none of them can let go of the date they’ve been given --- and its potential significance guides the decisions each Gold sibling makes, for better or for worse.

In four main sections, THE IMMORTALISTS fast-forwards to four different time periods, ranging from San Francisco in the early 1980s to upstate New York and California after the turn of the century. The book centers on each of the siblings in turn, as each one --- beginning with the youngest child, Simon, and ending with eldest sister Varya --- comes to terms with the date he or she has been given. In addition, their stories play out against a backdrop of cultural, political and scientific changes over the course of those same several decades, changes that also intersect with the family’s personal lives and relationships.

I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say that Benjamin uses her intriguing premise as a way to both develop and explore her characters, considering how each individual would respond and make choices based on the (supposed) knowledge of their final day. Some (like Simon) use this knowledge as fuel to choose a life of fearlessness, while others (like Varya) choose caution to a fault. The early death of their father --- whose passing precipitates the plot of Simon’s section --- is contrasted with the lingering decline of their mother, whose late-in-life embracing of her Jewish faith and practice also drives much of the book’s consideration of religious belief as a (possibly imperfect) antidote to the terrifying knowledge of one’s own mortality.

THE IMMORTALISTS isn’t perfect --- one of the siblings’ stories tiptoes a little too close to melodrama to suit the relative realism of the book’s other sections --- but that’s a relatively minor flaw, one that hardly detracts from the many serious and important questions Benjamin raises throughout her story. These are questions that readers will find themselves returning to for weeks or even months after they’ve finished the novel.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I read this book all within one 24 hour period. The writing is accessible and flows so well it makes the book very hard to put down. The Immortalists is the story of four siblings who paid a visit to a gypsy fortune teller and learned the dates they would die. I was sucked in immediately by Simon and Klara's story, and then we move on to Daniel, who I didn't feel I ever really knew, and finally Varya, who as best as I can tell, was the "leader" of these siblings.

The premise is this: if you knew the date of your death, how would you choose to live the rest of your life? If you knew you would die old, would you play it safe? If you knew you would die young, do you live wild and free?

The Immortalists would make a great discussion or book club book because the more I think about it the more questions there are to be asked. Would the outcome of these character's lives have changed if they had not known? Would Simon have played it safe rather than running off to San Francisco? Would he have stayed home? Would he have outlived his prophecy? What good is a long life if you aren't actually living? How do you balance pleasure and happiness? Is fate made or given?

All the siblings, take steps and make decisions based on their own dates that lead them directly to their dates. Simon and Varya's story intrigued me the most. Mostly because Simon was grateful to know his date. Simon was grateful to have had a chance to live and experience life on his own. While Varya, in stark contrast, thinks she could have saved her siblings if only they'd never gone to see that gypsy fortune teller. She does everything she can to stave off her own death. She lives in fear. She conducts "longevity" research about the effects of caloric intake reduction and follows a strict diet herself. Simon who lived fast and loose, died young and happy. Varya lives long and neurotic.

Klara and Daniel's parts had the least to offer I think (even though Klara's section was my favorite). Both of them make conscious choices to fulfill their given destinies (as opposed to Varya and Simon who make subconscious choices to lead them to their fate). In their cases, it seems to me that they chose to go along with the fortune teller's reading. Klara because she was choosing to make "magic real," but Daniel's motives are less clear (and perhaps it could be argued that he had no idea what the outcome would be).

Overall, I really enjoyed it. The author shows the settings very well: from the bright lights of Vegas, to the gay scene in 80s San Francisco, to the cold sterility of Varya's lab. Though generally I expected this to be depressing, I somehow found that knowing what would happen made it easier to read. You're cheering the characters on, you want to see them succeed. And of course, Benjamin gives us a lot to think about, which is something I always enjoy.

This is a literary fiction (though it makes mention of magic and fortune tellers) so please do not be fooled by the blurb! Thank you to Bookish First and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Prologue, 1969, New York City: the four Gold siblings - Varya, 13; Daniel, 11; Klara, 9; and Simon, 7 – encouraged by Daniel, visit a seer who has a reputation for being able to foretell the dates of her clients’ death. In the course of the novel we discover that she had told that Varya would die at the age of 88, Daniel at 48, Klara at 31, and Simon at 20. The thought lodges in the minds of the children and will eventually have an effect on the way they live.

Forward to 1978, when their father suddenly dies. There is a description of the Jewish rituals on death – the children’s parents, Saul and Gertie were believing Jews, and will be many other references in the story to the Jewish element. At the time, Varya, aged 22, is studying biology at university; Daniel, 20 is also at university hoping to become a military doctor; Klara, 18, does not want to go to university, but wants to leave home to become a professional magician; it was intended that Simon, 16, should remain at home, to work in his late father’s tailoring business, and to look after their mother, Gertie. The prospect does not appeal to him, and when Klara leaves home for San Francisco, he goes with her. Simon is gay, and the San Francisco scene had haunted his imagination. With Klara and Simon gone, Varya and Daniel have to interrupt their studies to look after Gertie (a richly drawn portrait of a Jewish matriarch) and are very angry with Simon, who refuses to come home.

Simon’s life in San Francisco is the main theme of the first chapter. He plunges with abandon into gay activity, described in great detail. Would he have held back from enjoying himself so frantically in this way if he had not believed the seer’s forecast that he would die at 20? As indeed he did.

The next chapter is mainly about Klara. She followed her career as a magician. She had come to feel that her magic was not only a matter of tricks, but that it really opened up a world beyond reality. She teamed up with a Hindu magician, Raj Chapal. As a child of ten, he had come as an immigrant from the slums in Bombay. They had a little daughter, Ruby. They couldn’t make enough money in San Francisco and moved to Las Vegas. They were hired; their opening show was to take place on the day predicted for Klara’s death. All this time she had missed Simon terribly. Simon had never told any of his siblings what the seer had told him; but, just before he died, he had told Klara of it; and now Klara believes in the truth of what she had been told about her own death at the age of 31. She also believed that Simon was communicating with her from beyond the grave. This comforts her about the prospect of her own death, and she made sure that she met her destiny.

The chapter about Daniel opens in 2006, the year that had been predicted for his death. He had become the Chief Medical Officer at the Military Entrance Processing School, and was dismissed because, at the time when the Army was short of numbers, he had passed too many of the recruits as unfit for military service. He knew what the seer had said to Klara, and had a terrible feeling of guilt about having encouraged the siblings to visit the seer. By 2006, the teenage Ruby was working with her father Raj. They had been tremendously successful, had become very wealthy and, though still centred in Las Vegas, were taking their act to other parts of the United States; and when they go to New York, they visit Daniel in nearby Kingston, just after Daniel had been dismissed. The visit turns out to be a disaster, involving a confrontation between Daniel and Raj – largely because Daniel believed that Raj had exploited Klara, but also, powerfully, about politics and about Judaism. Daniel, too, dies on the appointed day – though I find the sequence of events leading up to his death very far-fetched and philosophically unconvincing.

And so to the chapter about Varya. Apparently a cool scientist, she works in California with primates at an Institute for Research on Ageing. She explains a lot of her work to Luke, a visiting journalist (who isn’t what he seems – a somewhat far-fetched coup de théâtre), but it was quite difficult for a layman like myself to understand; but apparently the primates live longer if they are on a restricted diet. And she puts herself on a restricted diet, too, - perhaps to make sure she will live to the great old age that had been predicted for her? She has been deeply traumatized by the deaths of her siblings, has had psychiatric treatment for her many phobias, especially one about contamination, and she has to steel herself to be in the presence of the caged primates, whose screams of frustration unsettle her. But I don’t understand the end of the chapter at all. She does something unprofessional at the Institute and loses her job there. She then seems to me to undergo some kind of catharsis, coming to terms with her past (?) and leading a more normal life (?). The significance of the last few pages escapes me. The chapter heading indicates that it ends in 2010, and we don’t learn anything about her death which had been forecast to happen in 2044 when she would be 88.

The general idea – how the knowledge of the date of one’s death affects different people differently – was a good one. The chapters about Simon and Klara are very good, and the author knows a lot about the gay scene and about the circus scene (also about the animal research scene), and there are several references to the cultural, religious and political background. The chapter on Daniel seemed to me to lack focus, and that on Varya was so obscure that at the time I was tempted to make this a two-star review; but in the end, remembering the better chapters earlier on, I settled on three.

The author must have a great publicist, because the reality of this flat and predictable book is nowhere worthy of the wonderful reviews it is getting. It is a mashup of Jewish immigrant faith/guilt, siblings with unlikely love/hate relationships, and “pseudo-deep thinking” about life and death and the illusion of it all. Four teen and pre-teen siblings, 2 boys and 2 girls in mid-20th century New York, visit a Gypsy fortune teller who supposedly can reveal to each of them the exact date of their death. So the story then breaks into 4 parts and follows each sibling into their own weirdly bizarre life. One becomes a hedonistic gay dancer in San Francisco’s Castro district, one becomes a magician-illusionist ending up in Las Vegas, one becomes a doctor working to certify troops for the US military, and one becomes a biological researcher specializing in anti-aging studies using monkeys. Each displays serious mental health issues, each is increasingly unsympathetic and unlikable, and each brings about his or her own doom. The ending has a few redeeming and somewhat insightful factors, but when the whole “moral of the story” depends on a wholly unlikely twist and the advice to Live Fearlessly, well, I didn’t have to slog through over 300 pages of mostly boring filler to get there. Unfortunately, I never bought into any of the major or minor characters. This book was a real disappointment after all the hype.

Chloe Benjamin’s substantial second novel poses the somewhat disturbing question – How would we live if we knew the date of our death? The opening chapter of the novel, set in 1969, sees four siblings – Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya Gold – bored during the long, hot summer and seeking some excitement by visiting the shabby home of a psychic on New York’s Lower East Side. The children are seen individually and each of them are told the exact date on which they will die. The rest of the novel covers the following fifty years, as the Golds deal with the prophecies they have been given.

Benjamin gives us four linked life stories, one for each sibling, told from his or her point of view. Simon and Klara, the two youngest children, seem to make their choices in life influenced by the psychic’s predictions. Simon, at only 14, realises that he cannot live true to his nature if he stays at home and flees to San Francisco’s gay community, deciding to train as a dancer. He extracts every drop of joy and pleasure he can out of his short life but dies, on his predicted day, of AIDS before the disease has even been named. Klara teaches herself the art of magic and illusion and believes that she can commune with the spirits of dead relatives. She harbours the secret hope that one day she will find the magic trapdoor that will allow her to cheat her fate but, like Simon, she finally behaves as if she if forced to fulfil the prophecy.

The two older siblings, take a more traditional path through life, Daniel becoming a doctor and Varya an experimental biologist and yet their choices show the influence of the prophecy also, for Daniel is a military doctor, whose job is to decide which recruits are fit to face death and Varya is engaged in an animal experiment into longevity.

Benjamin has done a lot of careful research for this novel and she, in effect, gives us the history of four decades of American life, bringing each period to life with exquisite detail. The four central characters are wonderfully crafted and the prose throughout is a joy, rich in beautiful and subtle imagery. (Daniel) “feels the woman’s presence like a song sung in the next room or a hair-raising waft of wind, daring him to come closer.”

This is definitely a thought-provoking and certainly not always comfortable read. In some ways, the experience of reading it is a bit like an emotional rollercoaster. There are some very disturbing and unsettling scenes and then there are moments of simple, wonderful joy and, thankfully, an uplifting ending. Varya, who has lived her life as if she were one of her own experimental animals, denying herself love, companionship and pleasure of any kind, and afflicted with serious OCD finally learns to come to terms with her siblings’ deaths and discovers the healing power of family bonds.

What I Liked
The premise. When I read the plotline of The Immortalists, I thought it sounded like a really clever idea for a book. I’m intrigued by the concept of destiny versus free will and also am into family sagas involving multiple siblings whose lives are explored through the decades. I thought there was a lot of potential in the premise for a really poignant exploration of the meaning of life, death, mortality and fate, but I unfortunately felt that the execution fell short of what I was hoping for. The message of the book is very one-note, in that obvious and unremitting way that I’ve learned I don’t appreciate in a novel that I think aspires to be considered literary fiction. You can easily sump up the theme in one sentence – if you think you know the day of your death, you are doomed to careen towards it one disaster after another.

The writing. This was another brighter spot in the novel, though with alternating results between success and mediocrity. I felt that Benjamin’s writing often reached the complexity and beauty that I expect to see in works of literary fiction, with gorgeous descriptive and moving passages that made me think about the characters’ lives and their connection to my own. There were also times, unfortunately, when Benjamin’s writing slipped into overwrought territory, as if she was trying hard to be profound but failing. There were also sections of the book that felt slow. I didn’t skim any of it but sometimes I was tempted. Still, I think overall the writing was above average and made the reading experience more pleasurable despite the other aspects of the book that I didn’t really enjoy.

What I Didn't Like
Very bleak. I think this was my biggest issue with the novel. I’m not one to shy away from books with heavy topics, and even extremely dark fiction. I recently read A Little Life by Hana Yanagihara and didn’t even cry while reading it (though many people have told me that they did). I don’t have an issue with plumbing the depths of human experience, as long as there is a valid counterpoint – a spot of light in the story that helps you feel the darkness as more realistic and emotional. Without any real spoilers, The Immortalists instead feels depressing in a way in which more nuanced and still serious fiction doesn’t. It essentially felt like the author was substituting meaning with bleakness in an attempt to touch her readers’ emotions by putting her characters unrelentingly through one dismal experience after the other.

Few redeeming qualities to main characters. All four of the siblings that are the protagonists of the novel (each one in turn) are extremely flawed people that were pretty hard to like or connect to for me. They’re regularly horrible to each other and people around them, are selfish and self-centered, and all around not easy to care about as a result. I think the issue for me was that in portraying them in this way, the author really added to the one-note tone of the book. There were a couple of portions of Simon and Varya’s stories where the characters felt more authentic and I was able to relate to these two siblings on a more significant level. The remainder of the time, however, I just felt like the siblings’ lives were kind of terrible but also that they had it coming to them (fortune teller or no fortune teller). And this is despite the fact that I’m generally an overly empathetic person.

Final Verdict

I think ultimately this book hit a thoroughly mediocre note for me – it wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t really good, though I was definitely hoping it would be based on the buzz it received. I’m giving it 3 stars instead of 2 because I think many people will enjoy it more than I did.

What would you do if you knew the day you were destined to die? How would that change your life?

This is the premise upon which Chloe Benjamin's novel, The Immortalists, is based. The book follows four siblings and their paths after they are told the dates of their deaths, tracing from 1969 through 2010. The question raised is: are the dates a self-fulfilling prophecy, or are they predetermined regardless of the choices we make? While this is an interesting philosophical question, the novel elicited neither my curiosity nor my emotion.

To begin with, Benjamin imposed millennial ethos on people who grew up on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1960s and 70s. This makes the characters generally unbelievable and also unsympathetic. I have a hard time believing that four siblings in an observant Jewish household, first generation Americans, would all discard their faith entirely. Benjamin discusses race and gender as seen through 2018 eyes - when the truth is that things were very different even ten years ago - and when we go back to the time of Simon and Klara, in particular, the beliefs Benjamin quoted simply didn't exist. We didn't view things through the lens of race and gender as people do today, and by weaving these concepts through her 1980s characters, she creates people who couldn't have possibly existed. Finally, although she got some of the medical details correct, others are glaringly wrong. As a physician, those made me cringe.

Second, Benjamin failed to establish suspense. From the outset, it is clear she is telling the siblings' stories sequentially, in the order in which they die. While some might consider that to be a spoiler, it's really not. So there's never really any suspense about who will live and who will die, and I found that I didn't care much when they did live or die. The characters aren't particularly interesting - there's a gay man, a drunk, a professional screw up, and an isolated, socially inept person. These people are caricatures and seem to entirely lack insight into themselves and the world around them.

Third, killing Daniel was gratuitous. He totally didn't need to die. It is clear Benjamin was looking for a way for the prophecy to come true, but I think the plot device she used was sub-par. The actions taken by her characters and the things done to them seemed stiff and stereotyped. It is as if she came up with a great idea and then tried to fit the story into it.

Fourth, there was too much sex. I don't shy away from sex in novels - I've got no problem with graphic sex or violence and have enjoyed my share of erotica - but in this book it was simply gratuitous. It was as if Benjamin wanted to drop sexual hints where none were necessary, and even when sex was integral to the storyline it was overdone and too graphic.

In my opinion, the book showed great initial promise and as others have said I expected magical realism and a little fantasy. I picked this book up because of a WSJ book review covering this novel and Eternal Life, but while I loved Eternal Life, I found this one tiresome. Instead of magical realism, I got a constant diatribe about why Judaism was unbelievable and irrelevant, which got kinda old. I'm frankly surprised this was promoted by the Jewish Book Council as it takes such a dismal view of the faith, and the only observant character is painted as an old and dated yenta. Further, I'm a pretty observant Jew, and I have not been taught to view death as an entry into a dismal hell. In fact, having just completed my year of kaddish for my father, I'd have to say that Benjamin's portrayal of the afterlife is discouraging and discordant with current practice, at best. It's certainly not what we discuss during funerals, shiva and mourning.

Consider the end of the 23rd psalm, said at every Jewish funeral....
Yea, though I shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Honestly, I can't recommend this one. Eternal Life a better option if you are interested in how we deal with questions of mortality in Judaism.

I wanted to read this so badly after it appeared on the front cover of BookPage with glowing reviews. The premise sounded so fresh and new, like a wedding tradition of something old something new something borrowed something blue. It was all black and blue.

The premise quickly dissolved into just a family full of dysfunction and sickness that binds them together. The only thing that held steady was the death order. Sadly after #1 died I should have stopped reading then (he/she was the only sympathetic of the 4 siblings). Familial memories tie the sections together but it it so fragmented that no steam is built in the story. Ever single time that tension/drama/suspense is finally forthcoming it immediately is cut and another siblings story is told. Flashbacks are they only way to know what in the ... happened.

Absolutely not needed are the description of a preteen girls maturing body, graphic description of a young mans first sexual encounter as a gay man, and even IF it added to the story the fact that his romantic trysts are detailed over and over smacks of trying to make it salacious rather than an essential plot point.

Many, many details are so far fetched that they jostle the story so much that you realize the characters are not real and then the magic is gone. The most glaring is when baby brother Simon becomes an accomplished ballet performer/student after he bombs at the strip club as a dancer and is sent to a ballet academy for lessons?

Too many stereotypes played to the hilt. Overbearing Jewish mother is actually so overdone it is comedic.

I made it to the end, this is sadly a book that I closed saying "I'll never get these 12 hours back".

At last year's Book Expo Editors' Book Buzz, six books were presented as books to look forward to in 2017/2018. Ayobami Adabeyo's Stay With Me was one presented and it was the most compelling book I read in 2017. (The complete list is here.)

A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window was also on that list and it shot to the top of the bestseller list when it published last week. (My review is here.)

A third book at that presentation was Chloe Benjamin's novel The Immortalists. It asks the question "if you knew the exact date of your death, how would you live your life?" Four young siblings find out that a psychic lives near them, and for a price she will tell you the date of your death.

The year is 1969, and the country is in turmoil as Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon pay her a visit and one by one learn of their fateful date. The three oldest share their dates with each other, but the youngest, Simon, keeps his information to himself.

Years later Daniel is at college studying to be a doctor, and Varya is also away at school with dreams of a medical career when a family tragedy brings them home. Klara has always been the flighty one, and Simon has been the dependable one, the one who is being groomed to take over the family tailoring business.

Each sibling gets to narrate their own story. Simon chafes at his destiny of being trapped in the family business. When Klara decides to go west to San Francisco to become a magician, she convinces Simon to come with her, and that is where his story begins.

Simon finds his true self among the San Francisco scene and it was his story that moved me the most. His search for his authentic identity and for love is so emotional, it draws the reader in.

Klara's dreams take longer to come true. She works dead-end jobs while she perfects her magician craft. Her story and Simon's intersect for many years, until Klara's struggle to make it as a magician and her own love life take her on the road.

Klara's story has a bit of a mystical touch to it, and I found the denouement of her story the most troubling.

Daniel gets to be a doctor. He works for the government as an army doctor, certifying young men as healthy for military duty. Could his career choice be a result of the psychic's words, an attempt to influence someone's else's fate?

Varya stayed at home to care for their mother, giving up her dreams of being a doctor. She is resentful that Simon escaped while she carried the burden for all of her siblings.

She eventually ends up working in medical research, working with research animals to discover why some people live longer than others.

All of the Gold children's lives as adults seemed to be influenced by what the psychic told them. Their mother said something that is prescient of the future:

"Nobody picks their life, I sure didn't." Gertie laughs, a scrape. "Here's what happens: you make choices and then they make choices. Your choices make choices."

The Gold children made choices, some based on their experience with the psychic. Did her predictions make choices for them?

After reading the engrossing, brilliant The Immortalists, you can't help but ask the question of yourself- if you knew the date you were going to die, how would you live your life? You'll be pondering that long after the book ends, and isn't that the sign of the good book- one that makes you think?

A free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This was not what I was expecting… As literary fiction it is driven forward by the characters and this left me underwhelmed most the time. The story focuses on four siblings and their various reactions to a prophecy of their death days. It brings to question destiny and if you can change the outcome or if its all self-fulfilling prophecies. Nothing is fully answered or even discussed, just briefly mentioned.
It was interesting to see the various reactions to their noted death days. Especially since we were never told how they would die it made you question did their choices lead to death or they would have died regardless. Overall though, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. The first two stories being the least interesting made it even more of a struggle. Bits and pieces were interesting but their overall lives were very boring to me. Even the side characters were rather dull and added very little to the overall story.
Something I absolutely hated, the random sexualized text. The story opens with a thirteen year old being introduced by the status of her pubic hair. Another scene adult Klara is skinny dipping and her “pubic hair blooms” before she dives in. Seriously… just why. What does women’s pubic hair have anything to do with a girl walking up steps or a woman diving into a pool.

The Immortalists seems to be a book that is well loved by many, but I just do not agree with that point of view. The novel chronicles the lives of the Gold children: Simon, Daniel, Klara, and Varya. A decision to visit a traveling psychic has repercussions for all four, as they each follow a path with their fortune in mind.

The book showed promise, but had some issues that ultimately ruined the novel for me. The author starts out by describing, intimately, the body of one of the children. Why? It really had no place in the book and was not necessary for the plot. I understood the scenes with Simon, as he comes to certain realizations about his personal life. The book was well laid out, with each of the children's experiences highlighted during the time period in which they lived. Overall, The Immortalists dragged and I was not able to feel a connection with any of the characters. I would be hesitant to recommend the book to other readers, as I do not feel I would stand behind this novel if asked.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

It’s 1969 in New York City. It’s a hot and boring summer, and the eldest of the four Gold children Daniel gets the idea that his siblings Varya, Klara and Simon should go with him to get their fortunes told. The woman he wants to see can even predict when they will die. They gather their allowance and go to see the woman. For years none of the siblings tell one another the dates of their supposed deaths.

Daniel and Varya are the eldest children and Klara and Simon are the youngest.

Some years later, Varya is studying biology. Daniel is studying medicine and wants to be a military doctor. Klara wants to be a famous magician. Simon is to take over the family’s garment business. However, Simon is gay in a non-tolerant family. Klara is the only family member who knows Simon’s secret. She tells Simon that they ought to go to San Francisco where she can be a magician and Simon can be himself. He begins to think over the idea.

Simon is only sixteen when he and Klara arrive in San Francisco. He begs for a job at a nightclub and lands one dancing. The owner of the club sends him to ballet school. Scared at first, Simon takes to dancing the ballet. He has found a home so it seems. He avoids calling or speaking to his family, except for Klara. He revels in being gay in the Castro District, a predominately gay area of the city.

Klara is taking temp jobs and still dreaming of being a magician. Klara’s career is struggling when she runs into Raj a former friend from when she and Simon first arrived in San Francisco. Raj becomes her business partner. Raj is very mechanical and creates the props that Klara uses in her illusions. She calls her act “The Immortalist.” The book gives an interesting brief history of magicians and their tricks. Interspersed with this is a history of the Gold family.

Klara and Raj become very close and Klara has a daughter she names Ruby. She gets so wired after a show that she begins to drink to calm down. She forgets things. She hears knocks and believes it is Simon trying to communicate with her. She has a shameful secret. Against her better judgement, Raj and Klara move to Vegas where they audition. They are hired to open for Siegfried and Roy. On opening night in Vegas Klara loses the plot.

Some years later, Daniel is suspended from his military post as doctor for two weeks. It gives him plenty of time to think. He begins to think about Simon and Klara’s deaths. Did the fortune teller really predict the dates of the four siblings’ deaths? Or did she put the idea in their minds to obsess about and alter their behavior to bring about the predicted result? He knows and understands the relationship between psychology and physiology for he has participated in placebo studies as a student intern. He begins to become driven to find the woman.

Varya now works for the Drake Institute for Research on Aging with monkeys doing primate research. She is more than a little paranoid about germs and dirt. She is afflicted with OCD. She, like Daniel, believes in the power of the human mind. She tries to make the world conform to her rational outlook. She also harbors a secret.

This book is very well written and plotted. It is filled with likeable characters and memorable situations. The idea that psychology informs physiology is not a new one. However this book brings it home in a unique and thought-provoking manner. The trip to the fortune teller was the downfall of the family and one must wonder just how much the power of suggestion plays in our lives. Were the events inevitable, or were they a product of the mind?

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for forwarding to me a copy of this most remarkable book to read and enjoy.

Four adolescent siblings growing up in New York City learn that a traveling psychic has hit town, a woman that can tell each person the date that he or she will die. Against the wishes of their parents, they sneak out to find her. I received my copy free and early in exchange for this honest review, thanks to Net Galley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons. This book is now available to the public.

The book is divided approximately into fourths, a quarter for each of the Gold children and across five decades. To my own way of thinking the first half of the story is far more resonant than the second half. Simon, the “golden boy”, dies of AIDS before the disease has been named, but before he is gone, the San Francisco of that time period is set out in such meticulous, immediate detail that I feel as if I am back there, back then. The portion of the book devoted to Klara, who becomes a magician, is nearly tangible in different ways, and older women that have worked in unconventional professions—before the year 2000, that meant just about all of them—will recognize themselves when they see how she is dismissed, harassed, and stigmatized.

Then I read a review by someone that felt exactly the opposite, claiming that the story didn’t really wake up until the second half. And so I suspect that the age and background of the reader will inform which part of the book stands out best.

However, once I have seen Simon and Klara die, I have other reasons for reading more slowly. If both of them die during the first and second quarters of the book, I have a pretty good idea what is about to happen to Daniel and Varya in the third and fourth quarters. These characters, a Naval physician and a primate researcher, don’t reach me the way that Simon and Klara do. With Simon and Klara, I am right there with them, and at times I am peeking out and seeing the world through their eyes. With Daniel and Varya, I am along for the ride, checking to see how many pages are left in this thing so I can go write my review and be done.

Benjamin’s greatest gift is setting. There are aspects of each place and time that I remember, and others that I have nearly forgotten until she brings them back again. But for those expecting to see a fantasy plot, as this has been billed, or magical realism, it’s going to prove disappointing; really it is literary fiction, and some reviewers will be unhappy because of the genre issue.

Those that love good literary fiction are going to want to read this novel. There’s been a tremendous amount of buzz, and there’s nothing else like it.

Rated 4.5 of 5 stars. Benjamin writes a debut that has heart, gravitas and a concept worth discussing...what would you do if you knew the date you would die? The four siblings in New York's gritty working class neighborhood find out just that. By word of mouth, they learn there is a gypsy that can pinpoint a person's date to die. With skepticism, all the siblings come to the woman and one by one, receive the information they hated and longed to hear. After this, the story takes off, exploring what it is like for them after they have the date of their demise whether short or far away.

As a reader, we journey through the life of each sibling on their quest to either live life before the prophecy comes true or prove the prophecy isn't true. As a reader, we feel our pulse quicken, just as the characters should have, as their date looms closer. You see the unraveling, the psychological turmoil, the agnostic beliefs, the treachery that befalls this family due to seemingly untimely deaths and broken relationships. Benjamin created a thread through the insertion of Eddie O’Donahue which I thought was quite clever. In each siblings story, he is there, progressing in his own right, and entwined with this family in so many ways.

While reading, I found myself questioning whether I would have changed if I'd known my date or would I have been in such disbelief that I'd continue on in life until the day before and then wonder whether it is true right at that moment? Some of the characters did both and yet, it didn't change the outcome...just the memory left behind by those that loved them. Benjamin uses this story to dig deep into the readers own mortality and their vision for how they want life to be...live for the moment? Or live safely as to escape death? Or at least prolong it a bit? This is where the story really shines.

The story was a steady read and lagged in the final chapters (Varya's chapters) yet they were the most profound. I liked that there was a small, almost minute inkling of whether Varya had changed the course of her death date since she changed as much as she did in the end. As a child, Varya questioned the gypsy on whether she could change her date and the gypsy replied that very rarely people change. In the end, Varya changed or attempted to change and engage with life...so did that change her date? Or was that what was to happen all along (since the gypsy told her "everything will be fine")? The novel makes you think on very simple relationship levels but plucks a string of depth towards the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this concept and the novel withstood well.

This novel starts out with a bang but, unfortunately, loses steam about one third through. There are four children in the Gold family - Varya, David, Simon and Klara. As children, they live in New York and David encourages his siblings to have their fortunes read by a woman who can predict the exact day of their deaths. What happens after this is any reader's guess. The fortune teller gives each child a day when she predicts they will die and it appears that she is correct. Is this due to power of thought/influence, eg. the children, either consciously or unconsciously making their deaths occur, or was the fortune teller able to predict something all of us want to know.

Simon and Klara take off for San Francisco. Simon is gay and he finds a new home in the Castro District of the city. Unfortunately, AID's has made its appearance and is taking root everywhere. Simon's adventures in San Francisco are the best part of the book despite his 'knowing' he will die at a young age.

Klara is a magician who ends up in Las Vegas. She is emulating a dangerous act that one of her ancestors was famous for. After meeting Raj and getting a gig in a top-notch casino, her business act more serious.

David become an army doctor and doesn't marry till fairly late in life. He likes the daily grind of his job and doesn't appear willing to take risks or go for adventure.

Varya is a research scientist who is using monkeys to try and find the key to aging and, ultimately, immortality.

Once the novel uses up most of its steam on Simon's story, it was difficult to feel roused by the other Golds. If only the author could have kept up the momentum, this novel would have been a '5'. The writing style is good, I liked the characterizations, and the book was definitely a page turner. The problem was that once we passed through Simon's life, things just slowed down and were less interesting.

Wow. Just… wow. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that’s touched my heart as much as this one has. Maybe this is just me and where I’m at in my life right now, but this book struck a chord. The exact thing I needed to read at the exact moment I needed to read it. Isn’t it funny how different things effect different people at different times? It took me a little longer to read this because it put me in a weird, contemplative mood every time I did, but it was so amazing.

THE REHASH
Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon are all siblings growing up in New York in the 1960’s. As kids they are very close, but each one has a distinct personality all their own. As the oldest, Varya is the responsible one. Next is Daniel, who is tough and practical. Klara is the magical, free spirit of the family. Simon is the shy baby. When Daniel overhears a conversation about a fortune teller, his interest is piqued. Apparently she can tell people the date they’re going to die and Daniel drags the four kids out to visit her.

Each one gets a different date that impacts their life in dramatic ways. As they grow up, the siblings drift a part to live out their own lives, but no matter what, they still have one thing in common—they know the date of their deaths.

THE GOOD
I grew so attached to these four kids and fascinated at the idea of knowing the date of our death ahead of time. When I first started this book I thought, no way would I would ever want to know if given the chance. But now I’m not so sure…

The first two sections about Simon and Klara were my absolute favorite. Simon was just… UGH. I could read a whole book on Simon alone, I loved him so much. At the end of his part I wept like a friggin’ baby. There’s a lot about Simon and Klara that I see in myself. Their creativity, their loving nature, independence, thirst for adventure—we all have that in common. Despite their sad endings (spoiler alert, this entire book is filled with sad endings. FEELS), I found an odd kind of relief in their stories. They actually LIVED, and since my personality is so similar, it was weirdly reassuring to realize I haven’t taken life for granted. Admittedly, I’m not doing anything as amazing as magic or ballet, but I’m not afraid to actually LIVE my life and this book makes me want to push that further. To love more, see the world, take more chances, be fearless.

Varya’s section of the book also deals a lot with OCD and I really appreciated the way it was handled. As someone with no experience with this disorder, I was fascinated by the descriptions of Varya’s idiosyncrasies and it felt like a great insight into what it’s really like.

THE UGLY
I will say that I had a hard time with Daniel’s section, and parts of Varya’s. During the first half I felt such a strong personal connection to Simon and Klara, but that was completely gone in the last half. I’m a fairly practical and responsible person, but Daniel and Varya take it to a whole new level and it was hard for me to rationalize some of their actions. This is more of a personal preference thing on my part though, and I loved the writing style so much I didn’t even mind.

Also, it was a bummer that the little knocks that we see in Klara’s section weren’t really explored more in later chapters. I really loved the idea of Simon communicating with Klara from the “beyond” and when her part ended, I excitedly kept reading to see how that would play out. How would the practical Daniel handle something so fantastical?? What would Simon and Klara say to him??? But it’s never mentioned again. There was so much potential there and I would have loved seeing the siblings speak to one another using those knocks. The ending was still great, and I loved seeing Varya’s character transformation by the end, but I couldn’t help but be a little sad.

FINAL WORD
YES! Please read this!! It gives an emotional, powerful message that I’m not going to forget for the rest of my days.

Thank you to Putnam Books for sending me a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. This book ran away with my heart and I was not ready for it. At. All. I mean, I was pretty stoked about it because the synopsis sounded amazing, but holy hell! I was not prepared for how completely I would fall in love with the Gold family.

The Immortalists is character-driven, which worked perfectly for me because the characters have always been my doorway into a story. And there were two very prominent aspects to the characters that I especially loved. First, they were all so incredibly unique. Each one of the Gold children, Simon, Kara, Daniel, and Varya, as well as their mother, Gertie, all had very distinct personalities, beliefs, and love languages, and it was so interesting to see how they all weaved together to form the web known as the Golds.

Secondly, they were all so perfectly imperfect and flawed. They felt human. I was able to connect with every single one of them despite how incredibly different they all were. I could go on and on about these characters, but I think I’ve made my point: perfectly imperfect.

The other aspect of the book that I want to comment on is how it’s narrated. It’s broken down into four major sections, each narrated by one of the siblings and each taking place during a different time in their lives, the first of which begins in 1978 while the last ends in 2010. I liked this breakdown. I liked that it allowed each unique voice to be heard, and also that it allowed the reader to follow the transformation and maturation of the characters from child- to adulthood.

I could wax poetic about The Immortalists all day, but I’ll stop here. I’ll leave you with the opening line of the synopsis, because it’s the heart of the book and the thought I haven’t been able to get out of my mind since closing the cover: “If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?”

This book gets ALL the stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️?/5

I will start by saying this book completely blew me away as I was expecting something completely different from what I got. The blurb itself doesn't really tell you much that there is to know about this book, and I actually love that.

I will also say this book is not going to be for everyone. It's a thinker for sure, and it also includes a couple gay sex scenes which I was not expecting. The descriptions were actually a little disturbing for me, not having read anything like that before. I wanted to point this out so other readers are aware.

Anyway, moving on, The Immortalists is my very first read from Chloe Benjamin and it will definitely not be my last. It is a pretty heavy read so make sure you go in knowing that. It was fairly depressing, but also hopeful at the same time if that makes sense. My heart really broke for this family and everything they experienced, and it really does take a deeper look into destiny vs choice like the blurb mentions.

This book was beautifully written and I was completely engrossed in it; I definitely had a hard time putting it down. I think this will be a very fast read for most people as well. My favorite Gold child was Klara, and I really loved reading her section. I think that is because of the magical aspect to her story. This book is also descriptive enough for me without going overboard like a lot of books do in my opinion.

Also, in small world randomness, this book mentions the college of St. Olaf which happens to be very near the place I grew up! I love when I can pick things like that out of the books I read.

I don't want to say anything else because I think this is the kind of book that is better when you just read it for yourself.... so read it when it comes out, I know you want to. :)

Overall this was a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it.

Mortality is something we all face, but our perspective on dying shapes the way we may live our lives. Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists depicts the lives of four siblings’ lives after learning the date of their deaths.

In 1969, the four Gold children seek out a mystical woman they’ve heard about who can tell you when you’ll die. In the years following their learning about their impending deaths, they each live their lives either in accordance with or in spite of the fortunes they received. The youngest, Simon, ventures out to San Francisco to embrace his sexuality and freedom from his mother’s dependence; Klara refines her magic act, has a daughter, and starts performing in Vegas; Daniel becomes a military doctor and finds a sense of stability in his work; and Varya takes care of their mother before pursuing her study of longevity.

With a premise that offers a lot of possibility in ways to explore it, the narrative is in reality more of a character study of each of the children rather than an exploration of the premise, which seems to have been pushed to the background and instead used as an introduction to the familial workings of the Golds; it could be argued that the character study of each of the Gold children was the way in which readers were presented with their reactive behavior toward knowing their end, but it didn’t quite read that way as them knowing the day of their death didn’t quite come across through their actions. The narrative moved slowly and had a sense of predictability that made it easy to put the book down for periods of time. I did, however, find that the symmetry in how the Gold children entered and exited the world had a certain poetry to it.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher through Bookishfirst.

When I read the first few chapters of this novel on BookishFirst, I knew it was one I needed to read. Knowing the date of your death is such a terrifyingly intriguing concept. And especially the idea that four young siblings--Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon--seek out this information from a fortune teller--mostly out of boredom and curiosity--and then let it influence the rest of their lives. After reading The Immortalists, I can say for sure that I have no desire to know the date of my death. Some things are better left unknown.

The author, Chloe Benjamin, does a superb job telling each sibling's story. The novel is broken into four parts, one for each sibling, and each one building off of the one before, slowly revealing more and more information about the family. The story begins in New York in 1969--a time of unrest--and progresses through the years. I enjoyed the glimpses into significant times during America's history--especially San Francisco in the 1980s. There was only one sibling's story that I felt unsatisfied with, but that changed as I read the rest of the book. The Immortalists is a thoughtful book, a tragic tale with a haunting message of unattained contentment.

Thoughts certainly do have wings, regardless whether they are good or bad. They also have claws and teeth, taking hold and, here in Chloe Benjamin’s novel, never letting go as they do lots of damage to the Gold children, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon.

These four as children living in New York in the late 60s visit a Romany soothsayer. To each separately, she reveals the exact date of their deaths. Being children, they take their fortunes to heart, and these revelations remain with them and impact their lives negatively, and, with the exception of the oldest, Varya, hasten their deaths. If only they had told their mother as children, instead of in the end Varya revealing it to aged and invalided Gertie, they might have been saved by her succinct comment, “Junk!” But then, of course, no novel and no well taken point about not subsuming your life and will with myth, and in our modern day equivalent, demagoguery.

What makes Benjamin’s novel interesting is how she builds the story child to child, life to life. As the story progresses through the four children into their teen years and adulthoods, she layers in details about them as a family and their relationship, or lack thereof, until at the end we have a full picture of why each took the course they did and how they affected the other. It adds up to more than alternate characters unfolding their tales (the voice is third-person) with a startling ending but as a paced and engaging portrait of a family, one leaving you wondering how the children would have faired but for the soothsayer.

Simon, with sister Klara, run off to San Francisco in the 80s. Simon searches for acceptance, people like himself, and love. He settles into a flamboyant and reckless life he probably could never have lived at home. Klara, fascinated by magic, hones her skills, develops an act, relives to a degree the life of her grandmother, also a daring performer, and moves to Vegas with her new husband and child, Ruby. Daniel becomes a doctor but settles for a modest and contradictory life. He works as a doctor, rank Major, passing on whether or not recruits are suitable for combat. Married to Mira, they are childless. Daniel lives with anger toward Simon and Klara for deserting the family, then with a dooming desire to punish the soothsayer. Varya becomes a research biologist who leads a long-term study on longevity, isolating herself from not only her family, but from her own emotions, until a decision from her younger years finds her and helps her find her way back to reality.

Fear not that any of the above will spoil the novel for you, because the strength and power of Benjamin’s work lies in the telling. This isn’t so much a fantasy, as a novel on how easily life can be thrown off course by the craziest things, or, as momma Gertie calls them, “Junk!” Guess we all should listen to our mothers.

This New York Times bestseller is a completely intriguing read - for the soulful questions it raises as well as the story itself. Questions like:
* What is the nature of fate?
* How much influence can any one person have over the direction of their life and how much is determined from the outside by family and circumstances?
* What is it about the relationships between siblings that makes them so much more powerful and long-lasting than so many other relationships we develop?
* And the big one - would knowing the specific date of one’s death be a good thing or bad thing?

Why the last one? Because The Immortalists relates the story of the four Gold children (Varya age 13, Daniel 11, Klara 9 and Simon 7) who together visit a fortune teller in 1969, where each is told the date of his/her death. No spoilers here — because this content is from the very first chapter. The remainder of the book tells the story, over the next five decades, of how each of these four lives unfolds and the different ways each sibling handles the information about their personal mortality.

Each of the four follows a different path. Simon moves to San Francisco in the late 1970s, Daniel becomes a physician, Klara follows her childhood passion for magic, and Varya becomes a groundbreaking research scientist. But throughout each life, the prophesy hovers, influencing many of their most important life decisions. And the emotional ties that bind them to each other, as well as to their immigrant parents Saul and Greta, also exert a strong influence.

It’s a well-written book, surprisingly suspenseful. Along the way, Benjamin weaves in some other interesting contemporary topics, like animals rights, military recruitment, the AIDS epidemic, and the struggles of performance artists. To me, the novel also has some flaws. While I found some storylines completely believable, others felt a bit contrived. But overall, a fast and very engaging read.

Let me start by saying that this was a weird book. At times it was hard to follow and quite depressing.

The story begins when 4 young siblings ( Varya 13, Daniel 11, Klara 9, and Simon 7) hear about a lady that predict the date of your death. Daniel convinces his siblings to go see this lady. They pull together all of their allowances and set off. The take turns visiting the lady. They each receive their date of death. They are all changed forever. I should also mention that the Gold family is Jewish. The author spends a great deal of time explaining the jewish religion and culture. I was beginning to get bored and irritated with all of the religion talk. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I say the reason for bringing God and religious rituals so many times. It does all come together in the end.

From the time the children visit the lady the story begins to be told in 4 parts with each part focusing on the person that is about to die next in the story. The author does this flawlessly. She beautifully weaves the stories of the 4 siblings together using surprises and twists that the reader does not expect.

So why did I give this book only 3 stars? 2 reasons. First, the story jumped from present tense to past tense so many times (even on the same page sometimes) that I had to reread parts several time to make sure that I understood what was going on and when. Second, I did not not enjoy some of the shock value that the author tried to give this book by trying to write in depth sex scenes between two men. I don't have anything against that life style. I just thought it was a cheap trick by the author. Simon is the only character thats sexual exploits were written about in detail. The other 3 siblings had things going on but it wasn't told in an erotic way. I felt like the author went above and beyond to giver her book shock value by doing this. In the end, she did a good job of explaining the AIDS epidemic of the 80s.

So did the siblings die on the dates that women predicted? Did they die on those dates because they made careless choices because they were supposed to die, or was the woman just correct? As you read this book you will change your answer to these questions several times. Especially, when you read the final section about Vayra. That is all I am going to say for now. I don't want to ruin the book.

I would recommend this book (not highly). It was well written, but some part of the book are rather tedious and boring. Other parts I couldn't put the book down.

The premise of this book is so unique: If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life? And it could have easily been a cheesy and shallow story at the hand of another author. But Benjamin handles it with grace, with heart, and with integrity.

At a young age, the four Gold children go to visit a fortune teller who predicts the date they will each die. Once the story unfolds, we follow each one until their demise. Through each character, we learn about the AIDS crisis in the ‘80s, magic and illusions, and research into aging. It’s obvious that a ton of research went into this novel, even if it was fiction.

I love how the author split the narratives and included stories about the other siblings even when it wasn’t their “turn.” I did feel the first half of the book had my attention a tad more but as it finished, I was equally absorbed.

This is a book I will think about for a long while. I urge you to savor it slowly and not race to finish to be sure you pick up all the nuances. My thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin follows the story of four kids who meet with a fortune tale as children. This fortune teller tells them each when they are going to die, and these predictions shape their actions for the rest of their lives. 

This book was a real treat and well worth the read. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was surprised by how much depth and development went into The Immortalists. 

The quality of writing in this book was fantastic. It was incredibly well-written and the amount of research and effort that went into this book was apparent.

The pace of the book was slow in the beginning, but it picked up once the book started following each individual sibling. 

The plot development of the book was thoughtful and well-executed. I loved the story concept and how the author chose to unfurl the story. I enjoyed following each sibling and how they chose to live their lives with the knowledge of their death dates. Each sibling is so different, so following each sibling was like stepping into a whole different world. At the same time, there was a decent amount of time spent on the relationships between the characters, both positive and negative. 

The ending of the book was somewhat anticlimactic, but at the same time, I appreciated the simplicity and the way the book was quietly brought to a close. 

The character development was exceptional. I liked the wildness of Simon, the stubbornness of Klara, the steadiness of Daniel, and the anxiousness of Varya. Each sibling is so different, each with their own quirks and personalities. I felt very close to Simon, Klara, and Varya, though my favorite character was Simon, by far. His character is so interesting and complex, and the lifestyle he leads is so loud.  I struggled a bit with Daniel. I felt I got to know him the least, and I was somewhat indifferent to his character. 

This book was very insightful. As stated earlier, it was clear that the author put in the time and effort into researching and understanding the topics she wrote about. From AIDs, LGBT relations, magic, OCD, and primate research--this book covered a lot of different topics! It never felt forced or contrived. Each character embodied their personalities and preferences perfectly. 

The Immortalists was very enjoyable and easy to read. I would highly recommend this book to others.  

Rating (1-10, 10 is exceptional)
Quality of Writing - 10
Pace - 7
Plot Development - 9
Ending - 7
Characters - 9
Enjoyability - 9
Insightfulness - 9
Ease of Reading - 8
Overall Rating - 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review. My review will be published on my blog on Monday, January 8th, 2018.

I was drawn to this book because of the clever plot idea. The idea that a psychic would tell four children the day they are going to die was intriguing…I had to see what would happen. The book is broken into four parts…each part dealing with the life of one of the siblings. The last chapter wraps things up with the sibling who initiated the trip to the psychic in the first place.
The book made me think about how life would be if we knew the date of our death. Would we value time more…try to plan what we want to accomplish? Or, would we live in dread…knowing how limited our time actually was.
Ultimately, the story didn’t live up to my expectations. The first two chapters were solid, but I closed the book on the last chapter feeling as if more could have been said or explained.

A dazzling family saga that is both vintage and timely and so much more than you might think

I absolutely LOVED this book! I'll admit to having a few reservations about it--here's why:

1) It's so hyped up. It's on a lot of lists and I see it in the pages of women's magazines. Is it *really* as good as they say?! (YES, yes, a THOUSAND times yes!)

2) Is it about teenagers? That was my first inclination--teens in the late 1960s. And I didn't want to read a book about teenagers written for adults. It's *not* that at all. Yes, they are siblings when they visit the fortune teller, but that's a very short piece of the book (the prologue) and then--poof--everyone is living a very adult life (even if the youngest two are 16 and 20 when the story picks up).

3) And the ratings...they were just 'meh.' I'd give it 6-stars if I could. Seriously. It's THAT GOOD.

Why did I love it:

There's so much more to the fact that the four Gold children visit a fortune teller when they're kids (I think the oldest was 13 and the youngest 7) and receive their predicted date of death from 'the woman.' This is a gorgeously written family saga delving into the lives of all these characters (who quickly become adults), their mother, her struggles with being a widow, and so much more. THE IMMORTALISTS is almost like several novellas hinged together by one common thread: life.

The first two 'novellas,' is that of of Klara and Simon, the two youngest Gold children who find themselves in San Francisco in the late-1970s/early 1980s. They have dreams and desires that cannot fulfill in NYC. There were a few instances of Simon's love life I found difficult to read, but it all goes along with the time period and mirrors his character. And Klara's story dovetails and then splits with Simon's and we get a glimpse into her world of magic, marriage, young motherhood, Vegas.

And them we get to know the second-oldest Gold child--Daniel, an army doctor, husband and his quest to learn more about 'the woman,' to reconnect with his niece and her father, and make sense of some of the things that have been going on with his siblings.

There's Gertie (the mother) and Varya, the scientist and her research with monkeys and longevity. I could go on and on about ALL of these characters and how each story was deliciously captivating. Every character was fully formed and distinctive; Benjamin's language and prose absolutely glittering. I found THE IMMORTALISTS to be oh-so riveting and would even consider re-reading as I am sure there are lovely passages and metaphors and descriptions I missed.

A great pick for your book club as there is so much to discuss about free-will versus fate, and other controversial topics.

I found the writing style similar to that of Caroline Leavitt meets J. Courtney Sullivan meets Anna Quinn meets Anita Shreve.

3 stars

This was another one of those books where I expected it to be one thing but it turned out to be something quite different. While I can’t say I disliked the book (I did give it 3 stars after all), I didn’t “like” it either and in fact, found much of the book a chore to get through, mostly because of the frustration I felt with the main characters and their actions. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of those “it’s not the book, it’s me” type of situations where I realize after reading it that this book clearly wasn’t for me.

When I first read the summary for this book, I was really interested in reading it, as the premise sounded fascinating and unique. The narrative revolves around the 4 Gold siblings who find out from a fortune teller the dates of their deaths. This early prophesy impacts each of the siblings in different ways and over the course of the book, as each sibling’s story unfolds, we are taken down 4 different paths, yet each one links back to the other and ultimately back to their family. Both the summary and the opening chapter hinted at fantasy / magical realism elements and at first, I felt that the author Chloe Benjamin did a really good job establishing the aura of mysticism with the children’s visit to “the woman on Hester Street.” But then, as soon as the first sibling’s story starts – the narrative begins with Simon’s story, then moves on to Klara, Daniel, and finally Varya -- the “mysticism” that was present in the introductory chapter quickly fades and doesn’t return for the rest of the novel. I feel like this was one of the biggest problems with this book – it started off strong and was able to establish an atmospheric mood that made me want to continue turning the pages to see what each sibling’s fate ends up being and whether the prophesies would be fulfilled, however that mood fizzled as soon as the author started going more in-depth into each of the sibling’s lives. Some of the stories had a bit too much detail – some random scenes and references to things that I felt weren’t necessary in furthering the plot and so I ended up skimming some parts (especially with Simon’s story, which I’ll get back to later), pushing forward to the last few chapters of each character’s section so I could find out what ultimately happens to each one.

In terms of the writing, I would say that it was pretty good – not stellar but not bad either. I think the biggest issue with the writing was the lack of consistency -- there were some parts that were very well-written and actually provoked quite a bit of thought and self-reflection, but then there were other parts that left me scratching my head, wondering where the author was trying to go with the plot. This brings me to the other major problem I had with the book: I feel like the author tried to cover too much ground and ended up being all over the place. There were many topics touched on in the book – family, relationships, love, religion, politics, education, health, environment, race, gender, discrimination, military, science, history, ethics…the list goes on and on – however I feel like there wasn’t much in-depth exploration of these issues and instead, many of them were thrown in randomly rather than incorporated seamlessly into the stories. With all that said though, one of the things I did appreciate about the book was the amount of research the author put in to make sure her references to events and settings were as accurate as possible – this part was consistent throughout all 4 narratives and was one of the redeeming qualities of the book for me.

One thing I do want to mention, which I feel is important for those deciding whether to read this book or not, is that there were quite a few explicit sex scenes, mostly in Simon’s story, that were uncomfortable to read. I’m not sure if I’m explaining this correctly but the problem for me wasn’t necessarily the graphic nature of the sex scenes per se, but rather that I wasn’t expecting those types of scenes in this book and also I didn’t feel they were necessary to include – the story could have been told perfectly well without those scenes. Same goes with many of the other random sexual references interspersed throughout the book – while those weren’t necessarily explicit, it just didn’t make sense to me why they needed to be included.

As I said at the beginning of my review, this book clearly didn’t work for me, however I seem to be an outlier here since there are many 4 and 5 star reviews for this book, so I would say check those out before deciding.

Received ARC from G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Group) via Edelweiss.

The Immortalists absolutely rocked me. This is one of those books that grabs you, and refuses to let go until it’s completely upended you, turned you inside out, and left you a steaming pile of emotion. What would you do if you knew the date of your death? 4 siblings are about to find out. But is the woman who gives them this information really a seer? Or is the idea of the date she gives them such a powerful motivator that it turns them all into walking self-fulfilling prophecies? It’s been quite some time since I read a book like this one. It’s reinvigorated my love of the written word. She weaves the story, using words sparingly, but in such a fashion as to make the story pop off the page. It’s verbal painting, a symphony of sentences that blend together seamlessly. I don’t know if you can tell, but I really loved this book.

Simon, the youngest child, runs away to San Francisco with his “lost cause” sister. He’s a gay Jewish teenager and has never felt right in his own skin with his family. Klara, his sister is really the only one he’s ever been himself around. Through Simon we get a glimpse at life in the late 70s and early 80s in San Francisco, tantalizing peeks into ballet, the inner struggle of dealing with your own sexuality when the majority of the rest of the world calls it a sin, and the AIDS epidemic of the 80s. Its an uncomfortable, painful read, but also beautiful and moving.

Klara has always been drawn to magic. She’s a genius at sleight of hand, but she’s always been drawn to the more death defying acts. Perhaps because of, or in spite of, the date death she feels she’s running toward. No one in her family has ever really depended on her, and she’s dealing with the enormous grief she tries to drown in alcohol for the role her decisions played in shaping the lives of her family. Through Klara we get an idea of how alluring it can be to relinquish control to something else, and the delusions it can cause, even to the point of fulfilling prophecies.

Daniel, the oldest boy, has been the family rock for so long. He becomes a doctor, marries a nice young mostly Jewish girl, and helps take care of the mother left behind by the younger siblings. As the years pass though, his bitterness and regret over estranged siblings consumes his thoughts, to the point that he believes if he can just find the seer and make her admit to her wrong doing, he will stop the cycle of death, stop his feelings of guilt for having instigated the visit to the seer.

Varya. The oldest girl and seemingly coldest of the bunch. With her research into aging, and the gift of being told she will live a long, long life. The last Gold child left. Did she create the space between her and her siblings to protect herself from the loss she fervently believed in? Is her OCD something that would have developed on its own with her Jewish upbringing and the rituality that went into her faith? Or did it develop from a staunch belief that if she could just adhere to her rituals, she could prevent the loss of all of her siblings? I started the section on Varya thinking that she was the most one-dimensional. The one I could least relate with. I was completely blown away by how full and rich Varya became. There’s absolutely nothing shortchanged about her by the end of the book.

Chloe Benjamin has created something truly special with this book. If I didn’t know better, I would think I was truly reading the thoughts and feelings of 4 different people. 4 unique, individualized characters that have suffered through the realness and rawness of life. I absolutely adored this story and will be putting it on my hardback shelf of oft revisited stories.

I realize that in my book reviews I lean toward exuberance and hyperbole, probably because I’m an author, and I’m in awe of others’ talents. I could never write so eloquently or think so deeply. How do they do it? I read so many books searching for the answer to this question on every page. Once again, an author has stunned me with her mastery of transforming thoughts into words, images into words, life and love into words. How did she do it? Practiced sleight of hand, trickery, or magic? Everything. All of this. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a masterpiece, as bleak and joyful as life itself.

The Gold family’s story begins in 1969, when the four siblings visit a fortune-teller with a particular talent. She can foresee with one hundred percent accuracy when you will die. Each of the children visits her alone, in her NYC apartment, near the Williamsburg Bridge. She predicts each of their deaths, one at a time. The youngest dies first, followed by the next-to-the-youngest, followed by the next-to-the oldest, leaving the eldest child, Varya, alone to carry on. They die in reverse order of their births, strangely enough. There are no spoilers here. The premise of the novel is clearly revealed in the beginning and the titles of the sections of the book give the rest of these events away. Just like in real life, everyone dies, no surprise there, but what if you knew exactly when? The day and the year? Would you make different decisions? Live life more fully, and recklessly, or more cautiously, hoping to duck when the grim reaper swings his scythe? Sometimes by seeking to avoid fate, you avoid life, and lead an existence so devoid of the pleasures of connection, you might as well be dead. Each of the Gold children acts out separate, imaginative, convoluted answers to universally pondered questions about life and death. Compelled forward by the loss of previously deceased siblings, the Gold’s twirl, leap, drift, stumble, and head purposefully toward death. The uniquely specific predictions of their deaths, exactly as the old woman delivered them, steer the siblings toward their individual fates, as inevitable as time itself.

What role does religion play, when someone faces death? The Gold’s parents raised them in the Jewish faith. Sometimes God means “order and tradition, culture and history.” They question whether ritual and tradition are merely superstitions, or symbols of a mystical interpretation and understanding of love for family, the earth, its creatures, and the whole human race. The rituals and traditions bring us together and that’s the secret to eternal life, the reason that humans created religion. Klara, the second Gold to die, chants her mantra, “I love you all. I love you all.”

Does consciousness survive the death of the body? If it does, then death isn’t death at all. “…there’s magic in the world: some strange, shimmering knowledge in the very heart of the unknowable.”
Thoughts become words, and actions, and the living remember these words and actions, keeping the dead alive, and passing these memories, and the emotions that uplift and support them, on to the next generation.

Varya Gold, the eldest sibling, grows up to be a scientist in a laboratory filled with apes. Daniel becomes a military doctor whose job is to decide which soldiers are fit to be deployed, or not. Klara is a magician , and Simon, the youngest is a dancer. Their stories are mesmerizing. In Daniel’s section of the novel, he quotes one of his teachers, Dr. Theodore Woodward, who believed that the simplest hypothesis was usually right. “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” When you hear the hoof beats of the Gold family, be ready for unicorns, a whole sound-barrier-breaking herd of them. I’ll be thinking about The Immortalists for a long time.

I'm still mulling over this book. There were some parts that captured me and made me feel and/or think. But there were a couple of sections that I found dragged on or just didn't spark my interest. Overall, I enjoyed the story of family. I enjoyed reading about the connections among the siblings, even with the grief and angst that were woven into the story. The characters in a book make or break the book for me and, although I vacillated between a three or four star review on this one, I went with the four star. I came to care about the characters and wonder about the choices they were making. Their lives took different directions and yet there was still connection in some way or another.

In the opening chapters, the four siblings visit a woman who tells them, individually, when they are going to die. The siblings choose not to reveal this information to the others (except maybe in the most general of terms). As I read the book, I considered how the prophecy impacted the lives of the characters and maybe even crafted their choices. The story did make me think how life might be different if you actually were told the date of your death, say as part of a puberty ritual. How would knowing that death date frame your choices for life?

I also appreciated the dynamics among the siblings. Tough choices had to be made and the siblings had to live with the choices made by the others. Bonds flourished or faded. When the bonds became seemingly invisible, it was a reminder that people have to feel safe to be vulnerable and safely isn't guaranteed in families.

If you're looking for a thoughtful read with a bit of magic tossed in, then give The Immortalists a try. Chloe Benjamin has a way with words and some of her words will really tug at your heart. Some will make you reflect on mystery and chance and the role of family in life. All in all, it was a good read and one that I can recommend.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is the epic tale of the four Gold siblings, and how they live their lives after visiting a travelling psychic as children and being told the day of their deaths. How each deal with the impending date is slightly different, and begs the question of whether knowing when you will die would be a good thing? How would it affect your life? Would it force you to make different decisions? Do you put your faith in a prophecy given to you by someone others might say is a fraud? Do you even waste your time thinking about it, or bury it away?

This novel is going to be a tough one for me to rate on a star scale. It is a VERY well-written book, and I devoured it in two sittings. I read Simon's section one night, and the rest of the sibling's sections the next day. The entire premise of the book is incredibly intriguing, and really hooked me from the very beginning...and honestly would make a great book club selection because there's so much to talk about. But if you need to like the characters in your book...this one is probably going to drive you batty.

I mean it. If you need to care immensely about their outcome, really connect with them on a deep level, and like them as a person...this might not be the book for you. I'm okay with not liking my characters, or reading a book full of what I like to refer to as Gray people. Characters who aren't all good, wonderful, great, nice, sweet, terrific (Light) or evil, mean, rotten, horrible, nasty (Dark). They instead fit somewhere in the murky middle ground. I didn't necessarily "like" any of the Gold siblings, or their mother...or any of the other characters in this book. I came very close to liking Simon and Varya, and I'm okay with that. They were complex characters, for the most part.

It's funny...hands down, my favorite scene in the entire book comes at almost the very end, in a conversation between Varya and her mother. I'm not going to spoil anything for you...but my thoughts on the whole thing were pretty in line with the mom, who you generally don't like for the first half of the book...and the second half wonder if it's the same woman. But I was left wondering if things would've gone different for all of the Gold children if they'd have had this conversation with their mom a few decades earlier!!

Anyway...the book definitely makes you think...so I'd say it was worth reading. I thought the writing was phenomenal, but it isn't an easy one for me to sum up in a cute little bundle for public consumption. I have complex feelings, so this review is probably all over the place! But a huge thank-you to netgalley for sending me the book to read. A very complex read, where death may as well have been another character as in The Book Thief. But if given the chance to give a few whollops to some folks...I would.

I'm somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars so perhaps 3.75 Stars?

I picked up The Immortalists for 2 reasons. 1. It was one of the most anticipated reads of the year (on many lists) and 2. It was voted as my local Book club book of the month. It's not typically something I would pick up on my own so I enjoyed getting a bit out of my comfort zone.

When the book starts we meet four siblings: Daniel, Simon, Varya and Klara. They are young kids and hear about some woman who can tell them potential secrets about their life to come. When they arrive the woman takes each child in on their own and tells them the date of their death. All the siblings come out and kind of brush it off but at the same time continue to keep it in the back of their head as they go through life.

This book is split into four sections and each section is about one of the four siblings. It's basically their life journeys and how they get to their so called "due date". I would say that the stories don't overlap all that much so you really need to pay attention to each one individually.

The biggest question that comes out of this book is, 'If you knew the date of your death, would you live your life to the fullest until then?' Some of the siblings do and some of the siblings don't but you'll have to read to find out! Another question that comes up is are there really people who can know these death dates or are they frauds? Is it all just a coincidence?

This book definitely made me think...alot! Some of the stories were incredibly sad (especially the first two) and it was interesting to follow what life paths they each took. However towards the end I think there was some really positive truths that come out about the family and how they lived their lives.

The thing that turned me off about this was that it read like 4 stories in one. I typically like to have my stories flow all throughout the book and each time it was a new part I felt like I was starting over. I would have liked to see the stories intertwined a bit more.

Overall it was a solid read and it will be a great book to discuss for book club!

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
by Good Book Fairy in 2018, Animals, California, Family, Favorites, Fiction, Judaic, LGBT, Literary Fiction, Magic, New York, Sisters/Brothers

My Review: 4.5 stars

The Immortalists is a literary fiction family drama that balances the premise of living by fate or free will. Do we live our lives by circumstance or intention? After four children visit a nomadic gypsy to find out the date of their deaths, this knowing forever torments their lives, a whisper in the recesses of their minds of how much time they have left. Whether it’s true or not, they can’t know, but they wonder if their lives will become self fulfilling prophecies or led by chance alone.

Broken into four distinct parts for each of the four kids, we learn how their lives play out. Some parts were very predictable while others were more surprising. Each character went in vastly different directions both figuratively and literally. I enjoyed Simon’s character even though it was the most predictable. I’ve never read a book that offered such a focused glimpse into the gay scene of the 1960s. Watching him come alive, out of his long hidden sexuality, was well done. Each of the parts were impeccably researched. It must have been quite taxing on the author.

The writing in this book switched from literary, to poetic, to simple, which worked for me. However one thing that turned me off was the random sexual reference that was completely unnecessary. For example: describing Varya by having a “patch of fur” between her legs seemed gratuitous in my opinion. How does that help me know the character? Again, I was slightly jarred during the pointless imagery of penises when Simon was in San Francisco. I’m no prude; these just felt out of place with the tone of the book.

The final part to the book and also the one in which much of the story converges belongs to Varya. Her path and ultimate outcome came with a few twists and a great understanding of why she chose her profession. Most readers will like this part the best I believe.

The book promises an underlying of magical realism and mystical moments, which I didn’t get much of. It by no means hindered my reading experience, it just didn’t fit the PR the novel has been getting. Magic practiced as an art form is present and important, but not as an otherworldly force that I thought would be present.

Kudos to Chloe Benjamin for creating a thought provoking book that will leave book clubs divided as they battle the question of how live is lived…free will or fate?

Visit goodbookfairy.com for more like this!

I had high hopes when I started reading this book and breezed through the beginning. I loved the concept -- five children in the 60's go to a fortune teller who tells them the day they will supposedly die. Sounds like a good book, right? I thought so until I got to the next section which tells what happens to the kids as they grow up. The youngest is gay. Now I have nothing against homosexuals and am not a prude, but I felt there was no need to go into the graphic detail that the author does in this book. It ruined the story for me, so I stopped reading. I rarely give low reviews, but I felt so disappointed with this book that I had to write one. I'm a librarian, and I know the book is a bestseller and has received awards, and maybe the story gets better, but I personally didn't want to wade through the "dirt" to get to the good parts.

The premise of this novel is wonderful: four children go to see a gypsy fortune-teller and she predicts the exact day of each of their deaths. As far as we learn as the novel progresses, the predictions turn out to be accurate. The question is, how do the predictions impact the lives of the children? Are they essentially self-fulfilling prophesies, which the children (now adults) make true by the way they lead their lives? Or is there something else going on?

After the initial scenes of the prophecy, we spend time tracing each of the four kids’ lives and deaths. Oddly, it is the youngest, Simon, who dies first. Klara, second youngest, is the next to die. Daniel follows and then Varya, the oldest, survives longest. We get a good look at their lives and choices that lead to their ends. Unfortunately, in general, the kids’ stories can’t quite live up to the premise Ms. Benjamin has set up.

I think the main problem is a subtlety: to make the premise work in the right direction, the lives that follow are all, in some sense, rare—male dancer, female magician, and two doctors obsessed in different ways. Four odd lives are a bit difficult to take. It would have felt more grounded if one or two of the kids had led an ordinary life and the expectations of the prophecy had come from the outside rather than being driven by their own strange choices.

That said, I enjoyed much of this. I particularly like the women’s stories. Klara, the magician, is a study in struggle and fascinating because she is difficult to understand. On the other hand, the long-lived Varya is interesting in another way. She is able to reflect on the lives of her lost siblings but is obsessed with her longevity research for reasons that seem disconnected from them. It’s an odd choice.

And that sort of sums things up. There’s a number of odd choices that went into making this novel. It provides for some great moments but doesn’t seem quite to hang together as a whole.

When four summer weary siblings decide to seek out a fortune teller rumored to possess an ability to prognosticate the exact date of one's death, they unknowingly affect the manner in which they live their lives and their relationships with each other forever.

Chloe Benjamin's latest offering begins with the above scene and then becomes a four part study of the life of each sibling. While the siblings do not fully share with each other the prognostications they received, the reader generally knows and this bit of dramatic irony helped to build a low level but ever present sense of anxiety over each of the four studies. The novel becomes an excellent vehicle for philosophy, especially that of death and dying, and for examining familial roles even if it does veer at times toward the unlikely.

Note: ARC received free for review.

This is the story of four people, children when we first meet them in 1969, who hear of and pay a visit to a strange psychic woman who, rumour has it, can tell a person the date of their death.
They all come away with dates. Some are more happy than others to learn how soon / far away these dates are and the rest of the book follows Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya as they grow up and towards their respective date. The main premise of the book being how much knowing and believing when you are going to die actually influences both your decisions and choices in life and, more importantly, what happens in your final days and how much of that is contrived because of it.
I really enjoyed this book which was weird because it was obvious from the start that everyone had a good chance of dying within the book. It's hard to invest in a character when you know that is looming, especially when it is also evident that some may not be around for quite as long as others, and I do like to invest in characters in a read of this nature.
For four children who initially grew up together, they are all very different in both character and personality. How much of that is influenced by the knowledge of their own mortality is very debatable and, without giving anything away, more obvious for some than others.
As I was reading, as the characters made some of their life choices, I couldn't help but question some of their motives. Would they really have done this had they not known their date of death. But then that breeds a second question; did that choice directly or indirectly lead to or contribute to their death. It's hard to explain without an example (spoilers though) but it is very well illustrated in the first story we get in the book. If that character didn't know they would die young, would they have chosen to do what they did which, with hindsight, directly contributed to them dying young. Food for thought most definitely.
The other three stories gave me mixed reactions. Their lives were interesting enough but the lead up to their final days didn't really quite work for me. But then again. I don't know when I am going to die so I really have no right to pass judgement on how someone would act in that situation. Just, for me, there wasn't quite that realism.
With the main topic covered in the book being that of death, there was a chance that the book would be too dark, especially as the majority of people do die but, and I can't put my finger on exactly why, it wasn't. Maybe it was the rich and interesting lives that some played out, maybe it was the overall feeling of family, maybe it was the ones left behind that were enough to lift the tone, I have no idea. There's also quite a bit of mature content in this book. But that's to be expected given the nature and span of the story.
All in all, an interesting concept and story which did make me think. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin, author; Maggie Hoffman, narrator
When the book begins, in 1969, the Gold children decide to visit a fortune teller named Bruna Costello, a Romani gypsy who could tell those who consulted her the date of their deaths. At the time, Varya was 13, Daniel was 11, Klara was 9 and Simon was 7. The lives of the four would be forever impacted by this knowledge and experience. Three were told they would die young, while the fourth would live deep into her eighties. Each of the siblings pretended that the knowledge was ridiculous, when confronted, but as they grew up, they began to think more and more about their impending demise, and they made decisions based on that knowledge, thinking it just might be true. Would their choices propel them in the direction of their deaths, or would they die at the predicted time, regardless?
The book covers almost half a century as it travels down the lives of each of the children, ending with the explanation of Varya’s ongoing life in 2010. The characters are well developed with all of the idiosyncrasies “that flesh is heir to”. Each of them suffered from some disability or deviance which caused a problem during the time in which they grew up. Simon was gay, Varya had OCD, Daniel was overly regimented and organized, and Klara saw the world as her play gym. Their mother was portrayed as a typically complaining, stereotypical Jewish mother who instilled guilt at every opportunity. The father, a tailor, was the more stable, emotionally, and the more accepting of the pair. Both had suffered a huge loss of family members during the Holocaust and were grateful for being in America.
As the three generations of Golds were explored, through their relationships or lack thereof, some of the major issues of the times were also introduced through them. With the parents it was the Holocaust, with the children it was homosexuality and civil rights, with the grandchildren it was environmental issues and women’s rights. The book introduced racism and anti-Semitism, mental illness and environmental issues with animal cruelty taking the center stage. The Castro in San Francisco, which was a well known gay area, coupled with the murder of Harvey Milk, became almost a character in the book as homosexuality was explored in great detail. Because of several interracial couplings, the issues of racism and civil rights were also featured. Mental illness and anti-Semitism were far less developed, but family dynamics was explored fairly well. Overall, did the idea of their deaths hanging over them affect the choices they made, bringing about a self-fulfilling prophecy, or did everything simply go according to plan.
I was not that pleased with the portrayal of the Jewish family and was not quite sure why a Jewish family was chosen to display so many negative aspects of life, unless it was simply because it began on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which was largely populated by Jews at one time, mostly early in the first half of the century. Each of the characters introduced seemed to be selfish and was negatively described until almost the end when some redeeming features were reviewed. Some of the more negative characteristics were selfishness, alcohol consumption, suicide, murder, mental illness, single motherhood, sexual deviance, racism, coldness, a lack of compassion, abortion, and generally cruel or nasty behavior toward one another, making sure to point out their faults rather than their positive qualities, discouraging their efforts rather than praising them.
In some ways I feel as if the publishing industry is pushing the agenda of the far left in most of the books chosen recently, and I found the issues somewhat contrived.

The premise of this book is so unique: If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life? And it could have easily been a cheesy and shallow story at the hand of another author. But Benjamin handles it with grace, with heart, and with integrity.

At a young age, the four Gold children go to visit a fortune teller who predicts the date they will each die. Once the story unfolds, we follow each one until their demise. Through each character, we learn about the AIDS crisis in the ‘80s, magic and illusions, and research into aging. It’s obvious that a ton of research went into this novel, even if it was fiction.

I love how the author split the narratives and included stories about the other siblings even when it wasn’t their “turn.” I did feel the first half of the book had my attention a tad more but as it finished, I was equally absorbed.

This is a book I will think about for a long while. I urge you to savor it slowly and not race to finish to be sure you pick up all the nuances. My thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin follows the story of four kids who meet with a fortune tale as children. This fortune teller tells them each when they are going to die, and these predictions shape their actions for the rest of their lives. 

This book was a real treat and well worth the read. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was surprised by how much depth and development went into The Immortalists. 

The quality of writing in this book was fantastic. It was incredibly well-written and the amount of research and effort that went into this book was apparent.

The pace of the book was slow in the beginning, but it picked up once the book started following each individual sibling. 

The plot development of the book was thoughtful and well-executed. I loved the story concept and how the author chose to unfurl the story. I enjoyed following each sibling and how they chose to live their lives with the knowledge of their death dates. Each sibling is so different, so following each sibling was like stepping into a whole different world. At the same time, there was a decent amount of time spent on the relationships between the characters, both positive and negative. 

The ending of the book was somewhat anticlimactic, but at the same time, I appreciated the simplicity and the way the book was quietly brought to a close. 

The character development was exceptional. I liked the wildness of Simon, the stubbornness of Klara, the steadiness of Daniel, and the anxiousness of Varya. Each sibling is so different, each with their own quirks and personalities. I felt very close to Simon, Klara, and Varya, though my favorite character was Simon, by far. His character is so interesting and complex, and the lifestyle he leads is so loud.  I struggled a bit with Daniel. I felt I got to know him the least, and I was somewhat indifferent to his character. 

This book was very insightful. As stated earlier, it was clear that the author put in the time and effort into researching and understanding the topics she wrote about. From AIDs, LGBT relations, magic, OCD, and primate research--this book covered a lot of different topics! It never felt forced or contrived. Each character embodied their personalities and preferences perfectly. 

The Immortalists was very enjoyable and easy to read. I would highly recommend this book to others.  

Rating (1-10, 10 is exceptional)
Quality of Writing - 10
Pace - 7
Plot Development - 9
Ending - 7
Characters - 9
Enjoyability - 9
Insightfulness - 9
Ease of Reading - 8
Overall Rating - 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review. My review will be published on my blog on Monday, January 8th, 2018.

I was drawn to this book because of the clever plot idea. The idea that a psychic would tell four children the day they are going to die was intriguing…I had to see what would happen. The book is broken into four parts…each part dealing with the life of one of the siblings. The last chapter wraps things up with the sibling who initiated the trip to the psychic in the first place.
The book made me think about how life would be if we knew the date of our death. Would we value time more…try to plan what we want to accomplish? Or, would we live in dread…knowing how limited our time actually was.
Ultimately, the story didn’t live up to my expectations. The first two chapters were solid, but I closed the book on the last chapter feeling as if more could have been said or explained.

A dazzling family saga that is both vintage and timely and so much more than you might think

I absolutely LOVED this book! I'll admit to having a few reservations about it--here's why:

1) It's so hyped up. It's on a lot of lists and I see it in the pages of women's magazines. Is it *really* as good as they say?! (YES, yes, a THOUSAND times yes!)

2) Is it about teenagers? That was my first inclination--teens in the late 1960s. And I didn't want to read a book about teenagers written for adults. It's *not* that at all. Yes, they are siblings when they visit the fortune teller, but that's a very short piece of the book (the prologue) and then--poof--everyone is living a very adult life (even if the youngest two are 16 and 20 when the story picks up).

3) And the ratings...they were just 'meh.' I'd give it 6-stars if I could. Seriously. It's THAT GOOD.

Why did I love it:

There's so much more to the fact that the four Gold children visit a fortune teller when they're kids (I think the oldest was 13 and the youngest 7) and receive their predicted date of death from 'the woman.' This is a gorgeously written family saga delving into the lives of all these characters (who quickly become adults), their mother, her struggles with being a widow, and so much more. THE IMMORTALISTS is almost like several novellas hinged together by one common thread: life.

The first two 'novellas,' is that of of Klara and Simon, the two youngest Gold children who find themselves in San Francisco in the late-1970s/early 1980s. They have dreams and desires that cannot fulfill in NYC. There were a few instances of Simon's love life I found difficult to read, but it all goes along with the time period and mirrors his character. And Klara's story dovetails and then splits with Simon's and we get a glimpse into her world of magic, marriage, young motherhood, Vegas.

And them we get to know the second-oldest Gold child--Daniel, an army doctor, husband and his quest to learn more about 'the woman,' to reconnect with his niece and her father, and make sense of some of the things that have been going on with his siblings.

There's Gertie (the mother) and Varya, the scientist and her research with monkeys and longevity. I could go on and on about ALL of these characters and how each story was deliciously captivating. Every character was fully formed and distinctive; Benjamin's language and prose absolutely glittering. I found THE IMMORTALISTS to be oh-so riveting and would even consider re-reading as I am sure there are lovely passages and metaphors and descriptions I missed.

A great pick for your book club as there is so much to discuss about free-will versus fate, and other controversial topics.

I found the writing style similar to that of Caroline Leavitt meets J. Courtney Sullivan meets Anna Quinn meets Anita Shreve.

3 stars

This was another one of those books where I expected it to be one thing but it turned out to be something quite different. While I can’t say I disliked the book (I did give it 3 stars after all), I didn’t “like” it either and in fact, found much of the book a chore to get through, mostly because of the frustration I felt with the main characters and their actions. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of those “it’s not the book, it’s me” type of situations where I realize after reading it that this book clearly wasn’t for me.

When I first read the summary for this book, I was really interested in reading it, as the premise sounded fascinating and unique. The narrative revolves around the 4 Gold siblings who find out from a fortune teller the dates of their deaths. This early prophesy impacts each of the siblings in different ways and over the course of the book, as each sibling’s story unfolds, we are taken down 4 different paths, yet each one links back to the other and ultimately back to their family. Both the summary and the opening chapter hinted at fantasy / magical realism elements and at first, I felt that the author Chloe Benjamin did a really good job establishing the aura of mysticism with the children’s visit to “the woman on Hester Street.” But then, as soon as the first sibling’s story starts – the narrative begins with Simon’s story, then moves on to Klara, Daniel, and finally Varya -- the “mysticism” that was present in the introductory chapter quickly fades and doesn’t return for the rest of the novel. I feel like this was one of the biggest problems with this book – it started off strong and was able to establish an atmospheric mood that made me want to continue turning the pages to see what each sibling’s fate ends up being and whether the prophesies would be fulfilled, however that mood fizzled as soon as the author started going more in-depth into each of the sibling’s lives. Some of the stories had a bit too much detail – some random scenes and references to things that I felt weren’t necessary in furthering the plot and so I ended up skimming some parts (especially with Simon’s story, which I’ll get back to later), pushing forward to the last few chapters of each character’s section so I could find out what ultimately happens to each one.

In terms of the writing, I would say that it was pretty good – not stellar but not bad either. I think the biggest issue with the writing was the lack of consistency -- there were some parts that were very well-written and actually provoked quite a bit of thought and self-reflection, but then there were other parts that left me scratching my head, wondering where the author was trying to go with the plot. This brings me to the other major problem I had with the book: I feel like the author tried to cover too much ground and ended up being all over the place. There were many topics touched on in the book – family, relationships, love, religion, politics, education, health, environment, race, gender, discrimination, military, science, history, ethics…the list goes on and on – however I feel like there wasn’t much in-depth exploration of these issues and instead, many of them were thrown in randomly rather than incorporated seamlessly into the stories. With all that said though, one of the things I did appreciate about the book was the amount of research the author put in to make sure her references to events and settings were as accurate as possible – this part was consistent throughout all 4 narratives and was one of the redeeming qualities of the book for me.

One thing I do want to mention, which I feel is important for those deciding whether to read this book or not, is that there were quite a few explicit sex scenes, mostly in Simon’s story, that were uncomfortable to read. I’m not sure if I’m explaining this correctly but the problem for me wasn’t necessarily the graphic nature of the sex scenes per se, but rather that I wasn’t expecting those types of scenes in this book and also I didn’t feel they were necessary to include – the story could have been told perfectly well without those scenes. Same goes with many of the other random sexual references interspersed throughout the book – while those weren’t necessarily explicit, it just didn’t make sense to me why they needed to be included.

As I said at the beginning of my review, this book clearly didn’t work for me, however I seem to be an outlier here since there are many 4 and 5 star reviews for this book, so I would say check those out before deciding.

Received ARC from G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Group) via Edelweiss.

The Immortalists absolutely rocked me. This is one of those books that grabs you, and refuses to let go until it’s completely upended you, turned you inside out, and left you a steaming pile of emotion. What would you do if you knew the date of your death? 4 siblings are about to find out. But is the woman who gives them this information really a seer? Or is the idea of the date she gives them such a powerful motivator that it turns them all into walking self-fulfilling prophecies? It’s been quite some time since I read a book like this one. It’s reinvigorated my love of the written word. She weaves the story, using words sparingly, but in such a fashion as to make the story pop off the page. It’s verbal painting, a symphony of sentences that blend together seamlessly. I don’t know if you can tell, but I really loved this book.

Simon, the youngest child, runs away to San Francisco with his “lost cause” sister. He’s a gay Jewish teenager and has never felt right in his own skin with his family. Klara, his sister is really the only one he’s ever been himself around. Through Simon we get a glimpse at life in the late 70s and early 80s in San Francisco, tantalizing peeks into ballet, the inner struggle of dealing with your own sexuality when the majority of the rest of the world calls it a sin, and the AIDS epidemic of the 80s. Its an uncomfortable, painful read, but also beautiful and moving.

Klara has always been drawn to magic. She’s a genius at sleight of hand, but she’s always been drawn to the more death defying acts. Perhaps because of, or in spite of, the date death she feels she’s running toward. No one in her family has ever really depended on her, and she’s dealing with the enormous grief she tries to drown in alcohol for the role her decisions played in shaping the lives of her family. Through Klara we get an idea of how alluring it can be to relinquish control to something else, and the delusions it can cause, even to the point of fulfilling prophecies.

Daniel, the oldest boy, has been the family rock for so long. He becomes a doctor, marries a nice young mostly Jewish girl, and helps take care of the mother left behind by the younger siblings. As the years pass though, his bitterness and regret over estranged siblings consumes his thoughts, to the point that he believes if he can just find the seer and make her admit to her wrong doing, he will stop the cycle of death, stop his feelings of guilt for having instigated the visit to the seer.

Varya. The oldest girl and seemingly coldest of the bunch. With her research into aging, and the gift of being told she will live a long, long life. The last Gold child left. Did she create the space between her and her siblings to protect herself from the loss she fervently believed in? Is her OCD something that would have developed on its own with her Jewish upbringing and the rituality that went into her faith? Or did it develop from a staunch belief that if she could just adhere to her rituals, she could prevent the loss of all of her siblings? I started the section on Varya thinking that she was the most one-dimensional. The one I could least relate with. I was completely blown away by how full and rich Varya became. There’s absolutely nothing shortchanged about her by the end of the book.

Chloe Benjamin has created something truly special with this book. If I didn’t know better, I would think I was truly reading the thoughts and feelings of 4 different people. 4 unique, individualized characters that have suffered through the realness and rawness of life. I absolutely adored this story and will be putting it on my hardback shelf of oft revisited stories.

I realize that in my book reviews I lean toward exuberance and hyperbole, probably because I’m an author, and I’m in awe of others’ talents. I could never write so eloquently or think so deeply. How do they do it? I read so many books searching for the answer to this question on every page. Once again, an author has stunned me with her mastery of transforming thoughts into words, images into words, life and love into words. How did she do it? Practiced sleight of hand, trickery, or magic? Everything. All of this. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a masterpiece, as bleak and joyful as life itself.

The Gold family’s story begins in 1969, when the four siblings visit a fortune-teller with a particular talent. She can foresee with one hundred percent accuracy when you will die. Each of the children visits her alone, in her NYC apartment, near the Williamsburg Bridge. She predicts each of their deaths, one at a time. The youngest dies first, followed by the next-to-the-youngest, followed by the next-to-the oldest, leaving the eldest child, Varya, alone to carry on. They die in reverse order of their births, strangely enough. There are no spoilers here. The premise of the novel is clearly revealed in the beginning and the titles of the sections of the book give the rest of these events away. Just like in real life, everyone dies, no surprise there, but what if you knew exactly when? The day and the year? Would you make different decisions? Live life more fully, and recklessly, or more cautiously, hoping to duck when the grim reaper swings his scythe? Sometimes by seeking to avoid fate, you avoid life, and lead an existence so devoid of the pleasures of connection, you might as well be dead. Each of the Gold children acts out separate, imaginative, convoluted answers to universally pondered questions about life and death. Compelled forward by the loss of previously deceased siblings, the Gold’s twirl, leap, drift, stumble, and head purposefully toward death. The uniquely specific predictions of their deaths, exactly as the old woman delivered them, steer the siblings toward their individual fates, as inevitable as time itself.

What role does religion play, when someone faces death? The Gold’s parents raised them in the Jewish faith. Sometimes God means “order and tradition, culture and history.” They question whether ritual and tradition are merely superstitions, or symbols of a mystical interpretation and understanding of love for family, the earth, its creatures, and the whole human race. The rituals and traditions bring us together and that’s the secret to eternal life, the reason that humans created religion. Klara, the second Gold to die, chants her mantra, “I love you all. I love you all.”

Does consciousness survive the death of the body? If it does, then death isn’t death at all. “…there’s magic in the world: some strange, shimmering knowledge in the very heart of the unknowable.”
Thoughts become words, and actions, and the living remember these words and actions, keeping the dead alive, and passing these memories, and the emotions that uplift and support them, on to the next generation.

Varya Gold, the eldest sibling, grows up to be a scientist in a laboratory filled with apes. Daniel becomes a military doctor whose job is to decide which soldiers are fit to be deployed, or not. Klara is a magician , and Simon, the youngest is a dancer. Their stories are mesmerizing. In Daniel’s section of the novel, he quotes one of his teachers, Dr. Theodore Woodward, who believed that the simplest hypothesis was usually right. “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” When you hear the hoof beats of the Gold family, be ready for unicorns, a whole sound-barrier-breaking herd of them. I’ll be thinking about The Immortalists for a long time.

I'm still mulling over this book. There were some parts that captured me and made me feel and/or think. But there were a couple of sections that I found dragged on or just didn't spark my interest. Overall, I enjoyed the story of family. I enjoyed reading about the connections among the siblings, even with the grief and angst that were woven into the story. The characters in a book make or break the book for me and, although I vacillated between a three or four star review on this one, I went with the four star. I came to care about the characters and wonder about the choices they were making. Their lives took different directions and yet there was still connection in some way or another.

In the opening chapters, the four siblings visit a woman who tells them, individually, when they are going to die. The siblings choose not to reveal this information to the others (except maybe in the most general of terms). As I read the book, I considered how the prophecy impacted the lives of the characters and maybe even crafted their choices. The story did make me think how life might be different if you actually were told the date of your death, say as part of a puberty ritual. How would knowing that death date frame your choices for life?

I also appreciated the dynamics among the siblings. Tough choices had to be made and the siblings had to live with the choices made by the others. Bonds flourished or faded. When the bonds became seemingly invisible, it was a reminder that people have to feel safe to be vulnerable and safely isn't guaranteed in families.

If you're looking for a thoughtful read with a bit of magic tossed in, then give The Immortalists a try. Chloe Benjamin has a way with words and some of her words will really tug at your heart. Some will make you reflect on mystery and chance and the role of family in life. All in all, it was a good read and one that I can recommend.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is the epic tale of the four Gold siblings, and how they live their lives after visiting a travelling psychic as children and being told the day of their deaths. How each deal with the impending date is slightly different, and begs the question of whether knowing when you will die would be a good thing? How would it affect your life? Would it force you to make different decisions? Do you put your faith in a prophecy given to you by someone others might say is a fraud? Do you even waste your time thinking about it, or bury it away?

This novel is going to be a tough one for me to rate on a star scale. It is a VERY well-written book, and I devoured it in two sittings. I read Simon's section one night, and the rest of the sibling's sections the next day. The entire premise of the book is incredibly intriguing, and really hooked me from the very beginning...and honestly would make a great book club selection because there's so much to talk about. But if you need to like the characters in your book...this one is probably going to drive you batty.

I mean it. If you need to care immensely about their outcome, really connect with them on a deep level, and like them as a person...this might not be the book for you. I'm okay with not liking my characters, or reading a book full of what I like to refer to as Gray people. Characters who aren't all good, wonderful, great, nice, sweet, terrific (Light) or evil, mean, rotten, horrible, nasty (Dark). They instead fit somewhere in the murky middle ground. I didn't necessarily "like" any of the Gold siblings, or their mother...or any of the other characters in this book. I came very close to liking Simon and Varya, and I'm okay with that. They were complex characters, for the most part.

It's funny...hands down, my favorite scene in the entire book comes at almost the very end, in a conversation between Varya and her mother. I'm not going to spoil anything for you...but my thoughts on the whole thing were pretty in line with the mom, who you generally don't like for the first half of the book...and the second half wonder if it's the same woman. But I was left wondering if things would've gone different for all of the Gold children if they'd have had this conversation with their mom a few decades earlier!!

Anyway...the book definitely makes you think...so I'd say it was worth reading. I thought the writing was phenomenal, but it isn't an easy one for me to sum up in a cute little bundle for public consumption. I have complex feelings, so this review is probably all over the place! But a huge thank-you to netgalley for sending me the book to read. A very complex read, where death may as well have been another character as in The Book Thief. But if given the chance to give a few whollops to some folks...I would.

I'm somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars so perhaps 3.75 Stars?

I picked up The Immortalists for 2 reasons. 1. It was one of the most anticipated reads of the year (on many lists) and 2. It was voted as my local Book club book of the month. It's not typically something I would pick up on my own so I enjoyed getting a bit out of my comfort zone.

When the book starts we meet four siblings: Daniel, Simon, Varya and Klara. They are young kids and hear about some woman who can tell them potential secrets about their life to come. When they arrive the woman takes each child in on their own and tells them the date of their death. All the siblings come out and kind of brush it off but at the same time continue to keep it in the back of their head as they go through life.

This book is split into four sections and each section is about one of the four siblings. It's basically their life journeys and how they get to their so called "due date". I would say that the stories don't overlap all that much so you really need to pay attention to each one individually.

The biggest question that comes out of this book is, 'If you knew the date of your death, would you live your life to the fullest until then?' Some of the siblings do and some of the siblings don't but you'll have to read to find out! Another question that comes up is are there really people who can know these death dates or are they frauds? Is it all just a coincidence?

This book definitely made me think...alot! Some of the stories were incredibly sad (especially the first two) and it was interesting to follow what life paths they each took. However towards the end I think there was some really positive truths that come out about the family and how they lived their lives.

The thing that turned me off about this was that it read like 4 stories in one. I typically like to have my stories flow all throughout the book and each time it was a new part I felt like I was starting over. I would have liked to see the stories intertwined a bit more.

Overall it was a solid read and it will be a great book to discuss for book club!

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
by Good Book Fairy in 2018, Animals, California, Family, Favorites, Fiction, Judaic, LGBT, Literary Fiction, Magic, New York, Sisters/Brothers

My Review: 4.5 stars

The Immortalists is a literary fiction family drama that balances the premise of living by fate or free will. Do we live our lives by circumstance or intention? After four children visit a nomadic gypsy to find out the date of their deaths, this knowing forever torments their lives, a whisper in the recesses of their minds of how much time they have left. Whether it’s true or not, they can’t know, but they wonder if their lives will become self fulfilling prophecies or led by chance alone.

Broken into four distinct parts for each of the four kids, we learn how their lives play out. Some parts were very predictable while others were more surprising. Each character went in vastly different directions both figuratively and literally. I enjoyed Simon’s character even though it was the most predictable. I’ve never read a book that offered such a focused glimpse into the gay scene of the 1960s. Watching him come alive, out of his long hidden sexuality, was well done. Each of the parts were impeccably researched. It must have been quite taxing on the author.

The writing in this book switched from literary, to poetic, to simple, which worked for me. However one thing that turned me off was the random sexual reference that was completely unnecessary. For example: describing Varya by having a “patch of fur” between her legs seemed gratuitous in my opinion. How does that help me know the character? Again, I was slightly jarred during the pointless imagery of penises when Simon was in San Francisco. I’m no prude; these just felt out of place with the tone of the book.

The final part to the book and also the one in which much of the story converges belongs to Varya. Her path and ultimate outcome came with a few twists and a great understanding of why she chose her profession. Most readers will like this part the best I believe.

The book promises an underlying of magical realism and mystical moments, which I didn’t get much of. It by no means hindered my reading experience, it just didn’t fit the PR the novel has been getting. Magic practiced as an art form is present and important, but not as an otherworldly force that I thought would be present.

Kudos to Chloe Benjamin for creating a thought provoking book that will leave book clubs divided as they battle the question of how live is lived…free will or fate?

Visit goodbookfairy.com for more like this!

I had high hopes when I started reading this book and breezed through the beginning. I loved the concept -- five children in the 60's go to a fortune teller who tells them the day they will supposedly die. Sounds like a good book, right? I thought so until I got to the next section which tells what happens to the kids as they grow up. The youngest is gay. Now I have nothing against homosexuals and am not a prude, but I felt there was no need to go into the graphic detail that the author does in this book. It ruined the story for me, so I stopped reading. I rarely give low reviews, but I felt so disappointed with this book that I had to write one. I'm a librarian, and I know the book is a bestseller and has received awards, and maybe the story gets better, but I personally didn't want to wade through the "dirt" to get to the good parts.

The premise of this novel is wonderful: four children go to see a gypsy fortune-teller and she predicts the exact day of each of their deaths. As far as we learn as the novel progresses, the predictions turn out to be accurate. The question is, how do the predictions impact the lives of the children? Are they essentially self-fulfilling prophesies, which the children (now adults) make true by the way they lead their lives? Or is there something else going on?

After the initial scenes of the prophecy, we spend time tracing each of the four kids’ lives and deaths. Oddly, it is the youngest, Simon, who dies first. Klara, second youngest, is the next to die. Daniel follows and then Varya, the oldest, survives longest. We get a good look at their lives and choices that lead to their ends. Unfortunately, in general, the kids’ stories can’t quite live up to the premise Ms. Benjamin has set up.

I think the main problem is a subtlety: to make the premise work in the right direction, the lives that follow are all, in some sense, rare—male dancer, female magician, and two doctors obsessed in different ways. Four odd lives are a bit difficult to take. It would have felt more grounded if one or two of the kids had led an ordinary life and the expectations of the prophecy had come from the outside rather than being driven by their own strange choices.

That said, I enjoyed much of this. I particularly like the women’s stories. Klara, the magician, is a study in struggle and fascinating because she is difficult to understand. On the other hand, the long-lived Varya is interesting in another way. She is able to reflect on the lives of her lost siblings but is obsessed with her longevity research for reasons that seem disconnected from them. It’s an odd choice.

And that sort of sums things up. There’s a number of odd choices that went into making this novel. It provides for some great moments but doesn’t seem quite to hang together as a whole.

This book was one of three I selected for book club to choose from (Born A Crime by Trevor Noah was ultimately chosen by my group), so when The Immortalists became available at the library I decided to read it anyway. I wouldn’t have selected it if earlier reviews had mentioned the mature themes/language. I’m glad I didn’t purchase it.

While the story idea is interesting (how would we live our life if we knew exactly when we will die?), the author’s decision to use *explicit* descriptions of a teen girl’s body or a young man’s sexual encounters, etc was jarring and distracted from the actual story. There’s no need! I trudged through, because I was curious about each sibling’s outcome and choices. Some made sense and others were fairly unbelievable, as if that sibling’s section needed to be tied up quickly to move on to the next.

Some great insight into living our best life without regret... not living it in reckless abandon like some or living a cautious life that isn’t really “living”. Who do we open up to and reach out to? Tricky family relationships. Career choice. I liked the characters Ruby and Robert the most, because they seemed to be the most grounded in their parts of the story.

All that to say... if you choose to read it, be prepared.

When four summer weary siblings decide to seek out a fortune teller rumored to possess an ability to prognosticate the exact date of one's death, they unknowingly affect the manner in which they live their lives and their relationships with each other forever.

Chloe Benjamin's latest offering begins with the above scene and then becomes a four part study of the life of each sibling. While the siblings do not fully share with each other the prognostications they received, the reader generally knows and this bit of dramatic irony helped to build a low level but ever present sense of anxiety over each of the four studies. The novel becomes an excellent vehicle for philosophy, especially that of death and dying, and for examining familial roles even if it does veer at times toward the unlikely.

Note: ARC received free for review.

This is the story of four people, children when we first meet them in 1969, who hear of and pay a visit to a strange psychic woman who, rumour has it, can tell a person the date of their death.
They all come away with dates. Some are more happy than others to learn how soon / far away these dates are and the rest of the book follows Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya as they grow up and towards their respective date. The main premise of the book being how much knowing and believing when you are going to die actually influences both your decisions and choices in life and, more importantly, what happens in your final days and how much of that is contrived because of it.
I really enjoyed this book which was weird because it was obvious from the start that everyone had a good chance of dying within the book. It's hard to invest in a character when you know that is looming, especially when it is also evident that some may not be around for quite as long as others, and I do like to invest in characters in a read of this nature.
For four children who initially grew up together, they are all very different in both character and personality. How much of that is influenced by the knowledge of their own mortality is very debatable and, without giving anything away, more obvious for some than others.
As I was reading, as the characters made some of their life choices, I couldn't help but question some of their motives. Would they really have done this had they not known their date of death. But then that breeds a second question; did that choice directly or indirectly lead to or contribute to their death. It's hard to explain without an example (spoilers though) but it is very well illustrated in the first story we get in the book. If that character didn't know they would die young, would they have chosen to do what they did which, with hindsight, directly contributed to them dying young. Food for thought most definitely.
The other three stories gave me mixed reactions. Their lives were interesting enough but the lead up to their final days didn't really quite work for me. But then again. I don't know when I am going to die so I really have no right to pass judgement on how someone would act in that situation. Just, for me, there wasn't quite that realism.
With the main topic covered in the book being that of death, there was a chance that the book would be too dark, especially as the majority of people do die but, and I can't put my finger on exactly why, it wasn't. Maybe it was the rich and interesting lives that some played out, maybe it was the overall feeling of family, maybe it was the ones left behind that were enough to lift the tone, I have no idea. There's also quite a bit of mature content in this book. But that's to be expected given the nature and span of the story.
All in all, an interesting concept and story which did make me think. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin, author; Maggie Hoffman, narrator
When the book begins, in 1969, the Gold children decide to visit a fortune teller named Bruna Costello, a Romani gypsy who could tell those who consulted her the date of their deaths. At the time, Varya was 13, Daniel was 11, Klara was 9 and Simon was 7. The lives of the four would be forever impacted by this knowledge and experience. Three were told they would die young, while the fourth would live deep into her eighties. Each of the siblings pretended that the knowledge was ridiculous, when confronted, but as they grew up, they began to think more and more about their impending demise, and they made decisions based on that knowledge, thinking it just might be true. Would their choices propel them in the direction of their deaths, or would they die at the predicted time, regardless?
The book covers almost half a century as it travels down the lives of each of the children, ending with the explanation of Varya’s ongoing life in 2010. The characters are well developed with all of the idiosyncrasies “that flesh is heir to”. Each of them suffered from some disability or deviance which caused a problem during the time in which they grew up. Simon was gay, Varya had OCD, Daniel was overly regimented and organized, and Klara saw the world as her play gym. Their mother was portrayed as a typically complaining, stereotypical Jewish mother who instilled guilt at every opportunity. The father, a tailor, was the more stable, emotionally, and the more accepting of the pair. Both had suffered a huge loss of family members during the Holocaust and were grateful for being in America.
As the three generations of Golds were explored, through their relationships or lack thereof, some of the major issues of the times were also introduced through them. With the parents it was the Holocaust, with the children it was homosexuality and civil rights, with the grandchildren it was environmental issues and women’s rights. The book introduced racism and anti-Semitism, mental illness and environmental issues with animal cruelty taking the center stage. The Castro in San Francisco, which was a well known gay area, coupled with the murder of Harvey Milk, became almost a character in the book as homosexuality was explored in great detail. Because of several interracial couplings, the issues of racism and civil rights were also featured. Mental illness and anti-Semitism were far less developed, but family dynamics was explored fairly well. Overall, did the idea of their deaths hanging over them affect the choices they made, bringing about a self-fulfilling prophecy, or did everything simply go according to plan.
I was not that pleased with the portrayal of the Jewish family and was not quite sure why a Jewish family was chosen to display so many negative aspects of life, unless it was simply because it began on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which was largely populated by Jews at one time, mostly early in the first half of the century. Each of the characters introduced seemed to be selfish and was negatively described until almost the end when some redeeming features were reviewed. Some of the more negative characteristics were selfishness, alcohol consumption, suicide, murder, mental illness, single motherhood, sexual deviance, racism, coldness, a lack of compassion, abortion, and generally cruel or nasty behavior toward one another, making sure to point out their faults rather than their positive qualities, discouraging their efforts rather than praising them.
In some ways I feel as if the publishing industry is pushing the agenda of the far left in most of the books chosen recently, and I found the issues somewhat contrived.

*I received a free ARC of this novel via NetGalley. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

The Immortalists is not quite the magical-realism novel I had expected, but instead provides an in-depth exploration of the lives and behaviours of four very different, but related, people who have all received the same information: the date they will die. Seeing how each sibling deals with the idea of their own mortality and a known expiration date makes for a fascinating study of human psychology and how we relate to the world around us.

I particularly enjoyed how the structure moved from one sibling to another through the course of their lives, but without much overlap, so we get an entirely different perspective of events unclouded by the previous POV.

I was somewhat surprised at how emotionally detached I felt from the characters. I certainly enjoyed reading about them, but at no point did I really feel for them, or invest emotionally in their struggles. This was mainly due to the detached and precise writing style, which drew a breathtakingly realistic picture of this family, but in quite stark black pen lines rather than a softer or brighter colour portrait of emotional intimacy. I felt rather like Varya observing her monkeys with interest and pleasure but also a safe distance.

This is a great novel for those who enjoy considering moral and philosophical ideas in a fictional setting, and provides much material for thought and discussion, so I would particularly recommend it for book groups.

Most adults claim not to believe in magic, but Klara knows better. Why else would anyone play at permanence - fall in love, have children, buy a house - in the face of all evidence there's no such thing? The trick is not to convert them. The trick is to get them to admit it.

- Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists

(Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog)

The Immortalist is not a book one would usually see here on this blog, but it was a very intriguing read and a thoughtful pick. Everyone knows the same to know the future is to be trapped by it and that is very much the scope of this novel it is the bubble that this novel lives in, and it is fascinating to see that concept take control of the novel and drive it forward for these four separate and different characters. The novel opens with four young children, siblings of various ages, who see a psychic about their deaths. The idea of death is not one that one would think children would be interested in and yet it is the climax of this novel, opening with such a powerful moment giving the story a strong foundation.

This news affects each child in such a different way, and it is interesting to see the way cause and effect work in this novel. It goes through the motions of evaluating the child, going from youngest to oldest and studying how their knowledge of death has affected their lives and how their lives, and deaths, in turn, affect one another.

It is interesting to see how these stories interconnect and how these siblings grow apart and then verge together. There’s sadness in the novel but also love and the novel, it captures such a compelling idea, not about death but life, about living one’s life. No one ever wants to think about death, but it is always around the corner, it is impossible to escape, but these characters have to live their lives despite that. No, they learn to live their lives despite that. Moreover, through each character, the reader can see how they seek to live their lives, how they seek to be happy with the time they have. Because that is what life is, it is about being happy. Moreover, as much as this novel focuses on life and death and being happy, it also gives strength to the family dynamic.

No family is perfect, some may look it, but every family has their problems on how everyone acts contrary to what they want. However, it teaches a lesson here in the novel: that no one should be expected to put their lives on hold for other people. That is not living, and these characters discover that, through trial and heartbreak, these characters discover happiness in their lives, even knowing that death is coming on a specific day. Even more realistic is the tension driven relationship between the family. Often it is critical and angry, but it is also loving.

There is so much realism to the novel as it moves from the 80s and the AIDS crisis to present day, capturing the time periods with ease. Significant things happened and to see how they affected these four characters, in such different ways, was terrific. It brings the characters to life, giving them dimension through the time, making them sympathetic characters. There are times when the reader both loves and hates them when the characters annoying them yet are being entirely reasonable in their desires to be happy. It is an emotionally driven novel driven by emotionally driven characters.

The characters are what make the novel as they strive to learn the meaning of living. Sure, it is a cliché in numerous mediums that there is a difference between living and surviving, and this novel addresses that without being cliché about it. It tells a story about four people who had something bizarre happen to them when they were children, it shows the reader the effects of that knowledge and the changes in these characters. It captures life, both beautifully and unremorsefully. (★★★★☆ | B+)

I enjoyed this book so much! The writing was beautiful and the story was so engaging that I didn't want to put it down. However, this isn't a book that you fly through in one night. It's best enjoyed in pieces and savored slowly. Right from the beginning, after the siblings visit a fortune teller, we know when each character will die, or at least when they are told they will die. The headings for each section seem to confirm this is true as each character has their own section with an end date that matches up with the fortune teller's prophesy.

The first section belongs to Simon who as a teen runs away to San Fransisco where he feels he will be free to be out as a gay man and will find love. or at least lovers. As this takes place in the late 70's early 80's it's not a stretch to imagine how Simon will die. This was the absolute hardest section for me to read. It must of been so terrifying for these men to be dying in mass quantities of a disease that no one understood or had even named yet. It's horrifying and heartbreaking. Klara's and Daniel's stories were also emotional and their ends completely shocked me. At the end of Klara's section I had to put the book down and take a break because it was so surprising and sad. The manner of Daniel's end was also unexpected. The oldest sibling and the one who was prophesied to live the longest was Varya and her story is last in the book. As with her siblings her life was also quite tragic but a twist in the plot completely astonished me and her story wasn't without hope.

I cried real tears more than once for these characters and I could not have been more invested in their struggles and achievements. I was blown away by how many little threads from previous sections were picked up in the later sections and became meaningful and important. The author really is quite clever and I bow down to her ability to keep all these little details straight. Although this book focuses on the lives of the four siblings it also delves into the family's ancestors and there's a nice little historical connection that runs through to the very last chapter. I really can't recommend this book enough!

The premise of The Immortalists is that 4 siblings at a young age visit a woman to read them their "death date". Not all of the kids share when this date is going to be, but Varya is more than willing to share hers as it is when she is 88 years old if I am remembering correctly. Simon, Klara and Daniel are not as quick to share.

The rest of the book is broken down into four sections relaying the story of each child and how they lived their lives always having this date in the back of their head.

Although I did find it a curious premise, I also found it to be some what of a downer. Simon does leave home to find himself; Klara does have a magic show she always dreamed of; Daniel has a family and a successful career and has never put much credence to his death date, but Varya seems to just have had a miserable life always worrying about her brothers and sister. Despite their successes, it just has an overall depressing tone which is what I suppose I should have expected.

I also didn't know how to feel about their mother, Gertie. All four kids seem to have had a bond with their mother, but all at different times in their lives. Their father dies when they are all teenagers so they are left with the responsibility of caring for her as she ages.

The book does tie all of their lives together, but it also just felt a little disjointed to me, too. What a way to write a confusing review, huh?

Four siblings visit a fortune teller. Each were told the date of their death. This impacts them in ways no one can imagine.
This book is divided into 4 sections. One for each of the Gold children. The first section starts with Simon. I can't imagine a better starting point. Simon escapes his family and travels to the west coast with his sister Klara. Simon and Klara learn more about themselves than they planned on. Simon stops at nothing. This is not necessarily a good thing.
Klara makes a name for herself. She follows her dream to become a magician. This eventually leads her to Las Vegas. Has she hit the big time? Is she happy?
Daniel becomes a doctor. He recently hits a snag in his career. This takes him down the path to find the fortune teller. Did the dates she give them change the way they all approached their lives?
Then there is Varya. She becomes a scientist. She researches responses in monkeys to determine life span. Is she going to control her date of death? Or what does she plan on achieving?
These four characters all have flaws. Simon is the most heart wrenching story. Klara is a character I most related too. Her tenacity, witt, and determination are not to be messed with. Daniel is a little bit of a conundrum. He is intelligent. Too intelligent to do what he does. The there is Varya. She is almost too smart for her own good.
All four of these young people's lives have been changed based on one visit to this medium. This is like four spirits intertwined about one past day. The characters and their stories are riveting, heartbreaking, momentous and so on.....
Well! I started the new year off with a super good read! The Immortalists is not to be missed. Mesmerizing, captivating....I could keep going but you get the picture.
I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

4.5 stars
I couldn't wait to find out how knowing their death dates would shape each sibling.
We immediately start the journey of the four siblings (Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya) in the late 1960s with Klara and Simon's stories. Simon is the youngest and only 16 when his life takes a drastic change. He and Klara have moved to San Francisco where their lives take very different paths. Simon came across as quite a lost soul and out of the 4 he was my least favorite character. (Side note: Varya was my favorite) One of the huge positives for me about this book was the author's ability to bring each and every character to life. They were SO vivid and each was so well developed even though many were only briefly in the story. The authenticity of the characters and the flow of the narrative kept me reading through the first 35% when I wasn't sure if this would get above a 3 star rating for me. Long story short...it did! I think my struggle with the beginning was not connecting with Simon's character all that much.

I was so invested and immersed in the remainder of the story that I flew through it in one sitting. I had to find out if the psychic's predictions were true and if so how would these characters I had come to like and care for die? I will be honest and say I found a particular resolution with Daniel way too convenient and not in alignment with what I felt I knew about his character. A minor issue. Overall, I thought this was a wonderful story about fate, living life to the fullest, and living it authentically. I never highlight in my kindle but there were many sentences toward the end that stopped me in my tracks and I knew I wanted to remember those thoughts. To me, that's a sign of excellent writing. I really enjoyed this story and I can't wait for Chloe Benjamin's next novel.

How would you live your life differently if you knew the exact date of your death? It sounds like the kind of cheesy and faux-uplifting premise you might find in a Lifetime movie, but in Chloe Benjamin's capable hands, it's devastating, profound and intellectually stimulating.

As young children, the four Gold siblings visit a fortune teller who reveals when each of them are going to die. Then, the book splits into four different part, following each sibling through the trajectory of his or her life through to his or her inevitable death.

Simon leaves home at 16 for San Francisco, where he comes out and becomes a ballet dancer. Klara, plagued by a drinking problem and possible mental illness, follows her dream of becoming a magician. Daniel, haunted by the prophecies the fortune teller laid out for he and his siblings, becomes obsessed with tracking her down. And Varya, the oldest, dedicates her life to researching longevity.

The Immortalists begs the question: would their lives have turned out the way they did if not for the fortune teller? Are their specific death dates truly inevitable, or did they subconsciously become self-fulfilling prophecies? Would they have been better or worse off never knowing?

There are a lot of themes at play here—faith vs. rationality, magic vs. science, fate vs. free will—but the overriding one is that of certainty vs. uncertainty. Most of us are programmed to derive feelings of anxiety and fear from uncertainty, but The Immortalists suggests that certainty can be just as onerous, that perhaps there's freedom in uncertainty.

I loved this book, from Benjamin's beautiful prose to the complex characters to the thought-provoking themes. This is far from the hokey read you might expect it to be.

Did not like! This review spoils everything from the first section. The kids get their fortunes told, they don't tell each other what was foretold. Fast forward 15 years or so. Dad dies, they all discuss future and what their fortunes were for the first time ever. Youngest kid doesn't want to say his fortune, but that his life will be "short". He then comes out of the closet he was evidently in, moves from NYC to San Francisco in the Harvey Milk era. Then it's just a slow slog waiting for him to die of aids. Because OF COURSE that is what will happen! I was hoping that the author would change it up and have him get run over by a truck, but no - many pages of waiting for the inevitable. The characters don't seem "fully realized" (if that means what I think it does) - they do this and that, stumble into this or that, they think things once in a while. Time moves along quickly and then, quite quickly youngest sibling is dead. He made a series of bad choices as if he couldn't help himself. And I guess that's the theme of the book - how thinking you know the date of your death could possible affect how you live your life. It's almost like this guy went looking for aids as the date got closer. Anyway - no thanks! Depressing, not interesting or compelling, unlikeable characters, etc. I usually always try to finish books, but I'm bailing on this one early. Especially since other reviewers said the first two sections were the most interesting. I rarely post reviews - not sure why I felt compelled to leave this one.

I loved this book and here's why:

The thought provoking premise. I was constantly thinking about this book when I was not reading it because of the philosophical questions that it generated about destiny, fate, love, family, parent relationships, sibling relationships and religion.

The family story. This book reminds us that family is always such as important aspect of one’s life, especially at times of crisis and dark moments, and that keeping big secrets from your family is never a good thing.

The structure. The book is divided into 4 sections, one for each sibling, so the reader spends about a quarter of the book with each of them as the main POV's perspective. Chloe Benjamin tells a unique and insightful story about each sibling, and how that fateful day with the fortune teller impacts Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya in so many different ways.

Historical aspects. There are many references to historical events and pop culture. Summer of Love, drugs, the Stonewall riots, the 80s AIDS epidemic, the start of magic in Las Vegas, post 9/11 references, and the advanced medicines to treat today’s diseases.

Beautiful writing. Chloe Benjamin takes controversial topics such as religion, fate, destiny, and magic, and tackles them through relatable, conflicted characters with descriptive emotions that allow the reader to feel what each character is going through. Chloe Benjamin’s writing made me feel like I really knew these people.

The settings. I loved the many settings, especially in New York City, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

The *only* ding (drawback) that I have on the book are the few gay sex scenes in one sibling's section that were a tad too descriptive for me personally so I skipped them. Aside from this, I feel that this book is a strong candidate for being studied in high school literature classes due to its philosophical questions, complex themes and the colorful discussion that will result.

Would you want to know the day of your death and, if you did, would it make you live a fuller life or throw caution to the wind? Would your age determine who you reacted to this news? THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin is about four siblings (Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon) who visit a woman as young children and she gives them the dates of their deaths. The rest of the book plays out in four sections where each section follows one of the children as they grow up and approach their date. The reader is constantly asking themselves if date of their death is determining their choices in life. If they are trying to beat death or accept it. This book is dark. When you are done, you will cycle through your own life and ask if there are things you would do differently. In addition, sections of this book are uncomfortably graphic which made the first section difficult for me personally to get through. However, this book is packed with emotion and historical references and the writing is very good. Varya's section was really compelling as her choices in life are determined by everyone else's choices and she has to face the consequences of that. And let us not forget Gertie, their mother, who may have changed the course of the book if even one of her children had thought to talk to their mother about what they heard. Overall, I can think of many people that will appreciate this novel when it comes out in January and many interesting book club discussions will occur because of it.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you were told when you were going to die, would you believe it and anxiously await that day? Would it change how you live your life and color every decision from that point on?
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a captivating exploration of family connection and alienation, the power of faith and self-determination. The book begins in 1969 as four siblings sneak away from home to visit a woman purported to be able to tell the future. Specifically, she can predict the exact date when a person will die. The children, ranging in age from 7 to 13, nervously make their way to the woman’s home through the city streets. They are close-knit, from a caring home with hard-working second-generation immigrant parents. When they arrive at their destination, the woman tells them they each must enter alone- thus beginning a separation that will continue and grow after that day. The story is then divided into four parts, one for each main character, as they grow up under the pressing knowledge they have been given. Each of the Gold siblings are lovingly depicted by the author with great depth and complexity. They each find their way through tumultuous times, leading interesting lives filled with richness and making difficult choices. Their stories are inspiring and heart breaking, they orbit each other and overlap, but each one discovers their destiny alone. This is a wonderful book, well-written and thought-provoking.

I’m afraid this didn’t impress me the way it did others. The beginning is overwritten, the characters’ lives predictable, and their personalities flat. It’s written in a distant third person, and covers huge swaths of time, so I just couldn’t get invested in the siblings and therefore didn’t care very much how they met their promised ends. Oh well.

In the late sixties the four Gold children go see a psychic who tell them all the date of their deaths. Not how they'll die, but when. How it happens drives the four stories of the kids as they grow up but not necessarily older, and how being left with this information becomes both a gift and a burden. However this is no science fiction novel of how the Golds fight to change their fates. Instead it really is more a meditation on how you choose to live your life or not faced with this information as the date of your destiny looms closer. The first and last children to pass, Simon and Varya, resonated much more strongly to me, and unfortunately to explain why would spoil the story. Yet all four kids have unique and interesting lives and the book certainly provokes the discussion of: What would you do if given the same info?

I feel like it’s been a while since I have read a good family drama, so I’m hopeful that this story of four siblings who sneak out together to a psychic to learn their fortunes – namely the day on which they will die – lives up to its intriguing premise. I have not read anything from this author before, and it has gotten a lot of pre-publication support, so I am looking forward to it!

Each of the four Gold children learn the exact dates of their deaths and then the book is broken up by each sibling’s perspective in the order of their death dates. The book covers decades and gives it a surprisingly epic feel despite it not being very long. Simon runs to San Francisco and Klara strives for success in her magical act while older siblings Daniel and Varya have steadier careers in the sciences – Daniel as a doctor and Varya researching longevity.

It’s a great book, really – one that draws each character quite completely. It’s hard to put down and very well-written. It would definitely read more from this author in the future – and it really covers a lot of topics that will lead to some great discussions amongst book groups, I am sure! It’s an engaging family drama and one that I enjoyed much more than I expected to, staying up late two nights in a row to finish it!

I have been hearing about this book for MONTHS and the praise has been everywhere. This book is pretty straightforward … four siblings visit a fortune teller and she tells them the exact date of each of their deaths. The rest of the book reveals the lives of each sibling and how knowing the exact date of their deaths impacts them. I found the novel to be a great way to explore the idea of fate and whether or not knowing when our life will end has an impact on how we live that life. My husband was told by a fortune teller how old he’d be when he died and he’s convinced that she was right after she shared other things that there is no way she could have known. I’m not sure I buy into that but it’s been interesting to see how he’s reacted to that information. Reading this book was really enlightening. It made me think about my feelings about fate and creating your own life and/or death. I didn’t love this one nearly as much as some of my reader friends. But, I did enjoy it and I’m glad I read it. I really enjoyed learning more about each of the siblings and their journeys. I definitely recommend it and think it might make a great book club book as it could bring up some interesting conversations about life and death.

I loved the idea behind this book and it is what drew me to want to review it. What would you do with your life if you knew the exact day you would die? If you knew exactly how much time you had to live? Also, that cover? It's gorgeous!
This story revolves around the four Gold children and how each of them lived their lives after finding out exactly how long they had to do so. I don't want to go into any details and spoil any of their stories but I will say they are varied and troubled, each in a different way.
I cannot say that I particularly liked any of the characters as they were all rather selfish and self absorbed. Simon was especially but his story is the one that touched me the most and the only one I could truly forgive for his selfishness. All of the stories are touching in their own way and each gives you a different perspective on life and teaches you something. This is the exact reason I read this book.
I will say that the last story did drag a bit and felt less emotional and cold to me but I think that that was Ms. Benjamin's point. While this may not be my favorite book ever, I think the story and lessons inside the story are important and I would recommend The Immortalists if this premise intrigues you at all.

I don't know how I feel about this one! It's often a depressing look at how the knowledge of death shapes how we live our present. Each section narrates the life of one of the Gold siblings, who visited a fortune teller when they were children and found out the dates of their deaths. Instead of dismissing or forgetting the fortune, they become obsessed with the knowledge - each in their own way - and that obsession leads them to embrace living in very different ways, depending on how soon or far their deaths are.

I love the premise, and some of the abstract thoughts and how they're delivered. Probably my favorite character was Ruby, who plays a very minor role in the novel, but whose personality seemed the most interesting. Each of the siblings fell a little flat for me. Klara, a magician, was both my favorite sibling and the one I found most disturbing, and I almost would've rather read an entire novel about her and her life than that of the other Gold siblings. Although that would've left me very depressed.

Recommended for readers of family drama and who enjoy novels told across generations.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

New York, 1969. The four adolescent Gold siblings visit a local fortune teller who claims that she can tell each of them exactly when they’ll die—down to the month, day, and year. With her prophecies about their respective death days in mind, the Golds find themselves on vastly different paths in life.

In search of identity, Simon flees to San Francisco. Klara’s obsession with illusion and magic leads her to Las Vegas. Responsible, dependable Daniel becomes an Army doctor. Pragmatic Varya devotes herself to a scientific career studying longevity.

As the siblings’ lives diverge over the span of decades, the fortune teller’s prophecies linger in each of their minds. But just how much of life is choice, and how much is fate? Both heartbreaking and illuminating, The Immortalists poses the ultimate question: If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

Author Chloe Benjamin has created a rich cast of characters who I found myself growing attached to. As each story unfolded, I felt my heart aching more and more for each of them. This is a beautiful, haunting story that I'm still thinking about, days later. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.

The Immortalists begins in 1969 in New York’s Lower East Side. We meet the gold children - Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya. The children have learned that there is a fortune teller in town and they make their way to visit her. They each go in one at a time and come out forever changed. She told each of them the day that they would die.

The story is then broken into 4 parts. Each part focuses on one of the children. Some of the children grow up and go far away, some stay close, some stay attached strongly to their Jewish heritage, some rebel.

Each character, Simon, Daniel, Klara, and Varya are so beautifully developed. You feel like you know them. You care about them.

You watch as each character creates their life and how much it has been influenced by them being told the day they are going to die. Rather or not they believe the prophecy, it still impacts them and how they live their lives. Along the way, several issues are covered, the beginning of the AIDS epidemic as well as animals in labs for research.

I really enjoyed this book, though parts of it were sad and some even made me flinch. The story is well written and the characters very well developed.

I received an ARC of the book.

This was a powerful story, which starts off in NYC in 1969, the Gold children, Varya 13, Daniel 11, Klara 9 and Simon 7, have heard from people about a traveling psychic who can predict the day of your death, and they all sneak out to see if they can find her.
A story of an interesting family all so diverse in their wants in life and how they end up living their lives.
As the children grow they move to different places to live, and pursue their passions. Simon, moves to live a life no one knew about and studies dance.
His sister Karla has always wanted to be a magician, Daniel becomes a Doctor and Varya, a longevity specialist. Wherever they are, they always have on their minds, what they were told by the psychic.
This book was one that was hard to put down, as I became invested in each of their lives. It was also one that kept me a bit on edge, thinking about what it would be like to have the information they did. Would you believe it as destiny or would you think it was just the ramblings of an old woman, and how would your actions play into it.
This is a book well worth reading, and which will make you think about life.
I would like to thank NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC of this book.

The Immortalists is a thought-provoking story about four siblings who are told, at a very young age, the dates of their deaths.

How do you live your life, if you always know exactly how much time you have left? Does that knowledge change you? Would it have been lived another way, if you didn't know?

It follows each of them closely in the days leading up to their respective deaths. Some of them live with careless abandon. Another spends their days researching the science of aging, hoping to defeat their destiny.

As I read their stories, I found myself thinking a lot about how I would handle that information. I thought about how the absolution of death weighs on our actions every day. Eventually, I realized I was thinking more about that than I cared how the actual characters dealt with it.

As wonderful and thought-provoking as the concept to The Immortalists is, I just didn't connect with the characters. The story moves at a rapid-fire pace, and I felt like I was watching their lives on fast-forward. There were never any real moments to slow down and settle in to get to know them. One paragraph, they're facing financial troubles. The next, they live in another state and have a child. It just moved too rapidly to form a connection.

Most disappointing was that the knowledge of their date of death never seemed to cross their minds until it came. It wasn't until then that it clicked for them why they'd lived the way they did, and it came across a little explainy. That, combined with the predictability of what kills them, left me a little cold toward the characters.

Still, the book left me thinking and I think I'll still be thinking about it for years to come. And maybe that was the whole point? As iffy and negative as I may sound, I really did enjoy this book and all the thinking it made me do.

So, for now: 3 stars, and anxiously looking forward to what Chloe Benjamin puts out next.

I love the questions that the premise alone of The Immortalists raises, if you could find out the date you will die would you? If you would, how would that shape your life? Would you live in fear knowing the clock is ticking to a specific end date? Or would you live each day to the fullest and be fearless and daring? So much to ponder here and I predict this will be a popular pick for many book clubs in the months to come.

This read like a family saga that spans decades but it was presented in a new and unusual way. Each of the Gold siblings tell their story with each one taking up about a quarter of the book. It begins in the late sixties and ends in 2006 and while I found all of their sections compelling, I enjoyed Simon’s the most. His is mainly set in the early eighties in San Francisco and his gentle spirit and journey to finding what truly makes him happy really touched me.

This was a thought provoking read that will make you question your own mortality and manages to teach some important life lessons without being cheesy. Benjamin has a lovely way with words, I can see this being classified as literary fiction without that pretentiousness that sometimes accompanies that genre.

3.5 Stars.

BEWARE the woman on Hester Street.

As the story begins, it's 1969 New York when four bored adolescent siblings....just for a bit of fun....pool their allowances and sneak out to track down a seer they heard tell about that could predict the date of their DEATH.

What they discover changes each life forever.

One by one, the individual stories are told, the dates of demise divulged as we follow a young Varya 13, Daniel 11, Klara 9 and Simon 7 throughout their often heartbreaking, challenging and tumultuous lives while experiencing the closeness of family, the devastation of loss and a uniquely plotted work of fiction.

Take note that the first story is particularly graphic, (and predictable) but indicative of the times and a 1960's San Francisco. There are also a few other descriptions of bodily changes mentioned that I found bizarre and rather unnecessary throughout the novel, and last but not least, as an animal lover, 'part' of one storyline was quite bothersome.

Overall though, each story is an interesting tale in itself....with a message....that culminates into one thought-provoking read....Would you want to know?

2.5 STARS - I was intrigued by the premise of this book: if you knew the date of your death, would you live your life differently? Would you make the most of the days you have left?

But (why does there have to be a but?!) my feelings are all over the place with this book. The first quarter of the book, Simon's story, I found quite interesting. But as the book progressed I became less interested in the older siblings and I was disappointed that the fantastical element is pretty much forgotten after the initial chapters.

I wanted the author to delve deeper into the whole 'you know when you'll die, how are you going to handle it?' issue. There's a brief mention of self-fulfilling prophecy but that's about it. Instead, it's more of a dysfunctional family saga where the story is told in chronological order which means that by the time we get to the older two siblings, the reader has missed out on most of their lives. An odd choice and probably why I liked Daniel and Varya's stories the least. (Honestly, I would have loved more time spent on Ruby).

While the cover art is beautiful and eye-catching and the premise is unique, overall, I was underwhelmed by this book. It touches on some big topics but not in enough depth. I know I'm in the minority with my feelings. This was an okay read for me but many readers adored this book. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.

Disclaimer: This ARC was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The concept is intriguing, irresistible – if you knew the date of your date, how would that affect the rest of your life? Would you live it with no fear, doing everything you ever wanted to do, or would it be like a sword constantly hanging over your head, limiting your every move?
That’s the premise of this fascinating novel, and it makes for an equally fascinating read.
The story is centred on four siblings, the Gold children, who visit a psychic in 1969, who predicts when each will die. They tell no one of the date that is each revealed to each, including among themselves. But the date clearly informs how each live their lives into adulthood, and we follow them through their separate, sometimes strange journeys in sections that deal with each sibling separately.
There’s the shy bookish Varya, gay Simon who finds love and acceptance in 1980s San Francisco, Klara who becomes a musician, and Daniel who becomes a doctor. Both Simon and Klara’s sories were particularly vivid, fantastical and well imagined, and I enjoyed these sections. Less space is given to the stories of Daniel and then Varya. It is also a story of immigration – and how that has affected the trajectory of their parents’ lives. Is it really possible to predict the future – and is that future bound up in character only? The fortunte teller says early on, “Your character. Ever heard of Heraclitus?”
Varya shakes her head.
“Greek philosopher. Character is fate— that’s what he said. They’re bound up, those two, like brothers and sisters. You wanna know the future?” She points at Varya with her free hand. “Look in the mirror.”
And if you think you know the date you’ll die, do you unconsciously make that future happen? “But Varya and her siblings had choices, and the luxury of self-examination. They wanted to measure time, to plot and control it. In their pursuit of the future, though, they only drew closer to the fortune teller’s prophecies.”
At times the novel reads like a mystery as we follow the siblings into their lives – and their futures are revealed to us. A compelling, interesting read – which throws up a few questions about fate, and pre-destiny along the way.

The premise of The Immortalists is that 4 siblings at a young age visit a woman to read them their "death date". Not all of the kids share when this date is going to be, but Varya is more than willing to share hers as it is when she is 88 years old if I am remembering correctly. Simon, Klara and Daniel are not as quick to share.

The rest of the book is broken down into four sections relaying the story of each child and how they lived their lives always having this date in the back of their head.

Although I did find it a curious premise, I also found it to be some what of a downer. Simon does leave home to find himself; Klara does have a magic show she always dreamed of; Daniel has a family and a successful career and has never put much credence to his death date, but Varya seems to just have had a miserable life always worrying about her brothers and sister. Despite their successes, it just has an overall depressing tone which is what I suppose I should have expected.

I also didn't know how to feel about their mother, Gertie. All four kids seem to have had a bond with their mother, but all at different times in their lives. Their father dies when they are all teenagers so they are left with the responsibility of caring for her as she ages.

The book does tie all of their lives together, but it also just felt a little disjointed to me, too. What a way to write a confusing review, huh?

Four siblings visit a fortune teller. Each were told the date of their death. This impacts them in ways no one can imagine.
This book is divided into 4 sections. One for each of the Gold children. The first section starts with Simon. I can't imagine a better starting point. Simon escapes his family and travels to the west coast with his sister Klara. Simon and Klara learn more about themselves than they planned on. Simon stops at nothing. This is not necessarily a good thing.
Klara makes a name for herself. She follows her dream to become a magician. This eventually leads her to Las Vegas. Has she hit the big time? Is she happy?
Daniel becomes a doctor. He recently hits a snag in his career. This takes him down the path to find the fortune teller. Did the dates she give them change the way they all approached their lives?
Then there is Varya. She becomes a scientist. She researches responses in monkeys to determine life span. Is she going to control her date of death? Or what does she plan on achieving?
These four characters all have flaws. Simon is the most heart wrenching story. Klara is a character I most related too. Her tenacity, witt, and determination are not to be messed with. Daniel is a little bit of a conundrum. He is intelligent. Too intelligent to do what he does. The there is Varya. She is almost too smart for her own good.
All four of these young people's lives have been changed based on one visit to this medium. This is like four spirits intertwined about one past day. The characters and their stories are riveting, heartbreaking, momentous and so on.....
Well! I started the new year off with a super good read! The Immortalists is not to be missed. Mesmerizing, captivating....I could keep going but you get the picture.
I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

4.5 stars
I couldn't wait to find out how knowing their death dates would shape each sibling.
We immediately start the journey of the four siblings (Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya) in the late 1960s with Klara and Simon's stories. Simon is the youngest and only 16 when his life takes a drastic change. He and Klara have moved to San Francisco where their lives take very different paths. Simon came across as quite a lost soul and out of the 4 he was my least favorite character. (Side note: Varya was my favorite) One of the huge positives for me about this book was the author's ability to bring each and every character to life. They were SO vivid and each was so well developed even though many were only briefly in the story. The authenticity of the characters and the flow of the narrative kept me reading through the first 35% when I wasn't sure if this would get above a 3 star rating for me. Long story short...it did! I think my struggle with the beginning was not connecting with Simon's character all that much.

I was so invested and immersed in the remainder of the story that I flew through it in one sitting. I had to find out if the psychic's predictions were true and if so how would these characters I had come to like and care for die? I will be honest and say I found a particular resolution with Daniel way too convenient and not in alignment with what I felt I knew about his character. A minor issue. Overall, I thought this was a wonderful story about fate, living life to the fullest, and living it authentically. I never highlight in my kindle but there were many sentences toward the end that stopped me in my tracks and I knew I wanted to remember those thoughts. To me, that's a sign of excellent writing. I really enjoyed this story and I can't wait for Chloe Benjamin's next novel.

How would you live your life differently if you knew the exact date of your death? It sounds like the kind of cheesy and faux-uplifting premise you might find in a Lifetime movie, but in Chloe Benjamin's capable hands, it's devastating, profound and intellectually stimulating.

As young children, the four Gold siblings visit a fortune teller who reveals when each of them are going to die. Then, the book splits into four different part, following each sibling through the trajectory of his or her life through to his or her inevitable death.

Simon leaves home at 16 for San Francisco, where he comes out and becomes a ballet dancer. Klara, plagued by a drinking problem and possible mental illness, follows her dream of becoming a magician. Daniel, haunted by the prophecies the fortune teller laid out for he and his siblings, becomes obsessed with tracking her down. And Varya, the oldest, dedicates her life to researching longevity.

The Immortalists begs the question: would their lives have turned out the way they did if not for the fortune teller? Are their specific death dates truly inevitable, or did they subconsciously become self-fulfilling prophecies? Would they have been better or worse off never knowing?

There are a lot of themes at play here—faith vs. rationality, magic vs. science, fate vs. free will—but the overriding one is that of certainty vs. uncertainty. Most of us are programmed to derive feelings of anxiety and fear from uncertainty, but The Immortalists suggests that certainty can be just as onerous, that perhaps there's freedom in uncertainty.

I loved this book, from Benjamin's beautiful prose to the complex characters to the thought-provoking themes. This is far from the hokey read you might expect it to be.

Did not like! This review spoils everything from the first section. The kids get their fortunes told, they don't tell each other what was foretold. Fast forward 15 years or so. Dad dies, they all discuss future and what their fortunes were for the first time ever. Youngest kid doesn't want to say his fortune, but that his life will be "short". He then comes out of the closet he was evidently in, moves from NYC to San Francisco in the Harvey Milk era. Then it's just a slow slog waiting for him to die of aids. Because OF COURSE that is what will happen! I was hoping that the author would change it up and have him get run over by a truck, but no - many pages of waiting for the inevitable. The characters don't seem "fully realized" (if that means what I think it does) - they do this and that, stumble into this or that, they think things once in a while. Time moves along quickly and then, quite quickly youngest sibling is dead. He made a series of bad choices as if he couldn't help himself. And I guess that's the theme of the book - how thinking you know the date of your death could possible affect how you live your life. It's almost like this guy went looking for aids as the date got closer. Anyway - no thanks! Depressing, not interesting or compelling, unlikeable characters, etc. I usually always try to finish books, but I'm bailing on this one early. Especially since other reviewers said the first two sections were the most interesting. I rarely post reviews - not sure why I felt compelled to leave this one.

I loved this book and here's why:

The thought provoking premise. I was constantly thinking about this book when I was not reading it because of the philosophical questions that it generated about destiny, fate, love, family, parent relationships, sibling relationships and religion.

The family story. This book reminds us that family is always such as important aspect of one’s life, especially at times of crisis and dark moments, and that keeping big secrets from your family is never a good thing.

The structure. The book is divided into 4 sections, one for each sibling, so the reader spends about a quarter of the book with each of them as the main POV's perspective. Chloe Benjamin tells a unique and insightful story about each sibling, and how that fateful day with the fortune teller impacts Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya in so many different ways.

Historical aspects. There are many references to historical events and pop culture. Summer of Love, drugs, the Stonewall riots, the 80s AIDS epidemic, the start of magic in Las Vegas, post 9/11 references, and the advanced medicines to treat today’s diseases.

Beautiful writing. Chloe Benjamin takes controversial topics such as religion, fate, destiny, and magic, and tackles them through relatable, conflicted characters with descriptive emotions that allow the reader to feel what each character is going through. Chloe Benjamin’s writing made me feel like I really knew these people.

The settings. I loved the many settings, especially in New York City, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

The *only* ding (drawback) that I have on the book are the few gay sex scenes in one sibling's section that were a tad too descriptive for me personally so I skipped them. Aside from this, I feel that this book is a strong candidate for being studied in high school literature classes due to its philosophical questions, complex themes and the colorful discussion that will result.

Would you want to know the day of your death and, if you did, would it make you live a fuller life or throw caution to the wind? Would your age determine who you reacted to this news? THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin is about four siblings (Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon) who visit a woman as young children and she gives them the dates of their deaths. The rest of the book plays out in four sections where each section follows one of the children as they grow up and approach their date. The reader is constantly asking themselves if date of their death is determining their choices in life. If they are trying to beat death or accept it. This book is dark. When you are done, you will cycle through your own life and ask if there are things you would do differently. In addition, sections of this book are uncomfortably graphic which made the first section difficult for me personally to get through. However, this book is packed with emotion and historical references and the writing is very good. Varya's section was really compelling as her choices in life are determined by everyone else's choices and she has to face the consequences of that. And let us not forget Gertie, their mother, who may have changed the course of the book if even one of her children had thought to talk to their mother about what they heard. Overall, I can think of many people that will appreciate this novel when it comes out in January and many interesting book club discussions will occur because of it.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you were told when you were going to die, would you believe it and anxiously await that day? Would it change how you live your life and color every decision from that point on?
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a captivating exploration of family connection and alienation, the power of faith and self-determination. The book begins in 1969 as four siblings sneak away from home to visit a woman purported to be able to tell the future. Specifically, she can predict the exact date when a person will die. The children, ranging in age from 7 to 13, nervously make their way to the woman’s home through the city streets. They are close-knit, from a caring home with hard-working second-generation immigrant parents. When they arrive at their destination, the woman tells them they each must enter alone- thus beginning a separation that will continue and grow after that day. The story is then divided into four parts, one for each main character, as they grow up under the pressing knowledge they have been given. Each of the Gold siblings are lovingly depicted by the author with great depth and complexity. They each find their way through tumultuous times, leading interesting lives filled with richness and making difficult choices. Their stories are inspiring and heart breaking, they orbit each other and overlap, but each one discovers their destiny alone. This is a wonderful book, well-written and thought-provoking.

I’m afraid this didn’t impress me the way it did others. The beginning is overwritten, the characters’ lives predictable, and their personalities flat. It’s written in a distant third person, and covers huge swaths of time, so I just couldn’t get invested in the siblings and therefore didn’t care very much how they met their promised ends. Oh well.

In the late sixties the four Gold children go see a psychic who tell them all the date of their deaths. Not how they'll die, but when. How it happens drives the four stories of the kids as they grow up but not necessarily older, and how being left with this information becomes both a gift and a burden. However this is no science fiction novel of how the Golds fight to change their fates. Instead it really is more a meditation on how you choose to live your life or not faced with this information as the date of your destiny looms closer. The first and last children to pass, Simon and Varya, resonated much more strongly to me, and unfortunately to explain why would spoil the story. Yet all four kids have unique and interesting lives and the book certainly provokes the discussion of: What would you do if given the same info?

When I first glimpsed the gorgeous cover of THE IMMORTALISTS and read the startling synopsis I knew I wanted to read this book. A beautifully written literary tragedy about the choices made when you know the date of your death. Will the Gold siblings – Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya die on their respective dates because it is fate or because the prediction shapes the life choices they make? Is the psychic’s taboo information a gift or a curse?

Written about each of the siblings in order of their death, the first half of the book is about dynamic Simon and Klara, whom stole the show, followed by the more conventional Daniel and Varya. I was taken by Simon’s story of a teen boy coming out in gay San Francisco in the 1970’s. He has unabashed sex with lots of men, uses drugs, and becomes a dancer at a gay club. He ultimately succumbs to AIDS, or ‘gay cancer’ as it was known at the time, on his predicted day. Klara accompanies Simon to San Francisco to study magic. She perfects her act and moves to Las Vegas, marrying her stage partner, Raj and together they have a daughter named Ruby. Daniel becomes a doctor in the military and craves a stable suburban lifestyle. He confronts the psychic fraudster who delivers each siblings’ fate. Varya, given the longest to live, studies longevity in Rhesus monkeys and avoids risks and disallows herself to ‘live’ to cheat death.

The juxtaposition between Varya studying genetic longevity and Klara’s magic act that can’t bring Simon back is the ultimate coup de grace. THE IMMORTALISTS is a heartbreaking look inside a family full of regrets, quarrels, resentment, and coping with alcoholism, depression, and OCD.

I feel like it’s been a while since I have read a good family drama, so I’m hopeful that this story of four siblings who sneak out together to a psychic to learn their fortunes – namely the day on which they will die – lives up to its intriguing premise. I have not read anything from this author before, and it has gotten a lot of pre-publication support, so I am looking forward to it!

Each of the four Gold children learn the exact dates of their deaths and then the book is broken up by each sibling’s perspective in the order of their death dates. The book covers decades and gives it a surprisingly epic feel despite it not being very long. Simon runs to San Francisco and Klara strives for success in her magical act while older siblings Daniel and Varya have steadier careers in the sciences – Daniel as a doctor and Varya researching longevity.

It’s a great book, really – one that draws each character quite completely. It’s hard to put down and very well-written. It would definitely read more from this author in the future – and it really covers a lot of topics that will lead to some great discussions amongst book groups, I am sure! It’s an engaging family drama and one that I enjoyed much more than I expected to, staying up late two nights in a row to finish it!

I have been hearing about this book for MONTHS and the praise has been everywhere. This book is pretty straightforward … four siblings visit a fortune teller and she tells them the exact date of each of their deaths. The rest of the book reveals the lives of each sibling and how knowing the exact date of their deaths impacts them. I found the novel to be a great way to explore the idea of fate and whether or not knowing when our life will end has an impact on how we live that life. My husband was told by a fortune teller how old he’d be when he died and he’s convinced that she was right after she shared other things that there is no way she could have known. I’m not sure I buy into that but it’s been interesting to see how he’s reacted to that information. Reading this book was really enlightening. It made me think about my feelings about fate and creating your own life and/or death. I didn’t love this one nearly as much as some of my reader friends. But, I did enjoy it and I’m glad I read it. I really enjoyed learning more about each of the siblings and their journeys. I definitely recommend it and think it might make a great book club book as it could bring up some interesting conversations about life and death.

I loved the idea behind this book and it is what drew me to want to review it. What would you do with your life if you knew the exact day you would die? If you knew exactly how much time you had to live? Also, that cover? It's gorgeous!
This story revolves around the four Gold children and how each of them lived their lives after finding out exactly how long they had to do so. I don't want to go into any details and spoil any of their stories but I will say they are varied and troubled, each in a different way.
I cannot say that I particularly liked any of the characters as they were all rather selfish and self absorbed. Simon was especially but his story is the one that touched me the most and the only one I could truly forgive for his selfishness. All of the stories are touching in their own way and each gives you a different perspective on life and teaches you something. This is the exact reason I read this book.
I will say that the last story did drag a bit and felt less emotional and cold to me but I think that that was Ms. Benjamin's point. While this may not be my favorite book ever, I think the story and lessons inside the story are important and I would recommend The Immortalists if this premise intrigues you at all.

I don't know how I feel about this one! It's often a depressing look at how the knowledge of death shapes how we live our present. Each section narrates the life of one of the Gold siblings, who visited a fortune teller when they were children and found out the dates of their deaths. Instead of dismissing or forgetting the fortune, they become obsessed with the knowledge - each in their own way - and that obsession leads them to embrace living in very different ways, depending on how soon or far their deaths are.

I love the premise, and some of the abstract thoughts and how they're delivered. Probably my favorite character was Ruby, who plays a very minor role in the novel, but whose personality seemed the most interesting. Each of the siblings fell a little flat for me. Klara, a magician, was both my favorite sibling and the one I found most disturbing, and I almost would've rather read an entire novel about her and her life than that of the other Gold siblings. Although that would've left me very depressed.

Recommended for readers of family drama and who enjoy novels told across generations.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

New York, 1969. The four adolescent Gold siblings visit a local fortune teller who claims that she can tell each of them exactly when they’ll die—down to the month, day, and year. With her prophecies about their respective death days in mind, the Golds find themselves on vastly different paths in life.

In search of identity, Simon flees to San Francisco. Klara’s obsession with illusion and magic leads her to Las Vegas. Responsible, dependable Daniel becomes an Army doctor. Pragmatic Varya devotes herself to a scientific career studying longevity.

As the siblings’ lives diverge over the span of decades, the fortune teller’s prophecies linger in each of their minds. But just how much of life is choice, and how much is fate? Both heartbreaking and illuminating, The Immortalists poses the ultimate question: If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

Author Chloe Benjamin has created a rich cast of characters who I found myself growing attached to. As each story unfolded, I felt my heart aching more and more for each of them. This is a beautiful, haunting story that I'm still thinking about, days later. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.

The Immortalists begins in 1969 in New York’s Lower East Side. We meet the gold children - Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya. The children have learned that there is a fortune teller in town and they make their way to visit her. They each go in one at a time and come out forever changed. She told each of them the day that they would die.

The story is then broken into 4 parts. Each part focuses on one of the children. Some of the children grow up and go far away, some stay close, some stay attached strongly to their Jewish heritage, some rebel.

Each character, Simon, Daniel, Klara, and Varya are so beautifully developed. You feel like you know them. You care about them.

You watch as each character creates their life and how much it has been influenced by them being told the day they are going to die. Rather or not they believe the prophecy, it still impacts them and how they live their lives. Along the way, several issues are covered, the beginning of the AIDS epidemic as well as animals in labs for research.

I really enjoyed this book, though parts of it were sad and some even made me flinch. The story is well written and the characters very well developed.

I received an ARC of the book.

This was a powerful story, which starts off in NYC in 1969, the Gold children, Varya 13, Daniel 11, Klara 9 and Simon 7, have heard from people about a traveling psychic who can predict the day of your death, and they all sneak out to see if they can find her.
A story of an interesting family all so diverse in their wants in life and how they end up living their lives.
As the children grow they move to different places to live, and pursue their passions. Simon, moves to live a life no one knew about and studies dance.
His sister Karla has always wanted to be a magician, Daniel becomes a Doctor and Varya, a longevity specialist. Wherever they are, they always have on their minds, what they were told by the psychic.
This book was one that was hard to put down, as I became invested in each of their lives. It was also one that kept me a bit on edge, thinking about what it would be like to have the information they did. Would you believe it as destiny or would you think it was just the ramblings of an old woman, and how would your actions play into it.
This is a book well worth reading, and which will make you think about life.
I would like to thank NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC of this book.

With more emphasis on character than plot, this book is kind of a slow burn about four siblings who learn the date of their deaths from a fortune teller they visited as kids (which would make a better premise for a thriller, I think). Still, it's a good burn, and although I was initially annoyed each time I had to leave one character's section to start a new one's, I was quickly drawn into the next sibling's world. Fortunately, though all are intertwined, there was no repetition between the sections. Each one started in the year the last one ended. I was most taken with Simon's and Varya's stories and thought these two characters were particularly well drawn. I read this for a book club. Should be lots to discuss. (Review based on a library copy.)

This is the story four children who in 1969 went to visit a fortune teller. This was no ordinary fortune teller - the only fortune she tells people is the exact date they will die. This fateful vist haunts each of the children their entire lives and the repercussions are enormous. Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon have individual sections in the book that tell their stories and how the fortune teller's revelation influenced each of them.

A very interesting story. I don't think I would want to know the date of my death. Although it might help you prepare for it, it would affect your life in many ways.

This is the first book I've read by Chloe Benjamin and I enjoyed the writing style. The narrative flowed nicely and the characters were well-developed. I enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the book.

"He believes in bad choices; he believes in bad luck. And yet the memory of the woman on Hester Street is like a minuscule needle in his stomach, something he swallowed long ago and which floats, undetectable, except for moments when he moves a certain way and feels a prick."

I went into this book expecting it to be a so-so book, but I am blown away. The Immortalists opens with the Gold children (Varya-13, Daniel-11, Klara-9 and Simon-7) visiting a psychic who meets alone with each child to reveal the age they will die. The novel then follows each child through life to the day of their death. Although each child lived so different from one another, I found myself relating to a small piece of each of them. The last two children were my least favorite but their stories still needed to be revealed. Chloe Benjamin surges the reader through time from past to present and we are witness to how life events affect everyone.

The big question of the book; would they have lived and ended up with the same fate even if they didn't know when they would die? Each of the Gold children revisit the memory of the psychic throughout their life, whether they believe it or not.

The Immortalists truly had an interesting premise. That being said, the execution wasn't quite a clean as it could have been. I feel as though the author spent too much time on unimportant aspects and not enough on the predictable plot. Despite this, each story about each character is indeed rather interesting, and that was what kept me reading this book and ready to learn more. I just wish that Benjamin had focused a bit more on the substance of her book.

There is a very poetic quality to this book that makes it a fascinating read whether or not the book itself is good, which is where I had some issues. I found that the characters weren't exceptionally interesting or made me want to learn more about them.
Overall, I would recommend this to someone looking for literary fiction with an interesting premise.

If I had the opportunity to seek out a person capable of telling me the date of my death or that of a loved one would I take that opportunity? I think decidedly not but so begins the story of four young siblings who do exactly that and the profound effects that decision has on their futures and on the relationships that they have with one another.

This beautifully written story travels from New York to San Francisco to Las Vegas and back to the Bay Area. It goes from gypsy fortune teller to dance and magic and from there to medicine and science in the meantime giving the reader pause to think about ideas like the love that exists between siblings, the nature of faith, and what it takes to live the life you want.

I was grateful for the chance to read an early copy of this fine book from Bookish and have no doubt that it will have a huge audience.

After a psychic gives siblings (Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon) their dates of death, their lives are forever changed.

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

Would you be more careful with your decisions ... or more reckless? This premise was intriguing and follows the Gold family in NYC as they grapple with the psychic's revelation. Imagine being only 13, 11, 9, and 7 when a stranger tells you that you will die on a specific date. For some of them, the date is decades into the future, but for others, the impending doom is much sooner.

My take away: Live life fearlessly. Embrace and enjoy the little things. Don't be afraid to love and be loved. "I love you all, I love you all, I love you all." - Klara and Ruby

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All Opinions are my Own.

In 1969, the four Gold siblings visit a supposedly mystical woman who can tell the date on which someone will die. The oldest sibling, Varya, is 13 when they receive the prophecy, and learns that she will live to 88. Simon, the youngest sibling at 7, learns that he will die at 20.

Benjamin chooses to tell the siblings' stories consecutively, in order of their death, which took a lot of the suspense out of the question of whether the prophecies were ultimately true, leading me to understand that the driving questions of this book is actually, "Does knowing the date of your death become a self-fulfilling prophecy?" Benjamin seems to take it for granted that we can accept the legitimacy of the prophecy but is so heavy-handed in answering the question of self-fulfillment that the stories of what happen to the siblings seems very shallow.

This novel has an interesting premise. Four siblings visit a gypsy woman who is rumored to be able to give the exact date of a person’s death. After hearing her predictions, each child deals with the news in their own way, although their knowing seems to deeply affect the choices they make in life.

As children, they were very close, but as adults, they barely have a relationship with each other. In fact, I felt all of them led a very lonely existence. Obviously, this is a dark, depressing story.

Once they hit adulthood, the focus is on each sibling’s life until the day of their death. We see how their stories merge and how each death affects the remaining family members.

I can’t say I really liked the story, but I was compelled to keep reading, mostly out of curiosity. Readers should be aware that there is some explicit sexual content and suicide mentioned in the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/GP Putnam’s Sons for allowing me an advance copy to read and give my honest review.

Would you live differently if you knew the date of your death? Chloe Benjamin explores that question in her finely written novel titled, The Immortalists. After the four Gold siblings visit a fortune teller and are told when they will die, each individual makes choices about life because of what was foretold. Thanks to her finely written prose and deep character development, skeptical readers can overlook the magical dimension of their shared formative experience. Each sibling chooses differently how to incorporate into their lives what they were told in their youth. Benjamin develops each sibling’s life by drawing readers into specific times and places as she steadily maintained the novel’s momentum.

Rating: Five-star (I love it)

‘The Immortalists’ tells the story of 4 children who visit a psychic who tells them the day they will die. This has a haunting effect on their lives. At some points the story can be vague in their lives’ narrative. The names and characters can begin to run together in some aspects even though the book is divided into 4 parts.
Each of the children go on their own lives separately. One goes to California, one to Las Vegas, 2 others stay close to their Jewish heritage and home. The story is told without too much melancholy and gloom but this is not a happy tale. The effect of the psychic and her words stay in all of their minds and even more so as the years go by.

This book does make one ponder what you would do if it became more and more possible that you might know the day you would die. The story of the 4 brothers and sisters brings this to a tale of life and what looms ahead.

Would you want to know the minute of your death? This book is easily my choice for book of the year. Captivated from the moment I began reading, I didn't wish to put it down. This is a fantastic choice for book clubs and I see it garnering a great many accolades.

The plot is absolutely amazing as you follow this group of children, the Gold children, on their quest for the knowledge of their own time of death. The characters are beautifully written and well fleshed out. There are times that I ugly cried at things that were happening in the story, but there were equal times that I loved gobbling up the moments of love and magic. There were also scenes that hurt me and may you if you are an animal lovers, but it did not detract from the story.

I loved it, and would give more stars if possible.

Although this book has a lovely cover, I did not like the story at all.
This is about the Gold children, there are 4 of them. Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon, Daniel over hears a couple of older boys talking about some lady who can tell you the exact day you will die. So the 4 children find an address an go there with their allowances to pay the lady. The children go in one at a time to get their supposed individual death day.
The book is written per child's life after Saul, the father dies starting with Simon. I thought this would be an interesting concept for a book, but after these kids grow up, they seem to do everything they can to make sure the old was right! The 4 main characters are self absorbed and selfish. I couldn't connect with any of the main characters at all. The only character I even half liked was Ruby and that wasn't until towards the end of the book. This book was one that I was so excited to read, but then extremely disappointed.

This was a debut from this author and was one of the most compelling novels I have read in a long time. Each of the four siblings in the book are given a prophecy about how their life will end and the book follows each character as they deal with the repercussions of this knowledge. Each character comes to terms in different ways and either accepts, or denies. This includes chasing their dreams, or letting go and giving up. This book reminded me a little bit of the book Big Fish. I liked that this book was extremely thought provoking and made you question how you would deal with having this information. The book was extremely well written and I loved that there was a clear and concise ending.

I really really tried to like this because it was so highly rated even before it was published. I read a little less than half before giving it away. I just didn’t care about any of the characters. I’ve learned that there are too many good books out there and I can walk away from one if it doesn’t engage me.

Audiobook

I kept putting off requesting this book because I stopped reading family sagas in the early 1980s. But I kept reading the blurb over and over and finally thought why not. This book was so good! It's about 4 brothers and sisters and their life from an encounter with a psychic until their death. I liked that it didn't jump around between them but had four parts for each person. The family itself was so sad. All of the stuff they did or should have done, I just wanted to grab the fictional person by the shoulders and tell them that they matter. I loved the ending. I would definitely recommend this book.

Maggie Hoffman did a great job with the narration - both the men and women, young and old.

Chloe Benjamin immediately drew me into the Immortalists with her provocative premise. On a hot summer day in 1969, the Gold children visit a fortune teller. At the impressionable ages of 13, 11, 9 and 7, the siblings learn the dates of their death. Is the psychic to be believed? And, if so, how will knowing the day you will die, shape the way you live.

In the opening scenes, we only learn that the oldest child, Varya, is predicted to live a long but likely not entirely happy, life. Based on his initial reaction, we suspect young Simon was predicted to die young. Klara and Daniel both found the encounter unsettling, but the readers must be patient to learn more. The siblings keep their predictions to themselves for eight years, when together mourning the death of their father, they reveal their dates and feelings about the prophecies.

The remainder of the book is divided into sections by character. The tone and perspective of each section is unique. Despite the characters leading wildly different existences, the stories build upon each other and slowly reveal deep insights into the power of suggestion in shaping character and ultimately, their destiny.

While I was drawn in by the premise, I became mesmerized by the character development. I desperately wanted to know whether the prophecies would come true for each character. I had a soft spot in my heart for Simon, and cringed for I could see the future he was barreling head first towards. And, it wasn't until I read Daniel's portion of the book that Klara's convictions really hit me.

I would highly recommend this book to some … but not all … my literary friends. Simon's section contains some fairly graphic sex scenes which may be unsettling to some readers. It is worth noting, however, that Simon's section is just that … Simon's section. Once you get through it, you'll become immersed in three entirely different worlds.

I want to thank BookishFirst for the ARC of the Immortalist in exchange for an unbiased review.

The premise for this book made it quite an interesting read. Four siblings, Varya, Daniel, Klara & Simon, at a young age go to a fortune teller who tells each of them separately the date in which they will die. What does one do with that information? Live life to its fullest whether you believe it or not? The kids grow up never really talking about that day or revealing to each other the dates they were told they would die. The story is then told in sections, each section focusing on one of the siblings. In some parts it did slow down a bit for me, but there were some heartbreaking and shocking moments that I didn't see coming. Overall, I felt the writing was very well done.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?” Four siblings go to a gypsy when they are young, she sees them one at a time & does indeed proceed to tell them the date they will die! This takes place in 1969 in New York City’s lower east side. Varya Gold is thirteen, Daniel is eleven, Klara is nine & Simon is seven, all sneak out to have their fortunes told. The rest of the story is divided into four parts telling the individual stories starting at 1978. I would imagine that if four authors used that quote to write a story each would approach he story telling totally different. This was not what I expected, but as I said about the four authors would also apply to four readers. Anxious to read other reviews now.....

This story follows the Gold children from NYC in the 1960s across the years and globe as they mature. After an encounter with a gypsy each is given their death date and must decide for themselves if they believe this information and what to do with it.

The story is broken up through the perspective of each child with each section spanning a decade or so.

I love the central question of “how would you live if you knew when you’d die” and I was so excited for this book because I saw it listed on every “books you have to read this year” list, and I absolutely love magical realism which is what I assumed this book was rooted in. Sadly I just felt let down. I didn’t feel overly invested in the characters aside from SIMON who we lose first. After the first chapter everything felt too predictable and I didn’t get a feeling of satisfaction over who the gypsy was even after we see her in the future.

It’s a great concept and I love all the settings but this one just missed the mark for me.

If you could be told your future, would you want to know? Well, that's exactly what the Gold children want to know. This book is starts off in 1969 in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It centers around the four Gold children, Varya, Danie, Klara, and Simon. They hear of a fortune teller who can see how you'll live and die. They decide to find out what the future holds for them.

Sometimes, things are better left in the unknown. Sometimes when you know what happens you next you can change the outcome. However, in doing so, you might end up changing how things are supposed to be.

A wonderfully, well written tale of how our thoughts and beliefs can indeed change our destiny and sometimes that may not be a good thing.

I want to be sensitive in my review of this novel, because I know it’s a work of great merit for Chloe Benjamin and is receiving a lot of critical praise. How do I say “This just wasn’t for me” without sounding like a total uncultured swine?

Let me start with a brief plot synopsis. Four Jewish children named Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon go on an adventure to meet a gypsy woman who reads their fortune. She gives them each the date of their death, and the rest of the novel is spent in four intervals–each sibling gets their own section, detailing their life up til their death date.

Simon and Klara move to San Francisco, where Simon begins his life as a dancer, living happily as openly homosexual in the 1970’s. Klara pursues a life in the limelight as a magician, calling her act The Immortalist (yes, we are but mere mortals but the interconnectedness of family is immortal, we understand.) Daniel goes to school to become a doctor in the army and marries the woman of his dreams who cannot have children of her own, and Varya, the eldest and seemingly least important sibling in this novel, becomes a scientist with a severe case of OCD.

The novel starts off really solid. Though the pace of the writing starts and stops like a chugging train (sentences is this novel are obnoxiously short and unvaried, reminding me of “I think I can. I think I can.”) it carries us unceasingly to the climax of each sibling without much preamble. There are some superfluous characters (Eddie the cop, who serves literally no purpose aside from random instigation when the plot deems it necessary) and some really silly police work into the criminality of the old Roma woman who gives the children fortunes (maybe she did it on purpose to put the idea into their heads and now their deaths are roundabout murders, but no not really.) Klara and Daniel’s deaths are just strangely forced and feel very against the nature of the characters Benajmin spends such time and tact developing.

I guess focusing on the deaths of the siblings detracts from the actual purpose of the novel, to delve into the branches of this family tree that extends beyond the core and into the immortal. But the concept was so much better than the delivery that I can’t help but linger on them, overshadowing what is probably a very passionate and complete novel for those who aren’t me.

Memorable Moment:

“Most adults claim to not believe in magic, but Klara knows better. Why else would anyone play at permanence–fall in love, have children, buy house—in the face of all evidence there’s no such thing? The trick is not to convert them. The trick is to get them to admit it.”

I received this book from Penguin Random House through Bookish First for an honest review.

Very interesting and got me thinking! First things first, I was surprised when I started reading and discovered that this book was about a Jewish family. It wasn't in the description nor had anybody I had talked to said anything about that. I thought that it was really refreshing and interesting to read about a Jewish family because I've never read from that perspective before, which surprises me as I write this.

I think what I really enjoyed about this book was seeing the psychological impact that knowing their futures put on the characters. The aspect of knowing their futures and what it did to them really made me think. It really forced me to consider deep philosophical questions about life and death and everything in between. It was overall really good. The only thing that docked a point for me was that at some points I had trouble with the plausibility of some events that occurred in the story but other than that I enjoyed it a lot!

I won an ARC from Read It Forward.

This was a lovely read! I was pulled in from the first chapter where the four Gold children visit a magician and find out the date they'll die. The four parts of the book then follow each child while they grow and explore what it means to really live. It also does a beautiful job debating fate verses free will. The interplay between the magician's prophecies and the choices they each make made for some great stories.

I would recommend this to anyone who:
- is looking for a mystical family drama
- wants to take a break from another genre

I will definitely be checking out other works by Chloe Benjamin!

I received an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Chloe Benjamin has written a definite winner with this book. She had me crying. At one point she had me ugly crying. By a certain part of this book I had to just stop for a minute. Not because I wasn't enjoying the book but because of how emotional this book is. I wasn't sure if I could handle anymore. Or if I wanted to. But of course I did because you had to. I wasn't going to not finish this amazing book so when you pick it up and you have to. You just have to. Make sure you have plenty of Kleenex near by and loads of spare time to dedicate to this amazing book. Can't wait to read what she comes up with next. Happy reading!

On a hot summer day in 1969, the four Gold children, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon, sneak out of their NYC apartment to have their fortunes told. But this isn't just any fortune teller, this woman claims she knows the day they will each die. The story follows each of the children through specific moments in their lives, their search to hide from their dates, to prove they matter in the world. If you knew when you were going to die, would you live your life differently?

The Immortalists is a beautiful and moving magical realism tale that shows how familial bonds can never really be broken. The story is elegantly written and so true to each character that I could feel them in their joys and pains.

4.5 Stars

I have been reading mixed reviews about this book and I have to say, I just don't get it. I loved *most* everything about it. It made me think critically and really ask myself the question on the back of the book; If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?"

As I was reading through the book I was thinking about my own life in relation to the characters. Would I live recklessly and selfishly like Simon? Would I live in a fantasy world that doesn't live up to reality like Klara? Would I be cold-hearted and intent on revenge and control like Daniel? Would I live in fear and isolation like Varya? It was so interesting to see these different characters and how they handled this information, especially Varya, who I found most interesting.

This book also made me ask questions that I don't often think about. Do we create our own destiny or is it already set in stone? Is knowing our date of death a self-fulfilling prophecy? Do we make choices to ensure the prediction comes true? These are all interesting and mind-boggling questions that I asked myself throughout the book.

The one choice the author made that I was not a fan of was the graphic sex scenes. The way Simon acted definitely fit his character and how selfishly and recklessly he chose to live his life, but the language used to describe those choices seemed to be a little too much, reaching into a different genre of book altogether. I was wondering if this was affected by his sexual orientation and if it would carry through to the sections on the siblings, but it did not, which befuddled me. Although, again, it was most likely a product of the characterization, just not one I was a fan of.

Overall I enjoyed this book immensely and will be recommending it to those I know as well as looking for what else this author has available to read.

**I was given an ARC of this book from a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

My pick for best novel of the year so far. This is a masterfully written literary novel that delves into the lives...and upcoming deaths...of four siblings who, as youngsters, learn from a fortune teller the day they will die. How this knowledge (or is it nonsense?) effects their unstable personalities (or is this information what makes them unstable?) makes for unputdownable reading. Not only is each character different and interesting, but the novel is also a treatise on destiny vs. choice. Spectacular writing, imaginative storytelling, all set against four different recent periods of American life. This is a novel to die for.

I picked up The Immortalists thinking it would be a magical realism story which focused on the magical side, especially since it’s classified as fantasy on Goodreads. But really, it’s focused a lot more on the realism side, with small hints of magic here and there, and a gorgeous family epic at its core.

The Immortalists is the story of the Gold family through five decades, starting at 1969, when the four Gold children visit a woman who claims to be a psychic who can tell when a person will die. Each of the four children is more affected by the knowledge of their own dates of death differently, and throw themselves at a chance to live life in their own way before the fateful day arrives.

This story is a lovely, intricate, raw tale of Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya, telling a bit of their stories as they deal with their doubts whether their date of death is true or just charlatanism. It touches on faith, fate, belief vs. non-belief and the power of thoughts. I found each of the stories very enthralling and I was immediately immersed in them, except for Daniel’s. I also wish Klara’s part had been longer (it was the most magical and she had such an interesting personality), but apart from that, I don’t have much to complain about this novel – it was beautiful, raw and felt so real. It was truly something to see the characters grow as the years pass, and some memories staying frozen or seen through a different character’s point of view.

I hope there had been more magic in it, but that was my own fault for not reading the blurb a lot before picking this up. If you love family epics, you’ll love this story for sure.

The Immortalists is a very interesting book. I went into it not knowing what it was about, but the author quickly set up the story and introduced the key characters. The plot line was intriguing, and I found myself wondering what I would do if I was in the same position as the 4 siblings. The subplot was also fascinating - I’ve always been interested in magicians and their stories. To me, the ending was not as satisfying as I would have hoped - not all of the storylines were finished. However, I would definitely recommend this to someone who is looking for something different to read.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such an interesting and unique premise! If you could know the date of your death, would you want to? Does knowing the date, make it become a self fulfilling prophecy? The story of the four Gold siblings over their lifetimes is certainly an interesting take on a coming of age story. While Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya are different as could be, I think there are truly identifiable qualities in each of them. On the last night of their father’s Shiva, they go to a fortune teller and learn the date they will die. It’s incredibly interesting to see how each sibling reacts and how their lives are shaped as a result. Benjamin certainly offers a ton of food for thought here.

This book made me think about whether or not I would want to know the day of my death. It spurred conversations with my friends. We pretty much decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea if were were senior citizens, but could definitely disrupt the plan if we were in our twenties. Then we argued the merits of that thought. Even if you knew the day you would not know circumstances such as stroke or cancer, disability, etc. which might make you not take the risks you might be inclined to take if you knew you had many years to go. I do recommend this book with the caveat that it is not for the squeamish.

This book felt to me like four novellas in search of a novel. Each of the four Gold siblings have a story arc that's treated separately, with only minimal reference to or interaction with the rest of the family. This was the author's choice, but I would have enjoyed more alternating chapters in real time about the lives of Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya. And while the paths they each took were interesting and often unusual, I was never convinced that the one interaction with the gypsy woman could have determined those paths, and never felt connected to them as fully formed characters.

I am in love with Chloe Benjamin’s writing. I plan to buy her other book The Anatomy of Dreams as soon as possible. I hope to read many more of her books in the future. I really hope she continues writing. I really believe this book should be a Pulitzer winner. Oh my goodness, what a concept, to know the date of your death. And then for it to come true for 3 of the 4 siblings. I loved the Golds. I was saddened when each of them passed away. I loved how the sections were broken down by sibling yet still tied the story and family together. At first I was not sure about Varya’s section but in the end she won me over. My favorite sibling was Klara, though. My next favorite character was Ruby. This book was so amazing, the plot, the character development, the spanning of time. I can tell Benjamin really did her research. Thanks Bookish First for introducing me to Benjamin and for sending me a copy in exchange for my review

This story brings up a question that weighs heavily on the human psychie whether we want to admit it or not. Would you want to know the date of your death?

It is interesting to see how they each have handled young adulthood as a result of the old woman’s predictions. Even more interesting is the timing of death the author selects for each character.

Within the first 35 pages it is already intriguing, and makes you want to see if the prediction holds true for the four siblings.

The writing style is less descriptive and more action and dialogue focused. But this does not detract from the story, it lends to the author drawing you in to care about these characters on a deeper level.

This is definitely worth reading in its entirety!

In all honesty, I can't make up my mind how I feel about this book. Parts of it had me spellbound; other parts bored me. Separating it into separate sections for each Gold offspring was an effective format as each builds upon the other from the youngest to the oldest.

The Varya section about the monkeys made me very uncomfortable. I think her resolution felt contrived. It was like announcing- here is the message of the story.

Parts of the mother's story also failed to ring true to me. She just didn't feel a well developed character.

I'm not sure all the hype is warranted.

Did not finish the book. From the beginning the book failed to catch my attention. I did not like any of the 4 children. I figured out quickly how Simon would die. I read the part about Simon and returned the book to the library.

The Immortalists is about four siblings who, as children, seek out a mysterious fortune teller and are told the date of their deaths, and how those words affect the paths of their lives. The story is well-paced and Chloe Benjamin's writing is absolutely captivating. I found myself eagerly turning page after page.

Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Vasya are all very different, and each have their own emotional, troubled story to tell. A heavy feeling of regret permeates the book, and made me want to reach out to my own sibling. And yet, I felt distanced from each character, until Varya's story, which was heartbreaking and thought-provoking. When she opened her eyes to the choices she made in her work and her lifestyle, and what was happening with Frida, it was a powerful moment.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book but felt like it was on the edge of being unforgettable.

Where do you start with this book ? It wasn't as I expected it to be in that the somewhat unusual idea of the 4 children finding out their death dates at the start of the book led us into a family drama told through the eyes of each child as they grow up and head towards their destiny.I thought it might be more spooky dooky , I think I just made that word up but in reality it was a fairly straight forward story, and not my usual genre.it made a change from the usual thrillers Sci Fi etc that I read but maybe lacked excitement.I liked the way the book was divided into 4 stories and we followed each persons life I wish they had interacted more really as the stories seemed quite separate in one way.It was well written but lacked punch and I think it was over long I wanted to like it more than I did.I need to read something that grabs me now in a way that this book sadly didn't. I wouldn't actually put anyone off from reading it, I just felt it lacked some thing and that is a shame.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC.I would give this book 3 and a half stars if I could.

This was certainly a good book.
it was well written and also the format of it was very nice... It felt like it flowed very well for covering such a large expanse of time. I found the storyline quite different in a welcoming way and it was very thought provoking and I admit that it has caused me to ask my friends, how they would feel if they thought they knew the date on which they would die... It's not for everyone but it is definitely one that I would recommend to certain friends of mine.

the premise of this book was very intriguing -- how would you live your life if you knew exactly when you would die? Unfortunately, the 4 siblings who think they know the answer to that question are unevenly portrayed. I almost didn't finish the book after the second sibling's story ended. The last segment redeemed the disappointing third story, but not a whole lot. There are some beautifully written passages and some profound sentiments, but overall, not a book I could recommend.

4.5 Rating. Would you want to know the exact date of your death? Would it change the way you live? That premise, of this fabulously written book is as intriguing as the stories of Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon and how they choose to live their lives knowing their death date. I loved how the book was sectioned off to explore each character and examine their lives as they chose to live them, as they interacted with their family, and as they dealt with the knowledge of their impending death dates. Excellent character and plot development. I enjoyed getting to know these very individual and unique characters. This book really made me think of my own mortality and how U am living my life. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year!!

Benjamin’s contemporary coming-of-age tantalizes with its premise of four siblings who encounter a traveling psychic who reveals when they will die but is feather-light in its examination of the line between destiny and choice. Despite mention of mysticism and psychics, gypsies and magicians, the prose is unadorned, and the brevity of each character’s story evokes a perpetual sense of detachment. The fun of The Immortalists lies in speculating which characters will meet their demise and wondering, if they do, how will Death take them?

⭐️⭐️⭐️?/5
The beginning of the book introduces four adolescents that discover a fortune teller who reveals the dates of their deaths. They hear this news one at a time and do not discuss it among each other. The rest of the book is divided into four sections. Each section is devoted to one of these characters and tells their life story. Will they all die on their given dates, or do they use their knowledge to change their destiny?
The book was a quick read, kept me reading, and was enjoyable. However, I wasn’t as blown away by it as I had hoped to be. This being said, I would still recommend it, but just not as one of my top picks.

I'm still absorbing this book, but it built and built with each of the siblings' stories, and it did not let me down. There is so much to ponder here and that's what a great book should do - leave us pondering. Simon's story left me wondering why the author was so graphic in her portrayal of his sexuality, but the franticness of his life came through as a result. Klara's confusion and despair also came through, as well as Daniel's anger and remorse. And Varya. Boy, you have to read that story for yourself.
I'm excited that I'll get to hear Chloe Benjamin speak next month!

The beautiful cover drew me in and is evocative of the masterfully told tale contained inside.

This story fascinated me. Do you live your life differently if you know the day of your death? Or, as the fortune teller claims are you the same person all of your life and knowing what type of person you are helps her to tell you the day of your death?

After Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon visit the fortuneteller the book focuses on each of them as they live their lives in the light of that knowledge. The prose is beautiful, but I was reminded of the wise man in Ecclesiastes. It seemed that they were striving after the wind (Ecc 1:14). As we read their stories, we realize that though they believe they have some sense of control over their lifespan, they do not live well in the knowledge. There is much to ponder here and this book would be an excellent choice for a book group.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 (ESV)

It is a well-written journey of a set of four siblings who set out one day to go see a fortune teller, who in turn, tells them each the day they are to die. After the first sibling dies on the day predicted, the second and third siblings each struggle with defying and accepting their foretold dates of death. As you are going through the latter parts of the fourth siblings life, you wonder: Did the fortune teller alter the way the siblings lived their lives and interacted with each other? Was it a form of subconscious influencing? Or would their lives have been the same without having visited the fortune teller at all?

Compelling story told through a third-person point of view about four siblings. Story begins in 1969 when they are very young and go to see a fortune teller to predict the date of their death. The story then follows each sibling as they progress through life. Engaging, entrancing, beautifully written. I am able to picture what is happening by the words on the page. I am a teacher and started this book during break. I picked it up and read bits and pieces on weekends. Was able to pick up right where I left off without having to go back and remember details. Will keep this one to read again later!

The novel begins in 1969 with Gold family--Saul, Gertie, and their 4 children Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon--living in New York City. One afternoon the 4 kids go to see a psychic who will tell them the dates of their deaths.

And from there we follow each of the kids' lives. How accurate was the pyschic? How does her prediction affect each of the kids in their life choices and career decisions? The 4 kids live very different lives in their daring, their career and educational choices--how much of that is a result of the predictions? Did the psychic (accidentally or otherwise) steer them to decisions that would lead to the intended outcomes? Or is fate just fate?

This book is very well written and well organized. I love family sagas and I love novels that follow people as this one does—and sometimes such novels get messy and confusing. Benjamin has done a great job telling the stories of the 4 kids while interweaving them and those of Saul and Gertie and significant others and their kids. She also ties up the potential loose ends of significant others and children.

A pleasure to read.

This book had me hooked from the right from the forward and the fortune teller. It's a winding tale of four children and how different each was and each life became.
I decided to read it after many from my knitting group had been raving about it. I loved it. The story was so diverse and so well written and thought out. Also, I had the pleasure to meet Chloe Benjamin and found her to be a complete delight.
This is one I think I may read again.

I love audio books and thought the premise of this book sounded interesting. The graphic sex scenes in the beginning made me stop listening on disk 2. I was trying to be patient and wait till it got better but I was getting no enjoyment out of this book.

The description of this book is what really drew me in. My friend picked this for our book club and when she read the description to me I was very interested. The thought of a psychic being able to tell you the date of your death sounded scary yet enticing. I loved the prologue we get to meet the four siblings where they visit the psychic who is legend to be able to predict the date of your death, and has never been wrong. Part one Simon chapter, is where things get weird. Simon is a gay man living in San Francisco during the 80's. The language used for his sexual encounters was a bit harsh and unnecessary. Once you move onto part 2 Klara section things begin to unfold more. The third section follows Daniel and even more evidence comes out. The final section follows Varya where everything is revealed.

Although I don't think this book lived up to my expectations based of the description I still liked it. I had to move past Simon section where we finally get to learn more about the other siblings and if they die on their predicted dates. History about the psychic is also revealed.

The beginning was explosive and I liked this book a lot almost till the end, but there was a not so good third and last part that made me change my evaluation of the book in its wholeness. I still consider this novel a very good one, but it seemed to me a story that didn't keep up with the expectations it has created in the first part of the book, but is just my evaluation and doesn't have necessarily be true for other readers.

L'inizio mi ha preso tantissimo e il libro mi é piaciuto moltissimo e poi molto quasi fino alla fine, ma la terza e l'ultima parte hanno in parte cambiato il mio giudizio sul libro nel suo insieme. Penso ancora che sia un bel romanzo, ma in qualche modo non ha tenuto fede alle aspettative create nella prima parte del romanzo stesso, ma questa é solo la mia opinione e non quella degli altri lettori.

What would you do if you knew the date of your death?

The Immortalists follows the lives of the four Gold siblings - Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya - as they navigate their worlds after learning their prophecies from a traveling psychic. Simon leaves for San Fransisco to find love. Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician. Daniel works as an army doctor post 9/11. Varya immerses herself in longevity research. Each sibling reacted differently to learning the date of their death. And the way they subsequently lived their lives was directly impacted.

I enjoyed how the book was broken up in to section which focused on each sibling's life. It allowed the readers to get an in-depth view of how s/he approached life and how the date was always hanging over his/her head.

This story is a roller coaster of emotions. You feel a connection to each of the siblings as they navigate their world. You feel the connection they have to making the most of their lives and coming to an understanding of what is most important.

The story makes you think of mortality and what you would do if you knew how long you had to live. When you have less time you often live life to the fullest taking advantage of all the moments you are given. When you have more time you can get trapped in the monotony of daily activities and forget to be spontaneous.

This book lives up to all of the hype and will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to Putnam Books and BookishFirst for the free copy. All thoughts are my own.

I do not frequent fiction, but I was happy with this read. With the looming question—How would knowing your exact date of death affect your life—the overarching premise of this book is quite riveting. The author takes that premise and mostly hits the mark in playing it out. There were a few troughs in which a bit too loose narrative caused my interest to wane, but overall it was an intriguing read, while sparking an equally intriguing topic to ponder. Recommended.

When they were young, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon Gold visited a neighborhood fortune teller who told each of them the day they would die. Perhaps if they had talked about it that day, they could have laughed it off and let it be part of the silliness and credulity of childhood, but they did not talk. Instead, they walked home, holding their fate in their minds and letting it gain power over their choices and their lives.

There is the youngest, Simon, who abandons the family’s plans for him and goes to the Castro, becomes a dancer, falls in love, and is one of the early casualties of the AIDS epidemic, dying young on the day the fortune-teller told him he would. Then Klara, the closest to him in age and inclination, who took him with her while she sought a future as a magician, finding love and motherhood, before forcing the prophecy to come true. She never would have encouraged him if she didn’t believe he would die young. Daniel, the older son, sober and responsible, comes unmoored when his day approaches, bringing on his own tragic end by letting anger and guilt overwhelm his normally sober nature. Varya, the oldest, the one whose death may be a long way off (2044) is the survivor, but she survives through circumscribing her life, by cutting herself off from truly living. She thinks she finds joy in order and routine but is satisfaction and comfort really joy?

On the marketing materials for Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, we are asked what we would do if we knew the day we were going to die. I guess that is one way of looking at this novel built on the narratives of these four siblings, told in the order of their deaths–the reverse order of their births. But there is so much more to this novel than that.

It asks us what matters most, the quality or the quantity of our days. Is Simon’s short, but exuberant and love-rich life more tragic than Varya’s long and limited life of denial? Is it fate and magic at work or self-fulfilling obsession? Are they making the prophecy come true? And what if these four wonderful characters had ever just talked to each other? Really talked to each other without defensiveness and judgment. Did they meet their fated days because of some magical knowledge on the part of the fortune-teller or because of a conspiracy of silence that kept them from challenging her timeline? So much of what makes love work is communication and this family does not communicate. That is sad because they all have so much to say.

This is a story about superstition, religion, and reason. It is a struggle between tradition and modernism, between ritual and freedom. This book is rich in thematic ideas about the biggest questions that plague us. I love their mother, the very superstitious Gertie, who, when finally told of this “curse” on her family, asks “After everything I gave you: education, opportunity – modernity! How could you turn out like me?”

This is a story about family, about love that binds us even when we don’t get along. More than anything, this is about love and finding it in expected and unexpected places, about second chances and lost chances and no chances. I find it hard to describe the fullness of the book because there is so much it asks us to think about. And yet, and this is important. This is not a preachy, dogmatic book. It forces the questions, but does not answer many of them…that is up to us.

Many books will break your heart. A few will break it and mend it. Only the most precious can break and mend your heart again and again. If the mended are truly stronger, reading The Immortalists. will make you invincible.

I received an e-galley of The Immortalists from the publisher through NetGalley.

I don't usually talk about the story much when reviewing since the book blurb covers it. But this book deserves more than just I liked it, why I did, why I disliked it, etc. I saw quite a few DNF and 1 star reviews because of a portion of the book. One section doesn't make a book! It entitles the entire novel.

What if you were a child in 1969 and went to a fortune teller who told you the date of your death? How would it affect your life? This is what the four Gold children do and we follow them through the years after this incident.

The two youngest, Simon and Kharla, leave for San Francisco before Simon is of legal age to follow their dreams. Warning: if gay sex scenes bother you, remember this is when the Aids epidemic first began and Simon is gay. Don't give up on the book because of that!

We follow both of their experiences, Simon as a club dancer and Kharla as a magician. While the two older siblings are back at home with their mother, leading more ordinary lives than their siblings. But are they really just ordinary lives? Once told the date of your death, would you ever forget it?

When I first started the book, honestly, I wondered if the whole book was filled with sex scenes. And that is why I would hate for someone to miss out on such an interesting novel because of that. But as the book progressed with each family member, it told each of their stories.

I have to say, I truly enjoyed this book and thought the author did an excellent job at character development! You'll grow attached to the Gold family and after my iffy beginning, I grew to love Simon the best. Not everyone will agree with me, but that's why we write these reviews. And this is my opinion.

I found this to be a touching story of the lives of 4 children growing up and how different, yet the same we all are.

My thanks to the author for starting my year off with such a well written novel.

* I was provided an ARC to read from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review this book.

In 1969, the Gold family lives on the Lower East Side in New York City. Life is normal, boring even, until the four children hear a neighborhood rumor that a local gypsy can tell you the exact date you will die, and decide to see for themselves. After all, what could it hurt? It takes some time, but they finally track down where the woman lives. They must see her alone, so one by one, they enter her shadowy apartment and listen to her words. They never tell each other what she says, but they never forget their dates.

Simon escapes the trap of familial expectations to find love as a dancer in San Francisco. Klara, who has dreamed of magic her whole life, finds reality overpowering, and becomes a magician in Las Vegas. Daniel has a steady future as an Army doctor, but finds the expectations of his job may be more than he’s willing to give. And Varya becomes a researcher in longevity, seeking to unlock the key to a long life, despite the dreariness of her own.

All of them are shaped by the gypsy’s words, and seek to prove her prediction wrong, but sometimes fate is inescapable.
Let me say, first of all, that I think The Immortalists simply wasn’t a good fit for me. I was very intrigued by the premise, and I love family-saga stories, so it seemed a good match. However, the book is told in four segments, one for each character, and I never felt like I really connected with any of them. Briefly, yes, but not enough to truly enjoy the novel.

Benjamin’s writing is lovely and evocative; I could practically smell the streets of San Francisco and feel the heat of the spotlights, but I never connected emotionally with the characters. I did read this quickly, so perhaps, in a different frame of mind, my experience would have been different.

(Galley provided by Putnam/Penguin Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

What I liked most was that each siblings story was interesting and well written.
What I disliked was its heavy sadness and forgone conclusion. There was no deviating for the siblings from there one encounter with the fortune teller's predictions. I was so hoping that one of the 3 of 4 siblings would find the " trap door" as said by Klara. I did finish the book but it became very predictable...and much to sad for me.

Disappointing - read based on the glowing reviews. The first page gave me a sinking feeling - the author introduces the 13 year old lead character with a description of pubertal body changes. And this tells me exactly what about this 13 year old compared to any other 13 year old? I pressed on - was a quick read. Contrived plot with a mawkish ending. Uneven writing - this childhood scenes and dialog are uniformly bad. Has the author ever met a child?

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. I don't think anyone can avoid asking themselves the question of "would I want to know my death date?"after reading the synapse. I was immediately pulled into the story of four young siblings, Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya as they contemplate going to visit a mysterious woman who can provide an answer to this question. I was hoping for a bit more of a Sci-Fi element in the story but still enjoyed reading about the lives of each character. I feel like the story was a solid, fulfilling read but it never gets close to being an exciting, can't put down page turner that I would recommend to everyone. Maybe it's not intended to be and that's ok. I really enjoyed the cover art. As eye catching as the artwork is, seeing the physical book jacket gives the artwork even more appeal. Kudos to the artist and printer. Overall, I give this novel 3.5 stars.

"Most adults claim not to believe in magic, but Klara knows better. Why else would anyone play at permanence- fall in love, have children, buy a house- in the face of all evidence there's no such thing? " p. 103

When I started The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, graciously given to me by Putnam books to review and share, I was excited but also a little nervous. I had been looking forward to this book for months and after talking to Chloe on IG a few times (she is the sweetest human) I was starting to worry...what if I didn't like it? I finally had a quiet evening ahead of me so I lit my favorite winter candle and settled in to read the prologue, wondering what I would think.

You guys. THIS BOOK. Now I am worried I have set my reading expectations for 2018 so high nothing else stands a chance at comparing (or at the very least getting a five star review). I finished the prologue, set the book down and took a deep breath. Already the Gold siblings were getting under my skin, in a good way. I am the oldest of four, we have the same Girl Boy Girl Boy age difference and I can see a little of each of us in each of them. It was slightly unnerving to then in my mind picture myself waiting in a dingy hallway to find out our fortune, knowing I would go last because I am the oldest. Wondering if my siblings were all okay.

These thoughts carried me through the rest of the story, as I met and grieved with each of the Gold siblings. Simon and his courage to live the life he wanted, Klara and her determination and belief in the power of magic, desperately trying to make her audience feel. Daniel and his steadfastness and quiet intelligence. Varya and her loneliness, hurt by so much and unable to break free from its weight. Each character brilliantly written, memorable in not just their actions but also their personalities.

Then there is the question. Would you want to know the day of your death? What would you do if you knew when it was? I thought these were easy questions before I started this book. Obviously, yes and then I would APPRECIATE EVERY DAY and LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST right? Right???! Except those questions aren't really all that easy. As Chloe's story weaves in and around the fortune teller's predictions for each of the Gold siblings, you slowly realize how devastating that afternoon was for each of them. How it pointed their lives down paths they may not have taken otherwise (good or bad) and the emotional toll of this knowledge pulled them apart from each other. It created a separation between them and any other person walking down the street. The ripple effect of the knowing was far reaching and frankly, catastrophic for all of them.

I grieved alongside Varya throughout the entire book, even though we don't really "meet" her until the end. As the oldest, it was all too easy to imagine how she felt. Her responsibility as the oldest, caring for her mother and pushing away her own feelings and needs to ease the monumental pain that she had already endured. Too much.

Altogether, this book created in me such a feeling of hope. Hope in the unknown and the power of it. We don't need all of the answers (look how that turned out for the Gold siblings) to live a full life. I think that is what I took away from The Immortalists. That the power of the not knowing how much time we all have is what makes life full, what makes it something to appreciate and be grateful for every morning. Chloe wove these themes brilliantly all the way to the end, in such a way that will make this story one I will remember and treasure for a long time.

Thank you so much to Putnam for sending me a copy of The Immortalists! And well done Chloe. You deserve every bit of praise and five star review.

This book captivated me right out of the gates. Telling the story of four siblings and their individual reactions to a question common to most people: What would you do if you knew the day of your death? What kind of a life would you live, holding that knowledge in your hands? I fell in love with these characters hard, and in concluding each chapter I'd think I couldn't get more attached. I was wrong. This book is a treasure that I will need to find a hard copy of asap.

This book started promising, but felt like two different books - the first half, when the siblings meet the psychic and deal with their fathers death, and Klara and Simon leaving the family home. The one thing I didn't believe, though, was that a 7 and 9 year old would even care what this psychic said, and that it would affect them for the rest of their lives. Maybe the 13 and 11 year old would think about it, and wonder if what she said was true. But I have a 6 year old and a 9 year old, and there's no way they would take what a psychic told them, and ruminate on it for the rest of their lives. At least, I don't believe so, so that is why I found it hard to really find the book that intriguing. I kept waiting for more to happen, for each character to realize that they should live each day as if it's their last, no matter what this psychic said, and I didn't really find that in any of the characters, except maybe Simon. I didn't enjoy the Daniel and Varya chapers at all, and that is where the second half of the book felt like a totally different novel. I really like the author's way of writing, I just didn't come under some spell that I think, as a reader, she wanted me to feel - because I just didn't think the psychic premise to begin with was really that strong.

Although I was excited to begin this book, it didn't hold my interest & was hard for me to finish.
The first half held my interest through the first two sibling's stories...although I did get tired of the graphic descriptions of Simon's sexual encounters. The second half of the book started okay, but Daniel's story soon became boring and unbelievable. By the time I finished Daniel's story, I didn't really care to read any more of the book.

Whoa! What would you do if you learned the date that you would die early in life. And what if you knew when your siblings would die. And what if, after not believing that the information was real, your first sibling.....well.....not to spoil the story. Wow! Gripping! from the first chapter, Opening up questions in your own mind as you read and reveal the world of the characters, perhaps bringing more questions than answers???........This is a MUST READ

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this book.
Very pretty cover. It was made more attractive when I learnt how the cover design is symbolic.

We follow four children growing up.
Right at the start I could see this was going to be “one of those reads” that you just had to ride along on the journey.

If you were made aware of a date and time on which you were going to die, would this be a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure myself, I’m completely sitting on the fence. In some instance it’s a good thing, in another it freaks me out.

The book is broken into four parts. Each sibling has a story to tell.
Each one is unique.

There is a strong sexual overdrive within this book which was essential to be written in, it wasn’t good but for some it may come as a shock.
So you’ve been warned.
Toward the end of the book it’s also difficult to read about animals being mistreated. The era and the mysterious reading of this book on the whole is a completely different aspect to any book I’ve read so far.

It was going to be a 3* but on reflection I’ve given it a 4* because the writing is complex, believable and oh so good.

It covers the start of the AIDS epidemic, and Las Vegas in the early 1980’s.

The author left me with some thought provoking material.

My copy came through the post from Headline

(Please note, I read an excerpt via bookishfirst.com. I have not read the whole book)
This book drew me in right away and I am very interested to continue beyond the excerpt to find out what happened! It's about 4 siblings that learn about their future and the day that they die through a "psychic gypsy type" woman. They can't share what they've learned with anyone. I can't even imagine what I would do if I had that information as an adult now let alone as a child! I'm looking forward to reading about how the children develop into their adult lives knowing the information they have gained from the woman. Being a native New Yorker, I also enjoyed that the setting takes place in the Lower East Side of the past especially since so much has changed in that neighborhood over the years. I'm sure there are still "psychic gypsy types" around!

This is a hard book for me to review. It was very well written, the story was unique, and the first 3 chapters had me turning the pages. The last chapter had me looking to see how many pages were left to go...perhaps I found Varya harder to take, or maybe I was worn out at that point. I do feel that the detailed sex between the gay men was not needed. I agree that this book would provoke much interesting discussion for a book group.

Fantastic premise and entirely relatable characters! Fate and future thought guide characters to confront facts and fiction in their lives. Employing suspense keeps the pages moving and the intricacy with which Benjamin develops family relationships is remarkable. This is definitely one for the era and I can see why free flowing millennials are holding this book up as their favorite

I loved this book. It’s gotten a lot of buzz and I see why know. How would you live your life if you knew the day you were going to die? That question follows the Gold siblings all through their life after they visit a fortune teller as young children. The characterization of these siblings was wonderful. I got to know each of them so well. This is the best book I’ve read this year. I’m looking forward to more from this author.

This is one of the best novels I have read this year. Chloe Benjamin keeps the reader intimately engaged with each character, luring you in to keep you turning the pages so that you can see how a given character lived his/her life. Her writing is emotionally connected to each circumstance. Rarely has there been a book that has kept me up at night with an intense desire to read more. It is also a book that dives into your own emotions about death, dying, grieving, loss, and joy in discovering your own path toward healing. I did not expect this rollercoaster of thoughts reading a novel about 4 siblings, however this author has successfully captured the essence of exceptional writing and drawn us in.

The Immortalists is a tale about living, dying and surviving. The author touches, through a clever story, likeable style and relatable characters, the subject of mortality, destiny and superstition.
How fully would you live your life If you knew your life will be short? And how free would you live if you were sure the road of your live will be long?
The book makes you think about how the choices you make are just as crucial in shaping your future as destiny is. Maybe even more crucial.

For me, “The Immortalists”, by Chloe Benjamin was an engrossing page-turner. I was intrigued by the premise: four young siblings each learning their “death date”. Would this knowledge become a self-fulfilling prophesy? How would one live life with this “knowledge”? Several reviewers felt that the novel suffered in the Daniel section, but that was not the case for me, I was thoroughly engaged throughout.

Reading the reviews, I expected this to be compelling and it really wasn't. I almost put it down after the first hundred pages as it was so predictable, if you are aware of the history behind it.
I was reading it for a Book Club, so I didn't. It picked up steam as the premise evolved. The best part was the very end where it all came together.
I can't say I would recommend it though.

In The Immortalists four siblings venture to a fortune teller they have been told can predict the dates of their deaths. At 13, 11, 9, and 7 the children are eager to visit the rishika to learn of their fates, but is it such a good idea to know so young when you will die? The book, I assume, tells the tale of each siblings life until death. Reading only a sample of the book it is difficult to know how each of their lives play out, that is why I am going to definitely read this book, as I want to know how each sibling fares in their lives. Will they live their lives to the fullest extent, or will they allow the knowledge of their fate hinder them. Such a great plot line.

The dialog at times seems mature for those so young, it is difficult to make definite assumptions reading so little of the story.

I love the cover also.

Four siblings meet a fortune teller, and it changes their lives forever. They scatter, to San Francisco and Vegas and upstate New York. One becomes a magician another a doctor still another a dancer, but the visit to the seer continues to link them. Chloe Benjamin's THE IMMORTALISTS is about family bonds, about destiny and what control we exercise over it. A riveting story, beautifully told.

This book has such a cool premise that I was really excited to read, but it doesn't do much with it. The story was dry and predictable, and the characters were distant and almost never interacted with each other. I wouldn't recommend picking this up. If you're excited about the idea of this book, whatever book you're imagining is probably more exciting than this book is.

The four Gold kids go to see a traveling gypsy psychic who tells them the exact day they will die. This family saga starts in 1969 New York City and continues for the next five decades. The fateful visit to the fortune teller affects each of their lives differently. The book is written superbly, it makes the reader think a lot about life and death. Would I want to know the day I will die and if I did what different choices would I make in my life? What is reality and what is illusion? Are our lives pre-determined, our destinies unchangeable?
I liked the story of the first two siblings a lot, but the next two were very unlikable for me-especially Varya.

How do predictions change our trajectory in life? How much of our life is fated or predetermined? How much control do we really have over anything in life? I could middle over these questions for days. This book tackles them all after four siblings visit a psychic in their youth in order to add some excitement to their otherwise boring summer. I really related to the plights of each character introduced in the initial chapters and can’t wait to find out how the knowledge of their date of death effects the choices each makes in life. Would each have traveled the same path had they not been given the date of their demise? I felt the characters were well developed and had me rooting for each even as they began to root against one another. I look forward to the rest.

The novel begins in 1969 with Gold family--Saul, Gertie, and their 4 children Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon--living in New York City. One afternoon the 4 kids go to see a psychic who will tell them the dates of their deaths.

And from there we follow each of the kids' lives. How accurate was the pyschic? How does her prediction affect each of the kids in their life choices and career decisions? The 4 kids live very different lives in their daring, their career and educational choices--how much of that is a result of the predictions? Did the psychic (accidentally or otherwise) steer them to decisions that would lead to the intended outcomes? Or is fate just fate?

This book is very well written and well organized. I love family sagas and I love novels that follow people as this one does—and sometimes such novels get messy and confusing. Benjamin has done a great job telling the stories of the 4 kids while interweaving them and those of Saul and Gertie and significant others and their kids. She also ties up the potential loose ends of significant others and children.

A pleasure to read.

This book had me hooked from the right from the forward and the fortune teller. It's a winding tale of four children and how different each was and each life became.
I decided to read it after many from my knitting group had been raving about it. I loved it. The story was so diverse and so well written and thought out. Also, I had the pleasure to meet Chloe Benjamin and found her to be a complete delight.
This is one I think I may read again.

I hope this author improves as she continues to write. I actually started this book three times, before I finally stayed with it. As other reviewers have written, Simon was overdone. Most of us understand the gay lifestyle, but she seemed to get caught up in. Daniel's 'story' was a complete bust. Nothing leads us into the ending of his saga. Frankly, I would have liked to see a more accomplished author tackle the same story but...

I love audio books and thought the premise of this book sounded interesting. The graphic sex scenes in the beginning made me stop listening on disk 2. I was trying to be patient and wait till it got better but I was getting no enjoyment out of this book.

The description of this book is what really drew me in. My friend picked this for our book club and when she read the description to me I was very interested. The thought of a psychic being able to tell you the date of your death sounded scary yet enticing. I loved the prologue we get to meet the four siblings where they visit the psychic who is legend to be able to predict the date of your death, and has never been wrong. Part one Simon chapter, is where things get weird. Simon is a gay man living in San Francisco during the 80's. The language used for his sexual encounters was a bit harsh and unnecessary. Once you move onto part 2 Klara section things begin to unfold more. The third section follows Daniel and even more evidence comes out. The final section follows Varya where everything is revealed.

Although I don't think this book lived up to my expectations based of the description I still liked it. I had to move past Simon section where we finally get to learn more about the other siblings and if they die on their predicted dates. History about the psychic is also revealed.

The beginning was explosive and I liked this book a lot almost till the end, but there was a not so good third and last part that made me change my evaluation of the book in its wholeness. I still consider this novel a very good one, but it seemed to me a story that didn't keep up with the expectations it has created in the first part of the book, but is just my evaluation and doesn't have necessarily be true for other readers.

L'inizio mi ha preso tantissimo e il libro mi é piaciuto moltissimo e poi molto quasi fino alla fine, ma la terza e l'ultima parte hanno in parte cambiato il mio giudizio sul libro nel suo insieme. Penso ancora che sia un bel romanzo, ma in qualche modo non ha tenuto fede alle aspettative create nella prima parte del romanzo stesso, ma questa é solo la mia opinione e non quella degli altri lettori.

The Gold siblings learn about the fortune teller on Hester Street in the summer of 1969. All 4 of them gathered up their allowances and savings to learn the day they are going to die. For the next 50 years and the rest of the book, we learn the fate of the Gold siblings one at a time and whether the fortune teller was right. Or will the Gold siblings make choices based on the prophesy they were each given?

I LOVE the sibling relationships in this novel. They might not always be close or in touch, but even then the characters think about how much they miss and love each other. It's an aspect that stuck with me so fiercely. I understand that sentiment and it made sense to me throughout the novel. There's a small level of fantasy or magical realism in this novel but not enough, in my opinion, to label this a fantasy novel. It's just enough to make you even wonder if it's really there. Is the fortune teller real? Does magic really exist? Or is it all coincidence and slight of hand? Benjamin lets us decide..

You get sucked into each character's mind during their part of the novel and you can't put the novel down until that part is finished. The stories start off so intense and become more calm as you go. The less exciting lives brings down the feelings of uncertainty that novels can end with sometimes. I know some people said they felt like the exciting stories were stronger than the others, but the order they were told left me feeling satisfied by the end.

Mainly, the four stories remind you that the length of your life does not equal quality. This is the idea that I think Benjamin gets across very well. The Golds have been given the date of their death and live their lives accordingly, whether consciously or unconsciously. You see the difference in their joy and the level of responsibility they take for others and in their own lives.

What would you do if you knew the date of your death?

The Immortalists follows the lives of the four Gold siblings - Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya - as they navigate their worlds after learning their prophecies from a traveling psychic. Simon leaves for San Fransisco to find love. Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician. Daniel works as an army doctor post 9/11. Varya immerses herself in longevity research. Each sibling reacted differently to learning the date of their death. And the way they subsequently lived their lives was directly impacted.

I enjoyed how the book was broken up in to section which focused on each sibling's life. It allowed the readers to get an in-depth view of how s/he approached life and how the date was always hanging over his/her head.

This story is a roller coaster of emotions. You feel a connection to each of the siblings as they navigate their world. You feel the connection they have to making the most of their lives and coming to an understanding of what is most important.

The story makes you think of mortality and what you would do if you knew how long you had to live. When you have less time you often live life to the fullest taking advantage of all the moments you are given. When you have more time you can get trapped in the monotony of daily activities and forget to be spontaneous.

This book lives up to all of the hype and will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to Putnam Books and BookishFirst for the free copy. All thoughts are my own.

I do not frequent fiction, but I was happy with this read. With the looming question—How would knowing your exact date of death affect your life—the overarching premise of this book is quite riveting. The author takes that premise and mostly hits the mark in playing it out. There were a few troughs in which a bit too loose narrative caused my interest to wane, but overall it was an intriguing read, while sparking an equally intriguing topic to ponder. Recommended.

When they were young, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon Gold visited a neighborhood fortune teller who told each of them the day they would die. Perhaps if they had talked about it that day, they could have laughed it off and let it be part of the silliness and credulity of childhood, but they did not talk. Instead, they walked home, holding their fate in their minds and letting it gain power over their choices and their lives.

There is the youngest, Simon, who abandons the family’s plans for him and goes to the Castro, becomes a dancer, falls in love, and is one of the early casualties of the AIDS epidemic, dying young on the day the fortune-teller told him he would. Then Klara, the closest to him in age and inclination, who took him with her while she sought a future as a magician, finding love and motherhood, before forcing the prophecy to come true. She never would have encouraged him if she didn’t believe he would die young. Daniel, the older son, sober and responsible, comes unmoored when his day approaches, bringing on his own tragic end by letting anger and guilt overwhelm his normally sober nature. Varya, the oldest, the one whose death may be a long way off (2044) is the survivor, but she survives through circumscribing her life, by cutting herself off from truly living. She thinks she finds joy in order and routine but is satisfaction and comfort really joy?

On the marketing materials for Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, we are asked what we would do if we knew the day we were going to die. I guess that is one way of looking at this novel built on the narratives of these four siblings, told in the order of their deaths–the reverse order of their births. But there is so much more to this novel than that.

It asks us what matters most, the quality or the quantity of our days. Is Simon’s short, but exuberant and love-rich life more tragic than Varya’s long and limited life of denial? Is it fate and magic at work or self-fulfilling obsession? Are they making the prophecy come true? And what if these four wonderful characters had ever just talked to each other? Really talked to each other without defensiveness and judgment. Did they meet their fated days because of some magical knowledge on the part of the fortune-teller or because of a conspiracy of silence that kept them from challenging her timeline? So much of what makes love work is communication and this family does not communicate. That is sad because they all have so much to say.

This is a story about superstition, religion, and reason. It is a struggle between tradition and modernism, between ritual and freedom. This book is rich in thematic ideas about the biggest questions that plague us. I love their mother, the very superstitious Gertie, who, when finally told of this “curse” on her family, asks “After everything I gave you: education, opportunity – modernity! How could you turn out like me?”

This is a story about family, about love that binds us even when we don’t get along. More than anything, this is about love and finding it in expected and unexpected places, about second chances and lost chances and no chances. I find it hard to describe the fullness of the book because there is so much it asks us to think about. And yet, and this is important. This is not a preachy, dogmatic book. It forces the questions, but does not answer many of them…that is up to us.

Many books will break your heart. A few will break it and mend it. Only the most precious can break and mend your heart again and again. If the mended are truly stronger, reading The Immortalists. will make you invincible.

I received an e-galley of The Immortalists from the publisher through NetGalley.

I don't usually talk about the story much when reviewing since the book blurb covers it. But this book deserves more than just I liked it, why I did, why I disliked it, etc. I saw quite a few DNF and 1 star reviews because of a portion of the book. One section doesn't make a book! It entitles the entire novel.

What if you were a child in 1969 and went to a fortune teller who told you the date of your death? How would it affect your life? This is what the four Gold children do and we follow them through the years after this incident.

The two youngest, Simon and Kharla, leave for San Francisco before Simon is of legal age to follow their dreams. Warning: if gay sex scenes bother you, remember this is when the Aids epidemic first began and Simon is gay. Don't give up on the book because of that!

We follow both of their experiences, Simon as a club dancer and Kharla as a magician. While the two older siblings are back at home with their mother, leading more ordinary lives than their siblings. But are they really just ordinary lives? Once told the date of your death, would you ever forget it?

When I first started the book, honestly, I wondered if the whole book was filled with sex scenes. And that is why I would hate for someone to miss out on such an interesting novel because of that. But as the book progressed with each family member, it told each of their stories.

I have to say, I truly enjoyed this book and thought the author did an excellent job at character development! You'll grow attached to the Gold family and after my iffy beginning, I grew to love Simon the best. Not everyone will agree with me, but that's why we write these reviews. And this is my opinion.

I found this to be a touching story of the lives of 4 children growing up and how different, yet the same we all are.

My thanks to the author for starting my year off with such a well written novel.

* I was provided an ARC to read from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review this book.

In 1969, the Gold family lives on the Lower East Side in New York City. Life is normal, boring even, until the four children hear a neighborhood rumor that a local gypsy can tell you the exact date you will die, and decide to see for themselves. After all, what could it hurt? It takes some time, but they finally track down where the woman lives. They must see her alone, so one by one, they enter her shadowy apartment and listen to her words. They never tell each other what she says, but they never forget their dates.

Simon escapes the trap of familial expectations to find love as a dancer in San Francisco. Klara, who has dreamed of magic her whole life, finds reality overpowering, and becomes a magician in Las Vegas. Daniel has a steady future as an Army doctor, but finds the expectations of his job may be more than he’s willing to give. And Varya becomes a researcher in longevity, seeking to unlock the key to a long life, despite the dreariness of her own.

All of them are shaped by the gypsy’s words, and seek to prove her prediction wrong, but sometimes fate is inescapable.
Let me say, first of all, that I think The Immortalists simply wasn’t a good fit for me. I was very intrigued by the premise, and I love family-saga stories, so it seemed a good match. However, the book is told in four segments, one for each character, and I never felt like I really connected with any of them. Briefly, yes, but not enough to truly enjoy the novel.

Benjamin’s writing is lovely and evocative; I could practically smell the streets of San Francisco and feel the heat of the spotlights, but I never connected emotionally with the characters. I did read this quickly, so perhaps, in a different frame of mind, my experience would have been different.

(Galley provided by Putnam/Penguin Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

What I liked most was that each siblings story was interesting and well written.
What I disliked was its heavy sadness and forgone conclusion. There was no deviating for the siblings from there one encounter with the fortune teller's predictions. I was so hoping that one of the 3 of 4 siblings would find the " trap door" as said by Klara. I did finish the book but it became very predictable...and much to sad for me.

Disappointing - read based on the glowing reviews. The first page gave me a sinking feeling - the author introduces the 13 year old lead character with a description of pubertal body changes. And this tells me exactly what about this 13 year old compared to any other 13 year old? I pressed on - was a quick read. Contrived plot with a mawkish ending. Uneven writing - this childhood scenes and dialog are uniformly bad. Has the author ever met a child?

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. I don't think anyone can avoid asking themselves the question of "would I want to know my death date?"after reading the synapse. I was immediately pulled into the story of four young siblings, Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya as they contemplate going to visit a mysterious woman who can provide an answer to this question. I was hoping for a bit more of a Sci-Fi element in the story but still enjoyed reading about the lives of each character. I feel like the story was a solid, fulfilling read but it never gets close to being an exciting, can't put down page turner that I would recommend to everyone. Maybe it's not intended to be and that's ok. I really enjoyed the cover art. As eye catching as the artwork is, seeing the physical book jacket gives the artwork even more appeal. Kudos to the artist and printer. Overall, I give this novel 3.5 stars.

"Most adults claim not to believe in magic, but Klara knows better. Why else would anyone play at permanence- fall in love, have children, buy a house- in the face of all evidence there's no such thing? " p. 103

When I started The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, graciously given to me by Putnam books to review and share, I was excited but also a little nervous. I had been looking forward to this book for months and after talking to Chloe on IG a few times (she is the sweetest human) I was starting to worry...what if I didn't like it? I finally had a quiet evening ahead of me so I lit my favorite winter candle and settled in to read the prologue, wondering what I would think.

You guys. THIS BOOK. Now I am worried I have set my reading expectations for 2018 so high nothing else stands a chance at comparing (or at the very least getting a five star review). I finished the prologue, set the book down and took a deep breath. Already the Gold siblings were getting under my skin, in a good way. I am the oldest of four, we have the same Girl Boy Girl Boy age difference and I can see a little of each of us in each of them. It was slightly unnerving to then in my mind picture myself waiting in a dingy hallway to find out our fortune, knowing I would go last because I am the oldest. Wondering if my siblings were all okay.

These thoughts carried me through the rest of the story, as I met and grieved with each of the Gold siblings. Simon and his courage to live the life he wanted, Klara and her determination and belief in the power of magic, desperately trying to make her audience feel. Daniel and his steadfastness and quiet intelligence. Varya and her loneliness, hurt by so much and unable to break free from its weight. Each character brilliantly written, memorable in not just their actions but also their personalities.

Then there is the question. Would you want to know the day of your death? What would you do if you knew when it was? I thought these were easy questions before I started this book. Obviously, yes and then I would APPRECIATE EVERY DAY and LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST right? Right???! Except those questions aren't really all that easy. As Chloe's story weaves in and around the fortune teller's predictions for each of the Gold siblings, you slowly realize how devastating that afternoon was for each of them. How it pointed their lives down paths they may not have taken otherwise (good or bad) and the emotional toll of this knowledge pulled them apart from each other. It created a separation between them and any other person walking down the street. The ripple effect of the knowing was far reaching and frankly, catastrophic for all of them.

I grieved alongside Varya throughout the entire book, even though we don't really "meet" her until the end. As the oldest, it was all too easy to imagine how she felt. Her responsibility as the oldest, caring for her mother and pushing away her own feelings and needs to ease the monumental pain that she had already endured. Too much.

Altogether, this book created in me such a feeling of hope. Hope in the unknown and the power of it. We don't need all of the answers (look how that turned out for the Gold siblings) to live a full life. I think that is what I took away from The Immortalists. That the power of the not knowing how much time we all have is what makes life full, what makes it something to appreciate and be grateful for every morning. Chloe wove these themes brilliantly all the way to the end, in such a way that will make this story one I will remember and treasure for a long time.

Thank you so much to Putnam for sending me a copy of The Immortalists! And well done Chloe. You deserve every bit of praise and five star review.

This book captivated me right out of the gates. Telling the story of four siblings and their individual reactions to a question common to most people: What would you do if you knew the day of your death? What kind of a life would you live, holding that knowledge in your hands? I fell in love with these characters hard, and in concluding each chapter I'd think I couldn't get more attached. I was wrong. This book is a treasure that I will need to find a hard copy of asap.

This book started promising, but felt like two different books - the first half, when the siblings meet the psychic and deal with their fathers death, and Klara and Simon leaving the family home. The one thing I didn't believe, though, was that a 7 and 9 year old would even care what this psychic said, and that it would affect them for the rest of their lives. Maybe the 13 and 11 year old would think about it, and wonder if what she said was true. But I have a 6 year old and a 9 year old, and there's no way they would take what a psychic told them, and ruminate on it for the rest of their lives. At least, I don't believe so, so that is why I found it hard to really find the book that intriguing. I kept waiting for more to happen, for each character to realize that they should live each day as if it's their last, no matter what this psychic said, and I didn't really find that in any of the characters, except maybe Simon. I didn't enjoy the Daniel and Varya chapers at all, and that is where the second half of the book felt like a totally different novel. I really like the author's way of writing, I just didn't come under some spell that I think, as a reader, she wanted me to feel - because I just didn't think the psychic premise to begin with was really that strong.

Although I was excited to begin this book, it didn't hold my interest & was hard for me to finish.
The first half held my interest through the first two sibling's stories...although I did get tired of the graphic descriptions of Simon's sexual encounters. The second half of the book started okay, but Daniel's story soon became boring and unbelievable. By the time I finished Daniel's story, I didn't really care to read any more of the book.

Whoa! What would you do if you learned the date that you would die early in life. And what if you knew when your siblings would die. And what if, after not believing that the information was real, your first sibling.....well.....not to spoil the story. Wow! Gripping! from the first chapter, Opening up questions in your own mind as you read and reveal the world of the characters, perhaps bringing more questions than answers???........This is a MUST READ

The Immortalists is a book about family and how to live your life when you know the date of your date. Would you live it to the fullest if its potential? Or would you make different decisions?

A terrific book. I didn't want it to end.

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.