Chloe Benjamin's epic The Immortalists has us considering some of the most fundamental and complex questions about life and how we live it. It is thought provoking as it asks does knowledge of our mortality make us live our life to the utmost or makes us fearful, guilty, and seek to outwit death? It is 1969 and in Manhattan, New York, the 4 Jewish Gold children seek a light hearted encounter with a gypsy psychic, who tells each of them their prophecies and their date of death. They cannot break

I have two sets of feelings about this book.One, this concept - a set of four siblings who go to a psychic who tells them when they will die, and then following them one by one through the decades as the predictions come true - is the best book idea I have read in recent memory.Two, HOW DARE CHLOE BENJAMIN MURDER MY FAMILY.I cannot read a good book about a family - especially about siblings - without coming out the other side thinking they are really related to me, in real life.Finishing a book

An intriguing concept but ultimately I didn't feel attached to any of the characters or feel the emotional weight of the story.

"And what if I change?" It seems impossible that Varya's future is already inside her like an actress just offstage, waiting decades to leave the wings. "Then you'd be special. 'Cause most people don't." 2 1/2 stars. I have a lot of mixed feelings about The Immortalists. Though there were parts I enjoyed, I was left feeling underwhelmed and like I'd recommend many other similar books before recommending this one.You should be aware that this is literary fiction and focuses in depth on the liv

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a 2018 G.P. Putnam’s Sons publication. In a novel, so centered on death, there is a tremendous amount of life and living within these pages.Beginning in 1969, the four Gold siblings boldly knock on the door of a fortune teller who then proceeds to impart to them the one thing nobody knows when they enter this world- the exact day you will die. For better or worse, Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon cope with this heavy information, but, their approach to life, t...

3.5? 3.75?I actually ended up liking this more than I expected!The premise was very intriguing. Four siblings meet a psychic who tells them the exact date they will die. It then influences how they choose to live their lives.This felt more like a historical fiction/contemporary than fantasy/sci-fi so be warned! It's definitely a slow burning story where you follow each characters throughout their struggles.I enjoyed it!

rtc nov 16

I'd rate this 4.5 stars.If you could know the exact day of your death, would you want to find out? If you did find out, how would knowing that information affect how you lived your life? These questions are at the heart of The Immortalists , Chloe Benjamin's deeply affecting and beautifully written new book.In 1969, growing up on New York's Lower East Side, the Gold siblings learn that there is a traveling fortune teller in their neighborhood who can tell anyone the day they will die. While n...

‘she knows that stories have the power to change things: the past and the future, even the present.’ but if you knew the exact day you were going to die, how would you let those stories change the way you lived life? would you try to change the future, reminisce on the past, or just live in the present?i love how this story explores these questions, these themes, these ideas. and does so in a very real and relatable way. it shows the fear and fearlessness, the comfort and loneliness, the impu

Conceptually intriguing but lackluster in its execution. 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 specula...

The Immortalists…. Imagine you are a kid and together with your siblings you sneak out of the house to go see a gypsy woman who is said to be able predict the day you die… It’s 1969 in New York City’s East side, and word has spread about a mystical woman, a traveling psychic….You go to see her and all of you get to hear ‘your’ date.You go home and then…. Life goes on. Will you believe this prophecy, will it influence the way you live? Will you be able to handle it? How will you live your life?Th...

This was a Traveling Sisters Group Read, and only two of us were left standing in the Lush Coulee with the rest of the sisters leaving the coulee at or before the first goal of this book. Thank you to Jennifer for reading this one with me, it was a pleasure and I loved the discussion this book brought out.4.5 stars! This was such a memorable and interesting read that had such a unique storyline with a profound and special message within the pages of this book that had us asking ourselves so many...

Live each day as if it were your last, while also not knowing it's your last day. ✨ 4.5 stars rounded up for The ImmortalistsThe Immortalists is a different sort of book. Hard to classify, and while it may not be for everybody, it was an addictive read for me. Four young siblings find out the date of each of their deaths from a gyspsy fortune teller. The reader follows each sibling as "the day" edges near, and the way the stories were arranged and overlapped between each character added further

See my exclusive interview with Chloe Benjamin about her novel The Immortalists here!“There are two major theories about how to stop aging…”“…It sounds like you’re saying we can choose to live. Or we can choose to survive.”Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists is a thoughtfully executed novel written in simple, yet often poetic, prose that allowed the characters’ voices at their most forceful to shine on their own past the narrative itself. More than that, it is a novel crafted around a question we

Would you want to know when you will die? It would give you a chance to live life to its fullest or could hang over you like a death sentence. It's 1969 and the 4 young Gold siblings decide to chance it when a gypsy comes to town to find out when their expiration dates are up. These prophecies dictate how their lives unfold because as much as they don't want to believe, their own self fulfilling prophecies will lead them down a path: Simon, the youngest, lives his life recklessly trying to fulfi...

Update ---I must add one more thought to this review: *The-Book-Cover* is not only lovely -- but now that I've read the book -- I recognize this 'perfect' design is symbolic to this story. Jewish Kabbalists believe "The Tree of Life" to be a diagrammatic representation of the process by which the Universe came into being". Jewish Kabbalists also don't envision time and space as pre-existing. A wonderful -symbolically fitting book cover -- The mysticism of the fortune teller mixed with traditiona...

2.5 starsWhat a unique and compelling premise. Would you want to know the date of your death? And if you did, how would that knowledge change the way you lived? If you change your life could that be the very thing that might hasten your demise? Or would you just try and make the most of every day? The book opens with 4 siblings visiting a fortune teller who tells each of them the exact day they would die. After this intriguing beginning, the story is broken into four parts, one for each of the s...

edit: ok it's only been a day, but i've thought about this some more and i realized i only put it at a 2.5 stars to be nice because this is such a popular book. it's gonna be a straight 2/5 from me, folks. ---2.5 starsi try to avoid using half stars (at least until goodreads decides to help a girl out and make them an option) but while i don't have strong enough feelings about this to justify a two, i didn't enjoy this book enough to give it a three. so, 2.5 it is. it was ok, in an "i was able t...

I thought that this was going to be magical realism which I confess is not a subgenre that I enjoy. It isn't. Four siblings, as children, find out the date of their deaths and for the next fifty years their lives richochet about as they try to live with (or run from) this knowledge. The Immortalists is about life, the bonds between siblings as well as science, religion, dance and research monkeys. Yes, you read that correctly.

I didn’t love everything about The Immortalists, but I found it powerful in parts, and especially at the end. After giving it some thought, I’m comfortable with a 4 star rating.The book focuses on four siblings. At the beginning, as children and young teens growing up in Manhattan, they visit a fortune teller who tells them separately and secretly the date they will each die. The rest of the book is broken into four parts, each part focusing on one sibling. It’s not so much about whether the pre...