Am almost afraid to post this First Impression; see why below.
For months now I have read books that were good, back, and indifferent ... but it seems to have been forever, maybe more than a year, since reading a book that really gripped me; one where I found the writing lyrical, or the story and/or characters so compelling, it was actually hard to put the book/Kindle down; even in my book groups, I'd be envious whenever reading how someone found a real page-turner they couldn't quit until it was finished!
Then I started reading the opening 35-page excerpt of 'The Immortalists' here. The story or four siblings - Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon - from a lower-middle-class Jewish family in New York, whose lives are forever changed when, as children, they visit an older lady on Hester Street who supposedly can give you the exact date you are going to die. The book covers this opening in a long prologue, then gives you a taste of the siblings ten years later, on the brink of adulthood and being out on their own ... and though the present-tense narrative was a bit of a turn-off for me to start, I quickly became so invested in the characters, their story, and their fates, it was a genuine letdown to get the end of the excerpt and realize there was nowhere else to go; to say things end on a bit of a cliffhanger would be an understatement.
The writing is eloquent, prose poetic, and sometimes that can come across as a bit aloof but here it absolutely fits the mood of the story. I was wholly caught up in Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon, totally empathetic of each of them and their very different personalities as people I was anxious to learn more about as I read the novel.
It's been a long time since I was enthralled enough with something I was reading, I genuinely didn't want it to end. 'The Immortalists' fit the bill for that perfectly, a totally engrossing read.
So why am I almost afraid to post this First Impression? Because I want to win this raffle, SOOOOO BADLY - and if I don't, waiting until January to pick up on the lives of these siblings again seems like a genuine Mission: Impossible. I can't wait that long!
For months now I have read books that were good, back, and indifferent ... but it seems to have been forever, maybe more than a year, since reading a book that really gripped me; one where I found the writing lyrical, or the story and/or characters so compelling, it was actually hard to put the book/Kindle down; even in my book groups, I'd be envious whenever reading how someone found a real page-turner they couldn't quit until it was finished!
Then I started reading the opening 35-page excerpt of 'The Immortalists' here. The story or four siblings - Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon - from a lower-middle-class Jewish family in New York, whose lives are forever changed when, as children, they visit an older lady on Hester Street who supposedly can give you the exact date you are going to die. The book covers this opening in a long prologue, then gives you a taste of the siblings ten years later, on the brink of adulthood and being out on their own ... and though the present-tense narrative was a bit of a turn-off for me to start, I quickly became so invested in the characters, their story, and their fates, it was a genuine letdown to get the end of the excerpt and realize there was nowhere else to go; to say things end on a bit of a cliffhanger would be an understatement.
The writing is eloquent, prose poetic, and sometimes that can come across as a bit aloof but here it absolutely fits the mood of the story. I was wholly caught up in Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon, totally empathetic of each of them and their very different personalities as people I was anxious to learn more about as I read the novel.
It's been a long time since I was enthralled enough with something I was reading, I genuinely didn't want it to end. 'The Immortalists' fit the bill for that perfectly, a totally engrossing read.
So why am I almost afraid to post this First Impression? Because I want to win this raffle, SOOOOO BADLY - and if I don't, waiting until January to pick up on the lives of these siblings again seems like a genuine Mission: Impossible. I can't wait that long!