To understand “The Immortalists,” you need to keep this question in mind – if you knew when you were going to die, would you live life differently? In 1969, the barely adolescent Gold siblings – Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya – visit a psychic and are told their death dates. The book then follows each sibling as they reach their predicted death date over the next five decades, with each wondering if they could change their prophesized life course. Simon was predicted to die young, so he ran away with Klara to San Francisco in order to “truly live.” Klara decided to skip college and follow her dream to become a famous magician. Daniel becomes an army doctor post-9/11, and Varya becomes a scientific researcher, specializing in longevity.
I really wanted to like this book. I love realistic fiction and books that make you think, plus I saw so many positive reviews on #bookstagram from other bookworms that have similar tastes! However, for some reason, I just couldn’t get invested in the characters. The only sibling I actually liked was Klara – and I still didn’t love her! I think I was more annoyed at exactly how the Gold siblings decided to live their lives after learning about their prophesized death dates – my first reaction was literally, “REALLY?! THEY ACTUALLY BELIEVE THE CRAZY GYPSY PROPHET LADY? Mmmk.” I understand that they were young and impressionable, but they were also New Yorkers – they should’ve known better. Then again, the city was quite different when I was growing up at that age, so they may have just been less cynical than I was.
While I feel like there isn’t really much I can really rant about without spoiling the book, I did love the fact that it made me think. I really liked (because I don’t think I can really say enjoyed in this case) reading about how the idea of morality affects people – it made me think about what I would do had I known my prophesized death date. I also thought it was sad how this knowledge ultimately affected Klara and Daniel – I do wish someone at least escorted them to therapy or something. It was also interesting to see how such a strong sibling bond completely shattered after learning so earth-shattering – I understand that siblings either grow closer or farther apart as they grow up, but I can’t imagine my relationship with my brother ever deteriorating to never speaking with each other as what happened with the elder siblings and the younger siblings.
Overall, ”The Immortalists” was a gorgeous portrait of a family torn apart by an impulsive decision. It’s just too bad that I didn’t like the majority of the family. 🤷🏻♀️
I really wanted to like this book. I love realistic fiction and books that make you think, plus I saw so many positive reviews on #bookstagram from other bookworms that have similar tastes! However, for some reason, I just couldn’t get invested in the characters. The only sibling I actually liked was Klara – and I still didn’t love her! I think I was more annoyed at exactly how the Gold siblings decided to live their lives after learning about their prophesized death dates – my first reaction was literally, “REALLY?! THEY ACTUALLY BELIEVE THE CRAZY GYPSY PROPHET LADY? Mmmk.” I understand that they were young and impressionable, but they were also New Yorkers – they should’ve known better. Then again, the city was quite different when I was growing up at that age, so they may have just been less cynical than I was.
While I feel like there isn’t really much I can really rant about without spoiling the book, I did love the fact that it made me think. I really liked (because I don’t think I can really say enjoyed in this case) reading about how the idea of morality affects people – it made me think about what I would do had I known my prophesized death date. I also thought it was sad how this knowledge ultimately affected Klara and Daniel – I do wish someone at least escorted them to therapy or something. It was also interesting to see how such a strong sibling bond completely shattered after learning so earth-shattering – I understand that siblings either grow closer or farther apart as they grow up, but I can’t imagine my relationship with my brother ever deteriorating to never speaking with each other as what happened with the elder siblings and the younger siblings.
Overall, ”The Immortalists” was a gorgeous portrait of a family torn apart by an impulsive decision. It’s just too bad that I didn’t like the majority of the family. 🤷🏻♀️