Welcome to Litsy!

What an incredibly sad book, and such a long retelling of the old joke: Life—no one gets out alive. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

When we lived in New York, someone in our building would leave stacks of read books on top of the mailboxes in the lobby. This is one of many I grabbed over the years, and I‘m just now getting around to reading it nearly 4 years after we left our home.

The premise of this book is that four siblings each learn the date of their death, and then how they choose to live their lives. I thought it would be more like The Measure, but instead the book has four sections that feel completely separate, telling the story of each sibling. Themes range widely from AIDS, women in business, mental health, ethics in scientific research, marriage, Israel and the Middle East, and more. Good, but not my fave.

A beautiful about four siblings who know their impending death dates thanks to a local fortune teller. Varys, the oldest, is driven to study longevity to try to defy death. Daniel is reliable until losing his job pushes him over the edge. Klara infuses inspiration through her magic& youngest Simon who lived life boldly as it was predicted to end by the age he was 21. Throughout are themes that really make you think about living with purpose.

I read this because it was mentioned in reviews for The Measure, but apart from the core idea (how would knowing the date of your death affect your life), it couldn't have been more different. It was more serious, more realistic and better written, yet I liked it less. The lives of four siblings take wildly different, but mostly tragic paths, with Daniel's the least convincing. A low pick because it is certainly thought-provoking, if not pleasant.

1. I loved the summer reading program for kids. Whoever read the most books won a prize--I still remember winning a dictionary and being absolutely thrilled. It was the '80s 🤷‍♀️

2. I get books mostly from the library, Goodwill, Half-Priced Books, bookshop.org, basically everywhere! Trying to avoid Amazon

3. The Immortalists, mainly because it was mentioned in a lot of reviews of The Measure, a recent book club book.

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

A very good historical fiction dealing with a family of 4 Jewish siblings. After their father died unexpectedly, the kids they went to see a woman who was known to foretell when a person would die. Two of them headed west. Three die tragically. The novel touches on topics of homosexuality, suicide, family traditions and mental illnesses. I really enjoyed the story and most of the characters.

I loved this! One of my bookclubs chose it for February and I‘m so glad!

4 young siblings visit a fortune teller who can predict the date of one‘s death. They each learn their dates, and decide to never discuss what they learned. Each is affected by the knowledge in a different way, and the author writes about each of them in turn.

An interesting view on mortality and morality and what might be the important things in a life. Loved it!

I read this book with my book club. I liked it but it was not a favorite. The basic premise is that if you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life. There were four siblings who each went to a fortune teller who predicted their date of death. Each section was about one of them and how they led their life until their eventual death. There didn‘t seem to be any real connection between each section.

Interesting premise, full of questions to mull over.
I liked the individual characters and how their stories were told. I particularly liked Klara.
I also felt moved by the final chapter, Varya's account and reminiscing.

It's been on my list for ages and picked up a copy a few weeks ago. Just in time for my choice at book club :)

I was very intrigued by the idea of this book & the potentials of fate vs agency/choice in your life/decisions. If you thought you‘d die young would you act more recklessly & make it so? If you‘re told you‘ll die old, are you overly cautious? Which of the 2 people really lived in this comparison? So intriguing. That said, I have SO. MANY. issues with this book. She played into so many negative stereotypes, the characters are boring & they suck

I didn‘t love it I didn‘t hate it. However I will@soon forget these characters who were not the least bit memorable.

I have no idea why I was dragging my heels on reading this one. It's lovely. 4 siblings go to a fortune teller who gives them their death dates. Would you want to know exactly when you were going to die? Me neither.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Only 1.99 today!

I'm about half through with my book for #LitsyLoveWritesNBooks and I'm enjoying it. It's different than I expected. I also have left an envelope with a note about me and some extra pages for my fellow team mates to tell me about them or whatever they want to share as well, so the letters can stay with the book when I get it back. So excited for all of this😀 @RinaBrahmbhattBarot @iread2much @HeathHof

I liked this book, but didn‘t love it… would you want to know the date of your death?? I wouldn‘t! 😱

#AlphabetGame #Letteri

“If consciousness survives the death of the body, then everything she‘s been told about death isn‘t true. And if everything she‘s been told about death isn‘t true, maybe death is not death at all.”

What is your choice for a book beginning with i? Play-tag friends-tag me!

When 4 siblings go visit a fortune teller as kids, what they are told affects the rest of their lives.

The Immortalists is divided into 4 parts - one for each of the main characters.

I nearly bailed during Simon's story but am glad I stuck with it because this ended up being a pretty good book.

If you could know the date of your death, would you want that information?? Not me.

A friend was on vacation and ran out of books (I know I didn‘t know that was a thing!) and picked this one up at a second hand bookstore. She loved it and wanted me to read it. Totally love this family saga. The characters were so different but at the same time so engaging. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ my only complaint would be at times the pacing seemed to slow.

This is the second time I've tried with this book. The first time I gave up faster. This time, well I just don't want to pick it back up. I don't know if anyone else felt this way but the sibling who's focused on for the first bit at least, Simon, just irritates the hell out of me. I'm sure the focus will change but I guess my brain isn't willing to sit through it.

"Thoughts have wings."

Loved this more than I expected! Looking forward to our discussion at book club in January.

The story is about 4 siblings who visit a psychic as children so they can learn the day of each of their deaths and how their lives are affected by the fortunes. It‘s a decent story, but it‘s a bit predictable and leaves you wanting more and feeling like better questions could have been asked about determinism and free will.

Up next!

I hate Daylight Savings time! 🙃

1. Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe is a fun little book set in a bakery in a small town.
2. Literally everything, cooler temperatures, leaves changing color, sweaters, hot chocolate, using the fireplace. 🍁🍂🍁
3. Love the minimalist leaves on this cover.

#SundayFunday Have a great day, and don‘t forget to tag me so I can see your posts!

Finished this one with my drink in hand before kicking off football season tonight! This book was an emotional rollercoaster. I went from loving it, to hating it and back and forth so many times. It was honestly hard to get through some parts. However, I feel good about the ending and would recommend to someone if they are looking for a book that challenges you to think about your choices. #litsyatoz #i

Trying to soak up as much summer as we can! This is my book club pick and I‘m a little nervous about how my other members will react to at least this first section of the book.

Loved this book! Such an interesting and mystical concept. Seeing how the siblings futures unfold had me full of suspense. Intriguing read.

Stayed up late last night to finish this one. I have mixed feelings. It was good but not great and I hated how unnecessary vulgar some of the scenes in Simon's story were. Idk I just thought it would be better and have a cool reason for the title. It had a great premise- what do you do with your life if you knew the date you would die.

Devouring this book. Why does my lunch always feel so short!?

Fitting in some reading time while drying off

And now back to my regular scheduled program

This novel starts with four siblings as children receiving prophetic fortunes and progresses through each of their lives as they move to whatever the fortune teller told them. It begs the question do “thoughts have wings” enough to make a human take risks or pull back in order to fulfill something bigger than themselves…or is it all bullshit? 📚📚📚📚

I didn't NOT like this book, but I didn't absolutely love it either. It was a very interesting premise, but sometimes it felt like the characters were just pieces moving around the board. I could almost feel the author behind the writing making the stuff she wanted to happen, happen. But it is a compelling story nonetheless that I enjoyed & read quickly. I still love the cover.
This was my #doublespin #bookspin for June. Woot! @TheAromaofBooks

Book 114

The Immortalists is not at all what I was expecting—it‘s sad, dark, and deals with a whole lot—but I enjoyed it very much. The writing is incredible and the characters are so vivid and distinct. I really couldn‘t stand Daniel or his part of the story, but the stories of his three siblings were great. Still, I could have done without some of the tropey stuff in Simon‘s story and the way the Romani characters were handled.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a major struggle to get through. Four sibling children learn from a fortune teller the date of their deaths and knowing this affects the way they live their lives. This book was very dark and hit on some depressing themes. It follows each sibling on their chosen path until their death and poses the question of whether something is destined to be or a self-fulfilling prophecy. Good concept, I just didn't like the story. #unpopularopinion

Kinda became a bummer that I wasnt anticipating, but I still enjoyed it

#LMPBC Round 11 - #GroupS
@sprainedbrain @Bits

@suvata has mailed a book to @HOTPock3tt

The virtual book club I'm in recently discussed Chloe Benjamin's THE IMMORTALISTS. My full review is up on the blog (link in profile), but I had some mixed feelings: gay rep was trope-y and too obviously straight-gazed, Romani rep was offensive, writing style was dazzling, overall story was completely absorbing. 3.5 stars out of 5. 💫

Booked 2021 Winter - 6 prompts completed... but 😬 I‘m all over the seasons!!
#mustacheoncover Dead in the Garden- Dahlia Donovan
#AuthorsfirstnamestartswithABorC The Immortalists- Chloe Benjamin
#Titleincludeslibraryorlibrarian The Library Book- Susan Orlean
#translatedintomyfirstlanguage A Nearly Normal Family- M T Edvardsson
#Hear/Here The Postscript Murder - Elly Griffiths
#hiddengem The Marlow Murder Club - Robert Thorogood

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What a quick read! This was really beautifully written. I like the question, “How would you live your life if you knew the date of your death?” This book really took four different paths these siblings choose for their lives and made me think about how I live my life each day. I enjoyed it a lot. Recommend. This was my #bookspinbingo No 15 pick and my first #tbrdeckofcards selection!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

Litsy Markup Postal Book Club

#LMPBC Round 11 - #GroupS
@suvata @HOTPock3tt @sprainedbrain @Bits

Group S is ready to go!

Sorry to be the slacker! Long, long day of work!
I have next to zero hope that you guys haven't already read these, but here we go! 😂🤪🤞 If none of these work I'll steal one of the suggestions you guys made that wasn't selected. They all sound good! 😁
@suvata @HOTPock3tt @sprainedbrain

2021 no. 4 - I find it hard to know what to say about this book. I didn‘t enjoy reading it, I found it difficult, but I think that has more to do with my current state of mind. It made me feel quite hopeless. But it will stay with me and I can see why others like it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #booked2021 (author with first name starting with C)

I‘m enjoying The Immortalists but it‘s really depressing me. I think I should of gone for something more cheery this gloomy week with depressing news and endless homeschooling. 🌧☔️⛈

Next up for the #booked2021 challenge I‘ve started listening to this one whilst bathing two of my little mad things. Prompt- Authors first name starts with an A,B or C.