Chloe Benjamin's The Immortalists confronts the reader with a common question: Would you want to know the date you are going to die, and if you did, how would you live your life differently knowing it?In 1969, four young siblings sneak away to see a fortune teller who claims to know everyone's date of death. For some of the children, the date they hear is devastating and so much sooner than they ever expected. Subsequent sections follow each of the Gold siblings as they try to live their life with the prophecy in their minds. All four are very different but connected by what they know...or believe to be true.
The Immortalists has a very original premise, and Benjamin set the narrative up in a way that each brother or sister must deal with their siblings' deaths as they come. For me, though, the execution wasn't entirely successful because I didn't feel that the characters were fleshed out as much as they could have been.
Still a worthwhile read and one that makes you think about your own life.
MY RATING - 3.5
