Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven | Book Review

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Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
Published by Wednesday Books on March 4, 2025
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance, LGBT
Pages: 352
Format: Hardback
Source: OwlCrate

Content Warnings: Ableism, Racism, Sexism, Classism, Sexual Assault, Domestic Abuse, Suicide, Blood, Forced Institutionalization, Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Cancer
Rating:

They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one. Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being linked to her soul. The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life before they find her first, figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse, and try not to fall in love . . . again.

Our Infinite Fates is a love story that transcends time and space; a yearning that will leave you breathless in the best way possible. Despite how much I loved this story, there was a moment Steven lost me, but she was able to suck me back in right at the very end.

Our Infinite Fates alternates through time, with some chapters taking place in modern day and others occurring in the past. Honestly, I could have skipped the present-day story, which played too much of a central focus in my opinion, and just followed this pair of souls across time and space. I felt the same way while reading Paula Brackston's The Witch's Daughter, preferring the historical parts of the story. That isn't to say the modern story isn't interesting or worthy of reading; it just didn't pique my fascination as much as the past did.

“I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.”

Steven does an amazing job showing reincarnation and how souls change as time wears on, being reborn in multiple bodies of all colors, shapes, sizes, genders, and nationalities. The fluidity of the characters' souls was so beautiful, with them both finding each other in every lifetime, no matter what society dictated. Tragically, both souls have to die in every lifetime before the age of 18 due to a mysterious curse. This curse looms over their entire existence, a curse only one of them can remember, but will take both of them to break.

The suspense and impending doom, the resignation in Arden (the current incarnation of the soul who remembers), and the longing to be together left my heart both racing and in shambles. Steven really does know how to suck a reader into a story, but the twist was so awkwardly done that it pulled me out of the story.

Obviously, Our Infinite Fates has fantastical elements, and the twist certainly leaned heavily into fantasy, particularly religious doctrine. What angered me the most, however, was Arden's absolute refusal to give our protagonist any information throughout multiple lifetimes. I understand they had been burned in the past, but as a reader looking in, I was absolutely frustrated by the lack of information and their coldness. When Arden is finally forced to reveal the truth, things have gone so sideways in the story that it doesn't matter anymore.

Steven lost me with the fantastical subplot that occurs after their death, but the last chapter sucked me back in, offering an alternate explanation to the curse and the fate of our protagonists. It was this last chapter that sucked me back in and left me breathless. Ultimately, however, I was left wanting more; more history, more understanding, more timeless yearning, more true love and affection, more characterization...just...more. I would love to see Steven tell the story of their beginning, and maybe even give some more details of the past. 

Despite the lack of plot, Steven's writing is fantastic. She does an amazing job leaving the reader in the dark as we follow a largely unreliable narrator, with beautiful prose and even some excellent one-liners. I loved the souls' vows to each other so much that I incorporated “I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you" into my own wedding vows.

"Translation in a colonized state is an act of violence..."

Furthermore, Steven begins to address some cultural issues facing different groups of people, as seen in the quote above, but never dives deep into any of these issues. While I appreciate the subtext, it would have been more meaningful if the plot engaged such issues. Ultimately, Our Infinite Fates was just okay. It is not the best book I've read or the worst.