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"An engrossing, thought provoking look into how 4 siblings choose to live their lives after they're told the exact dates of their death. A novel that shows how deeply we're connected to our family and how all of our actions have reactions/consequences that branch out to affect everyone in our lives, to the smallest degree."
5 Stars.
Cons: It got a little melodramatic during Daniel's "part" but overall it was understandable and it just showed the reader that every action we take has consequences.
Full Review:
Four siblings, Varya, Daniel, Klara and Simon go to see a fortune teller who can tell you the death of your death. Varya, the oldest, thinks she's a fraud and the date that the woman gave her, well into the year of 2044, is a lie. But it's obvious that her siblings received different dates and it has all affected them in different ways.
The book is then broken down into four subsequent parts that explore each siblings life. The first part is Simon's, who never really told his siblings what the date was, just that the woman said he would die young. And after the sudden death of his Father, he decides to follow his older sister Klara and go across country to San Francisco to see what life has to offer him. He's only sixteen and hasn't experienced anything of the world yet. And though his leaving home deeply hurts his Mother and leaves her care up to Daniel and Varya, for once, Simon doesn't think about everyone else. He decides to think about himself and do what he wants to do.
He "finds" himself, experiences all that he can and sadly, does die young, from a now, very preventable disease and as the novel progresses, the reader is left to wonder if he lived his life the way he did, because of the date that the woman on Hester street gave him. Did he take unnecessary risks and experience as much as he could, to his own detriment, because of what the fortune teller told him? Did he think this date was set in stone and thus he chose to experience as much life as he possibly could before the date would come? The novel, as a whole, doesn't exactly answer that question but lets the reader decide for themselves.
After Simon's death, the entire family is shaken. And the novel in turn tells the tale of Klara's life, of Daniel's life and of Varya's, They all remember the dates that the fortune teller gave them and they all react differently. Some, like Simon and Klara, live life with abandon and risk while Daniel and Varya are more practical, or at least they attempt to be. At its heart, the novel is a family drama, about growing up, finding yourself, how you relate to your siblings and parents and how your journey is your own but the choices that you make will inevitably affect every corner of your life and everyone involved, even if/when you don't mean to hurt anyone.
It was an engrossing read. A real, forgive the cliche, page turner and once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop. It really made you think and wonder that if you knew when you were going to die, down to the exact month, day and year, what would you do with that information? Would you experience as much as you could, like Simon and Klara or would you be more measured, more practical and careful like Daniel and Varya?
It's a somewhat morbid thought but I'm sure one that has crossed all our minds. In the end, it was a thought provoking and powerful read and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone.
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