Thank you St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books, and Net Galley for this digital arc. All opinions are my own.  

“My love for you could fill an ocean, Evelyn…but it can’t stop the tide of time.”**

Laura Steven creates lyrical love story that spans centuries.

Arden and Evelyn’s unique relationship caught my eye immediately, and I could sense their connection and sense of self through their interactions, past and present, with the crutch of  being under 18 for centuries. Seeing them in current day grounded the characters while the flashbacks to previous lives gave more characterization. The alternation in storytelling flowed seamlessly. I could get an idea of who these characters were and are. Their story felt the most developed and a strength on Stern’s part. 

I also enjoyed Stern’s prose. It is more romantic and lyrical in this novel compared to a previous work of her’s I’ve read. I think this is something a lot of romance readers are going to enjoy. My one note was “pyramid scheme” got very repetitive in a later chapter. 

Midway through the book, I developed a sense of wanting more. After some reflection, I think some of it came from wanting to discover more about Arden and Evelyn outside of their discovering of each other and their inescapable demise in every life. I could tell some of the flashbacks were specific for development, while others felt repetitive after a while. Differentiation or sitting in different life longer could have evolved these characters individually and shown the evolution of their relationship.  

I’m still trying to decipher how I felt about the ending. The concept was intriguing but also one aspect changed abruptly that changed some of the initial perceived themes. Not sure how the last chapter happened given the ending yet. The ending felt on the younger side of YA. 

**A quote I liked, that could be edited in the final edition.