Would you want to know your death day?

I was overall very impressed with this book it took me about two days to read; another page turner in my book, it was very hard to put down. Each chapter was one of the four characters in the book each telling his or her own story. There is no movie or series on this book so this will be a relatively smaller summary than my other two posts.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The book starts off with four kids (Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon) all going to see a psychic/gypsy who claims to be able to tell you the date of your death. They all decide not to tell each other when their death dates are but the prophecies they receive determine their next five decades.

Varya is the oldest of the four and is predicted to live the longest, living in San Francisco and working as a biologist, conducting tests to extend human life, which is ironic since she is the only child who lives the longest. One group of monkeys is given adequate nutrition, while the other subsists on a calorie-restricted diet. The scientists believe the latter group will live longer. Varya is concerned because her favorite monkey, Frida, is not faring well under the experiment. Varya herself is not doing much better, paralyzed by her untreated anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, and still grieving her siblings since they all passed away before herself. Varya has shut herself off from the world beyond her work, refusing to maintain any personal attachments, with the exception of her mother, Gertie, who she visits in a nearby retirement home. She lives a very lonely, solitary life, she was the only one who didn't want to see the gypsy/psychic in the first place and thought that the woman had hated her because she told Varya that she would never be happy and would always be lonely. Turns out that is the life she lived. As the story goes on she has a reporter (Luke) that has requested her to learn not only about her but the research she is doing. Later on Luke explains to her that he is the son she put up for adoption and he wants to know why she got rid of him and why she lives such a lonely life now. He asks her if she ever gets tired of being alone. Varya tells him that she gave him up for adoption because a college professor had gotten her along with some of her other classmates pregnant and she felt betrayed and wanted him to live a better life than the one she could offer. She agrees to keep in touch with him and ends up dying alone at the age of 88.

Daniel is the second sibling who seeks security as an army doctor after 9/11 he is very mature and successful. He becomes obsessed with finding the gypsy/psychic before his death date because he blames her for his sister's death and everything that happened to their family. Shortly before Thanksgiving, 2006. He is married to a woman named Mira, living in Kingston, New York, and working as a doctor at a military recruit processing center, evaluating soldiers' fitness for duty. Daniel is suspended from his job for refusing to pass enlistees that he deems unfit in order to inflate recruitment numbers. Daniel is contacted by an FBI agent named Eddie O'Donoghue who was once in love with Klara. Eddie tells Daniel that the FBI is building a case against a family of Romani immigrants called the Costellos, one of whom, Bruna Costello, is the fortune teller the Golds saw in their youth. Eddie believes a case could be made that Klara's suicide was partially a result of Bruna Costello's predictions. He seeks out Bruna with a gun and is yelling at her asking why she would tell children their death dates she says that was long ago and they paid her to do it as he's pointing the gun at her Eddie shows up telling him to put the gun down Daniel refuses and is shot in the leg losing too much blood and dies on his death date at the age of 48.

Klara is the third born child who is interested in magic, the surreal, the supernatural. She convinces her younger brother Simon the youngest to move out to San Francisco with her so she can chase her dream and he can begin to live his young life away from their grieving mother. Klara knows Simon is gay and that the fortune teller predicted he would die young, and she wants him to have a full life before his potential death at age 20. She meets Eddie the FBI agent who was actually in love with her the whole time but she finds him creepy because he goes to her shows all the time and asks to speak with her frequently. In San Francisco, Simon signs up for ballet classes and meets Robert, a handsome, older man. The two fall in love and move in together as the AIDS crisis descends upon the city. Simon continues sleeping with other men despite warnings from Robert and the community about safety, believing he is going to die soon anyway. He contracts HIV and dies in the hospital. Klara is still grieving Simon's death while she puts on a magic act around the city. She meets Raj, an old acquaintance from when she and Simon first arrived and the two begin performing together as a duo. They fall in love and have a daughter named Ruby. They move to Las Vegas and get a gig opening for Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage casino, but all the while Klara is drinking heavily and believing that Simon is communicating with her from beyond the grave. On New Year's Day, the day the fortune teller predicted she would die, Klara believes Simon is calling her to meet him in the afterlife and she hangs herself in a hotel room.

Overall I absolutely loved this book it kept me on the edge of my seat at all times. If you get the chance to read it I would highly recommend it. I do think that they could have lived longer lives if they didn't focus on their death dates as much but what you believe eventually becomes your reality

I would love to hear your thoughts on the book and if you've read it lets start a conversation

Thank you so much for reading my blog review and as always I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!Until next week stay reading Selena Torres