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Remember You Will Die
"Can the absence of words tell a story? Like a pattern in lace, the holes as important as the threads?"
A search. A puzzle. Sixty protagonists―all of whom are dead.
Told entirely through obituaries and ricocheting through time, Remember You Will Die is an innovative, genre-bending epic about the messy tapestry of human history and the threads that connect us, told through the eyes of Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the unexpected death of her human daughter, Poppy.
And from the newspaper clippings of individual lives emerges something else unexpected: generations entwined through blood and art and the consequences of their actions, betrayals and redemptions that traverse our dying world and beyond.
Spanning continents, centuries, planets, and genres, and centering a diverse mix of human experiences, Remember You Will Die is a provocative exploration of who we are and what we could be.
A search. A puzzle. Sixty protagonists―all of whom are dead.
Told entirely through obituaries and ricocheting through time, Remember You Will Die is an innovative, genre-bending epic about the messy tapestry of human history and the threads that connect us, told through the eyes of Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the unexpected death of her human daughter, Poppy.
And from the newspaper clippings of individual lives emerges something else unexpected: generations entwined through blood and art and the consequences of their actions, betrayals and redemptions that traverse our dying world and beyond.
Spanning continents, centuries, planets, and genres, and centering a diverse mix of human experiences, Remember You Will Die is a provocative exploration of who we are and what we could be.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2024
132 people are currently reading
15547 people want to read
About the author
Eden Robins
5 books123 followersMy second novel, REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE, is now available for preorder! My debut, WHEN FRANNY STANDS UP, is out now! I would love if you added and read and reviewed them.
I also write essays, the occasional short story, and one (1) mental health chatbot.
One time, I did stand-up comedy and no one booed. Another time, I went to the bottom of the ocean and didn't explode.
Hello!
I also write essays, the occasional short story, and one (1) mental health chatbot.
One time, I did stand-up comedy and no one booed. Another time, I went to the bottom of the ocean and didn't explode.
Hello!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
September 14, 2024
What the **** did I just read? The blurb for Remember You Will Die makes it sound like speculative fiction - a genre I dip into occasionally and usually enjoy for the originality of its plots. Don’t be fooled, this is certainly original, but in a bonkers and deeply unsatisfying way. I usually like epistolary novels, and the idea of a story told all in obituaries sounded intriguing, but there needed to be a story, and if there was one, I’m not clever enough to find it - the worst kind of pretentious literary fiction. I contemplated bailing at 50% but wanted to find out what would happen. Sadly nothing did.
I’m giving it 2 stars rather than the 1 it probably deserves, because the writing itself is appealing, and I liked the paragraphs on the etymology of various key words, and respect what the author was trying to do, but this left me confused and resentful of the time wasted.
I received an ARC from NetGalley & Sourcebooks. Remember You Will Die is published on October 22nd.
I’m giving it 2 stars rather than the 1 it probably deserves, because the writing itself is appealing, and I liked the paragraphs on the etymology of various key words, and respect what the author was trying to do, but this left me confused and resentful of the time wasted.
I received an ARC from NetGalley & Sourcebooks. Remember You Will Die is published on October 22nd.
August 10, 2024
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.
I was almost put off by some of the early reviews on this. They were very mixed, some of them just terrible; and I almost skipped this. I am so glad I didn’t.
Imagine a sci fi story about grieving AI and environmental damage and how even the most ordinary people can influence each other lives in major ways.
Now imagine that story told to you only by an interconnecting web of obituaries. Just page after page of obituaries laying out snapshots of character’s lives, and telling a story just in the gaps of them.
I thought it was brilliant. I was never bored. The only pitfall is how many characters there are to keep track of. I benefitted from reading this on my kindle, where I could just highlight a name and search it to remind myself who they were.
If you love your sci fi weird and meaningful, you should try this. I suspect it won’t be for everyone, but it was very much for me.
I was almost put off by some of the early reviews on this. They were very mixed, some of them just terrible; and I almost skipped this. I am so glad I didn’t.
Imagine a sci fi story about grieving AI and environmental damage and how even the most ordinary people can influence each other lives in major ways.
Now imagine that story told to you only by an interconnecting web of obituaries. Just page after page of obituaries laying out snapshots of character’s lives, and telling a story just in the gaps of them.
I thought it was brilliant. I was never bored. The only pitfall is how many characters there are to keep track of. I benefitted from reading this on my kindle, where I could just highlight a name and search it to remind myself who they were.
If you love your sci fi weird and meaningful, you should try this. I suspect it won’t be for everyone, but it was very much for me.
March 18, 2024
Reading the blurb for this ARC, I felt it was going to be a really heart wrenching story about grief and the phenomena on AI having feelings. However, this was not the case. Robins uses a format where the story is only told in obituaries. While these obituaries interconnect with one another, it didn't give me what I ultimately wanted which was listed directly in the blurb:
Overall, I thought the concept was very interesting, and it definitely keeps you intrigued, but I just wanted more about the grief than about other people in relation to the AI. I also feel that there was so much trying to be said, that it wasn't fleshed out enough. I've never read anything like this, and I felt that was intriguing enough to keep going, but I think I would have had a better experience with focus on one plotline than trying to push all these concepts into one short novel. However, Robins has beautiful story telling and writing, and I will try to read something else in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
about one AI woman grappling with her grief after the mysterious death of her human daughter, and wondering what it really means to be human.There weren't many personal stories being told about Poppy and Peregrine, and due to this, I lost interest pretty quickly. The blurb does mention obituaries telling the tale, spanning over centuries, but I didn't see many correlations between most of these obituaries and Peregrine's grief over Poppy.
Overall, I thought the concept was very interesting, and it definitely keeps you intrigued, but I just wanted more about the grief than about other people in relation to the AI. I also feel that there was so much trying to be said, that it wasn't fleshed out enough. I've never read anything like this, and I felt that was intriguing enough to keep going, but I think I would have had a better experience with focus on one plotline than trying to push all these concepts into one short novel. However, Robins has beautiful story telling and writing, and I will try to read something else in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 16, 2025
What a rabbit hole! Look, this novel is either going to work for you, or not. If you read the description and think, “Hmm, I don’t know,” well, you probably won’t get on with it. It is experimental, it is playing with form and structure and trying to parallel what it means to get lost in a sea of information that isn’t tell you just what you need to know.
I really appreciate this novel, maybe more so than I enjoyed it, if that makes sense. I think it is courageous and engaging, but also patient and frustrating. You can trace a thread through these obituaries and articles, but it is not direct. If you are reading an article and you open each interesting link in a new tab to peruse when you finish, and then you keep repeating that process in every article you read, that is this experience, constantly referencing itself, sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely, but rarely offering anything straightforward. Still, the scraps of experience accumulate, and while it doesn’t end with any sort of earth-shattering epiphany it does feel like you have gone on a journey. In the process you are confronted with all sorts of valuable questions, about family, loss, and grief, sure, but also about art, consciousness, responsibility, capitalism, activism, hope, legacy, memory, intention, artificial intelligence, respectability, identity, and more. The portrait of the world, in its excess and despair, its ambition and greed, was great. Not particularly optimistic, but really well done. As you move across time in these obits and articles you get little clues about what life is like and what brought it to that place, and these also accumulate into a somewhat bleak image of where we may be headed, but a fully realized world all the same, still with some fuzzy edges and porous boundaries but a world I felt I understood.
The writing is playful and engaging, allowing different voices to peek out across the different obituaries depending on who wrote them and where/why they were published. One really compelling moment was when there were three consecutive obituaries for the same person and, across those three, so much was said about who they were, who claimed them, and how they would be remembered. There are, admittedly, a lot of names to keep track of. I often saw a name and knew it was familiar but had to search to remember what on what periphery they had previously been mentioned. I don’t know that this project could have been done any other way, that falling-down-a-rabbit-hole sensation necessitates a wide diversity of characters to explore, but it does mean you need a certain level of intentionality when approaching the novel. I appreciate that nothing felt overly convenient, no deux ex machina laying everything out for you at the end, but that does mean this is really a novel more about questions than about any attempt at answering them. I wouldn’t expect hard answers from something as speculative as this, but I would have liked it to have coalesced a little more firmly around something that I could at least point at, something less ethereal than the certainty the title itself brings to our experiences. And, you know, maybe it did, and I was just too dense to really grok it, I won’t deny that possibility. However, my experience was one of finishing the story with a bunch of wisps of ideas, reflections wiggling around, unsettled in my mind, but not able to be confident that I was pointing in the direction the author intended (or hoped). Reading this novel is an experience; it is not straight-forward, and not always satisfying, but it was consistently compulsive and provocative, and I am glad I experienced it.
(Rounded from 3.5)
I really appreciate this novel, maybe more so than I enjoyed it, if that makes sense. I think it is courageous and engaging, but also patient and frustrating. You can trace a thread through these obituaries and articles, but it is not direct. If you are reading an article and you open each interesting link in a new tab to peruse when you finish, and then you keep repeating that process in every article you read, that is this experience, constantly referencing itself, sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely, but rarely offering anything straightforward. Still, the scraps of experience accumulate, and while it doesn’t end with any sort of earth-shattering epiphany it does feel like you have gone on a journey. In the process you are confronted with all sorts of valuable questions, about family, loss, and grief, sure, but also about art, consciousness, responsibility, capitalism, activism, hope, legacy, memory, intention, artificial intelligence, respectability, identity, and more. The portrait of the world, in its excess and despair, its ambition and greed, was great. Not particularly optimistic, but really well done. As you move across time in these obits and articles you get little clues about what life is like and what brought it to that place, and these also accumulate into a somewhat bleak image of where we may be headed, but a fully realized world all the same, still with some fuzzy edges and porous boundaries but a world I felt I understood.
The writing is playful and engaging, allowing different voices to peek out across the different obituaries depending on who wrote them and where/why they were published. One really compelling moment was when there were three consecutive obituaries for the same person and, across those three, so much was said about who they were, who claimed them, and how they would be remembered. There are, admittedly, a lot of names to keep track of. I often saw a name and knew it was familiar but had to search to remember what on what periphery they had previously been mentioned. I don’t know that this project could have been done any other way, that falling-down-a-rabbit-hole sensation necessitates a wide diversity of characters to explore, but it does mean you need a certain level of intentionality when approaching the novel. I appreciate that nothing felt overly convenient, no deux ex machina laying everything out for you at the end, but that does mean this is really a novel more about questions than about any attempt at answering them. I wouldn’t expect hard answers from something as speculative as this, but I would have liked it to have coalesced a little more firmly around something that I could at least point at, something less ethereal than the certainty the title itself brings to our experiences. And, you know, maybe it did, and I was just too dense to really grok it, I won’t deny that possibility. However, my experience was one of finishing the story with a bunch of wisps of ideas, reflections wiggling around, unsettled in my mind, but not able to be confident that I was pointing in the direction the author intended (or hoped). Reading this novel is an experience; it is not straight-forward, and not always satisfying, but it was consistently compulsive and provocative, and I am glad I experienced it.
(Rounded from 3.5)
October 24, 2024
I was worried when I picked this lovely book up, because the reviews have not been kind to it. But wow, I feel like I have read a whole different book because I was positively mesmerized by this one! Now, full disclosure: I was a weirdo child who read the obituaries every morning as I ate my bagel. This is what I did, for as long as I can remember. Heck, I remember frequently reading obits for folks born in the 1800s, so clearly I was young when I started this. Anyway, I still read them on my lunch break because honestly, I like reading people's stories. It makes me sad to think that no one will. I digress, but it felt like I needed to explain this, since this is, quite literally, a book of obituaries.
But it isn't just obituaries thrown into a book and slapped together! No, they connect to each other, and to a broader narrative that spans centuries! How fun! How clever! I seriously do not get what people do not like about this, but I guess that's why there's chocolate and vanilla, eh? But wait, there's more! We have alt-history, quirky characters out the wazoo, and a lot of moments that made me smile, surprisingly enough. And yeah, obviously there are deeper, harder, even unfathomably sadder moments. Because it's obituaries. But it doesn't have an overall depressing tone- it has a... well, a realistic tone, that shows that life is full of the good and the bad. And you know, remember you will die.
Bottom Line: This surpassed all my expectations and left me feeling very... human.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
But it isn't just obituaries thrown into a book and slapped together! No, they connect to each other, and to a broader narrative that spans centuries! How fun! How clever! I seriously do not get what people do not like about this, but I guess that's why there's chocolate and vanilla, eh? But wait, there's more! We have alt-history, quirky characters out the wazoo, and a lot of moments that made me smile, surprisingly enough. And yeah, obviously there are deeper, harder, even unfathomably sadder moments. Because it's obituaries. But it doesn't have an overall depressing tone- it has a... well, a realistic tone, that shows that life is full of the good and the bad. And you know, remember you will die.
Bottom Line: This surpassed all my expectations and left me feeling very... human.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
August 11, 2025
I thought this was amazing. It's queer, punk-as-fuck SF about art and activism and climate change and living the courage of your convictions, and it's deeply deeply weird, and it's also about a grieving AI and her strange history, and also it's WEIRD, and also, also, it's written entirely in the form of obituaries. I have never read anything quite like it. The question of whether it achieves what it sets out to is an interesting one - it's so ambitious it's hard to see the scope of, you don't know what it's doing until a long way in, and even then you're never sure - but ultimately it's not an important question. Come for the experience.
December 13, 2024
A TREMENDOUS hybrid of speculative fiction, time travel, and grief. I'll admit it almost lost me in the beginning, but I refused to stop reading and eventually, I became so enamored as I started to see the loose threads start to come together that I plan to reread and annotate to better understand the different characters and how they merge to form this beautiful narrative. With that said, this is an experiment in memory for both the reader and (I suspect) the narrator, so it is not for everyone. I think this is one you either love or hate, but I LOVE it!
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November 12, 2024Is this my favourite book of the year? Maybe not — but it's right up there.
Peregrine is an AI ported into a sculpted human-shaped body looking for traces of Poppy, her dead human daughter (who jumped into a river and never resurfaced). Her story is told chiefly through obituaries—the people, across the centuries, who played a role (direct and indirect) in the creation of Peregrine and the birth of her daughter.
This is a word association novel, a rabbit warren of branching tunnels, cul-de-sacs and tangents. It's a novel about motherhood, Jewish mysticism, outsider art and time travel. There's an extraordinary section about Anne Frank and a passage about a fictional silent film chronicling the life of Saint Wilgefortis. But there's so much more, all of it fascinating, funny and profound.
It's novels like *Remember You Will Die*, pushing against the conventions of narrative, that give life to contemporary and genre fiction. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up. It comes with the Ian Mond guarantee for fucking awesomeness.
[My full review of this remarkable novel appears in the December issue of Locus, available this December. The book itself is out already. So go buy it. And talk about it. Not enough people are!!!!]
Peregrine is an AI ported into a sculpted human-shaped body looking for traces of Poppy, her dead human daughter (who jumped into a river and never resurfaced). Her story is told chiefly through obituaries—the people, across the centuries, who played a role (direct and indirect) in the creation of Peregrine and the birth of her daughter.
This is a word association novel, a rabbit warren of branching tunnels, cul-de-sacs and tangents. It's a novel about motherhood, Jewish mysticism, outsider art and time travel. There's an extraordinary section about Anne Frank and a passage about a fictional silent film chronicling the life of Saint Wilgefortis. But there's so much more, all of it fascinating, funny and profound.
It's novels like *Remember You Will Die*, pushing against the conventions of narrative, that give life to contemporary and genre fiction. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up. It comes with the Ian Mond guarantee for fucking awesomeness.
[My full review of this remarkable novel appears in the December issue of Locus, available this December. The book itself is out already. So go buy it. And talk about it. Not enough people are!!!!]
February 6, 2025
Ontzettend origineel boek, volledig geschreven via overlijdensberichten en andere internetartikelen, met veel verschillende standpunten en interessante kijken op het leven. De personages zijn goed in elkaar gezet, ze hebben gebreken en sterke kanten, inspireren mensen maar doen ook mensen pijn, en je leert echt waarom ze dingen hebben gedaan via hun jeugd en cultuur. En alles is met elkaar verbonden, wat op een gegeven moment echt een mindfuck wordt (10/10).
Toch geen 5 sterren want ik moest constant terugbladeren omdat er een bekende naam voorbij kwam van een overlijdensbericht die 100 pagina's terug was. En het had ook wel iets mogen worden ingekort, 336 pagina's aan artikelen lezen is echt ZWAAR, ondanks dat ik verder wilde lezen.
Toch geen 5 sterren want ik moest constant terugbladeren omdat er een bekende naam voorbij kwam van een overlijdensbericht die 100 pagina's terug was. En het had ook wel iets mogen worden ingekort, 336 pagina's aan artikelen lezen is echt ZWAAR, ondanks dat ik verder wilde lezen.
November 12, 2024
This was a weird book and wasn't what I was expecting but it was interesting. If I had known what it really was, I probably wouldn't have picked it up and it wasn't my cup of tea but still, I get what they were going for and it will have its audience,
3 stars
3 stars
November 19, 2025
Surprisingly moving collection of connect-the-dots obituaries makes for an interesting read. I had more than a few wtf moments the first dozen pages until the author's main thrust started to sink in. I read the reviews afterwards, and was surprised at how moderately polarizing (is that a thing?) this book is. I'm happy to assign this 4.25 stars. Really enjoyed it, but a bit short of a gushing I-loved-this response.
July 20, 2024
The blurb for this sounds so promising, an exploration of grief through obituaries and a possibly sentient AI coming to grips with the loss it their daughter all set against the backdrop of a dystopian hellscape? This is an incredible premise let down by its execution.
What didn't work for me:
👎 The attempt at an epistolary format: this style usually works for me but this didn’t have enough variance in medium. There were news articles, obituaries, transmission logs, dictionary excerpts... and they all sounded identical. None of the mediums felt authentic in their own rite and they all had the same dry, dull style as each other. The obituaries were the worst offenders for unconvincing style: they were too detailed, had too much dialogue and only focused on a small section of the human's life. They didn't feel authentically like obituaries, more like an interview about a specific thing.
👎 The dialogue and characterization was all the same. Nothing set the characters apart at all. Even if we look past how much of the dialogue clogged up obituaries, all the characters had the same voice... which I personally didn't care for. Was it because it thought it was cleverer than it was? Maybe. But I wasn't buying any of the dialogue or attempts at characterization. Similarly, the writing style didn't work for me for similar reasons. I think this reader might need a bit more coherence from the storyline, a more diverse voices across characters, and some emotion or hook to keep me reading. This felt like reading the same periodical over and over again in different font styles.
👎 There was a lot of focus on art and celebrity culture. While neither of these topics interest me, the author didn't even try to make them interesting or bring people who weren't into either along for the ride. I recently read a book about pottery (another medium of art I have zero interest in) and found myself immersed in the methods and practice simply due to the author's enthusiasm. This book had none of that.
👎 Once I passed the halfway point in the book, I had to start skimming because it was just so boring. There wasn't any emotion at any point and the end message was basically 'welp, we all die so 🤷♀️'. This book didn't have anything to say about, well, anything and reading it was a dry, boring, and frustrating experience. Instead of exploring grief, it almost seemed to make light of it.
I didn't have a good time with this book.
I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thanks for letting me give it a try, Sourcebooks UK.
What didn't work for me:
👎 The attempt at an epistolary format: this style usually works for me but this didn’t have enough variance in medium. There were news articles, obituaries, transmission logs, dictionary excerpts... and they all sounded identical. None of the mediums felt authentic in their own rite and they all had the same dry, dull style as each other. The obituaries were the worst offenders for unconvincing style: they were too detailed, had too much dialogue and only focused on a small section of the human's life. They didn't feel authentically like obituaries, more like an interview about a specific thing.
👎 The dialogue and characterization was all the same. Nothing set the characters apart at all. Even if we look past how much of the dialogue clogged up obituaries, all the characters had the same voice... which I personally didn't care for. Was it because it thought it was cleverer than it was? Maybe. But I wasn't buying any of the dialogue or attempts at characterization. Similarly, the writing style didn't work for me for similar reasons. I think this reader might need a bit more coherence from the storyline, a more diverse voices across characters, and some emotion or hook to keep me reading. This felt like reading the same periodical over and over again in different font styles.
👎 There was a lot of focus on art and celebrity culture. While neither of these topics interest me, the author didn't even try to make them interesting or bring people who weren't into either along for the ride. I recently read a book about pottery (another medium of art I have zero interest in) and found myself immersed in the methods and practice simply due to the author's enthusiasm. This book had none of that.
👎 Once I passed the halfway point in the book, I had to start skimming because it was just so boring. There wasn't any emotion at any point and the end message was basically 'welp, we all die so 🤷♀️'. This book didn't have anything to say about, well, anything and reading it was a dry, boring, and frustrating experience. Instead of exploring grief, it almost seemed to make light of it.
I didn't have a good time with this book.
I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thanks for letting me give it a try, Sourcebooks UK.
March 27, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sn ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The book as a meal: Like chewing paper with a smidge of flavor
The book left me: Bored :(
Why did this call out me?
The cover seemed interesting and up my alley. The blurb was also fascinating, and it teased elements of AI. Ultimately left me questioning why I was drawn to it in the first place🤨
Pick-Up-able? Put-down-able?
Put-down-able. My stubborness kept me coming back for more, because I am delulu. I was never eager for my next "reading bubble"-_-
How is it paced?
In my mind I was leafin' through newspapers and official documents. The slow pacing and "newspapery" style persists🥱
What about progression?
Sluggish. Neither improves or falls off really. At least here it is consistent; in being boring
Issues:
Tough writing style
Character obituary mentions a character, next obituary is that character that mentions another character, next character is that character ...
None of the things I read felt important or relevant
Good things:
Book concept is very new to me
Satisfies my morbid curiosity of ✨death and what's left✨
What makes this different?
Written entierly in obituaries, official documents and definitions
How did it feel to read?
It felt like an assigment from work where I was handed a hundred different papers. In these papers is both relevant and irrelevant information. I am supposed to find the relevant info. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant is heavily skewed
What mood would i read this in?
Best read in a phase of existential crisis. I was not in that phase and should probably have waited a little💀
Better or worse than expected?
Ultimately fell short. I even napped, and I am not sure if napping is increasing or decreasing the score. I think my oversight of a particular detail in the blurb contributed to my disappointment😴
Where does this fall in my tier list ranking?
Earns a spot in E tier. Sadly :(
The book as a meal: Like chewing paper with a smidge of flavor
The book left me: Bored :(
Why did this call out me?
The cover seemed interesting and up my alley. The blurb was also fascinating, and it teased elements of AI. Ultimately left me questioning why I was drawn to it in the first place🤨
Pick-Up-able? Put-down-able?
Put-down-able. My stubborness kept me coming back for more, because I am delulu. I was never eager for my next "reading bubble"-_-
How is it paced?
In my mind I was leafin' through newspapers and official documents. The slow pacing and "newspapery" style persists🥱
What about progression?
Sluggish. Neither improves or falls off really. At least here it is consistent; in being boring
Issues:
Tough writing style
Character obituary mentions a character, next obituary is that character that mentions another character, next character is that character ...
None of the things I read felt important or relevant
Good things:
Book concept is very new to me
Satisfies my morbid curiosity of ✨death and what's left✨
What makes this different?
Written entierly in obituaries, official documents and definitions
How did it feel to read?
It felt like an assigment from work where I was handed a hundred different papers. In these papers is both relevant and irrelevant information. I am supposed to find the relevant info. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant is heavily skewed
What mood would i read this in?
Best read in a phase of existential crisis. I was not in that phase and should probably have waited a little💀
Better or worse than expected?
Ultimately fell short. I even napped, and I am not sure if napping is increasing or decreasing the score. I think my oversight of a particular detail in the blurb contributed to my disappointment😴
Where does this fall in my tier list ranking?
Earns a spot in E tier. Sadly :(
January 14, 2025
Two weeks into 2025, and I suspect this may be the best thing I'll read all year. Just stunning.
August 7, 2024
Esperaba otra cosa al leer la sinopsis, algo más "personal" que me hiciera conectar con lo que estaba leyendo. Entiendo que la estructura es experimental, pero realmente solo eran obituarios, uno tras otro tras otro. Al principio fue interesante notar las conexiones entre las personas de los obituarios, pero luego lo sentí como too much, estar buscando nombres en los obituarios y tener pedacitos de una historia que me pareció dispersa y que no logré hacer que me importará lo suficiente para no aburrirme.
Este libro no funcionó para mí, aunque reconozco que el elemento de una IA tratando de entender lo que es el duelo a través de los obituarios es una idea fascinante, aquí lo que pienso que no funcionó para mí fue la ejecución.
Este libro no funcionó para mí, aunque reconozco que el elemento de una IA tratando de entender lo que es el duelo a través de los obituarios es una idea fascinante, aquí lo que pienso que no funcionó para mí fue la ejecución.
September 17, 2025
I'm a big fan of books told in different ways, and this one was different in a way that it didn't really feel that different, idk if that makes sense.
It's told through news articles, obituaries really, we get 6 characters and get to see how their lives can mingle even when 100yrs separates their lifespans.
The AI robot girl/person/thing was strange, but I can understand why the dude "made" her but knowing she would never 'die', not sure why he didn't really put any plans into action to deal with that when/if he died.
The little girl's obituary was hard to hear, but I liked that they say she was stolen from them and was robbed of that time.
Only thing I would say that would make it better, is that the audio book only has one narrator, I get it, it's expensive, but I think that exploring having 6 narrators and having them tell the obituaries that directly touch them would be interesting.
It's told through news articles, obituaries really, we get 6 characters and get to see how their lives can mingle even when 100yrs separates their lifespans.
The AI robot girl/person/thing was strange, but I can understand why the dude "made" her but knowing she would never 'die', not sure why he didn't really put any plans into action to deal with that when/if he died.
The little girl's obituary was hard to hear, but I liked that they say she was stolen from them and was robbed of that time.
Only thing I would say that would make it better, is that the audio book only has one narrator, I get it, it's expensive, but I think that exploring having 6 narrators and having them tell the obituaries that directly touch them would be interesting.
July 19, 2025
3.25, rounded down
a wonderfully original idea for a novel. for the first half or so, i was engaged and delighted. (i always did like browsing through microfilm so i'm sure that contributed to my enjoyment). i wonder though if it would benefit from being a novella? it did start to feel tedious in the latter half.
still worth a read, regardless.
a wonderfully original idea for a novel. for the first half or so, i was engaged and delighted. (i always did like browsing through microfilm so i'm sure that contributed to my enjoyment). i wonder though if it would benefit from being a novella? it did start to feel tedious in the latter half.
still worth a read, regardless.
June 8, 2025
This book was perfect and unique and people who didn’t like it are wrong, no offense.
November 4, 2024
I loved every second I spent reading this novel, because every chapter left me feeling inspired and thinking about life. I almost didn't want it to end, but I did want to see how all the different story lines came together.
It's full of provocative sci-fi ideas, interesting characters, and writing that makes me think about important things, like why we create art, legacies, and what life is all about. The novel is brain food! The writing is vibrant and exciting. I particularly enjoyed (strangely enough) the sections that were shaped like dictionary definitions, because they cleverly held insight into Peregrine's personality and thoughts.
The story tackles timely, complex topics like AI, identity, and climate change, but it does so with so much humor and heart that it somehow still leaves you feeling hopeful. It's a fun-to-read page-turner with a very satisfying end. The fates of Peregrine and Poppy are made all the more meaningful once you understand how all the events over time that affected them are tied together.
The fact that the story is told only through obituaries and news articles about dead people is amazing. Robins is a true talent, and I can't wait to read what she writes next.
It's full of provocative sci-fi ideas, interesting characters, and writing that makes me think about important things, like why we create art, legacies, and what life is all about. The novel is brain food! The writing is vibrant and exciting. I particularly enjoyed (strangely enough) the sections that were shaped like dictionary definitions, because they cleverly held insight into Peregrine's personality and thoughts.
The story tackles timely, complex topics like AI, identity, and climate change, but it does so with so much humor and heart that it somehow still leaves you feeling hopeful. It's a fun-to-read page-turner with a very satisfying end. The fates of Peregrine and Poppy are made all the more meaningful once you understand how all the events over time that affected them are tied together.
The fact that the story is told only through obituaries and news articles about dead people is amazing. Robins is a true talent, and I can't wait to read what she writes next.
August 25, 2024
Thank you Sourcebooks for an advance copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
Sometimes you just read a book and feel like it is too smart for you. Just me? I mean, I enjoyed it! The format of this book is very unique, and that is what initially drew me in, but I also feel like I missed out on some of the connections between all the obituaries.
In the author note, the author states that the AI Peregrine is learning about grief through reading of these obituaries, and I feel like that statement was kind of lost throughout the book. I personally had no idea that was the purpose of this book, and I think I would have understood it a little bit better than I did. The synopsis made it sound like we would see stories about both Peregrine and Poppy, but that just isn't the case.
There are parts where we see those characters in the periphery, mainly through small mentions of other characters. That was really interesting to me, and it felt like a puzzle - trying to piece together who these people are based on small snippets that others said. This made the story feel very unique, and I constantly felt like I was trying to find the threads between all the obituaries.
This almost felt like a collection of short stories, with how many different characters and obituaries there are! That made more sense in my head than the story of Peregrine & Poppy, which I wish I knew more about. Toward the very end of the book were some stories that tied the rest of the book together, otherwise I was left wondering how a lot of these people connected and/or influenced the characters the story is supposed to be about.
I think the thing that stands out the most about this book was an obit for Anne Frank. The author took artistic liberties, this being a sci-fi and all, and re-wrote that story. In the obit, Anne Frank survived and her diary was never published, so she went on to live a pretty normal life. The "mysterious diary that was never published" is mentioned a few times throughout the book, and it was interesting to see a world where something so impactful (to us, in real life) was deemed "unable to publish" in this book.
Overall, I think I would see a lot more connections if I read this again, knowing what I do now. I loved the format of the book, but I felt like only a small part of the book was based on what the synopsis said, leaving much to be desired. I found this book intriguing, especially as it felt more nonfiction in the writing style, while still being very much sci-fi in the storytelling. This is definitely not a book for everyone, but I enjoyed reading it.
Content warnings: death, child death, suicide, grief, self harm, pregnancy, drug use
Sometimes you just read a book and feel like it is too smart for you. Just me? I mean, I enjoyed it! The format of this book is very unique, and that is what initially drew me in, but I also feel like I missed out on some of the connections between all the obituaries.
In the author note, the author states that the AI Peregrine is learning about grief through reading of these obituaries, and I feel like that statement was kind of lost throughout the book. I personally had no idea that was the purpose of this book, and I think I would have understood it a little bit better than I did. The synopsis made it sound like we would see stories about both Peregrine and Poppy, but that just isn't the case.
There are parts where we see those characters in the periphery, mainly through small mentions of other characters. That was really interesting to me, and it felt like a puzzle - trying to piece together who these people are based on small snippets that others said. This made the story feel very unique, and I constantly felt like I was trying to find the threads between all the obituaries.
This almost felt like a collection of short stories, with how many different characters and obituaries there are! That made more sense in my head than the story of Peregrine & Poppy, which I wish I knew more about. Toward the very end of the book were some stories that tied the rest of the book together, otherwise I was left wondering how a lot of these people connected and/or influenced the characters the story is supposed to be about.
I think the thing that stands out the most about this book was an obit for Anne Frank. The author took artistic liberties, this being a sci-fi and all, and re-wrote that story. In the obit, Anne Frank survived and her diary was never published, so she went on to live a pretty normal life. The "mysterious diary that was never published" is mentioned a few times throughout the book, and it was interesting to see a world where something so impactful (to us, in real life) was deemed "unable to publish" in this book.
Overall, I think I would see a lot more connections if I read this again, knowing what I do now. I loved the format of the book, but I felt like only a small part of the book was based on what the synopsis said, leaving much to be desired. I found this book intriguing, especially as it felt more nonfiction in the writing style, while still being very much sci-fi in the storytelling. This is definitely not a book for everyone, but I enjoyed reading it.
Content warnings: death, child death, suicide, grief, self harm, pregnancy, drug use
April 8, 2024
2.75⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
This is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time, format-wise. I think it perfectly fit the story and it genuinely felt like searching on Google and finding more information piece by piece.
However, it was really hard to follow the story for me personally. The overall themes and feeling came across right as intended (I think), but I don't know if I'm just unable to follow this or if it needs a second or a third read to understand.
Because there was no coherent storyline, with a clear beginning or end, maybe that's what makes me feel like I didn't "understand" it.
While I had a couple of moments where I thought I would quit and not finish, I'm glad I did finish. Some pieces fell together by the end and the feeling came through.
I think it's a very real prediction of how the world could develop and that added to the vibe.
I do think I could've been more emotionally invested if it was in a more traditional format, which kind of frustrates me.
I would recommend this book, but I think only a very specific subset of people will like it, or manage to make it to the end.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
This is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time, format-wise. I think it perfectly fit the story and it genuinely felt like searching on Google and finding more information piece by piece.
However, it was really hard to follow the story for me personally. The overall themes and feeling came across right as intended (I think), but I don't know if I'm just unable to follow this or if it needs a second or a third read to understand.
Because there was no coherent storyline, with a clear beginning or end, maybe that's what makes me feel like I didn't "understand" it.
While I had a couple of moments where I thought I would quit and not finish, I'm glad I did finish. Some pieces fell together by the end and the feeling came through.
I think it's a very real prediction of how the world could develop and that added to the vibe.
I do think I could've been more emotionally invested if it was in a more traditional format, which kind of frustrates me.
I would recommend this book, but I think only a very specific subset of people will like it, or manage to make it to the end.
November 4, 2024
Finally FINALLY finished this book. I don’t even know where to start.
The synopsis sounded right up my alley!! I like reading and about existentialism and life and death, but… not in this way. I feel like the author just needs to write short stories or something. It felt like the author had lots of ideas but didn’t want to write a whole story about each one, so they found a way to somehow connect them all.
Through the obituaries, we learn that the characters are all interconnected in some way. I understand that this is meant to be “the point” (that we are all connected and the world is very small), but they were all written to be so similar that it didn’t feel significant at all. And there were SO many different people with quirky names that I had to frequently go back through the book to remind myself who I was reading about.
I really liked the idea of a story being told exclusively through obituaries, but this just wasn’t executed well. Every character was a fake “deep,” unique performance artist/actor/writer/rich person and it just got so old and boring so fast. All of them thought they had these revolutionary ideas about life and death when really they only cared about themselves and who they can influence. So weird. My favorite chapter was one written by an obituary writer who seemed to be the most normal and genuine person of them all.
So yeah I guess this just wasn’t my thing, but I’m not sure who else’s thing this would be. By the end of the book, I was so tired of hearing about the tree of heaven, Water Water, and performance art that I skimmed the last 30 pages.
Oh, and in this timeline, and Anne Frank survived the holocaust, never published her diary, had a baby with a Catholic (??) priest, was estranged from said baby, and was seemingly disliked by the general population. The book would have been the EXACT same without this inclusion and I genuinely can’t figure out why the author wrote this. It’s extremely distasteful.
The synopsis sounded right up my alley!! I like reading and about existentialism and life and death, but… not in this way. I feel like the author just needs to write short stories or something. It felt like the author had lots of ideas but didn’t want to write a whole story about each one, so they found a way to somehow connect them all.
Through the obituaries, we learn that the characters are all interconnected in some way. I understand that this is meant to be “the point” (that we are all connected and the world is very small), but they were all written to be so similar that it didn’t feel significant at all. And there were SO many different people with quirky names that I had to frequently go back through the book to remind myself who I was reading about.
I really liked the idea of a story being told exclusively through obituaries, but this just wasn’t executed well. Every character was a fake “deep,” unique performance artist/actor/writer/rich person and it just got so old and boring so fast. All of them thought they had these revolutionary ideas about life and death when really they only cared about themselves and who they can influence. So weird. My favorite chapter was one written by an obituary writer who seemed to be the most normal and genuine person of them all.
So yeah I guess this just wasn’t my thing, but I’m not sure who else’s thing this would be. By the end of the book, I was so tired of hearing about the tree of heaven, Water Water, and performance art that I skimmed the last 30 pages.
Oh, and in this timeline, and Anne Frank survived the holocaust, never published her diary, had a baby with a Catholic (??) priest, was estranged from said baby, and was seemingly disliked by the general population. The book would have been the EXACT same without this inclusion and I genuinely can’t figure out why the author wrote this. It’s extremely distasteful.
January 5, 2025
Not at all what the synopsis said it would be. I was intrigued when I picked it up at Barnes and Noble, yet that night it took everything in me to DNF by 25%. While everyone connected, almost none of these eulogies had any meaning. I kept looking for relevance in some of these, but there was none.
And do not even get me started on the DISGUSTING chapter about Anne Frank. Not only was I floored reading it, but upon reading the author's Q&A, she claims that the chapter was her favorite and it was fun to rewrite history "to what she could've been". When, really, that "could've been" was extremely distasteful and historically inaccurate to the person Anne was. It left a very gross taste in my mouth- much like this novel.
The synopsis exists only in one chapter at the end. How are you going to claim a book is about this AI coping with the grief of loss in their daughter, but not show the AI or her thoughts at all except for a handful of pages that 100% showed absolutely no emotion? Every chapter added 100 new questions I hoped would be solved later on but never was.
Extremely disappointed I wasted money on this.
And do not even get me started on the DISGUSTING chapter about Anne Frank. Not only was I floored reading it, but upon reading the author's Q&A, she claims that the chapter was her favorite and it was fun to rewrite history "to what she could've been". When, really, that "could've been" was extremely distasteful and historically inaccurate to the person Anne was. It left a very gross taste in my mouth- much like this novel.
The synopsis exists only in one chapter at the end. How are you going to claim a book is about this AI coping with the grief of loss in their daughter, but not show the AI or her thoughts at all except for a handful of pages that 100% showed absolutely no emotion? Every chapter added 100 new questions I hoped would be solved later on but never was.
Extremely disappointed I wasted money on this.
Read
April 27, 2024The format of the book is similar to epistolary format but not exactly like that. The concept is unique. It has news articles and eulogy. The book has investigation insights of the woman who drowned and her AI mother refuse to give up. Poppy Fletcher died and the cause of her death was drowning in east river. There were many thoughtful things and thought provoking concepts. Overall, it was an interesting read.
Many Thanks to the publisher
Many Thanks to the publisher
October 28, 2024
What a unique book! This story is told through a series of obituaries and news articles that slowly paints a cohesive narrative. It’s intellectual and you have to pay close attention to the common threads of each vignette, but it’s really fascinating. The writing is phenomenal and I was most drawn to the style of this book. It’s a slow burn, though very worthwhile for fans of fantasy with a dystopian twist.
November 25, 2024
this feels like when you start on one wikipedia page and then hours later you end up somewhere completely different and maybe you dont know exactly what you read but you're very satisified
December 1, 2024
I love how weird this book is… will need to read again to unpack what’s really going on.
January 5, 2025
First book of 2025. Was eager to break into this one. Immediately intrigued by its description when I saw it in the store. Speculative future fiction told entirely through obituaries. Seemed creative and right in my wheelhouse of the kinds of sprawling, multi-character kinds of novels I enjoy. Saw that reviews were mixed which didn't dissuade me much given that the 'novel' format of the novel was likely to not be for everyone. Sort of seemed like a book you were destined to love or hate depending on how the non-traditional style landed for you. That said, I'm leaving the book having enjoyed it but not holding a strong conviction either way. In many ways the obituaries deliver in giving us exciting, funny, moving insights into characters lives and it was a treat when you slowly began to connect the dots between characters across space and time. Robbins did a pretty good job in keeping things relatively easy to follow which deserves credit given that there's like 60 characters in this thing. That said, I think I'd likely have enjoyed and benefitted from having made like my own character map as I read to tie the strings between the people and keep everyone straight. Again I enjoy these interconnected webs of many characters but I know others who that would not be a positive for and wouldn't recommend it to them. Either way, the book flies by and isn't a huge commitment so I'd say if you're on the fence give it a shot.
As for the story, it definitely feels fresh and is fun to tease out of the seems of the book. There was a time about halfway through the read where I thought I'd end up loving the book. This didn't fully end up being the case because I felt that ultimately the story at the core of the book remains a bit too much at arms length and open to interpretation at points to feel fully satisfying when it's all said and done. Maybe some of this is due to the structure of the novel, but I don't necessarily think it had to be given how enjoyable the exposition was using the format and relatively clear it was despite being shrouded by the removed perspective. It felt more as though the author just didn't have the clearest resolution in mind or what the final conclusion was. This held the book back from truly clicking for me but overall still an enjoyable read and would check out more by this author.
As for the story, it definitely feels fresh and is fun to tease out of the seems of the book. There was a time about halfway through the read where I thought I'd end up loving the book. This didn't fully end up being the case because I felt that ultimately the story at the core of the book remains a bit too much at arms length and open to interpretation at points to feel fully satisfying when it's all said and done. Maybe some of this is due to the structure of the novel, but I don't necessarily think it had to be given how enjoyable the exposition was using the format and relatively clear it was despite being shrouded by the removed perspective. It felt more as though the author just didn't have the clearest resolution in mind or what the final conclusion was. This held the book back from truly clicking for me but overall still an enjoyable read and would check out more by this author.
August 27, 2024
First, thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing an arc of the book. This book will be released on 22nd October 2024.
Remember You Will Die by Angel Gabriel is a bold, genre-defying exploration of human history, told entirely through the obituaries of sixty deceased characters. The novel’s unique narrative structure is both its greatest strength and a potential stumbling block for readers. The central thread involves Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the death of her human daughter, Poppy, as she navigates a world of interconnected lives and histories that span continents, centuries, and even planets.
The novel’s innovative format—told through obituaries, news articles, and other epistolary elements—creates a fragmented yet intriguing puzzle for readers to piece together. However, this approach also leads to challenges in maintaining a cohesive storyline. The connections between the obituaries and Peregrine’s grief over Poppy are often tenuous, leaving some readers yearning for a deeper exploration of their relationship. Gabriel’s writing is rich with themes of art, celebrity culture, and the intricate tapestry of human existence.
Yet, the emotional core of the story, Peregrine’s grief, is often overshadowed by the broader narrative. While the concept is undeniably fascinating, the execution may leave some readers feeling disconnected. In conclusion, Remember You Will Die is an ambitious and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to those who appreciate experimental storytelling, but itmay not resonate with everyone due to its complex structure and diffuse focus.
Remember You Will Die by Angel Gabriel is a bold, genre-defying exploration of human history, told entirely through the obituaries of sixty deceased characters. The novel’s unique narrative structure is both its greatest strength and a potential stumbling block for readers. The central thread involves Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the death of her human daughter, Poppy, as she navigates a world of interconnected lives and histories that span continents, centuries, and even planets.
The novel’s innovative format—told through obituaries, news articles, and other epistolary elements—creates a fragmented yet intriguing puzzle for readers to piece together. However, this approach also leads to challenges in maintaining a cohesive storyline. The connections between the obituaries and Peregrine’s grief over Poppy are often tenuous, leaving some readers yearning for a deeper exploration of their relationship. Gabriel’s writing is rich with themes of art, celebrity culture, and the intricate tapestry of human existence.
Yet, the emotional core of the story, Peregrine’s grief, is often overshadowed by the broader narrative. While the concept is undeniably fascinating, the execution may leave some readers feeling disconnected. In conclusion, Remember You Will Die is an ambitious and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to those who appreciate experimental storytelling, but itmay not resonate with everyone due to its complex structure and diffuse focus.
July 24, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
To start off, I really enjoyed the concept of this book. The idea of a novel that is solely built of obituaries, with a story that feeds through them as the book progresses. There's a lot of different characters in this book that connect up through the thread of the story, an AI personality that was created out of the threads of the people in the novel. The format of this novel is really beautiful, and there's a lot to be said for the way that this has been written. I think that if this was done slightly differently, it would have been an absolutely spectacular read.
I didn't really connect with the main thread of the story in here, and thought it could have been done differently. I found myself really fascinated by the connections and threads of people in the substantive of this book, but less so the plot that came through the middle. This is a really wonderful concept - I just wish that it was done slightly differently.
To start off, I really enjoyed the concept of this book. The idea of a novel that is solely built of obituaries, with a story that feeds through them as the book progresses. There's a lot of different characters in this book that connect up through the thread of the story, an AI personality that was created out of the threads of the people in the novel. The format of this novel is really beautiful, and there's a lot to be said for the way that this has been written. I think that if this was done slightly differently, it would have been an absolutely spectacular read.
I didn't really connect with the main thread of the story in here, and thought it could have been done differently. I found myself really fascinated by the connections and threads of people in the substantive of this book, but less so the plot that came through the middle. This is a really wonderful concept - I just wish that it was done slightly differently.
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