An Infinite Love Story is the compelling tale of a space mission gone wrong and a memorable love story.
An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton
Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction (1960s), Speculative Fiction, Space Race, Astronauts and Families, Space, Journalism, Grief
***This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links
My Summary:
Thanks #NetGalley @BerkleyPub for a complimentary eARC of #AnInfiniteLoveStory upon my request. All opinions are my own.
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, the story opens in 1968 with a highly anticipated Moon mission, and the astronaut community’s worst fears have been realized as a spacecraft has lost contact with Mission Control. Joe Mitchell is commanding the mission. His wife, Vivian, and the space community are in shock and fear the worst. In the present timeline, the space program is scrambling for answers, and the past timeline serves as the backstory of Joe and Vivian’s memorable love story.
My Thoughts:
Now and Then
An Infinite Love Story is a mashup of historical fiction, magical realism, love story, and speculative fiction. The structure is one of “now” and “then.” The story opens in the “now” and the possibility of a lost spacecraft and entire mission. Interspersed throughout the “now” timeline, we are taken back to the years of Joe and Vivian’s dating, courtship, and marriage. When the two timelines converge, we are left to grieve with Vivian for the loss of her husband and the space mission. The ending ventures into speculative fiction.
Strong Characters
Because the story is told from Vivian’s point of view, she is more fully drawn than Joe. However, both characters are strong, determined, resilient, and likable. Joe is a fighter pilot and eventually joins the space program, while Vivian has ambitions to be a journalist and faces many obstacles in the male-dominated field. Even though Joe and Vivian are very different (head in the clouds vs practical and down-to-earth), they love and support each other.
From the beginning pages, we are prepared to lose Joe. In the closing pages, we witness the end of their love story. Or does love ever die?
Thoughtful Themes
A strong theme in the story is the possibility that love never dies. Other thoughtful themes include women working in a male-dominated field (in the 60s), community, friendship, marriage between two very different people, commitment, and grief.
Content Consideration: death of a spouse, loss of a young child (off the page), grief
Recommending An Infinite Love Story:
It’s always risky for an author to venture away from the genre upon which her reputation has been established. In this case, Cuban American historical fiction. I have read and enjoyed several books by the author. The Last Train to Key West, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, The Cuban Heiress, Our Last Days in Barcelona, and The House on Biscayne Bay. You can see why I jumped at the opportunity to read her new release! Although magical realism and speculative fiction are not my usual preference, I enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of the story and Joe and Vivian’s complicated love story. Fans of Chanel Cleeton will want to add this one to their TBR if you’re OK with a little something different than usual from this popular author.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Meet the Author of An Infinite Love Story, Chanel Cleeton
Chanel Cleeton is the Cuban American New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many novels, including Reese’s Book Club pick Next Year in Havana. Originally from Florida, Chanel studied in London where she earned degrees in international relations and global politics. In law school, Chanel discovered her passion writing novels and embarked on a new adventure following her lifelong love of books.
QOTD:
Let’s Get Social!
Find me at:
Twitter/X
Blue Sky
Instagram (Threads link in bio)
Goodreads and StoryGraph
Pinterest
SubStack: @carolreadingladies
Reading Ladies Book Club on Facebook
My reviews are free, and my blog and Book Club Kits are a labor of love!
Donations are welcome and appreciated!
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for reading bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, teaching, and connection. Books take us to places we’ve never been, teach us about our world, and help us understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley
***Blog posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.
All books I review are purchased or borrowed from the library unless explicitly stated that the book is free (arc).
Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website receives all credit for book covers and author photos.
© ReadingLadies.com
Fab review, Carol, glad the magic realism worked for you.
Thanks! 🌷
Thanks for sharing! I’m always drawn to books about the early days of the space program — but I hadn’t realized until seeing your review that this book has a magical/speculative element to it… which makes this most likely a no for me. Interesting to learn about it though!
That’s not my preference either, but it was very minimal which made it an ok read for me.
I do love a dual-timeline book, and it’s been a while since I read any magical realism! Might need to check this one out. Good chance my bookclub will love this!
I think it would be good for book club! 🙌
Great review, Carol. This is definitely a change from her last several books. I don’t mind some magical realism, so that doesn’t bother me. There seems like there is a bit of the same theme as Atmosphere from Taylor Jenkins Reid. I do plan to read this one, especially as I enjoy her writing.
It will be interesting to see where her writing goes from here!