diff --git a/src/aiomail/client.py b/src/aiomail/client.py
index b9b77d6..c542ecd 100644
--- a/src/aiomail/client.py
+++ b/src/aiomail/client.py
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ class IMAPClient:
                     self._mail = None
                 if attempt < self.max_retries - 1:
                     await asyncio.sleep(2 * (attempt + 1))
+        # terminal signal: all attempts are exhausted and this SWALLOWS the failure into a
+        # False return the caller branches on. without this line the per-attempt WARNINGs are
+        # the only trace, so a genuinely dead connection could look like routine noise - log
+        # the terminal exhaustion loudly so real degradation is visible, then return False.
+        log.warning("connect to %s failed after %d attempts", self.host, self.max_retries)
         return False
 
     @staticmethod