In Universes: A Novel [Paperback]

*WINNER of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction*

NEW YORK TIMES' 10 BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY BOOKS OF THE YEAR

AnEsquireandLiterary HubBest Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of the Year • AnAutostraddleBest Queer Book of 2024 • A Best Pride Read byPeopleandBrit + Co• AParadeBest New Book Release • A Best New Science Fiction Book byNew Scientist• A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 byTor.com, Bustle,Literary Hub,Autostraddle,Gizmodo, IGN,andLilith Magazine• Winner of the Otherwise Award • Long-listed for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

For fans of Emily St. John Mandel and Kelly Link, a kaleidoscopic debut novel set in numerous universes, which follows a queer physicist’s search for belonging across time and space.

Raffi works in an observational cosmology lab, searching for dark matter and trying to hide how little they understand their own research. Every chance they get, they escape to see Britt, a queer sculptor who fascinates them for reasons they also can’t—or won’t—understand. As Raffi’s carefully constructed life begins to collapse, they become increasingly fixated on the multiverse and the idea that somewhere, there may be a universe where they mean as much to Britt as Britt does to them . . . and just like that, Raffi and Britt are thirteen years old, on the cusp of friendship, and maybe something more.

A meditation on self-destruction and reconstruction,In Universesis a mind-bending tour across parallel worlds, each an answer to the question of what Raffi’s life would be like if theyhad made slightly different choices. The universes grow increasingly strange as Raffi flees the ever-present specter of guilt: women fracture into hordes of animals; alien-possessed bears prowl apocalyptic landscapes. BlS,