Title: Little Universes

Author: Heather Demetrios

Type: Fiction

Pages: 368

Published:2020

I feel that there was a lot going on in this book, however. There was nothing light-hearted about it. It was supremely dark, and there is very little light or hope in this book. While most of that is due to Hannah, Mae also experiences some things as well.

When Mae and Hannah’s parents are killed by a tsunami in Malaysia, the two sisters’ lives are turned upside down. Hannah, emotion-driven and artistic, struggles under the weight of opioid addiction as she grieves for her family and the life she’s lost. Meanwhile, Mae, who dreams of working at NASA, grapples with having been orphaned by the loving parents who adopted her and wonders how much more she’ll have to give up to save what’s left of her family. As the aftermath of the wave washes up family secrets and questions about the future, both girls must learn to move forward, holding onto each other and the love their parents left behind.

I can’t review this book and do it justice, but I suggest you read it yourself. I warn you in advance to have tissues present while you’re reading because I regret not having them at my side as I sobbed through the loss and gripping scenes between Mae and Hannah. But what I really enjoyed was that we saw grief from every character from Aunt Nora losing her sister to losing a daughter to cancer at a young age and to Hannah battling her demons and losing her own daughter.

Heather Demetrios delivers a story that will break readers’ hearts and put them back together again several times over. As the novel alternates perspectives between poetic Hannah and logical Mae, Demetrios creates two equally powerful voices that evolve brilliantly, growing more distinct and yet drawing together as the two sisters navigate their changing relationship through their unique responses to unimaginable trauma.

But Demetrios wrote this carefully and I could tell she put her heart into this book. The male characters looked toxic masculinity in the eye and I absolutely loved seeing Nate being feminine and the guys wearing nail polish. This is what a 2020 YA novel should have, it felt so progressive and I was thrilled to see this.

Demetrios addresses potent material, including death, addiction, abortion, sexual assault and adultery, with incredible nuance and respect, enabling readers who don’t share Hannah’s and Mae’s experiences to connect deeply with what they’ve been through. Little Universes is a challenging, emotional read, but it will leave readers reassured by the power of love and of their place in this universe.

Each chapter is told in the alternating voice of each girl and is beautifully poetic in the telling. At first at odds with one another, each for different reasons, the mending of their relationship is poignant, raw, and realistic. This is a beautiful story about emotionally wrought girls who find the strength within themselves and each other to overcome tragedy and circumstance.