Multiverse YA for You to Love in Every Universe
Science fiction rom coms were a genre I didn’t know I needed in my life!!!! I’m usually not the biggest romance reader, but… throw in a multiverse? Some time travel? Portals opening? The main character going back in time to punch an ex in the face? (I don’t condone violence. I’m just saying, it’s an interesting concept…) I mean, don’t we all dream of stumbling into another world sometimes?
ANYWAYS, back to science fiction rom coms. The Singular Life of Aria Patel introduced a brand-new world to me! And like any novel by the wonderful Samira Ahmed, this book also weaves in gorgeous poetry, family issues, tension, laughter, and basically… ALL THE FEELS!
In honor of this lovely book, I’ve made a list of my favorite multiverse/time travel books! I feel so lucky to exist in a universe where these books also exist!
The Singular Life of Aria Patel
by Samira Ahmed
As a type-A kind of girl, I related to Aria a LOT. Come for the second chance romance but stay for Aria’s hilarious personality and relatable feelings. The perfect balance of romance, reality, and figuring it out… or not! And that’s okay, too!
Aria Patel likes stability, certainty, predictability. It’s why she’s so into science. It’s why she dumped her boyfriend before they went to different colleges because the odds were that something would go wrong, eventually. In a life that’s already so chaotic, why obsess over complicated relationships and shadowy unknowns when the scientific method gives you direction and a straight path to avoid all the drama.
But there’s no avoiding anything when Aria finds herself suddenly falling through parallel universes and there’s no formula that can save her. She can’t explain why she’s been waking up in a new reality almost every day, or why Rohan, and a poem from her English class, seem to be following her through every new life.
As Aria desperately attempts to find a way home, she eventually ends up stuck in a parallel world very similar to her own. She cherishes this new version of her family, and she finds herself unable to deny the yearning she has for Rohan…but it’s not her life or her Rohan. It belongs to another Aria, another girl, and unless Aria can get back home, she’ll have taken this happiness away from someone else forever. And she may never find her own.
This whirlwind novel from New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed will whisk you through worlds unknown, all while putting a multiverse spin on one of BookTok’s favorite tropes: second chance romance.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
by Lev Grossman
You want a novella that packs a BIG punch? Man, have I got the read for you!!! This book itself is a tiny, perfect thing… and you can watch the Amazon movie after! Grab the popcorn! And the tissues!
Mark is 17-years-old and trapped in a time loop, and that’s just fine with him. It’s summertime and he’s spending this one infinitely repeating day reading his way through the town library. Then he discovers someone else in the loop with him: the brilliant, haunted Margaret. Together Mark and Margaret set out to find every wonderful, amazing, perfect thing that happens in that one day—a journey that will take them to the dark secret that waits at the very heart of their endless day.
Thrilling, funny, and deeply romantic, this novella is perfect for fans of John Green, Nicola Yoon, and Jandy Nelson.
Right Here, Right Now
This Sliding Doors-type story structure makes this book a quintessential parallel universe read. It’s also a guaranteed tearjerker—a swoon-worthy romance that is BOUND to end up with a special place in your heart. #BookTok, rejoice!!
Worlds turn. Particles spin. Love endures.
There are infinite universes in which Elise never dies. Her best friend, Anna, never has to mourn her or choose between the weight of her grief and the weight of her ambition. Her cousin, Liam, never has to lose another loved one or fight to find purpose in a life that already doesn’t feel like his own.
But Liam and Anna do not get to choose the universe in which they live. Across multiple worlds, their paths collide as they wrestle with what it takes to save someone else and how to face love and loss on a quantum scale.
This moving, lyrical novel introduces two teens on the cusp of finding out who they are while finding each other again and again.
Time and Time Again
Are you yearning for more books by the author of Every Last Word? Would your friends describe you as a hopeless romantic? Well, I have some good news for you! This collection is rated over 4 stars on Goodreads, y’all. So you know it’s true love.
They weren’t supposed to meet.
She lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which he normally uses to see epic concerts from his favorite vintage bands. After an unexpected complication forces him to remain in 1995 for longer than usual, he has to enroll at the local high school. And that’s when he meets Anna.
Anna spots Bennett at the track during a training run, and she can’t get the mysterious new boy out of her head. Or the feeling that he seems to know her already.
As the pair grows closer, Anna is shocked to learn Bennett’s secret, but his ability means they can experience times and places she never dreamed of seeing. That is, until a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question, and Bennett begins to experience the terrifying side effects of his travels. Together, they face the impossible task of weaving together two futures that were never meant to intersect.
The Chosen One
by Echo Brown
This is not so much of a romance, but I LOVE THIS BOOK! The Chosen One is an unforgettable and genre-pushing novel. Portals, magical realism, and Star Wars references make this a read unlike any other!
There are many watchers and they are always white. That’s the first thing Echo notices as she settles into Dartmouth College. Despite graduating high school in Cleveland as valedictorian, Echo immediately struggles to keep up in demanding classes. Dartmouth made many promises it couldn’t keep. The campus is not a rainbow-colored utopia where education lifts every voice. Nor is it a paradise of ideas, an incubator of inclusivity, or even an exciting dating scene. But it might be a portal to different dimensions of time and space—only accessible if Echo accepts her calling as a Chosen One and takes charge of her future by healing her past. This remarkable challenge demands vulnerability, humility, and the conviction to ask for help without sacrificing self-worth. In mesmerizing personal narrative and magical realism, Echo Brown confronts mental illness, grief, racism, love, friendship, ambition, self-worth, and belonging as they steer the fates of first-generation college students at Dartmouth. The Chosen One is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that bravely unpacks the double-edged college transition—as both catalyst for old wounds and a fresh start.
Finalist for the Ohioana Book Award
A Mary Sue Best YA Novel of the Year
2022 Catalyst Award Nominee for Best Memoir
A Junior Library Guild Selection