Little Universes by Heather Demetrios

One wave: that’s all it takes for the rest of Mae and Hannah Winters’ lives to change.

When a tsunami strikes the island where their parents are vacationing, it soon becomes clear that their mom and dad are never coming home. Forced to move to Boston from sunny California for the rest of their senior year, each girl struggles with secrets their parents’ death has brought to light, and with their uncertainty about the future. Instead of bringing them closer, it feels like the wave has torn the sisters apart.

Hannah is a secret poet who wants to be seen, but only knows how to hide. The pain pills she stole from her dead father hurl her onto the shores of an addiction she can’t shake and a dealer who turns her heart upside down. When it’s clear Hannah’s drowning, Mae, a budding astronaut suddenly launched into an existential crisis—and unexpected love—must choose between herself and the only family she has left.

TITLE: Little Universes
AUTHOR: Heather Demetrios
PUBLISHER: Macmillan Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: April 7, 2020
FORMAT: Audio
ISBN: 1250622727

Little Universes by Heather Demetrios
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MY REVIEW

“I will live on one of those stars. I will laugh on one of them. And when you look up in the sky, it will seem to you that all the stars are laughing. Only you will have the stars that can laugh.”

--Heather Demetrios, Little Universes

Little Universes by Heather Demetrios was a bit of a sob-fest for me. There’s an abundance of sadness in this story but also an equal amount of joy. The power of sisterhood is explored in grief, addiction and mental illness but along with this are the wonders that are found in forgiveness, family, and love.

As different as two sisters can be, Mae and Hannah traverse life without their parents after a tragic accident takes them. Hannah, suffering from depression and drug addiction, spirals with the loss while adopted Mae, ever responsible and incredibly smart, tries her best to hold them together.

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.

All the stars for Little Universes, this is a book that I’ll be recommending to everyone.