DARK MATTER is a sci-fi psychological thriller in which physicist Jason Dessen is kidnapped and drugged, awakening to find himself in a world similar to but fundamentally different to his own. Finding his way home takes him through the darkest places in both his mind and the universe.

My very first note in my book journal about DARK MATTER is “this book is not fucking around” and it only got more bananas from there. This book took my breath away, figuratively and literally. I actually was holding my breath through some scenes!

The spare writing style - short sentences, hurried conversations - conveys Jason’s fear so viscerally. Every time he was faced with a new, more hopeless situation, the pit in my stomach grew. The idea of being faced with endless permutations of your universe and yourSELF made me feel physically ill.

This book is mind-bending without being snooty about it. I never felt confused or overwhelmed by the logistics of the box, though maybe that’s due to years of loyal Doctor Who viewership. It also never felt like the plot was spinning its wheels, even through the large chunk of the book where Jason and Amanda were repeatedly trying new multiverse versions. (By the way, strong THE DREAM THIEVES vibes with the medication to induce alternate realities there.)

So, I might be a few years late on this one, but oh man, am I glad I finally found my way here.