Under Story

by Chloe Benjamin

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

The New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists returns with an intimate yet epic love story—and a sweeping odyssey of scientific discovery. Under Story invites us to consider the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love, cementing Chloe Benjamin’s place among our best, and most lasting, storytellers.

“We wake up to tomorrow, never yesterday.”

At the edge of the world, biologist Laurel Salter is hiding from everything she’s ever known. For ten hours a day, six days per week, she works as a dishwasher at McMurdo Station, an isolated research base in Antarctica. She tells no one that before she arrived, she was a renowned young scientist with a promising career and a family.

But even in this remote outpost, Laurel can’t escape her past. When a strange light appears across the ice—and draws a group of physicists to McMurdo—her former husband, Eli, won't be far behind. Laurel is captivated by the its surreal glow; the way it seems almost alive. And though Eli is reluctant to test her wildest theory, Laurel is convinced that the Arc leads down a rabbit hole and into a world they can barely imagine. Can she persuade him to risk everything to fix the burden that hangs between them—to turn back the clock and live their story a second time?

A breathless page-turner and a love letter to our planet, Under Story grapples with the great questions of our human hubris, the precarity of the natural world, and the mysterious webs of consciousness that bind us. A modern epic of science and soul, of bravery and redemption, it offers a vision of the future that demands we reckon with what we owe to one another, and to the earth itself.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Romance, Literary Fiction, Time Travel, Fantasy, Contemporary

Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2026

About the author

Chloe Benjamin is the New York Times bestselling author of UNDER STORY, THE IMMORTALISTS, and THE ANATOMY OF DREAMS.

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick for September 2026, UNDER STORY was also an Indie Next selection, a Barnes and Noble Book Club pick, and an Amazon Editors' selection. THE IMMORTALISTS—a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, LibraryReads favorite, and #1 Indie Next pick—was named a best book of 2018 by NPR, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and others. THE ANATOMY OF DREAMS received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was long listed for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Originally from San Francisco, CA, Benjamin is a graduate of Vassar College and the M.F.A. in fiction at the University of Wisconsin. Her work has been translated into over thirty languages. She lives with her husband and two Maine Coon cats in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already knew Chloe Benjamin could emotionally destroy me, but I wasn’t prepared for this level of existential heartbreak wrapped inside icy scientific wonder and one of the most haunting love stories I’ve read in years. This book feels like somebody cracked open grief itself, mixed it with quantum theory, Antarctica’s terrifying beauty, human longing, and asked: “If you had one impossible chance to rewrite your greatest loss… would you survive what comes after?”

And excuse me while I scream into the frozen void because this story absolutely consumed me.

Laurel Salter might be one of the most painfully human protagonists I’ve read lately. A brilliant scientist abandoning her entire life to wash dishes in Antarctica after unimaginable loss? That premise alone already had me emotionally preparing for damage. But the way Chloe Benjamin writes loneliness, guilt, regret, and the strange numbness that follows tragedy felt terrifyingly intimate. Laurel isn’t always easy. She’s messy, avoidant, grieving, stubborn, emotionally fractured — which made me love her even more. She feels like a real person trying to keep functioning while carrying a black hole inside her chest.

And then this book slowly mutates into something else entirely.

At first, I thought I was reading atmospheric literary fiction with emotional depth and gorgeous prose. Then suddenly I’m spiraling through theories about time, consciousness, parallel existence, memory, nature, and the terrifying possibility that love itself might be strong enough to break reality. Casual. Completely casual behavior from Chloe Benjamin.

The Antarctica setting deserves its own award because WOW. The isolation, endless ice, eerie silence, unnatural light phenomena — the entire book feels cold in the most hypnotic way possible. There’s this constant feeling that something ancient and unknowable is breathing underneath the surface of the world. Even the scientific discussions somehow feel emotional instead of clinical. The novel balances intellectual ambition with raw vulnerability so beautifully that I found myself highlighting passages one minute and having an emotional crisis the next.

Also… Eli and Laurel absolutely wrecked me.

This isn’t some shiny romantic fantasy where love magically heals everything. Their relationship is complicated, bruised, unfinished, filled with tenderness and resentment existing side by side. They don’t just mourn a person — they mourn versions of themselves, versions of their marriage, versions of the future they thought belonged to them. And that emotional weight gives every choice in this story devastating consequences.

What truly got under my skin was how the novel explores humanity’s obsession with second chances. Not in a cheesy “fix your mistakes” way, but in a deeply uncomfortable way. Would getting another opportunity actually heal us… or would it destroy us differently? The book keeps asking impossible questions without handing you neat answers, which honestly made the experience even more powerful.

And can we discuss how Chloe Benjamin somehow made advanced scientific concepts feel emotionally terrifying? Because my brain was working overtime while my feelings were simultaneously being run over by a truck.

This is one of those rare books that feels enormous while remaining deeply personal. It’s about science, nature, time, grief, love, guilt, memory, survival, and the unbearable human desire to hold onto the people we lose. Quietly devastating, unsettlingly beautiful, intelligent without losing its heart, and the kind of story that follows you around long after you finish the final page.

I already know this will become one of the most discussed literary releases of the year — and honestly? I would not be surprised at all to see it everywhere during awards season because this book practically demands conversation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam | G.P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing one of my most anticipated fiction reads of the year — and highly probable Goodreads Choice Awards nominee — with me in exchange for my honest opinions, which I truly appreciated.

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[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book so much that i teared up for having finished it.

i read to chase that feeling.

(review to come)

---------------------
tbr review

BREAKING: the physical cover has beautiful little metallic stars on it.

that's enough to make me want to read it in and of itself.

(so thanks to the publisher for the copy!)

[Liana Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4 ⭐️ A much anticipated speculative/literary fiction novel about a woman who can not forgive herself and goes into somewhat a self-imposed exile in Antartica but soon discovers a small sliver of hope that turns into obsession. In over 500 pages, Chloe Benjamin delivers a very thought provoking, character driven and a bit scientific story in the framework of grief, loss, motherhood and dual universes. It's intimate and sweeping and quite intellectually gripping. It's a time travel story with a little bit of romance, mystery, nature and human connection. For me, this was a 'quiet', introspective/reflective story that explored a deeper psychological conflict. The novels deeper meaning is found in the roots of nature and some of the philosophical framework. I thought it was very clever of Chloe Benjamin to use the ecosystem (fungal networks) to parallel the characters lives and their emotions. It may not be for everyone but Under Story was a work of literary art for me and I enjoyed the masterful storytelling.

What's it about?
Laurel is a mycologist (someone who studies fungi) who is caught between two psychological conflicts. She lost a child, a marriage and herself and has been emotionally self-punishing. She abandons her whole identity and moved to Antartica to live a very isolated life. There, she meets a wonderful group of people and catches a mysterious phenomenon called 'The Arc' that appears across the ice. This event pulls in a lot of scientists, including her ex husband Eli. His arrival forces Laurel to confront the past. Laurel believes that The Arc is able to turn back their time and alter their shared past. Eli has his own theories and strongly believes that the Arc can connect two universes and run in the opposite direction of time. Their reunion becomes the emotional core of the novel that drive forward the events that follow.

The book really centers around the question of what one would do and how far one will go for more time with the people they love. And I would do anything as long as my choice does not hurt the ones that are present and most closest to me. When we lose people, we often tend to revisit the days leading up to the loss. We think of alternative conversations, perhaps even decisions that could have been made differently, we try to imagine alternative outcomes. Our experiences are of course very individual and how we process grief, guilt and loss varies on many circumstances but I do believe that if people were presented with a chance to change the course of a life event, most would take that offer and make the best out of it.






Many thanks to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons and the author, Chloe Benjamin for an early ARC.

Publication date: September 1, 2026

[Liz Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most beautiful exploration of a what if I’ve read in a while.

Laurel, a brilliant scientist, Is hiding from everything and everyone in the furthest place she can think of - an isolated research station on Antarctica. We know she is escaping a reality she cant quite face, and we slowly realize exactly why. When a strange yet beautiful arc suddenly appears (also drawing her husband, Eli, to Antarctica) alongside a long shot that they could perhaps turn time and do things all over again, Lauren and Eli are confronted with the most heart aching and mind bending of “what ifs”.

I finished this one with full body chills, but it’s also kind of heart to talk about without spoiling some of it’s power. Here’s what I think you do need to know: you must read some science stuff…you don’t have to understand it all, but the first half holds a lot of it. Keep going. This is also an exploration of grief, time, connectivity, and consciousness in a wholly original way. Once I realized what was happening, I raced to finish this. I needed to see Lauren and Eli through in a way that felt like they were in someway…mine? This was a deeply personal reading experience, and I imagine that will be the case for anyone that knows a capital g Grief.

I wish I could say more, but that might spoil some for you when this publishes September 1. Thank you @tinder_press for this e-galley. I cannot wait to talk with fellow readers about this one, and I hope Chloe Benjamin continues exploring these “what ifs”, helping each of us savor the good a little more each time.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of my disappointment with this newest novel by an author I've loved in the past is that it started so great and fell so far. I was so excited by the news of this book that I used an audio credit to pre-order (a first for me).

And then it came and I immediately started listening. And then it started so great. I was enthralled. The setting, the characters, the story and all the information the author managed to incorporate so effortlessly. I learned about Hilma af Klint and the Five and burial mounds in Wisconsin and Antarctica--how that base works and the various people who populate and live there. This was all great stuff.

And then came Part II. I won't even go into my disappointment. It felt rushed, made no sense and I went from wanting to search out the print to eye rolling and hearing the entire premise fall apart. All I could think was that the author had to meet a deadline and instead of continuing to gently craft an excellent story she just began to type. I turned to double speed just to see if there was a possibility that the story would get back on track. But alas. I listened to the end and the plot/science/fiction just got increasingly silly. I don't expect a rational explanation for all science fiction elements in a novel but the author was unable to even obey the rules that she had set up for a fictional dual universe. It just made no sense. A bridge too far for this author. Still sorting through my feelings. Boy I hated to give it two stars but that was up from the one star I felt at the end,

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars for the enjoyable first half which is basically book club fiction, well written and sensitive. But the second half is so shockingly bad I’m agog, I’m aghast, I can’t believe this got published. I haven’t read anything this flagrantly bad and stupid in like… years.

This is a spoiler I guess but it’s in all the reviews and I honestly think you should be aware before you commit to this awful book. Midway through, the main characters Laurel and Eli go through a portal to an alternate universe where time moves backward. But does this make any sense? No, because if that were actually taken seriously life couldn’t exist. So you know… digestion moves forward but society moves backward, in the most nonsensical manner imaginable. Technology moves backward, the iPhone giving way to flip phones, electronic transmission giving way to manual, for no reason other than that Benjamin needs to flip our timeline, not because these things make any sense logically. Christmas and Marxism exist even though Jesus and Karl Marx don’t. People magically compose in the ground and are “born” that way, rather than you know… from humans… and then age backward, going to high school as elderly people, but wait, young people who are closer to death ALSO go to high school, because ??? Yes it’s a great use of time at the end of your life to go to algebra class. The entire thing is so utterly nonsensical that I could barely believe what I was reading, and the timeline and logic of parenthood vs being a child with the random “birth” rules literally did not make any sense to me as I read, leaving me utterly bewildered.

Benjamin also doesn’t have a good way to end this, with all the nonsense science she’s invented, and defaults to pure fantasy to get her characters a happy ending.

As the excellent Guardian review points out, other backward time travel narratives that work tend to be very short because as soon as you get into details everything falls apart which is exactly what happens here. This book is so self-indulgent and so bad, and I don’t know why an editor didn’t intervene. I also don’t know why this book has mostly gotten rave reviews. The fact that professional critics are basically never willing to pan even a book as farcically bad as this makes me despair for the profession and for literary culture.

[2raccoonsinacoat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two halves of this book were so disjointed that giving it an overall rating is difficult, but I’m going to be generous and give it a 3.

This is definitely a story best entered blind, so I’m going to avoid much summary for those who may enjoy it. I feel like I read two entirely different stories, which isn’t inherently bad (Life of Pi, The Count of Monte Cristo, hello?), but it really didn’t work for me here for reasons I’m sure you’re excited for me to tell you. So I’m breaking this review into the Good Half (first 40%) and the Not-So-Good Half (the rest).

The Good Half: Good, good. This is literary fiction exploring grief, failed relationships, motherhood vs. personal ambition, and middle age, and I absolutely loved it. The geographic setting (Antarctica!) mirrors Laurel’s internal isolation so, so well. The writing is strong, with prose that never gets too highfalutin. The characters are endearing, particularly the side characters, and Laurel’s development showed so much promise. The dialogue and scenes could be a little corny or stiff at times, but it didn’t make me like them any less. The first 40% was easily 5 stars.

The Not-So-Good Half: Oh, boy. I don’t mind speculative SciFi at all. In fact, I often prefer it. I also don’t think an author needs a background in science to write good SciFi (Amal El-Mohtar and Taylor Jenkins Reid do a good job of this). However, I think Benjamin was just too ambitious here, and her inexperience with the subject matter bled through.

A significant part of scientific training is learning how to explain your science so other people can understand it. While I’m no authority, I do have a scientific background, and I didn’t know wtf was goin on. We have fictional scientists with fictional motivations conducting fictional experiments based on fictional hypotheses that completely challenge actual scientific laws, and things get very, very muddy. I am dying to know what actual physicists or mycologists would think of this, because I have a feeling it ain’t great.

The second-chance romance also had so much potential, but the chemistry was nowhere to be seen. Whatever emotional thread existed between them got lost among the 1,000 other things I was trying to keep track of. By the end, the second half felt like a confusing marathon I was just ready to have over. 2 stars.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book specifically, but I do think Benjamin shows a lot of promise as a more traditional literary fiction author. The quieter, character-driven parts of this were genuinely excellent. I just wish she’d shown more restraint with the scope, because the book I was reading at the beginning was one I absolutely loved.

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ ARC Review from Netgalley

This book had a really intriguing premise, and there were a few moments I genuinely enjoyed, but overall the execution didn’t work for me.

The first 40% was weighed down by excessive backstory and unnecessary detail, which made the book drag. Some descriptions went far beyond what was needed which pulled me out of the story.

The worldbuilding raised more questions than it answered. Key concepts necessary for the story to make sense were either poorly explained or not explained at all. The rules of the world essentially didn't exist.

Late in the book, the timeline starts jumping back and forth between years, which only added to the confusion and was not necessary. It could have been told in order and it wouldn't have changed anything. It seemed like there were 15 different storylines happening at once, and half the time I didn't know which one I was as on.

If this hadn’t been an ARC, I likely would have DNF’d. There are good ideas here, and the premise itself is genuinely cool, but too much was either unexplained or poorly explained. It also couldve been easily half the length. For me, the confusion outweighed the intrigue.

[Lauren W -behind! (work)- trying to stay semi-caught up♥︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5- 3.75
Going in completely blind, this book was definitely not what I expected. It’s a quiet, reflective story that offers plenty to contemplate regarding life, time, memory, and connection.

The narrative centers on Laurel, beginning with her early memories on a simple sheep farm and orchard with her mother, capturing the quiet minutiae of daily life through her eventual journey to Antarctica later in life.

Alongside Laurel’s story, the book explores fascinating sci-fi and speculative concepts:
-Scientific & Biological Musings: Blends discussions of neutrinos, neural signaling, dark matter, and underground fungal networks, exploring how consciousness and selfhood emerge from internal connectivity.

-The Anti-Universe / Duo-Verse: Details a world where everything operates in reverse—much like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Seeds emerge old from soil and grow younger, fossils precede living skeletons, and people are born elderly and live for decades before ever meeting their parents.

-Motherhood & Memory: Grounded by themes of motherhood, the weight of childhood, and the experience of watching loved ones age in reverse. It raises thought-provoking questions about deja-vu and shared existence.


It takes a moment to grasp the conceptual framework, but it certainly makes you think. While it didn't completely blow me away, it is beautifully written, genuinely unique, and ideal for readers who enjoy books that push stylistic and speculative boundaries.






***I both listened and read this one. (Thank you, Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons/ NetGalley for this ARC)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Moving. Surprising. And some of the most extraordinary "world-building" in fiction I've ever come across. Imagine not precisely a parallel universe. . .but a duoverse where our souls also reside, but time moves in the opposite direction. So, for instance, we get younger as we "age." Add to that two deeply protagonists, a wife and husband who are scientists and who've tragically lost their young son. . .and, after discovering what they christen the "duoverse," manage to go there to try and rescue their boy. The novel is a breathtaking achievement.

[Debbie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ I absolutely loved this big beautiful speculative/sci fi/ romance story! Chloe Benjamin’s gorgeous writing and the icy Antarctic and duoverse settings grabbed me from the first pages and I enjoyed every page after!

I loved Laurel and Eli’s relationship and felt their trauma, loss, and grief. Each of their friends and their adventures came alive on the pages! While the book is heavy on science at times, it is an integral part of the tapestry of the story.

Who hasn’t wished they could go back in time for another chance to change things, and would trying really change anything at all? I’m not going to go into the story or spoilers as I went in blind and you should too! Sure to be a favorite of mine for 2026.

Thanks to NetGalley, G P Putnam’s Sons and Chloe Benjamin for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Allie Watters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Chloe Benjamin’s new book in a fever dream 24 hours where I simply could not put it down - this is a book that somehow manages to tackle big ideas - love, grief, rupture, the origin of life, time itself - in a vividly human story of two people who find themselves at the end of the earth, the end of so many things, and yet - on the cusp of discovery.

This book felt new, bold, and astonishing. It’s not so much a journey as a constant revelation.

The only question I’m left with as a reader is: Where will Chloe Benjamin take us next?

I, for one, can’t wait to find out.

[Lily Steeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under Story is an ambitious read, unexpected and unlike any other. Though it starts as what seems to be a literary fiction novel of a grieving divorced couple, it transforms into a layered science fiction novel. It centers on Laurel Salter, a mycologist and former high-achieving scientist hiding at the end of the world- McMurdo Station, an isolated research base in Antarctica. At the outpost, she is simply a dishwasher, telling no one of her past career, ex-husband, or son.
But Laurel cannot escape her grief nor outrun her past. A mysterious dome of light appears over McMurdo, one they call the Arc. A group of physicists are called to the station, and among them is Eli, her ex-husband. Through flashbacks, we get a footing of their relationship, from what went wrong to what went right.
Captivated by the Arc, Laurel and Eli reunite over the phenomenon and what it could mean. The story ties in one of Eli's theories about the Duoverse; a universe where time moves forward, and an antiuniverse where time flows backwards. Convinced that the Arc is a portal to the antiuniverse, Laurel proposes a plan to use it as a way to undo their mistakes. The novel trails the years as they attempt a second chance, desperate to rewrite the past.
This book felt like a fever dream. It starts by showing Laurel's grief and split from Eli; we see early elements of their relationship, upbringing, and careers. In this regards, I was expecting a largely character driven novel, more in the sense of literary fiction. However, the science fiction elements come quick and with much confusion. It became so interesting that I had to disregard rational thought to enjoy the plot. I will admit, the timeline became so convoluted and lacked direction. There was truly so much to unpack, and despite its length I still don't feel I was ever given a proper explanation of all the elements or the truth of the end.
I did get chills in some parts, loving the journey this book brought. We had such an immersive cast, and I became so connected to Laurel and her grief. The character building and immersive descriptions of the natural world were done well. The world-building was not perfect, and some of the speculative elements dulled the narrative.
Though in its entirety, I loved this novel. It tackled so many things, keeping me enthralled, blending together loss, humanity, history, and the natural world. This read will stick with me.

Thank you NetGalley, G.P. Putnam, and Chloe Benjamin for the opportunity to review an ARC of Under Story!

[jocelyn • coolgalreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god. i think this is my favourite of the year. im crying

[Shantha (ShanthasBookEra) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An intimate yet epic love story—and a sweeping odyssey of scientific discovery. Under Story invites us to consider the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love, cementing Chloe Benjamin’s place among our best, and most lasting, storytellers.
“We wake up to tomorrow, never yesterday.”

Laurel Salter is a biologist who is hiding at McMurdo station in Antarctica as a dishwasher. After the breakup of her family she feels isolated and heartbroken. When scientists begin discussing the Arc, Laurel feels hope for the first time. What she discovers is beyond her wildest dreams.

I think the less you know going into this, the better. It is an emotional story about the bonds that tie partners together and parents to their children. Scientific possibilities are explored that are so compelling and mind blowing. Sometimes the science distracted from the flow of the story. I love science but I enjoyed all the emotions the book made me feel and wanted to explore that more.

The audiobook performance by Maggi-Meg Reed (20 hours 37 minutes) was excellent and added another layer to the storytelling. This was long at times but the concept and research for this was so good, its brilliance can't be denied. Recommend for fans of speculative science fiction and books that emphasize our responsibility to take care of our planet.

Many thanks to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons, PRH Audio and Chloe Benjamin for the gifted advance reader's copy and advance listening copy. All opinions are my own.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really excited for Under Story because I enjoyed Chloe Benjamin’s previous book, but this was a DNF at 30% for me.

There is a story in here somewhere. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time trying to find it underneath all the scientific exposition about mushrooms, matter, space, time, and the universe—complete with diagrams. Add in the constant jumping backward and forward in time, and I never had a chance to connect with the characters or the story.

I finally realized I was skimming just to get back to the actual plot. That’s usually my sign to stop.

Interesting concept, but definitely not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tinder Press for the Arc

Trigger warning ⚠️ death of child, suicide

[Susan Meissner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many parts I loved, others I questioned. I came away from the last page with too many questions to give it five stars, though the prose deserved it. To pose those questions here would lead to too many spoilers. Suffice it to say the read was heady and fantastical and mind-bending—and at times simply a story about love and mortality.

[Emma Cathryne · Rating 1 out of 5]

A strange, passionate book that buckles under the weight of its own ambitious concept. Is this an introspective story of grief and identity, based in real-life scientific phenomenon, set against a rugged natural landscape, a là Wild Dark Shore? Or is this a dystopian, high-concept speculative fiction novel centered on motherhood, a lá The School For Good Mothers? The author struggles to incorporate elements of both these traditions without fully committing to either theme, creating a book that feels ambitious but confusing at its best and comically preposterous at its worst. Basically, after a strong first half: the protagonist and her husband travel to an alternate world where people age backwards such that all elderly people manifest(?) with the minds of newborns and all "babies" are elderly people taken care of by their own children who they never actually gave birth to?. If you're baffled and a little amused reading this description, you aren't alone - from this point onwards the novel devolves into an absurd sophistic psychodrama that bears almost no resemblance to its intelligent first chapters.

Science fiction in the literary fiction tradition is at its strongest when the author avoids the compulsion to over-justify themselves. Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and Scott Alexander Howard's The Other Valley are two great examples of authors succeeding at this. Under Story, meanwhile, is a somewhat cautionary tale of what happens when science is reverse-engeineerd to justify a concept that is just too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The first third of the book is clearly very well-researched, exploring dense scientific research on topics ranging from black holes, mycelium networks, and arctic ecology. All highly interesting concepts that have almost no bearing at all on the rest of the story, leaving me feeling honestly pretty annoyed (protip: if you are going to relentlessly dump in a science fiction novel, you owe your readers at least a MINOR payoff for paying attention). The author clearly built the novel around her central Benjamin Button-esque idea, with the first third of the novel reading, in retrospect, as insecure technical padding designed to justify & legitimize what is fundamentally a goofy premise. I have NOTHING against silly, high-concept science fiction: there are plenty examples of ridiculous premises skillfully (& intentionally) used to create powerfully emotional storytelling. However, this requires leaning into the unusual premise, not struggling to explain how and why it should be taken seriously.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was NOT at all what I was expecting.

Under Story is incredibly AMBITIOUS and BIG. As in 500 pages big.

We start the book with Laurel Salter in the McMurdo Station in Antartica (a real place), working as a dishwasher, putting aside her teaching job for a year, to just escape from reality.
Along the way, we meet new friends, a new life for Laurel, and find out why she's there to begin with.
The most intriguing parts of this book is the science behind the station and discovering new facts I never knew about Antartica. Chloe Benjamin is incredibly smart and really breaks down the details to the reader who will probably not know anything about what we're about to learn.

When a mysterious Arc appears over the frozen ice, the world becomes captivated - what could this possibly be? And can it help finds humans a passage towards discovering basic humanity? What if it could turn back time so we could relive what was once lost?

In the most improbable of a Benjamin Button storyline, and I take that lightly, Laurel and her ex-husband Eli decide to take a chance of a lifetime, even if that means living in a parallel universe.

I don't want to reveal too much, because there's SO much to unpack. There's a ton of science, perhaps 100 pages too much of storyline, the pacing speeds up in the second half despite going backwards, if that makes sense.

There's discussion about who we vote for can change the world (ahem) and protecting the earth in all its glory, because damn it, it's all we have.


I loved the first 50%, the second half had me wishing it was 100 pages shorter. There's a lot of speculative scientific chatter going on, much that went over my head because I'm not smart enough to understand it.

I expect to see a TON of different view points once Under Story is released on 9/1/26. Can't wait to hear what everyone thinks!

[Bam - Cooks the Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, original, inventive, speculative, heart-wrenching and thought-provoking. Will likely be my favorite book of the year.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc via Net Galley.

[Lindsay L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Part literary fiction, part science fiction, part domestic fiction, with themes of nature, motherhood, climate fiction, suspense and adventure.

This book carried a lot of hype when it was released several months ago. I was hesitant to read it because it seemed far outside of my wheelhouse but when I spotted a copy at my local thrift store just weeks after its release, I bought it and dove in.

For me, my reading experience was a mix of things. To simplify my overall reading experience, I would breakdown my rating into thirds — I would rate the first third of the book 4 stars, the second third of the book 3 stars and the last third of the book 2 stars. Even though this wasn’t an overall “win” for me, I’m glad I read it because I would have always remained curious about it.

The initial story hooked and intrigued me. I liked the characters, feeling invested in their stories and curious for more backstory to be revealed. I enjoyed the set up - the build up and anticipation - of what the book was to become.

Overall, what I loved was the atmospheric writing, the strong nature themes (I never knew I could be so intrigued by fungi), the emotional motherhood element, the exploration of grief that weaves its way into every scene. All of this was impactful and engrossing for me.

What ultimately didn’t work for me was the imaginative piece. I’m not one who reads fantasy or sci-fi as my brain doesn’t easily shift into non-realistic scenarios/worlds. There is a large “imaginative” aspect to this plot which I applaud the author for creating, but it didn’t quite work for me. My brain couldn’t simply roll with the unraveling of this story and as it got into the second half of the book, my constant analysis of what was happening ended up taking away from my reading flow. I kept pausing to question things that didn’t add up or that were outside of my way of thinking which ended up taking away from my enjoyment and connection. My brain simply couldn’t “go there”. This confusion got thicker as the story progressed to the end. I also found the writing was choppy at times, meaning it bounced around from scene to scene in various paragraphs on the same page and lacked flow in several areas which caused the second half of the book to drag for me.

My reaction is not one to be surprised by as this is not my typical type of book. I simply wasn’t the proper audience. I do like to step outside of my comfort zone here and there and am glad to have experienced this authors writing because it did have several very strong and touching scenes showcasing beautiful prose. This book would have taken meticulous planning and editing.

Be sure to read the countless raving reviews for this book before deciding if it is for you!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurel Salter has suffered a tragedy that has left her heartbroken. Divorced from her now-ex-husband, Eli, she travels to McMurdo, a base at the far reaches of the world in Antarctica. She will be a kitchen steward. No one will know her background as a mycologist. However, there's this strange arc of light that changes colors in the distance. The Arc tickles Laurel's scientific curiosity. The scientists at McMurdo are flying a particle detector over it, but so far, it’s unexplainable.

At the beginning of the story, we find five- or six-year-old Laurel in the garden with her father. When she crawls under a Golden Russet apple tree, she notices the root system and asks her father how far the roots go. Her father tells her that some roots go deep and some grow wide. Laurel realizes that when she drew a picture of a tree at school, she’d only drawn half the story. The other half is under the ground - the Under Story.

This little vignette at the beginning sets us up for the journey that Laurel will take. She was a questing child, and she carries that same spirit into adulthood. She quests for the other part of the story regarding The Arc, the Under Story. What is she not seeing?

Eli is a physicist. When he arrives with other scientists to research The Arc, things are strained between him and Laurel. Laurel has been there a while and has already made friends. However, they both share a growing curiosity about The Arc.

I love how Benjamin brings facts and science into her story. The scientists at McMurdo give a presentation regarding fossilized tree trunks they’ve found. A geologist explains:

Fossilized plants have been found on the continent before. In 1912, the remains of a five-man party, led by Robert Falcon Scott, were discovered in a tent on the Ross Ice Shelf. More than thirty pounds of specimens lay beside their bodies. The fossils include two thousand animals, four hundred formerly unknown, and the first Emperor penguin eggs ever see by human beings. But nothing caused so much of a stir as Glossopteris indica, a tree that had been extinct for two hundred million years. Its discovery confirmed that Antarctica had been part of Gondwanaland…

Like Laurel and Eli, I am drawn into the science. My curiosity about The Arc grows along with theirs.

Before I read the novel, I read a review in ‘The Guardian’ by Beejay Silcox. It’s a negative review that made me think twice about reading the book. I agree with Silcox that the science in the second half of the story is strained. Probably unbelievable. I agree that the book goes on too long. He argues that it’s too long to be a thought experiment. I disagree with that. That’s exactly what I think about Benjamin’s novel. For me, it’s a thought experiment that I found worthwhile, even though there are bits that could have been cut without hurting the main story.

I’m glad I read the novel despite Silcox’s review. Some of Benjamin's unbelievable scenarios are the ones that will stick with me and make me think about birth and life and how there’s always more to the story than we can see.

[Claire Fuller]

A mind-bending, head-popping sci-fi love story full of intrigue and tenderness. 

[Sadaf Andersson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very frustrated with this book. It had a very interesting and promising story, and it went along very well. Some parts of it were a bit slow, but I thought it was worth it because I kept thinking:

"This will all make sense later!"

But I just finished the book with a million loose ends and plot holes, more questions than answers, and overall a bitter disappointment of what could have been.
It was a good story, but it ended terribly. I do not mean it had an unhappy ending, but it had an unclear and indecisive ending, which did not answer most of the questions and did not clarify what happened. And that makes all the hours I invested in this long book feel very wasted.

I have never felt more disappointed. It was very promising and very interesting; it intrigued me with so many questions popping up, and I kept thinking they would be answered somewhere along the way. And then, BAM! The story ended out of nowhere, not only NOT answering my questions but also not making it clear WHAT happened in the end.

I hate stories that do not give you proper closure, especially when the story itself is good, but the ending leaves you floating in the air with no clue as to what happened. Those endings are even worse than unhappy or bad endings, there is nothing worse than an unclear ending.

I need someone to answer all the questions I have, and I cannot believe it did not occur the author to mention these things. She went so in depth into the scientific parts of the story, I was so sure these obvious questions will definitely be answered, but they were, in fact, not.

1. What happens when accidental deaths occur in the anti unverse? Meaning, somebody gets hit by a car or falls down a building and dies? Then they never get inserted back into their mother. What does this translate to in the normal universe? A person with no beginning?

2. What was Soleste's story exactly? Was she not put back into Laurel in time in the anti universe, meaning in the normal universe it was a baby dying at birth? And if so, did Laurel and Eli 2 really need to travel to a different universe just to put their baby back into her place the final few seconds of her life? They still had her entire life span with her.

3. What in the world was "The Void"? How did the other people get there? What caused the portals and who created the devices that helped them get there? What was different about that universe travelling clock and other clocks? SOMETHING had to be different, and SOMEONE who knew about the 2 universes must have built it, and that means it's possible to re-build it again.

4. Why did the genre shift from sci-fi to supernatural all of a sudden? Accessing your double through dreams? Also, how did they all manage to have the same dream, and how did they even get that idea that a few of them dreaming together might give them a way back? That makes absolutely no sense. I did not understand the whole light bulbs and letters either, how did they understand this is what they should do and that is what it means.

5. I did not understand that entire chapter about Laurel after taking those mushrooms with Eli. Was she hallucinating all that, and reaching Silas in old age, and him carrying her? I also lost the timeline there, which stage of time was that?

6. I did not get the whole over taker role at all either. How did Kenji Nakamura know Silas was about to be composed weeks before, and told Laurel and Eli to go to the sea and get their son?

7. If people get composed in the anti universe in the exact spot they died in the universe, then people who died in car accidents or hospitals should just pop out of nowhere in the Douverse without warning in random places. And if so then it makes no sense to have composition grounds in cemetaries, because nobody "dies" in a cemetary. They get "buried" there. Also what happens to people who got creamated in our universe? How do they get composed?

8. The author completely mixed up the concept of "anti-aging" and "maturing" in the anti unverse. Because if people are "born" with the undeveloped brain of an infant but in the old body of an elderly, then technically they shouldn't even be called "seniors" or "elderly". They are, in fact, "children". And They cannot suddenly get younger in their bodies but also become more immature. Because the concept of age and maturity are different. If their bodies get younger, their minds still get wiser. Which means, when they reach age 18, they should not become a "minor". They are wiser and more mature than they have ever been in their lives. They should not crave to "play" in playgrounds and jungle gyms. Their bodies are young but their brains are mature and wise. But the author really mixed these concepts. If you go in reverse, then everything should go in reverse. You cannot reverse the aging but not reverse the maturing.

9. How do they know how old a person is when they get composed in the anti universe? And if by doing some biological tests they can figure that out, then everyone will always know how long they have to live. If a person is composed at 78, they know when they will die. And that makes everything pointless. If a person gets composed at 30 and one at 70, they are technically the same age, because they have both "lived" the same number of years. So they should also have some counter of "how long they have lived" so far in the anti universe, not just "how old their bodies are when they get composed". Then there should be people of all "ages" everywhere, because there is no telling of when they had died in the normal universe. This also means that there may be couples with decades of "body age difference" gap between them, as in, one be in the body of a 50 year old and one 20 year old, but because they were both "composed" around the same time, they have the same level of maturity. So the whole concept of "age" makes no sense there, it all depends on when the person was composed and how long they have lived so far.

10. The whole concept of choice is fully taken from the anti universe, what if a person never wants to have children? They have no say in it there. They just have to "wait and see". And there is no telling, ever, if they will or not. Because a child can be born at any time, as it is possible that they may have died young like Silas. So they can never make long term plans for their lives because "what if a child they never knew of suddenly pops up at some point in their lives"?

11. Don't get me started on the whole downgrading of technology. That makes the least sense of all. Humanity will "evolve" either way, even if time goes backwards. We will not "devolve", but it feels that way in the duoverse. Also technology couldn't have "just existed" before, because technology is not like wind and rain, somebody created it. It wasn't just "there". Did no one questioned how AI came to be when they were born in the age of AI?

12. If time does go backwards, the years decrement, what was the date they started at and who decided to choose that specific number to decrement? Imagine I just decide and say "It's the year 45678" and let's just go down a year as we go along. Based on nothing, and just randomly out of the blue. How did they come up with that number, and when? That makes zero sense. The years should still increment and start from zero, just in the other direction.

I understand the story is fiction, but there should be some rules and laws for the fiction within the structure of the for it to make sense. Otherwise they are just plot holes. I am not regretting having read this story but I cannot believe how the author never thought to answer such important questions, and what in the world happened in the end? Did Laurel and Eli 1 make it back to McMurdo in the same time they had left? If so, what was the point of all this? They didn't save Silas, and how could they not? It was absolutely unacceptable. No parents would ever choose the option NOT to go back to before their child died if they had the opportunity to do so. I do not buy that part at all.

I also have a million more questions, just FYI. Plenty more where that came from :D

[Chrissie Whitley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

Since discovering on her family's orchard just how complex a root system can be, hidden away beneath the nutrient-rich soil, Laurel has been fascinated by the role those unseen networks play in nature. What Chloe Benjamin builds from there is nothing short of an entire universe's worth of wonder, fascination, and philosophy.

At the heart of Under Story is this steady stripping away of the ego behind the idea of our own utter uniqueness — on this planet, within nature, or in the universe at large. Again and again, Laurel and Eli are forced to reconsider humanity as something less separate and more deeply embedded in the whole, another part of systems and patterns much larger than ourselves.

"Most of us find few things more frightening than our own mortality. We shrink from rot and decay, we struggle to relinquish our selfhood, to accept that our bodies do not, in the end, belong to us. Perhaps this is because we don’t think of ourselves as products of the natural world. We are human we insist. Our own category. But the same oxygen that fills the atmosphere runs through our blood. The same calcium in rock makes up our bones. The carbon in our genes, the phosphorous in cells, these can be found in the farthest stars. Even the word human comes from humous latin for soil. We are not apart from the Earth. We are of it."

And naturally, that leads straight into the question of free will. Is there an inevitability to everything? Are people simply destined to make the same choices because they're still the same people? Or are people, at their core, much the same no matter the era or circumstances? And ultimately, does knowing the answer make any difference to how we have to live the one life we're given?

Benjamin also does something fascinating with parent-child relationships. When our normal understanding of who is older and who came first can be flipped in nearly every possible direction, what remains of those roles? Somehow, even as the usual order breaks down, the deep sense of ancestor and descendant remains. The relationships change shape without entirely losing what makes them recognizable.

And with so much of the novel spent on the other side of the hourglass, history and the future begin to feel as though they're colliding and playing together, circulating around and around, over and over again. The timelessness of time.

There is so much happening in Under Story, but it never felt to me like a novel collecting Big Ideas for the sake of having them. Everything kept reaching back toward the same questions of connection: to one another, to the natural world, to the people who came before us and those who will come after.

This was the kind of book that, after finishing it, made me want to immediately flip back to the front and begin again.

[Kendra Oosterhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Chloe Benjamin for the opportunity to review an ARC of Under Story!

Reading the synopsis, I was really interested in this unique sci-fi story about love, life and death, and the ultimate question of can we live our story a second time but in a different way. I liked the author’s authentic descriptions of grief, trauma, love, and loss. I felt gutted for the main characters throughout their journey. The story had good bones and a fascinating concept. Unfortunately, the first half was incredibly slow with an over abundance of backstory that didn’t feel central to the point. The author’s descriptions for some of the scientific processes were excessive when it wasn’t entirely part of the plot but rather filler.

I liked but didn’t love. Could have been condensed to a place where the concept was still there but you don’t get lost in the weeds of all the unneeded detail.

[Geonn Cannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off so promising, but the second they get to the duo-verse, it starts a long stupid slide it never recovers. So everything happened there EXACTLY like it does here, except in reverse? Christmas/Christianity exists even though Jesus "won't be born for 2000 years" (an actual example they use), so... when he IS born, he's just a guy jumping on a 2000+ year religion to sell his story? Also don't get me started on the whole idiocy of people dying as babies and being "born" as old people "pulled out of the ground by the overtaker." And people STARTED with smartphones and just decided to abandon it for Nokia flip phones in the 2000s for no reason...? WHY? Why would these backward-going idiots ever do that??

The idea has potential but the execution is just so dumb that I struggled to get through the last half.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me, during part 1 (38%) of this book, in which a woman goes to a research station on Antarctica to try to escape her current life and ends up getting involved in the mystery of an unusual glowing light that appears: "Wow, I am really enjoying this! Unless something crazy happens, this is going to be 4 or 5 stars, I'm sure."

Reader, something crazy happened. In part 2, the "rules" for the other place didn't make sense AT ALL. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but this was just ridiculous and completely took me out of the story. The more I read, the angrier I got at all the illogic. I kept notes on things (both small details and huge themes) that didn't make sense. The list got to be so long that I gave up writing them all down. Also, the "why and how" closure is rushed and unsatisfying. I'm honestly so mad about this book. What a waste of a great beginning!

[Novel Visits · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNDER STORY by Chloe Benjamin ⁣
⁣
🎉This book! It’s been living inside my head since the day I finished. In so many different ways Under Story left me completely awed. It’s stunning to me that one book can do so much, so beautifully. Now, putting into words why I love this book? There is the challenge. I went into it with little idea of what the story was about and that was perfect for me. While I’m not going to share any real spoilers, if you want to know nothing, skip to the last paragraph.⁣
⁣
Under Story is many things, but at its core there’s love. Laurel and Eli are wholly in love, but they’re also divorced, forced apart by a tragedy neither could fully face. Their relationship ebbs and flows throughout, but to be clear this is decidedly NOT a traditional romance.⁣
⁣
Both Laurel and Eli are scientists. She’s a mycologist (fungi🍄‍🟫) and he’s a physicist. After their divorce, Laurel flees to Antarctica to work in food services at McMurdo Station, a research base there. A curious anomaly has sprung up near the base, capturing Laurel’s attention. Eli ends up at McMurdo as part of a team to investigate this anomaly. Together, the two make a discovery that could change the paths of both their lives.⁣
⁣
That’s all I can say, but there’s a whole lot more to the story! For those of you wondering, there IS a lot of science in this book, both real and imagined, but I was always locked in, never feeling like it was too much. The writing was exquisite, even when focused on science or leaning into sci-fi. The story itself could not have been more thoughtfully put together, and the characters feel absolutely beloved to me. Though the two books are very different, Under Story left me with the same tingly feelings as did Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Both are wholly unique books I’ll never forget. Without any doubt Chloe Benjamin’s incredible third novel will be among my very best of 2026. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ⁣
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📕Thanks to @putnambooks for an e-galley of this book.⁣
⁣

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an immersive, strange experience! Laurel, a biologist who studies fungi, escapes a tragedy in her life by taking a job in Antarctica, where she discovers a way to cross into a parallel universe. There is a heavy dose of physics and biology in this novel that I could not fully make sense of but I went with the flow. This novel made my head spin but also touched me deeply. I am still thinking about it.