Milkiverse

by Kelly Murashige

Can happiness be found at the bottom of a cereal bowl? A 27-year-old woman working at a cereal bar discovers that sipping her customers’ leftover cereal milk allows her to enter alternate worlds in which she is finally happy in this charmingly offbeat new work of “healing fiction,” a fantastical and heartwarming story about an outsider’s search for connection.

Beverly “Bev” Kitagawa struggles to connect with people around her. For the last decade, her vow to write a novel about the boy she romantically spurned in college—as an apology to him—has given her purpose. But with the ten-year anniversary approaching and little to show for it, Bev is beginning to feel hopeless. The only constant in her life is her job at the local cereal bar, Cows.

Then, one month before her twenty-eighth birthday, she takes a sip of milk from a customer’s bowl and temporarily slips into an alternate timeline of her life. There, she has everything that seems impossible in her actual existence. A bond with a customer she’s crushed on from afar. The writing career she’s always dreamed of. So she tries it again. And again.

As she races to finish writing her real-life book, Bev dives deeper into the milkiverse. Is the next sip the key to the success, acceptance, forgiveness and love she’s spent a decade searching for? Hopeful, poignant, and full of small drops of wonder, Milkiverse is a beautifully strange adventure through lives lived and unlived and a deeply empathetic exploration of both the pains and joys of connecting with other people.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, Contemporary, Adult, Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 2, 2027

About the author

Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Kelly Murashige (she/her) writes contemporary fiction, often with speculative twists rooted in Japanese mythology and culture. Though she can be shy, she loves obsessing over books, video games, and strange animals.

Her debut YA contemporary fantasy novel, THE LOST SOULS OF BENZAITEN, released on July 23, 2024 with Soho Teen. Her sophomore YA speculative novel, THE YOMIGAERI TUNNEL, released on July 1, 2025 with Soho Teen. Her debut adult novel, MILKIVERSE, will release in 2027.

You can see more at her website, https://www.kellymurashige.com/, and check out her newsletter at https://kellymurashige.substack.com/.

Please note: This Goodreads account is not closely monitored. If you would like to contact this author, please do so on her website. Thank you. :)

Reviews

[Lala BooksandLala]

NEED THIS

[Bookworm Express Kwan · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Milkiverse was a-MOO-zing. I wanted to ignore all other projects (life, kids, and work, to name a few) just to stay in Beverly Kitagawa’s orbit. This book has all the makings of a modern classic for its otherworldly premise and quirky protagonist whose job at a local cereal bar changed her life forever.

Sipping other people’s leftover cereal milk launched Bev into alternative realities and I loved discovering these worlds together with Bev. Milk-world-Bev didn’t struggle with social conventions or go on a date with handsome strangers, and it was just hilarious to see all the confusion and disbelief Bev felt about all of her achievements.

While reading, I wondered how the author would wind up the story to match the amazing premise, but it worked out well and delivered and I felt motherly proud and genuinely happy for Bev. The character development, the growth, the redemption! So much heart and humor, I loved it.

Milkiverse slightly reminded me of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman, but Milkiverse is in a sense more out-of-touch (I mean, come on, sipping other people’s leftover cereal milk???) but at the same time more down-to-earth and character-driven. It’s first and foremost about Bev and her life once she saw glimpses of herself in a different light.

I really liked it!

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for granting my wish to read an ARC copy.

[Chanel Chapters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why talk to people when you can just drink their backwashed cereal milk and go full immersive daydreaming instead?

2.75

[Katherine Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley.
At this time the book is set to be published February 2, 2027.
My first finished ARC! YEEEY!

Now, about the book.
I requested it after reading the synopsis (which promptly left my mind soon after) and finding it very intriguing. I love magic realism. I had actually forgotten I'd requested the ARC until I opened my email for other reasons and saw the email from NetGalley telling me I've got it. The title didn't even sound familiar. As it was the last week of July I was already way over my July TBR half-finished books that I simply found myself not able to get into so I decided to jump straight into the Milkiverse, pun fully intended.

I was also doing a "hundred pages a day" challenge, which I then used to binge the book in three days, with just a little over hundred pages each day. I haven't been able to sit and binge a book in months so this one definitely got me that way.

First, what I didn't love:
* I was not a fan of the long-winded first sentence-paragraph metaphors, (nor he repeat of that for the last chapter) but the book itself wasn't as over-filled with hard-to-wrap-my-mind-around metaphors as I feared after reading the first sentence-paragraph (I had just DNF'ed a heavily metaphor-loving book that was completely lost on me, which is why I was extra sensitive to this).

* The beginning was a little weird, but because I was binging the book, I did trust the process and I found myself getting more and more pulled into the story. I gotta say that not having re-read the synopsis hurt me a bit because I was waiting for sort of a second chance romance plot line with Charlie. That didn't happen.

* Another thing that never stopped bothering me, which is also in the synopsis, is the customer she has a "crush" on. I never felt or understood her feelings for him. It never stopped confusing me, even at the end-ish. I just never... got it. And like I said, it could be my fault because I had the wrong expectations.

* Another thing I want to mention is the "happiness in the milkiverse". Was it different than the reality? Yes. She had connections with people and she as talking to people. But I never understood the "happiness" part. I didn't feel it. I didn't see it. Those moments were filled with confusion and questions the people couldn't understand why she was asking. They were helpful in her journey in this month, but I never felt "happiness" there. Doubt the second time with the sandy-haired guy she felt happy.

* Her Boss. She calls her Bossman. That's fine. Cute nickname. But The Boss is she/her. So why does Bev call her a Sir? I never understood why. I made sure to note that the Boss was a she/her. It's always right there in the text. Did I miss a reason why Bev was calling her a Sir? I'm not sure.

Not for the positive:
* I really saw some parts of 26-28 year old me in Bev. Even if I can't relate to being on the spectrum, after living my whole life with unresolved childhood trauma I had a lot I needed to work through. Still do. And so did Bev.

* Bev's dynamic with Naoko was very interesting to read. Everything Naoko said i had already been thinking and Bev needed to hear all that. I loved Naoko.

* Sylvie was also an interesting character. I loved that she showed Bev that "weird" doesn't have to be a bad thing.

* Overall the story went a satisfying direction for me. It as steadily climbing up until halfway, which is where my wrong expectations came to play. I was very connected to her story itself, for I've had not milk-visions, but definitely some thoughts about something I wanted several years ago hat unfortunately didn't go anywhere close to the way I wished it would. This way, the story was touching the parts of me that still hadn't moved on, that still hadn't healed and felt very personal.

I'm happy for Bev. She came a long way in a month.

P.S. the ending, though, left me feeling empty. We got to see so much, why not that? Just a few more pages? For closure? But alas, I shall have none.

[AltLovesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is hard, she thinks, to not only be different but different in a way that is different from someone else's different."

Readalikes:

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Bev works at Cows, a cereal bar in the mall dedicated to serving people different types of cereals and milks according to their preferences. While not glamorous, Bev really feels like she fits in with this small staff helping people connect to their childhood. While working a shift, she serves a man a bowl of cereal and has this whole mental fantasy about the two of them together. When he leaves, she takes a sip of the cereal milk he left behind and gets swept away to a different world where the two of them are dating. She's not there long, long enough to realize she doesn't have much in common with this other man, and when she "returns" to the real world she's understandably puzzled. From here she experiments with cereal and milk from people around her, seeing how her world could be different if she had been any of these other Bevs. She's also using these trips as inspiration for a book she absolutely has to finish by her birthday in less than a month, a book she absolutely is writing (not really), that she feels has a story to tell other people about her own mistakes, that absolutely needs to reach her Charlie she wronged.

Who knew I'd get so much out of a story about someone drinking someone else's cereal milk (ew). I'm not saying I'm going to run around drinking people's discarded dairy products, but a lot of Bev's feelings I get. Closure, acceptance, approval, getting frustrated at not being understood, I get it. Even when Bev was relating her experience applying for college with her parents, I found myself nodding along at how lost she felt during the process. Lots of people telling her to do things but not why, infodumping things on her and expecting her to remember these things later without context, it was a lot for me, and a lot for Bev as well.

This book is mostly about Bev's experience with finding closure for a regretful event from when she was in college. At first we're drip fed hints about this event through her conversations with people, but as Bev starts opening up to people around her about her writing, her job, her thoughts, we start to get more of the picture. We're also along for the ride as Bev starts fixing other small aspects of her social life, like the wide gulf between her and her roommate, and her sometimes confusing coworker Sylvia.

I will say that the milk trips themselves felt like they sometimes needed something more, since they're so integral to the story and the premise. Some felt genuinely like filler material, and others maybe needed something more to be plot relevant. Not really a deal breaker for me, but something to be aware of.

Just kind of a great all-around heartwarming story about a girl drinking other people's milk.

(seriously, don't do that)

[Sophia V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-loved 3 Star rating. Not the type of novel I gravitate to, but I can see Milkiverse being a cult favorite.

If you've gotten this far, you know Bev is drinking her customers' leftover cereal milk and by doing so, is transported into another world experiencing a memory that includes the original milk drinker.

It's worth noting that this book really has little to do with cereal milk. Oh, milk is plenty present, but it's a stepping block to a different story.

This story is about a young autistic woman that is independently making shifts to experience life in a different way. She navigates guilt, grief, loss, love and friendship. Before she takes her first sip of milk, Bev is working 6 days a week at a place she loves with only routine relationships in place. That first sip of milk was her stepping outside of her comfort zone, and it's the beginning of a coming-of-age story.

Admittedly, if I had not won this book through a Goodreads giveaway, it would've been a DNF after about 100 pages or so. The beginning focuses on these milk adventures with little else to think about. The last 1/3 of the novel is where I think everything starts to come together an I get what Kelly is trying to accomplish. It's reminiscent of The Old Man and The Sea in that I didn't understand the point until I actually went to Cuba and witnessed the lifestyle. With Milkiverse, I think one has to find Bev relatable to really understand why she does what she does.

There are a few reasons why I took 2 Stars off. I felt this book should've been written in a 1st person narrative, as it was Bev-centric and we really didn't get a feel for how anyone else felt. I think this was a lost opportunity, as we spend all our time in Bev's head and I think a 1st person narrative really would've drove that home. There was a lot of internal monologue, self-doubt and a ton of rhetorical questions, which had me rolling my eyes a few dozen times.

Someone else mentioned the pronoun issue with Bossman and I agree. I found this confusing and distracting. Bossman is a 'she/her,' but is referred to "Sir." If this was intentional, I feel it needs to be mentioned because it just felt like a mistake throughout.

The milk adventures and Charlie are the two main focuses of this story, and yet, we don't get either one solved. The milk trips are never explained, and the Charlie issue is a cliffhanger. So why invent these milk trips if they won't be explained or have much to do with the plot? I can only imagine it was a means of pushing Bev outside of her safe place and having her trust the unknown.

At the end of the day, this is a niche gem. I hope this story makes its rounds, because it is a special story about a very special young woman. I feel the synopsis will attract a different crowd than intended, but I truly hope it finds its way into the right hands.

I received an ARC from a Goodreads Giveaway and am leaving this review willingly.

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Milkiverse follows Bev who is a neurodiverse woman who struggles to form connections with people. She works at a cereal bar and if she sips her customer’s cereal milk, she can enter alternate worlds. These worlds are alternate timelines of her life and involve the person who had the cereal. So in one timeline, Bev is in a relationship with one of her customers and in another timeline she is best friends with one of her work colleagues and a successful writer. Bev keeps drinking the cereal milk because she wants to live in these alternate worlds where her life is different. Bev has always wanted to be a writer and has been working on her book for years with no real progress. The alternate worlds give Bev motivation to write her novel and she hopes she can somehow reach a boy she spurned in college through this novel for his forgiveness.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I will be recommending this. This book is written well and I found it easy to read and follow Bev as a character. A lot of this book focuses on Bev’s neurodiversity and how she views the world. Bev does struggle to form connections with people and she likes to stick to her routines. I would say this book has good representation for neurodiversity because it discusses it in depth and Bev even struggles to connect with her parents because they don’t see the world in the same way as Bev or understand why she behaves in certain ways. The cereal milk alternate timeline was fun and I enjoyed reading about the different lives that Bev could have been living. My only issue with this book is that there are excerpts of the book Bev has been writing and I found them to be a little bit boring/out of place. That said, I had a good time reading this and I liked the uniqueness of the story and the representation of the neurodiversity.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting one! I usually don’t enjoy, or reach for, the magical realism/cozy genre, so I was pleasantly surprised with Milkiverse. Following neurodivergent Bev throughout this novel was an eye-opening experience, as it gives a different perspective to readers who are not familiar with neurodivergence. Bev is an interesting character, as she is someone whose personality is quite awkward and boring from the outside, but when she begins to open herself up to both us and the other characters within the book, we begin to understand parts of why she is the way she is.
Although I do appreciate the fact that we are able to see more of Bev’s situation later in the book, the beginning half does drag a little, as we mainly are experiencing Bev’s milk “trips”, rather than actual character and plot development. The “trips” were okay, there was nothing majorly bad with them, but most of them felt like they were included just because these milk-trips are advertised as the main plot of this book (which personally I don’t agree with, they do feel like a B-plot). A few of them could have had more deeper meaning, rather that just fluff up the plot.
Bev’s personality begins to develop around the halfway point which I was thankful for. It gave us so much more insight into her life and what she has been experiencing during and after her teenage years. I found this relatable in many ways… Who doesn’t relate to being an awkward teenager and stuffing up good relationships in stupid ways. This exploration made me wayyyy more sympathetic to Bev, which was ideal.
Whilst this wasn’t my favourite book, it was definitely solid and enjoyable the entire time, and an easy read to get into. A solid 3 stars! Side note – absolutely LOVE that cover.
Thank you NetGalley and SoHo Press for this eARC!

[Ashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars rounded up
Thank you to Soho Press and Netgalley for an early e-arc copy!!
Went into this expecting some weird girl fic and got healing fiction instead. This book overall was pretty good - the representation was well needed, very detailed, and refreshing to see (in my opinion). Bev wasn't the most likeable protag but in the end she's trying to grow and move beyond her past griefs. You can see where she is coming from and really feel her lack of human connection. I kinda loved the message that sometimes its good to be happy where you (even if its not the most glorious job) and its okay to reach out for human connection and to fight to have those forged. You have to put yourself out there to be loved. You cannot just always escape into milk powered delusions or universes.
Overall, I wish we got more of the milk-world, that was kinda the best part (if not a little gross by how it was achieved). The see alternative versions of yourself via someone else's milk is a really awesome concept.
Pros: The cover is stunning. The writing is good. It has an interesting concept (universe hopping via used milk). Personally, I related a lot to Bev. It was a nice piece of healing fiction. The rep was really refreshing, especially to see a neurodivergent main character and have that told to us straight up.
Cons: Felt some heavy 2nd hand embarrassment for Bev. Not enough of the cool milk-world (using that power and exploring it). I related alot to Bev.

[Stormee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I entered to win this book on this website and somehow actually won! My first time getting an arc also! So thank you first off so much to Soho Press! 🤩

This was definitely a unique and different story.

I absolutely love cereal. And milk. Saying that tho, I don’t know that I want to drink other people’s cereal milk. 🥴

I found it super interesting tho the things that would occur for Bev when she entered those “worlds.” And just what she kind of learned about herself.

I seen parts of myself in Bev. Not that I’ve ever been diagnosed of being on the spectrum, but I’m sure I have a little bit of the ‘tism and can definitely relate to some of the issues she had.

Overall tho, I was a tad disappointed in the whole Charlie arc. I just felt let down by the end of it. And why she was so insistent on getting to him. I understand she promised him all those years ago that she’d make it up to him, but man, that’s a long time to hold out hope that someone will apologize. She could have just simply did what she did at the end of the book waaaaaaaaay sooner. But I get that she was still learning, and understanding how she felt about things.

I’m glad she did change as a character thru the story. But also learned that it’s okay to be weird. A quote from one of my favorite movies, “Being normal is vastly overrated,” and I one million percent agree!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining but tense character-driven story about getting into a rut, chronic guilt, and difficulty connecting with others from the perspective of a late-diagnosed neurodivergent woman. I thought the speculative milk and cereal element was a useful and creative tool for illustrating maladaptive daydreaming through fantasy. I appreciated that the neurodivergent-specific difficulties were central to the story, but that the MC was still held accountable for past actions and lack of effort. I haven’t seen many stories cover the issue of being perceived as immature, and I liked that the author showed downsides while finding ways that the MC could succeed using that as a strength. I liked the inclusion of multiple characters on the spectrum with different personalities, illustrating how people with the same diagnosis can’t just be grouped together. I can understand reception of this book may be mixed, as some may find the MC too "weird," mistake spectrum-related difficulties for things like narcissism, or see the stakes as low because the problems that have become big for the MC seem more easily resolvable from a neurotypical perspective. A few portions of the story regarding the MC's struggles to write were a little slow for me, but otherwise I liked the pacing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Thanks to the author, Soho Press, and NetGalley.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milkiverse surprised me in the best way! It’s not usually a genre I gravitate towards, although I do enjoy a bit of magical realism but the intriguing, unusual premise had me hooked from the beginning. I especially loved the exploration of neurodivergency (of the main character Bev), which felt incredibly touching and relatable as someone with many similar experiences and a recent diagnosis. I found myself really connecting with the main character and seeing little pieces of myself in her journey (minus the milk drinking) and, unfortunately, the ability to jump between realities! I enjoyed the writing style and this journey.

I found it very healing as someone who struggles with connection and my neurodivergency and being "different" or not quite accepted or fully seen or accepting how things are at times.

Overall, this was such an enjoyable and unexpectedly memorable read, and I’m really glad I gave it a chance!

Thanks so much for the e-arc Netgalley and Kelly for writing!

[Simi · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Bev is on the spectrum and feels a complete disconnect to everyone around her, except in her fantasies. She's on a secret mission to complete her book before her 28th birthday, when she discovers she can enter different realities by sipping the leftover milk of the people around her, with varied results.

When I saw the premise of this, I simply knew i had to go for it. It was just so weird, cosy and adventurous in an entirely introspective way (so many possibilities and lives lived in the Milkiverse). It really started off strong but there was a long journey to get to Charlie and the truth about Bev's family, and her book. I expected the "milk trips" to be more connected to the overall plot but they were mostly side quests that had me navigating my way back to the main story afterwards.

Overall the vibes of this were fantastic. It reminded me of Automatic Noodle with a dash of The Kiss Quotient, in terms of the atmosphere and character journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie Peterman · Rating 3 out of 5]

here's a quirky novel for your inner-weirdo – a delightful neurodivergent woman who works at a fast-casual cereal bar at the mall feels so compelled to publish a novel-slash-open-love-letter-to-an-ex before her 28th birthday that she is willing to try literally anything to make it happen. this book is a little all over the place, just like the snippets of Bev's book draft that we actually get to read and shake our heads at. this mostly reads like the author's reckoning with her own writing and ambitions. thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Amanda Abbate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5| This is weird girl lit! At times I felt Bev was hard to connect with or relate to, but the further you get into the story you start to understand her character more. I can guarantee you've never read a book about a girl who drinks other peoples cereal milk and enters an alternate reality.

[Venneh]

Noped out because the arc was missing the letters “th” and “if” in several combinations throughout the manuscript; and I do not have the energy to guess what words the author actually meant multiple times a page.

[Bronté · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh this was so CUTE!!!! i can't wait for more people to love this and find comfort in it once it's officially published. it was a little different from the books i usually read, but still very enjoyable in its lightheartedness.

[Rozuva Phynix · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Thank you Edelweiss for sending me an early copy. I really appreciate it.

The cover of this book first got my attention and when I read the blurb, it even intrigued me more so I had to request it cause I’m that impatient to read it and it did not disappoint.

This book is a love letter to neurodivergence and the struggles one has being born with it. I like how the element of magical realism explores that.

This is a character driven book instead of plot so if you like that, then I highly suggest checking it out once it’s out (or if you can, request it if you are also impatient).

I wish there was a cereal cafe where I live cause I would love to have that experience.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not ready for whatever weirdness this is going to be.

Ok, so I've done a few ARCs in my time. This was no different. Our very very neurodivergent main character, Bev, is clearly going through some things. I had second-hand embarrassment for her the entire time. The Milkiverse just exacerbated that feeling, where the trauma of Bev's life has manifested into maladaptive daydreaming. Have I been in Bev's position? Yes, definitely, and it's not healthy. Our main character at least had a roommate who would set her straight about a few very niche details.

Clearly, Bev longed for good solid relationships of all types, and it was real weird about her non-relationship-relationship with the guy from the local restaurant. (Whose name we never even learn! Also, WHY was she so infatuated with him? He seemed like a plain ole guy from down the street.)

To end, when the author in her dedication said, "my publishers told me to get weird, and make it weirder" she was not kidding.