Milkiverse

by Kelly Murashige

Can happiness be found at the bottom of a cereal bowl? A neurodiverse 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 amazing new work of “healing fiction.”

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?

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

336 pages, Hardcover

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

[Katherine Jade]

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]

"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)

[Maggie]

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!

[Lex]

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!

[Rozuva Phynix]

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.

[Amanda Abbate]

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]

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.

[Caitlin]

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