At the Edge of the Universe

by Shaun David Hutchinson

Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished.

More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone except Ozzie.

Ozzie doesn’t know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking.

When Ozzie is paired up with new student Calvin on a physics project, he begins to wonder if Calvin could somehow be involved. But the more time they spend together, the harder it is for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves Tommy.

But Ozzie knows there isn’t much time left to find Tommy–that once the door closes, it can’t be opened again. And he’s determined to keep it open as long as possible.

Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Science Fiction, Queer, Romance, Fiction

485 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

Shaun is a major geek and all about nerdy shenanigans. He is the author of many queer books for young adults. Find out more information at shaundavidhutchinson.com. He currently lives in Seattle and watches way too much Doctor Who.

Reviews

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you ever get the feeling you and an author would be great friends (or perhaps mortal enemies), simply based on the books they write and the way they tell stories? Even if that's irrational as thinking you'd be great friends with a television character, I still believe that from time to time.

Near the top of my list would be Shaun David Hutchinson, who absolutely slayed me with We Are the Ants (see my original review), which was in the top five of the best books I read last year. Now he's back with At the Edge of the Universe , which I loved nearly as much, and it just convinced me I'd love to spend time just talking to Hutchinson and understanding how he thinks. At the very least, I'd love to be friends with one of his characters.

Ozzie and Tommy have been best friends since childhood, and they've been boyfriends since the eighth grade. Tommy is so much of Ozzie's world, the two have weathered so much, particularly Tommy's abusive father, and they dream of one day escaping their Florida hometown. And then one day, Tommy disappears, without any warning. But worse that that, Tommy has ceased to exist—no one but Ozzie remembers Tommy, and all of the memories that the two shared, or shared with others, have been amended or totally rewritten.

"It's impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes these fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won't. Eventually, scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, but slowly hurt less. At least, I hoped they would."

As Ozzie desperately tries to figure out what happened to Tommy, and convince those around him—including Tommy's mother—that he actually existed, Ozzie begins to realize that the universe is shrinking, and perhaps Tommy was taken away into some alternate universe. But that's not the only crisis Ozzie has to face—his parents are getting divorced, his older brother has joined the military and is about to head to basic training, and one of his best friends, Lua, is becoming distant as her dreams of musical success start coming to fruition.

Then Ozzie is paired with Calvin on a physics class project. Calvin was once a star wrestler, class president, and all-around popular guy, until the day he quit wrestling and student council, came into school every day wearing the same hoodie and jeans, and mostly sleeps through class. Obviously there's something that made Calvin change so abruptly, and Ozzie wants to get to the bottom of it, but at the same time, he really can only focus on finding Tommy. But as he gets to know Calvin, he can't deny that he might be falling for him, but he doesn't know what to do—is it unfair to Tommy for Ozzie to pursue another relationship, or should he try and move on? And what if Tommy really doesn't exist?

As the universe continues to shrink, and Ozzie's life continues to change, he knows he has a finite amount of time to find Tommy. But he also realizes there are so many more people in his life with problems. Should he help solve those, even if it might betray their trust, or should he not lose site of his goal? And will there be a universe left when he decides?

Even though it's a little confusing when the plot goes all science-y, this is a beautiful book that hits you right in your heart. Once again, Hutchinson combines sci-fi and emotion to create a tremendously compelling, moving story about friendship, love, loyalty, trust, family, secrets, and selfishness. There is so much here to like, even if the characters aren't always 100 percent sympathetic, but it is Hutchinson's storytelling, his use of language and dialogue, that kicks this book up another notch. His characters may be wiser than their years, but they don't sound as if they just walked out of a John Green novel, where every sentence is a sarcastic burn or a philosophical insight.

Hutchinson is open that as a teenager he struggled with depression and contemplated suicide, so he has a tremendous amount of empathy for his characters and their problems. I do wish he had dwelled a little less on the physics, but it didn't keep me from loving this book and these characters. Like We Are the Ants , it will be a long while before I'll be able to get this story out of my mind. Is it 100 percent plausible? No. Does it matter? Not to me, given how tightly it grabbed my heart.

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....

[✨ jami ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I didn’t even need to check my phone to know that the universe had shrunk again, and the stars had vanished.
No. They hadn’t vanished. I’d given them away to someone who hadn’t deserved them, and I’d never get them back.”

trigger warnings in this book for: rape, statutory rape, racism, child abuse, graphic violence, self-harm, drugs, homophobia, ableism

I don't think its any secret I was a massive fan of Shaun David Hutchinson's 2016 release, We Are the Ants, so his newest release was high on my 2017 anticipated list.

Fans of We Are the Ants will definitely enjoy At the Edge of the Universe - it features some of the same aspects that drew me into We Are the Ants - an honest look at mental illness and living as a gay teenager, beautiful prose, a sci-fi twist and raw emotion.



(by rykesmeadow on tumblr)

At the Edge of the Universe follows Oswald Pinkerton, aka as Ozzie - who's pretty sure the universe is shrinking. His evidence? The boy he was dating, Tommy, has disappeared from the memory of everyone who knew him, including Tommy's family. This book follows Ozzie as he tries to unravel the mystery behind Tommy's disappearance and try to outlast the universe as it quickly shrinks around him.

I found At the Edge of the Universe a much harder read then We Are the Ants - the issues and themes covered are definitely heavy and you can practically feel the weight the characters are bearing. It's very gritty reading, but I think the issues were dealt with very gracefully and carefully. The characters are incredibly complex, and very very flawed - but while their choices may not be the best in each circumstance, I like that it was clear they weren't endorsed out of text. I also liked there is genuine growth for these characters, and that despite the truly horrible circumstances these characters are enduring, the ending is relatively happy.

I really liked the diversity in this one ! Ozzie is gay, Tommy is gay and biracial (one white one black parent), Lua, Ozzie's best friend, is gender-fluid and they're referred to with differing pronouns throughout the story. Ozzie's other best friend Dustin is asexual and Chinese-American, and another character Calvin is bisexual. I loved the amount of diversity in this story, especially Lua as a gender-fluid character because it is the first representation of gender-fluidity I've encountered personally.

“The funny thing is,' Calvin said, 'I thought I'd been breathing underwater this whole time, but I guess I've been drowning.”

My main issues with this book is the ending, and the beginning. It took me a while to get into this, with the beginning being a little meandering and slow-paced. It took a while for me to figure out in what direction the book was going. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the final act, I don't think I really "got" the ending and I felt a little unsatisfied with some of the ending.

I was also a little irked about the ableism in this book - a character who cannot walk is referred to as "broken" and laments how no one will ever love him or want to be with him when he is a paraplegic. This was never challenged, and in the end there was a kind of "cure-all" for his situation.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the main content of this story. The story is definitely gritty, and there are bits and pieces I really felt horror reading - but I also think these issues were written and dealt with so well. This is ownvoices for mental illness and gay rep and I think it's important to tell our stories as marginalised people - both the good and the bad.

The prose, as expected, is beautiful. Shaun David Hutchinson has a very poetic and lyrical style, but it's very simple and not bogged down in overly flowery writing. I genuinely enjoy his writing so much. I also loved that Henry and Diego from We Are the Ants had a little cameo!

“It's impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes those fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won't. Eventually, scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, but slowly hurt less. At least, I hoped they would.”

Shaun David Hutchinson has earned a spot on my instant buy list. At the Edge of the Universe is written with the same raw emotion, quirkiness and hard grit that made me fall in love with his stories. He constantly presents his readers with flawed, complex characters who must exist in incredibly difficult, but honest situations.

I love his books, and while this one didn't blow me away as much as We Are the Ants did, it's still a beautiful book. It' brutal and hard in places, but I think it is always honest and the narrative is layered I love Hutchinson's brand of sci-fi contemporary, and if you have enjoyed his previous books there will definitely be something for you here. If you haven't picked up one yet, I implore you too. At the Edge of the Universe would be a good place to start.

“Don't get so focused on where you're going that you forget the people you're travelling with. There's no point reaching a destination if you arrive alone.”

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay. lets get right to the point. this book was depressing. like, borderline adam silvera levels of sadness. but real life can sometimes be pretty woeful, so if there is anything this book was, it was real. the characters, the emotions, the struggles. they were so realistic, so relatable.

i was also impressed with how well this book covered some very sensitive subjects and content. it was a bit much at times, but i think that just lends to the storys authenticity and realistic nature.

the only critique i have is the ending. i understand the sci-fi aspect of the plot and its necessity in helping ozzie to realise some things, but the ending kind of felt… like a cop out? i dont claim to know anything about physics or quantum mechanics, but it just felt weak in my opinion.

overall, it was a great story, despite how depressing it was. i think sometimes sadness is the most effective emotion for me when it comes understanding the meaning of a book. and i thought this story had a pretty great message.

4.5 stars

[Kai Spellmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We have to fall in love with the idea of a person before we can fall in love with the actual person."

Shaun's books have a safe place in my bookish heart. I love his characters, his stories, his style of writing. His books are unlike any other book I've read before and this one was no exception. The universe is shrinking and Ozzy's boyfriend Tommy has but nobody remembers that he existed. Only Ozzy does but, of course, no one believes him.

There are so many things that Shaun gets right. He is in touch with the young adult book community, he is aware of what occupies our minds and hearts, he listens. Which is why we get diversity and representation in the form of gay, genderfluid, bi- and asexual characters - or characters that don't know how or if to define themselves. But what might be even more important is that these characters have depth; they are relatable and not simply mere caricatures of what they represent. This is why OwnVoices authors are so important.

What is even better, Shaun uses his books to talk about things that matter. He openly discusses depression, self-harm and how important it is to talk when one is hurting. He shows that love is not always easy and fluffy and relationships grow and change and always take two people who care enough to work on this relationship together. He does not shy away from topics like rape, abuse and poverty. I think it's brave that Shaun puts these stories out there and lends his ear and shoulder to so many kids, teens and adults. He makes them feel understood and seen and I think that is what every young adult author should set out to do.
I know that I'm seriously gushing about the author at this point but there is one more thing that I have to point out: this book features sex. It's explicit. That alone is still super rare in the YA genre. But here we have two gay teenagers who sleep with each other and it's not shown as something abnormal, it's not a taboo topic, it's what happens what two people have the hots for one another. I wish we could see more sex and more non-straight sex in young adult literature. Not because I read books for their erotic content, but because sex is how we all got here in the first place.

Now the only thing I can criticise is related to the plot, so be aware of major spoilers. I shipped Ozzy and Calvin. I think I even fell for Calvin a little. So seeing his and Ozzy's relationship erased at the end of the book hurt. I understand that the story would not have worked otherwise, but I still rooted for them.

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[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

So instead of aliens trying to blow up the human homeland, the universe is now shrinking?

With most authors I'd be skeptical, but after We Are the Ants, Shaun David Hutchinson could write about rockette monkeys performing Chicago on Mars and I'd read it.

*After Actually Reading the Book*

“Don’t get so focused on where you’re going that you forget the people yo’re travelling with. There’s no point reaching a destination if you arrive alone.”

After the god send known as We Are the Ants, I was so excited for this book that I pre-ordered it four months in advance. Yep. I’m a slave to the writing of Shaun David Hutchinson.

This book was even better than I hoped it would be. Plus, it had ties to both We Are the Ants and The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley (embed links). Diego and Henry (mainly Diego though) make an appearance, the Patient F movies are mentioned, and the main character of this novel, Ozzie, works at a book store and had to inform a customer that they don’t have a YA novel about ants and aliens. How both We Are the Ants is a book in this universe and Diego and Henry are spotted is beyond me, but I’m totally for it regardless. The more Diego the better, right?

Ozzie is fantastic. He has a similar sense of humor as Henry, but Ozzie is completely his own man. When his boyfriend is suddenly erased from existence, Ozzie is willing to do anything to find him and bring him back. Even when his obsession begins to take its toll on his personal life. Then enter Calvin, his fellow student, who seems to have problems even deeper and more profound than Ozzie’s own.

I’ll never not love these books. There’s something so unique and beautiful about them. Their oddball science fiction plotlines that somehow mix perfectly with extremely contemporary issues. Their broken and yet perfect boys. The sarcastic writing style that can’t be duplicated. I’ll recommend and love these books until my death bed. I swear on it.

“You can choose to be happy with what life gives you,” he said, “or spend your life miserable. I choose happiness. It’s really that simple.”

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about being human when the world around you is ending.

There is a lot I really liked about this book. Hutchinson is consistently good at making you feel the emotions of a piece, get caught up in the story: I was stressed and desperate to finish. I loved the strong prevalence of side characters; I think side character conflicts are an excellent addition to any book and are often sadly neglected. He’s also very good at dangling a mystery but giving it enough of a solid ending to be satisfying: The ending of this book felt like exhaling. In hindsight, I think this is also the first book I ever read featuring a character who used he and she pronouns, which is pretty neat.

It used to bother me when I read books where the main characters fell in love or became best friends after only knowing each other a short time. I’d complained about it to Tommy once, and he’d said that’s how it happens in real life. Everyone we meet begins as a stranger, so we project onto them who we need them to be until we get to know them. He said we have to fall in love with the idea of the person before we can fall in love with the actual person.

That being said, I feel like Hutchinson has fallen into a very clear formula, and this is just not as good an example of that formula. We Are the Ants, The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley, and to some degree The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza all fall into a similar narrative: the apocalypse is threatened, the main character is depressed and generally not nice to other people, and it turns out to be a metaphor for mental illness somehow. I don’t think that’s actually a bad thing. It’s an interesting formula. It’s clearly working for him. I just think this book does very little with that formula compared to his others (especially The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza).

The middle of this could have been edited far better: this is a 500-page book, and I could really feel the lag around the middle. A lot of the middle is filled with side character conflict. I liked the blend of stories: Calvin’s story, specifically, was very good. I did not think most of these side characters had their arcs resolved in a meaningful way.

Lua’s character arc, or rather lack of it, also somewhat bothered me. He’s meant to be flawed but likable, and at some points he comes off this way. Her other actions include: consistently blowing up at friends, telling Ozzie “you’re mine” in a conversation I thought was DEEPLY uncomfortable, and way more relevantly, throwing a glass bottle at a significant other (it’s implied this is not an anomalous event). If any of these were meaningfully criticized I would not be bothered but as it is, one of these characters is casually participating in domestic abuse. For lols.

I think the ending of this bothered me on a few levels, honestly. Though some reviewer friends of mine felt it was a cop-out, I like the actual ending fine: I just thought it came too quickly without enough buildup. In a book where almost all of the side character conflicts, especially Calvin's major conflict, were wrapped up very quickly as well, this left me wanting more.

I do think Shaun David Hutchinson is a very talented author and very good at drawing readers into a story: I also like that he addresses topics from his past in such an interesting way. But this just isn't all that satisfying to me as a full narrative.

TW for statutory rape, child abuse, and domestic abuse.

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[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

The universe is shrinking....
which is a central theme in this story, but the science fiction never dominates the deeper issues and personal growth.
Shaun David Hutchinson is brilliant at the way he maneuvers huge life situations while keeping a causal perspective quality in his writing at the same time.

Wonderful characters. Ozzie and Tommy are gay...but it's never their gayness that stands out. Again... I can't say enough about Shaun David Hutchinson. His focus is on
Ozzie's and Tommy's feelings toward each other - not their genitalia.
We get introduced to a non gender conforming character named Lua... adding zest & pep.

I enjoyed the dynamics between Ozzie and Calvin along with the flashbacks of Tommy.
I enjoyed the whole darn story......Ozzie's relationship and thoughts towards his mother his therapists... his classmates... his teachers. I enjoyed Ozzie's entire thought-process.

The themes in the story were soooo good!!! The dark themes: depression and abuse balanced themes of diversity and sexuality,

Insightful- wonderful - heartfelt-tender and poignant!

I inhaled it!

[may ➹]

it was good and it was gay and that should be enough to get you to read it

also can Shaun David Hutchinson STOP. DAMAGING. ME.

[Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd) · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, I love Shaun's work. Ozzie is a brilliant main character, and this is yet another book that balances the small relationships and the end of the universe perfectly.

TW: self harm, suicide, sexual assault of a minor/pedophilia, depression, homophobic slurs

[Nazanin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars

"It’s impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes those fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won’t. eventually scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, bus slowly hurt less. At least, I hoped they would."

Ozzie’s boyfriend, Tommy disappeared two months ago. No one looking for him, not the police and not even his parents. Ozzie is the only one who’s looking for him.

"I met Tommy in second grade. He kissed me in eighth. He was my boyfriend and best friend. July third, he was existed; July fourth he didn’t. not even his parents remember him."

So to find Tommy, Ozzie is going to go to Seattle but when he was in the plane, the deputy takes him off the plane and then Ozzie watched his plane tumble from the sky and crash into boulevard. And when every one was shocked, he just laughed and laughed and… So yes the next scene was him with a therapist.

Ozzie has a theory about "false vacuum" and he relates the plane incident and Tommy’s disappearance and shrinking the universe to this theory. If you’re wondering what’s this false vacuum theory you should read the story. So is the universe really shrinking? Is Ozzie’s theory correct? Most importantly, where is Tommy? If he’s real why does no one know anything about him?

Well, I’m not a huge fan of Si-Fi but it’s good to read some of these books once in awhile for changing of the plot. So I read this book’s synopsis and it really intrigued me! The story started off really good and I thought wow it’s interesting but I lost interest the deeper I went into the story. And based on the ratings and the reviews I think it’s just me. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me. I didn’t enjoy it. I got bored and after the first half I skipped and skimmed a lot. Please remember, it was just my opinion so you can pay no attention to it and read it yourself. Hope you enjoy it!

[Rana⚡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Faith is believing in something even when every other soul in the world tells you you’re wrong. Even when all the evidence says you’re a fool. No matter what people say or how much they hurt you, faith means you keep believing"

Thats was straight up brilliant!! Are all his books this perfect???
As a person who loves making late night theories this book was the one for me. It reminded me of More than this so badly!! At first i was kinda comparing them to each other but i figured that ATEOU had its very own unique style and stopped comparing right away.(i even loved this more because more than this dragged alot but anyways they're incomparable, they just happen to have the same theories about the universe and its cool)

At the edge of the universe dealt with diverse heavy subjects but it was written in a very light way, mixed up with the perfect amount of humor throughout the book.OZZIE YOU'RE MY HERO!

Surprisingly enough, i would've liked it to end as a cliffhanger (in the chapter before last). It just seemed like a better way to end it, so that it'd suit the mysterious vibes more.


🌟Br withThis legend I couldn't have read this without you!!

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book by SDH and I've been so hyped about his work that this could have easily gone the "it didn't live up to my expectations" way. But! It didn't! I have no idea what I expected from this in terms of plot and characters but I can say that it was definitely worth the hype (I say hype but how come only around 1800 people have rated this on goodreads?? How???)

Anyway, I don't have a copy of this anymore because I read it on Riveted, so this is a short review with no quotes or anything, but you should definitely go read this book.

So, Ozzie is the only one who remembers his boyfriend Tommy. Everyone's history has been modified to reflect a world where Tommy was never born, But Ozzie knows he hasn't just dreamed Tommy. Throughout the book we see some of the memories he shared with Tommy, but the main story takes place in the present, where Ozzie life moves on, more or less, without Tommy. His disappearance isn't the only weird thing that's happened. The universe is also shrinking, and again, only Ozzy seems to know.

I found the premise so intriguing that I was hooked on that alone from the start, but then as we learn more about Ozzie, his old friends Lua and Dustin and his new friend Calvin, I couldn't stop reading.

The book touches on many difficult and dark themes that are a reality for so many young adults, so keep that in mind and look at the trigger warnings at the of my review to know some of the themes that are in this book (but keep in mind I might have missed some).

The cast is also very diversewith Ozzie being gay, Tommy being a black gay boy, Lua being genderfluid, Calving being questioning/bi, and Dustin being coded as ace (the author confirmed he is, but the word is not on page because Dustin doesn't say it, so I guess he's questioning at the time of the book).

I really don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that reading this was great and especially the countdown of the size of the universe made it impossible to stop reading, as well as the question of why everything was happening.

I can only recommend everyone to read it and find out everything by yourself.

TWs: self harm, depression, sexual assault, abuse.

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scariest thing in life is the door that closes and can't ever be opened again.
Once I opened the door and stepped into the void, that door would slam shut behind me and I could never go back.
But maybe it's okay to be afraid.

I don't think I'll ever be able to properly put into coherent words how much Shaun David Hutchinson and his books mean to me. I loved We Are the Ants, but At the Edge of the Universe was a whole different story.
It's one of those books that make you question your entire existence and leave you wanting to read it back from the start the exact moment you finish it.
So beautiful and painful and real. SDH's writing is a gift to the world.
*wipes away tears* I love this book so much.


can we please talk about diego's little appearance because omg I'm dying

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review posted!
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All my life, I have been living at the edge of the Universe. Unfortunately, it took 19 years and a book for me to realize.

“We've all got things about ourselves we hate and these dark places inside of us we're terrified to show people. We live in constant fear that someone is going to discover the rotting corpses we keep buried in those dark places, and that when they do, they'll despise us for them.”

At The Edge of the Universe follows the story of Ozzie, a boy who is living in a world in which nobody but him remembers his boyfriend Tommy ever existed. History has been rewritten, the universe is shrinking, and it seems as Ozzie’s duty to understand what’s happening so he can save the universe before it's too late.

If I had to astrophysically explain what this book is about, I couldn’t do it because I don’t know anything related astrophysics. However, I can tell you once you have finished this book your mind will be a cluster of emotions and crazy theories fighting against each other.

I know a book is good when it follows the Powerpuff Books’ formula: a wide range of representation, science, and humor.

The author has done an incredible job by catching the reader’s attention from the very first chapter to the last sentence of the book. Hutchison writing style is capable of stealing your soul so it can later get mixed with the story, and you can truly live each part of it. On the other side, even though there are some paragraphs explaining physic theories, they never became tedious or difficult to understand, as a matter of fact, they worked perfectly to disguise and transform the story’s meaning into something that left for the reader’s judgment.

Each character’s personality is so well developed, and they are all so unique that it results impossible not to love them all.

Ozzie’s determination to prove his boyfriend’s existence and to find him while trying to help Calvin overcome his demons was so emotive that I even heard the sound ice breaking inside my chest. (If you are planning to read this book, I recommend you pay close attention to Ozzie’s attitudes).

“Sometimes I wish I'd find a zipper on the back of my head so I could unzip my skin and find the real me underneath.”

Calvin, my sweet cinnamon roll, was for me the character with more personality, and the one who deserved more leadership than what was given to him. The message sent by the author through him made me remember how fragile and exposed we are as human beings and how our craving for feeling love can lead us to the wrong path.

Lua is the non-binary character we all needed in this book. They’re Ozzie’s best friend and a talented musician who are trying to find that sense of purpose in their life. If you ever wonder what true friendship is like, you will find it written in this book. I stan Lua for the rest of my life.

The themes the author approached through Tommy, the handsome and smart guy who makes the impossible became possible, are delicate and not always easy to write about. However, he managed to do it as well as he did with Calvin before. I wish with all my heart that David Hutchinson gets to write a story starring Tommy, I did not have enough.

David Hutchinson has created a fast-paced story, full of intrigue, memorable characters and life teachings that will make you want to lay on the floor and think on the vast existence of the universe and its future possibilities.

P.S: I’m still trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat.

(I even made a playlist for those who want to check it out here).

[maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It definitely is no secret that At The Edge Of The Universe was probably my most anticipated book of the year. After reading We Are The Ants last year and completely falling in love with it, I was ready to read absolutely everything ever written by Shaun David Hutchinson.

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What I Liked

The writing. Shaun David Hutchinson just has this way of completely pulling you in with his writing. There’s just something so beautiful and magical about it. For those of you who know me, you know that my attention span is actual garbage, so for me to read 300 pages of a book in one sitting without any side distractions is an actual miracle and that is exactly what happened to me while reading At The Edge Of The Universe. I honestly didn’t even realize I read that much until I was finally able to put it down thanks to jet lag and fatigue.

The characters. Along with writing a beautiful story, Shaun David Hutchinson continues to write beautiful characters. Every single one of them is perfect. Whether it’s the main characters, the side characters, the parents or even teachers…they are all wonderful to read. They are compelling and diverse and I just love every single one of them.

The shrinking universe. Hutchinson seems to always find a way to add an almost magical realism element to his stories, whether it was the alien abductions in We Are The Ants or the shrinking universe in At The Edge of the Universe. These elements are truly unique and add a little something extra to each story.

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What I Didn’t Like

Too similar. While I absolutely loved At The Edge Of The Universe, it felt a little too similar to We Are The Ants at times. There was a moment that hinted that these two books may possibly take place in the same universe and while I liked that aspect, I still felt like the line between the two stories almost blurred together at times.

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Overall, At The Edge Of The Universe was everything I had hoped it would be. While it did feel a little similar to We Are The Ants at times, it was still so beautifully written and completely captivating. I honestly can’t wait to read what Shaun David Hutchinson comes out with next!

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Initial post reading thoughts:

It's no secret that this has been my most anticipated read for a very long time now. I love literally everything that I have ever read by Shaun David Hutchinson and I couldn't wait to pick this novel up.

Shaun David Hutchinson has this way of just completely drawing me in with his writing. I honestly can't remember the last time I read over 300 pages in one sitting. I know that is maybe normal for some readers, but as you may know, I have the worst attention span of all time. It takes a lot for me to devote hours on end to reading a book without any breaks in between and At The Edge Of The Universe completely drew me in, the same way that We Are The Ants did.

That being said, We Are The Ants is still my number one. At times, At The Edge Of The Universe felt very similar to We Are The Ants, but not in a bad way...just as if they took place in the same Universe (haha). I still completely 100% enjoyed the hell out of this novel and I can't wait for what Shaun David Hutchinson releases next!

[Camille ☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Don't get so focused on where you're going that you forget the people you're travelling with. There's no point reaching a destination if you arrive alone.”

4.5. I don’t even know what to say this book was incredibly painful and beautiful and why has not more people read this already. This is amazing. Shaun David Hutchinson is amazing.

I loved the main character Ozzie and I loved seeing the story develop around him, seeing him grew up and master his anxiety and his fears. He’s a deeply unperfect and relatable character and he has so much love to give. My heart broke for him and for the other characters. This book is full of representation and diversity. There is Lua, who refuses to be labelled as one gender, Dustin who is asexual and Calvin who is bisexual. There is talk of mental illness, depression, abuse and many other things. This book is painful. I swear this book isn’t ALL sadness but don’t go reading this thinking it will be all sunshine and bunnies. But go read it.

I only withdrew half a star because the end disappointed me a little, I feel like I was expecting something else and like a lot of things were left unresolved.

Oh and this : “A couple of customers interrupted [...] who wanted to know if we had some YA book about ants and aliens I'd never heard of”. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE. For fans of We are the Ants like me.





---------------

15/06/2017 - While I'm drowning in my tears because I had to order a copy of Our Dark Duet that won't arrive before at least a week, I thought a book from the author of We are the Ants could only be a good distraction.

I'm actually super excited to read this.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

JUST POSTED MY FULL REVIEW (this is a first omg y'all better appreciate my efforts)

this was my first book by shaun david hutchinson and holy shit, i wasn‘t ready.

i found myself being able to relate to the characters a lot (especially calvin) and reading this book was a very heavy and emotional experience for me because it dealt with things that i went/go through as well.

content warnings for depression, self-harm, drugs, rape, domestic violence and child abuse.

i never expected to like or relate to this book as much as i did. the author managed to depict mental illness in such a raw and honest manner and i don't think i've ever come across characters that i could relate to so much in terms of their emotions and views of themselves. i believe the author himself suffers from depression (which makes this an #OWNVOICES book) and it clearly showed in the realness of the characters.

calvin is the one character that my heart was weeping for. he's already suffered through SO MUCH at such a young age and i'm so sad for him. i could see myself in him in so many ways especially when it came to his depression because we seem to have very similar coping and defense mechanisms and i just wanted to hug him and tell him it's all gonna be OKAY :(

this book very much focuses on the dark and negative sides of mental illness which made it a very heavy and difficult read at times (i had to pause several times to take a breath and clear my head), but it doesn't make it any less important.

yes, i love reading books where characters deal with their mental illness in a healthy way and it's good to have positive and hopeful endings that remind you not to succumb to your mental illness, that focus on moving forward... but it's just as important to show the negative sides. to make people realise that things might not always be all happy-sunshine-rainbowland. that things get bad. to force people to pay attention, to know the signs.

i think shaun david hutcherson did a beautiful job with this story and i want to give him all the stars and awards.

it's also worth noting that this book features a genderfluid character that goes by both he and she pronouns and an asexual (side) character. and don't forget the gay kids who apparently live in seperate universes now!

the only thing i disliked about this book was the fact that it took me a while to get into it because i didn't really know where the story was going, but i ended up flying through it within two days (also because i read this on Riveted and TIME WAS RUNNING OUT)

OH AND THE ENDING KINDA BOTHERS ME. WHYYYY. no spoilers but i'm so unsatisfied.

btw is anyone else thinking of Even from Skam when looking at the cover?? i swear the guy is wearing the exact same outfit that Even used to wear in the show

overall, i definitely enjoyed this book a lot and i think hutchinson is a brilliant writer. i'll definitely read more of his works (especially if they're as raw and honest and GAY as this one).

[Peter Monn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I loved this or We Are the Ants more. Absolutely incredible. Weird and romantic. Literally bawled the last 20 pages. Check out my full review on my booktube channel at http://youtube.com/peterlikesbooks

[Kenchiin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You claim that the world used to be much bigger than it is, but did you explore it? Did you take advantage of it? How is your life all that different now than it was before?"

[jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

welcome to 202-Queer 🌈✨

50 in February: 11/50


weird. can't say i enjoyed it but i also didn't hate it.

i don't think it made much sense but i also read it at 6am so maybe it's me that wasn't making sense.

also i don't think i really vibe with the authors writing style. i don't think i have ever rated a book of his higher than three stars.

i can already feel it slipping from memory.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Released a year after We Are the Ants, which came out in 2016, At the Edge of the Universe reinforces some of the recurring style and themes of Shaun David Hutchinson's YA literature. Repressed trauma, same-sex romance, unusually intelligent and articulate characters, and speculative science fiction are concepts the author loves to engage with, and he doubles down on that in this novel. Seventeen-year-old Ozzie Pinkerton is a high school senior in his small hometown of Cloud Lake, Florida. The lens through which Ozzie views reality recently suffered a serious distortion when Tommy Ross, his boyfriend since middle school, vanished from existence. Ozzie's parents and brother have no recollection of Tommy. Neither does Mrs. Ross, or the kids at school, including Ozzie's best friends Lua and Dustin. Even Ozzie's journal entries, which date back many years, have changed to omit Tommy, reality reshaping in his absence to account for facts that would otherwise be inexplicable. Ozzie comes up with radical theories to explain Tommy's disappearance: we live in a multiverse; reality is actually a virtual reality created by scientists; the true nature of existence is nonlinear, vastly different than humans perceive. Ozzie clings to his memories of Tommy in hope he'll return someday as abruptly as he was taken away. He and Tommy loved each other too much for it to end without recourse.

Senior year has crazy surprises in store. Lua's band is heating up the local scene, expanding their popularity so that national success seems an attainable goal. Lua is too talented to be stuck forever in Cloud Lake; the world deserves to fawn over her. It's at a performance by her music group, Your Mom's a Paradox, that Ozzie gets to talking with Calvin, a boy from school he didn't know until recently. Last year Calvin earned impressive grades while also dominating on the wrestling team, but he's been a shell of himself this year. He quit wrestling and his grades have plummeted, which is why the teacher assigns him to work with Ozzie on a year-end project designing a roller coaster that could function in reality. Ozzie's smart, but Calvin used to be smarter, and their roller coaster could be phenomenal if Calvin is willing to engage. It looks like a lost cause until Ozzie runs into Calvin at the club where Lua performs. A club for same-sex dating. Ozzie wants to hold out for Tommy's improbable return from oblivion, but Calvin is here now, and seems to like Ozzie. Should he continue keeping Calvin at arm's length?

"You can choose to be happy with what life gives you...or spend your life miserable. I choose happiness. It's really that simple."

—Dustin, At the Edge of the Universe, P. 218

So much of what Ozzie loved about Tommy, he also sees in Calvin. The boy's comprehension of science far outpaces Ozzie's. Calvin designs a roller coaster that would be a spectacular attraction at any amusement park if the coaster were real. He even understands Ozzie's reluctance to turn his back on Tommy, whom everyone else impatiently insists is a figment of Ozzie's hyperactive imagination. Ozzie doesn't know what he'd do if Tommy suddenly emerged from the ether to find him cozying up to Calvin, but he's not sure he can keep his life on pause to wait for his missing boyfriend. What's more, Calvin confides in Ozzie about the grim secret that turned him from a model student-athlete into an angsty pariah, on the condition that Ozzie keep the revelation to himself. Ozzie hesitates to agree, but he messed up a similar situation with Tommy, and doesn't want to make another big mistake now. He has to hope Calvin can handle his own disturbing history.

Tommy's vanishing act isn't the only bizarre phenomenon Ozzie has noticed. The universe is shrinking. From fifteen billion light-years across on the first page of At the Edge of the Universe, Ozzie regularly notes how much smaller it's becoming. Students, teachers, and textbooks all know the universe to be smaller than Ozzie remembers. Fifteen billion light-years? No, the universe is only fourteen billion light-years across. Then twelve, nine, one, and then it's measured in astronomical units rather than light-years. Eventually the Milky Way is the only galaxy; later, our solar system is alone in the universe. The Sun pops out of existence, and only Ozzie remembers that big ball of burning gas in the sky. The tragedy of our shrinking universe is important, but Ozzie has other concerns. Hoping for a future with Tommy seems impractical, but is he willing to sacrifice that hope for Calvin? Ozzie's feelings for Calvin run strong, but the boy's troubles are a dark void sucking Ozzie in like an astronomical black hole. Their relationship could bring both of them to destruction if Ozzie doesn't figure out his priorities with Calvin and decide to act on them, whatever it costs them both.

If We Are the Ants was a strange book, At the Edge of the Universe is stranger still, but clearly a product of Shaun David Hutchinson's biting intellect. The story ranges from beautiful, insightful passages to tongue-in-cheek We Are the Ants references; from distressing personal dilemmas to intimate encounters that quicken the heart and mind. There are bits like the following, a description of the scent of books which will resonate with book lovers: "It's more than the smell of paper; it's the smell of the high seas and adventure and far-off worlds. It's the smell of a billion billion words, each a portal to somewhere new." I've felt that every time I explored a library or bookshop. Shaun David Hutchinson's fans should recognize the brief crossover with We Are the Ants on page one hundred one, and it's not the only nod to that book in At the Edge of the Universe.

A seminal moment comes when Calvin asks Ozzie how it feels to be in love. Calvin isn't sure he's ever experienced it, but Ozzie isn't shy about reminding people that he and Tommy loved each other, and Calvin is curious. Ozzie's wise answer affirms that his relationship with Tommy couldn't be mere fantasy. "We've all got secrets, you know? We've all got things about ourselves we hate and these dark places inside of us we're terrified to show people. We live in constant fear that someone is going to discover the rotting corpses we keep buried in those dark places, and that when they do, they'll despise us for them...Being in love with someone is knowing that no matter what you show them, no matter what you've done, they'll never reject you." Only someone who loves you could peer inside and not instinctually judge the ugliness that is part of your soul. One with no emotional attachment would recoil in revulsion and denounce you before fleeing and never looking back, but love binds hearts together. It provides reason not to leave despite our congenital and acquired failings. Is it any wonder, then, that Ozzie desires to remain loyal to Tommy even if all hope has departed?

"It's impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes those fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won't. Eventually, scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, but slowly hurt less."

—At the Edge of the Universe, P. 129

Ozzie's high school graduation is at hand, and having to make decisions for himself in the real world is as frightening in its own way as the universe collapsing on itself. How should Ozzie know whether leaving Cloud Lake to attend college or staying home is his best bet? But he can't rely on his parents to chart his course forever. Opportunities open up that will be accessible only briefly, and Ozzie agonizes over each one. As he reflects early in the book, "Life's truest horror is a door that slams shut that can never be opened again." It takes close to four hundred pages before Ozzie rethinks that. It's daunting to think of bypassing golden opportunities, but perhaps it's an unavoidable part of life. "Maybe some doors that slam shut behind you and can't ever be opened again aren't the scariest things in the world after all. Maybe some doors are better off closed. That way we can focus on the ones still open in front of us." It's natural to feel remorse over roads not taken that could have made all the difference, but there are open doors ahead and some that have yet to even open, and you can't evaluate them if you're busy dwelling on past regrets. You may find a door where you'll be welcomed into the environment your heart longs for. "Life is life. It happens, it goes on. Eventually, it ends, but other lives continue, new ones begin. That's just the way of it. My life would keep going on until the day it didn't, and I could either make the best of it or waste it wishing for what I didn't and might never have." Don't lose out on the beauty available to you today; figure out what you want from life and how to go about getting it. The rewards of peace and love may fall your way when you least expect.

"The only thing in life that's forever is death. You can change your mind about everything else."

—Mrs. Ross, At the Edge of the Universe, P. 248

This isn't an easy book to write a synopsis of, but I tried to follow Tommy's guideline for essays: "Tell 'em you're gonna tell 'em. Tell 'em. Tell 'em you told 'em." We Are the Ants is intellectually deeper and significantly more emotional, but At the Edge of the Universe is good, and I'm rounding my two-and-a-half-star rating up to three. There are extremely complex questions in these pages, not only about moral decisions, but elements of the plot. Was the universe actually shrinking? Did Tommy truly vanish, somehow leaving Ozzie as the only person who remembers him? The plot is an intricate work of art we can't entirely grasp, and the lingering questions leave more confusion than in We Are the Ants. Regardless, I'll never regret reading this, and I recommend At the Edge of the Universe for anyone struggling to define their life. Ozzie's story is a comfort for its reminder that in your most severe moments of existential uncertainty, you're not the only one feeling that way. The universe can be a lonely place, but it's big enough to hold anything you dream. All you have to do is get started.

[Lisa ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75/5 stars

[Celine Ong · Rating 4 out of 5]

stares at ceiling stares at wall lies face down on the bed

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

up a notch to 2 because the lower ranking of recent books in the same genre has altered my perspective on this one

Until At the Edge of the Universe I was still debating if Shaun David Hutchinson was my guy. With The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley, I felt that the plot wasn't slammed down onto paper in a way that could max its potential. The idea of a kid in a hospital, with the staff unaware of a gent wandering around, seemed unrealistic, as did the way he connected with his environment and with events. Developmentally it just didnt seem to add up.

I moved onto Ants with grand hopes. I thought that surely, his writing would mature. Yet, while he provided a theme that was unusual, at least for young adult books, it fizzled as the pages folded and at the end was a massive disappointment.

But I immediately picked up this novel. End of the world dystopia books have increased in numbers, from the sun vanishing, to comets heading for impact. Yet, the shrinking of the world, with references to Ants, and double that with a gay protagonist?!… boom.

Yet, it has virtually the same themes. We have this obsession with space and scientific theories, divorce, depression, and unnecessary, unresolved trauma. Single parents. lower SES. Oh, and let’s not forget sexual assault.

My problem with sexual assault in novels, particularly in Y/A, is that it is often taken on by authors as a way of creating internal chaos. It is a way to spin out changes in character behavior, such as anxiety and depression. And it’s easy, because sexual assault is almost always coupled with some shift in ‘normal’ behavior. It’s fucking lazy. J.H Trumble created one of the more successful portrayals of trauma and PTSD. This is Shaun’s second attempt with the theme of trauma, and it was an utter failure. There are wonderful resources out there that show the full capacity of the ways sexual assault and trauma typically crush a person, and I wish he’d make an attempt to understand these topics before he writes about them. Being blind of a topic’s intricacies is a travesty and a disservice to those challenged by them. Here’s the problem though, he isn’t, blind to them, as he speaks at the end about his own struggles with mental illness. So why then are they not submerged into his writing? Why doesn’t this story carry more substance, a deeper understanding, a rawness that other books fail to achieve?


While this, again, gave me a giant sigh, that wasn’t my biggest concern. Here's the central problem with the plot; the amount of absurdity. Going into this novel it's understood that the world isn’t shrinking, but that Ozzie has crept into delusion. Here's the issue with that. Unless the world is really shrinking, or it's some sort of X-files shit, his world is cemented over a reality that continues while he is having a breakdown. Problem is, his delusion co-existed with the true reality. So, there needed to be an intersection between these two worlds (there was, in some cases… sorta), where they functioned as a piece of mesh. So, for instance, the 'real world' was supporting this delusion, such as with Shutter Island. This didnt happen, however, and as Ozzie continued to navigate this false reality, the real one continued at his feet. Here's where it could’ve worked. The scene where Ozzie's world has shrunk to just him, and his back is to the door, with something pushing on it, it was here things could have really gelled. A nice resolution would have been that the people functioning in the real world were following along with his delusions, and that they found Ozzie too stricken by his fictitious world, and decided to intervene. Ok, too shutter island. What if, then, Ozzie had vanished, and that his fake reality actually occurred in a location where this unhealthy state of mind was able to function without intervention from his friends/teachers/etc? He returned to his town, and on the other side of that door he'd find his friends and his parents? This isn’t what happened, and unless the exhaustion of staying up until 4:30 has created MY own false reality, his disillusions were just superimposed onto reality. There was so much potential to take on one of those theories that you made us suffer through, Shaun, but as we neared the end we realized it was just your preoccupation with science. These theories were everywhere, and it became clear that they were just a device to confuse us, and as Calvin dove into the abyss, it became self-evident that the only option left was a false reality. It would have been REALLYYYY effective to have it unfold as a real suicide, rather than a metaphor that suited the false reality; rather than a way to push Ozzie closer to his true sense of self. But, because Ozzie was caught in his own world— Lua always said he was self-centered—he accepted this suicide as just an exercise for Calvin to exorcise his personal grief. Bates motel anyone?! RAMBLING OF ANNOYANCES DONE. . After reading it, I was left with the image of a writer’s kid being tasked to complete an episode of the X-files.

Characters... oh the diversity.... oh how splendid and shiny new to a genre that almost always focuses on white, gay men.

Ozzie, a bright, handsome, and mature fellow, is living in a foreign place, one where his BF Tommy doesn't exist. From the start, almost in the first chapter, we figure out that he’s living in a parallel—Shaun’s endless throw down of theories makes this obvious—universe, but why, how, and what is in the future for Ozzie once he discovers these answers, is a mystery.

Then there is Calvin. He's tossed into Ozzie's life because of a school project. Calvin, because contrast between main characters is a requirement for a Hutchinson novel, self-injures and has recently spiraled.

A classmate who’s a detective, a very annoying Sherlock.

A best friend that’s ultra accepting (of course, right?!), and a gender neutral character.

Then Tommy, but we don’t see much of him, because Shaun decided to do that whole every so often toss in a journal entry of when the world included Tommy, thing.

Race is thrown in there, but barely mentioned.

WOW so many people, so little character development.

Lua concerned me the most. A gender fluid person was a perfect opportunity to explore themes that are contentious, all too often politicized, and the overall concept is perplexing for many people. She’s a queen, and vacillates between confidence and self-doubt. His/her (pronouns were based strictly on Ozzie's examination of Lau's clothing, so we see a troubling phenomena (AGAINNNNN), where Lau's world is seen through the gaze of a non gender fluid individual. Most troubling is that we often see the world of females through the gaze of heterosexual males… so, right….) actions and conversation were almost always framed with a sort of meanness. I am all about character diversity, and not broadcasting the belief that we need YA LGBT themed novels wrapped in smiley paper, but gender neutral is so new, so misunderstood, that I believe it's harmful not to take up a more positive character.

More concerning is the fact that a hate crime—yes this is how i took it—was tossed into the mix, but left floating, unresolved, both in discussions between her 'friends' (some fucking friends!) and legally. The main complaint, well one of them, of Thirteen Reasons Why, is that parents didn’t notice Hannah's slow descent into depression and do anything about it, but at least w/ TRW it was mostly under the radar. Here, however, the mother was aware of the cause of her daughter's injuries (hate crime or not), but I personally felt that she did not uphold a parenting role/responsibilities.

Then we have a ‘friend’ seeing two horrible things happen to his ‘friends’. First child abuse, and second self-injury, yet in one case he did nothing, and in another he reported the CAUSE, rather than the result. So, if he didn’t figure out why one was happening he probably wouldn’t have intervened. Nice fucking friend. Oh, and his mentioning of it and the result of it being reported? that was a mistake… he actually thought nothing would happen when he broached it with someone else.

And the ending, ugh. It was like when you read a book, with a so-so open-ended conclusion, and it might be a lame arse way of making a sequel, but then it follows up with an epilogue, but in this case that last chapter wasn’t a separate, unnecessary thing (don’t let me go!), but the actual ending.

[ti ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this will be a very rambling review because i can't think clearly when i think about this book.

last year in january i read We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson and i thought it was one of the most amazing books i ever read. when i heard he was publishing another kind of sci-fi realistic novel i was screaming with joy.

i have to say i was very surprised to find myself loving this even more than his other perfect novels.

first of all, i love the idea of the book: the universe is shrinking and people are disappearing and forgotten, memories are being rewritten and only one boy can see it. shaun is able to make a very unrealistic thing seem very, well, real.

the diversity in this book is a dream. straight, gay, asexual, bisexual, gender-fluid, white, poc ... and it doesn't feel forced whatsoever.

there are also really difficult topics in this book which shaun writes about so respectfully and with such great understanding, e.g. self-harm, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, rape, drug abuse, domestic abuse and a lot more.

and of course the characters. ozzie, tommy, lua, dustin and calvin are such complex and deep characters with so many sides to them that they not even for one second feel fictional. they feel like real people with real flaws and moods and fears and real lives. they change their minds and make it hard for you to understand their motives sometimes but that’s what makes them so great.
i personally loved calvin the most because i could relate to him and i just loved him so much. his indifference to his own happiness and him cutting himself to forget the emotional pain and yet him being overly enthusiatic and caring about other things is something i experience every day.

finally, the theories of why the universe appears to be shrinking is one of my favourite things in this book. "what if we're in a computer simulation?" i would have to lie if i said i hadn't thought about all this for hours on end.

i just can't recommend this book enough. it's genuinely perfect and breathtaking.

[Eloise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 - I'll add Shaun David Hutchinson to my list of favourite authors, I guess.
He always seems to write such powerful stories:
You laugh. You cry. You have no idea what's going on or what's going to happen, but you stay tuned all the way because he has a way of writing such beautiful, realisticly flawed but understandable characters living in worlds that are so cleverly created.

And this is exactly what this book did. I laughed and I cried and I was confused but I loved it.
I loved the little moments about physics (yeah, I miss not learning about physics...) and even philosophy. As expected there were beautiful metaphors about struggling to find yourself, drowning or breathing under water, moving forward and closing doors...
There was a whole bunch of diverse characters (the queer youth represented in here is great - gender-fluid, gay, bi and even asexual - thank you!). And a whole bunch of important issues too. Mental health, hurting yourself, sexual abuse, domestic violence, financial trouble and more.

Sometimes I thought there were a little TOO many important issues in this one book - maybe some could have been saved for a different story?
It seemed like really shitty things had to happen to every single character, which I don't think was necessary.
Especially as Ozzie, the main character, was going through all the issues over and over in his head so many times, sometimes I just wanted to say 'Okay, we know by now that this this and this is going on, move onto things we don't know'...
But in the end you can't complain for having an array of different people with a wide-range of problems.

I also read the author's note at the end about his own struggles with mental health, depression, cutting and suicide attempts, he urges people to ask for help and how his books show people dealing with mental health in ways that aren't always the best. They are realistic, but you should learn that they are not always the best ways to deal with stuff.
It was very moving.

So basically, I really enjoyed it.
I'm going to compare it to We Are The Ants because that was one of my favourite books of 2016, the reason I picked this one up and had such high expectations. And to be honest it wasn't as good as WATA. But by no means was it bad.
It was great and well worth the read.

[Kaje Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - this was different. Ozzie is a gay teen, a high-school senior, who woke up one day to find that his boyhood best friend and now boyfriend Tommy was missing. Not only that, but all evidence of Tommy had been erased from the world - his own mother didn't remember having a son, his gifts to Ozzie had vanished, no one in school recalled his presence. Ozzie though, had a lifetime of memories of Tommy, and he's determined to hang onto them and to find Tommy and figure out what happened. He has a dozen theories, from parallel universes to alien activity. His parents and his shrinks all think it's in his head. His friends probably do too, even as they try to be supportive.

In many other ways, this senior year of school is becoming a mess. His best friend Lua, who is genderfluid, is having success with their band but not their personal life, and their friendship has been strained by the Tommy issue as well. Ozzie's parents are getting a divorce, his brother is joining the military, and he's assigned to do a physics project with a loner kid who seemed to self-destruct in the last year.

And Ozzie seems to be the only person to notice that the universe is shrinking. Every day when he Googles "the size of the universe" the estimate up on science sites is smaller. Yet, no one else is capable of remembering differently from one day to the next. And Ozzie has to try to live his ordinary life, worked in between the sharp splinters of loss and change and weirdness and impending disaster.

Calvin, his physics partner, turns out to be a smart, troubled gay boy with secrets of his own. And as they grow closer together, he's the only one who seems to really believe that Ozzie isn't just crazy, that Tommy might actually exist somewhere, and that something weird is going on. But Calvin has his own demons, and not much time or energy to deal with Ozzie's.

The story pulled me in and kept me fascinated. In its very improbability, it still had a lot to say about being human and growing up. The ending was satisfying, if not the one I wanted. This author's talent for on-the-edge-of-reality stories is well worth the reading time.

Content warning for self-harm, domestic violence off page, physical and sexual abuse history

[rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

?????????

[Eliza Rapsodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW IN ENGLISH

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I highly recommend Shaun David Hutchinson to any living reader form. This is my third novel of his that I have read and I can say I will NEVER get off of this train. I love his books so much and this was not the exception.

Oswald Pinkerton, Ozzie for friends, is a young boy who is in his last year of school and works part time in a bookstore (I want that job, damn). His life in the small town of Cloud Lake could not be more boring, only his best friends Lua and Dustin and his boyfriend and friend since childhood Tommy are what matters. But things go wrong one day. Tommy suddenly dissapears. The strangest thing is that Ozzie seems to be the only one who remembers him, nobody else. He has this feeling that the universe is contracting and that's why Tommy's mother does not even remember her own son. Ozzy is ready to find him before the universe swallow them whole.

After reading We are the ants, the premise of this book may sound similar: a supernatural circumstance about something strange that is happening and the main character knows about this and must find a way to solve it. It's a science fiction premise that Shaun knows how to execute well, but it's not just about that. The story is also about love, destiny and self-discovery mixed up with a whole buch of situations and issues that are more common than they seem: divorce, financial crisis, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, poverty and the question of sexual and gender identity.

Ozzie is the protagonist and narrator. Through him we meet all the characters: Lua, a fluid gender girl-guy who is very talented with music; Dustin, a young Asian asexual (confirmed by the author) who goes through a difficult situation at home and Calvin, a smart and athletic boy but is going through a problematic phase for some time and attracts Ozzie's attention. Each secondary character is fleshed out and well developed; even through flashbacks we get to know Tommy, Ozzie's boyfriend and why Ozzie loved him so much.

Shaun's writing is amazing, it makes the story real, close and it creates exciting, hard and also very beautiful moments. Ozzie's journey is not only to understand that he is not crazy, that he does not have to go to therapy because his parents force him but because talking about his problems can help him to express everything he feels and because he is going through a moment in his life in which you have to make decisions and he must learn to face them.

Despite its huge positive points, there are details that did not convince me that much. There were times when the story was slow and difficult to went through and the final resolution, although it is creative and imaginative, it made noise behind my ear. That's why I think that having a premise like that can go very bad or very well. In this case it's good, but with its little details.

This is a novel that involved me emotionally and made me empathize with the characters and their situation. It is a beautiful and hard story about moving forward, looking for your future and learning to make decisions. It is a real pity that this author has not been translated into Spanish and more people can read his books.

I have to remark the author's note at the end. He's encouraging people that, like him, have gone through depression and suicidal thoughts to go and seek help. That it's OK, and you don't have to face everything alone, that you can keep going.

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RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL

En este blog se sabe que recomiendo con mucho entusiasmo todos los libros de este autor de Florida y esta es la tercera novela suya que he leído. Si quieren saber más en detalle lo que opino de sus otros dos libros pueden visitar mis reseñas aquí y aquí.

Oswald Pinkerton, Ozzie para los amigos, es un jovencito que está en su último año de colegio y trabaja medio tiempo en una librería. Su vida en el pequeño pueblo de Cloud Lake no podría ser más aburrida y simplona, solo lo arreglan sus mejores amigos Lua y Dustin y su novio y amigo desde la infancia llamado Tommy. Pero las cosas se ponen mal cuando un día, Tommy desaparece de repente. Lo más extraño es que Ozzie parece ser el único que lo recuerda, nadie más. El tiene el presentimiento que el universo se está contrayendo cada día y por eso ni la madre de Tommy recuerda a su hijo. Y por eso Ozzie está dispuesto a buscarlo.


Fotografía de Taryn Manning en Unsplash. Crédito  aquí

Después de leer We are the ants, la premisa de este libro puede sonar parecida: una circunstancia sobrenatural sobre algo extraño que está sucediendo en el universo y el protagonista sabe de esto y debe buscar la forma de solucionarlo. Se trata de una pregunta de ciencia ficción que creo que Shaun sabe ejecutar bien, pero no se trata solo de eso. La historia es mucho más que la búsqueda de la persona amada y de uno mismo, sino todo un conjunto de situaciones y temas que son más comunes de lo que parecen: divorcio, crisis financiera, abuso sexual, maltrato intrafamiliar, pobreza y la cuestión del descubrimiento sexual y de género.

Ozzie es el protagonista y narrador de la historia. A través de él conoceremos a todos los personajes: su mejor amiga Lua, un chico género fluido que es muy talentosa con la música y puede llegar muy lejos; Dustin, un joven asiático que pasa por una situación difícil en su casa y Calvin, es un muchacho inteligente y atlético pero está pasando una fase problemática desde hace tiempo y atrae la atención de Ozzie . Podemos ver la situación familiar de cada uno porque en este libro los padres aparecen y hacen parte de la historia. Creo que cada personaje secundario está bien trabajado, incluso a través de flashbacks vamos conociendo a Tommy, el novio de Ozzie y como fue su relación.



La escritura de Shaun hace que la historia se torne cercana y amena y que tenga frases y momentos emocionantes, duros y también muy bellos. El viaje de Ozzie no es solo para entender que no está loco, que no va a terapia porque sus padres lo obliguen sino porque hablar de sus problemas puede ayudarle a expresar todo lo que siente  y porque está atravesando un momento de su vida en el que hay que tomar decisiones y debe aprender a enfrentarlas.

A pesar de sus enormes puntos positivos, hay detalles que no me han convencido tanto. Hubo momentos en que la historia le costaba continuar y atravesaba baches narrativos y la resolución final del conflicto si bien es creativa e imaginativa, me hizo un poco de ruido detrás de la oreja. Por eso creo que contar con una premisa como las que usa el autor pueden salir muy mal o muy bien. En  este caso ha salido bien, pero con sus detallitos.

Igualmente, ha sido una novela que me ha implicado emocionalmente y me ha hecho empatizar con los personajes y sus historias. Es una bellísima y dura historia sobre seguir adelante, buscar tu futuro y aprender a tomar decisiones. Es una verdadera pena que este autor no haya sido traducido al español y más personas puedan conocer sus libros. Y sobre todo la importantísima nota que el autor pone al final hablando y animando a otros como él que han pasado por situaciones de depresión y pensamientos suicidas que ESTÁ BIEN buscar ayuda y que los problemas no hay que enfrentarlos siempre solo. Que se puede seguir adelante. 

[Iulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know that feeling when you read a book that's so great you immediately set out on a quest to find another one like it? I read We Are the Ants by the same author and I absolutely loved it; it's actually one of my super-favorites . I picked up At the Edge of the Universe hoping that it would evoke in me a similar emotion, and I wasn't wrong; it absolutely delivered! Much like its predecessor, this is very much a character driven book, with beautifully constructed relationships and great character development. The whole "universe shrinking" gimmick (I use this word with its best connotation) kept me glued to the screen of my Kindle, counting the light-years and astronomical units along with Ozzie, our protagonist. While this is YA, and it sometimes reads as YA with lots of teen angst and internal monologues, that doesn't mean it lacks substance, Quite on the contrary, Shaun David Hutchinson doesn't shy away from heavy themes. Every single character, even the supporting ones, has a down-to-earth, visceral realness about them. The things they go through are at times heart-wrenching, and often there's no magical plot device which brings them back to safety so we, the readers, can be spared the sadness of it all. This is a book that's not afraid of loss, pain and illness; it doesn't show you the world through rose-colored glasses. Definitely worth the read.