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When You and I Collide
A race against time, war, and the very fabric of the universe itself.
Sixteen-year-old Winnie Schulde has always seen splits--the moment when two possible outcomes diverge, one in her universe and one in another. Multiverse theory, Winnie knows, is all too real, though she has never been anything but an observer of its implications--a secret she keeps hidden from just about everyone, as she knows the uses to which it might be put in the midst of a raging WWII. But her physicist father, wrapped up in his research and made cruel by his grief after the loss of Winnie's mother, believes that if he pushes her hard enough, she can choose one split over another and maybe, just maybe, change their future and their past.
Winnie is certain that her father's theories are just that, so she plays along in an effort to placate him. Until one day, when her father's experiment goes wrong and Scott, the kind and handsome lab assistant Winnie loves from afar, is seriously injured. Without meaning to, Winnie chooses the split where Scott is unharmed. And in doing so, finds herself pulled into another universe, an alternate reality. One that already has a Winnie.
Sixteen-year-old Winnie Schulde has always seen splits--the moment when two possible outcomes diverge, one in her universe and one in another. Multiverse theory, Winnie knows, is all too real, though she has never been anything but an observer of its implications--a secret she keeps hidden from just about everyone, as she knows the uses to which it might be put in the midst of a raging WWII. But her physicist father, wrapped up in his research and made cruel by his grief after the loss of Winnie's mother, believes that if he pushes her hard enough, she can choose one split over another and maybe, just maybe, change their future and their past.
Winnie is certain that her father's theories are just that, so she plays along in an effort to placate him. Until one day, when her father's experiment goes wrong and Scott, the kind and handsome lab assistant Winnie loves from afar, is seriously injured. Without meaning to, Winnie chooses the split where Scott is unharmed. And in doing so, finds herself pulled into another universe, an alternate reality. One that already has a Winnie.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2021
20 people are currently reading
730 people want to read
About the author
Kate Norris
1 book15 followersKate Norris received her MFA in creative writing from Ohio State University, where she taught creative writing and served as fiction editor of The Journal. She first became intrigued by the weirdness of the quantum world while reading the works of physicists like Schrödinger, Fermi, Einstein, and Heisenberg as an undergrad at St. John's College, where she got the unique opportunity to perform experiments with the campus Faraday cage and attend parties in a Foucault pendulum pit.
But the true origin of her debut young adult sci fi novel, When You and I Collide, was a completely unscientific question: What would it be like to meet yourself? What if they were better looking than you, happier than you? What if they had everything you were missing?
When she's not writing (or reading), you’ll find her wandering near the lake with her greyhound Teddy, chomping a poke bowl in the park, or hitting a heavy bag.
But the true origin of her debut young adult sci fi novel, When You and I Collide, was a completely unscientific question: What would it be like to meet yourself? What if they were better looking than you, happier than you? What if they had everything you were missing?
When she's not writing (or reading), you’ll find her wandering near the lake with her greyhound Teddy, chomping a poke bowl in the park, or hitting a heavy bag.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 9, 2021
this book sucked me in right away with its premise and i completely devoured it from beginning to end. i also really loved watching winnie’s growth
that being said, the writing did more “telling” rather than “showing.” nothing was left for the reader to interpret on their own. the entire conflict kelp escalating but then the ending resolved itself in the last 50 or so pages
overall i had a great time reading this book. 3 stars feels too low for how much i enjoyed it. i’ll round up to 4 :)
that being said, the writing did more “telling” rather than “showing.” nothing was left for the reader to interpret on their own. the entire conflict kelp escalating but then the ending resolved itself in the last 50 or so pages
overall i had a great time reading this book. 3 stars feels too low for how much i enjoyed it. i’ll round up to 4 :)
July 4, 2021
A young adult novel that blends science and science fiction with historical drama and the heroine’s discovery of who she is and who she can be. The central conceit - that Winnie can see alternate realities/splits from what happens in her world - sets up the novel’s genius premise when Winnie ends up in one of those splits and encounters another version of herself. Norris sets this crackerjack premise in the midst of World War II and thus the experiments that undergird the plot are linked with national security and Winnie’s German heritage adds an extra layer of danger. I hope there are more books to come by Kate Norris!
June 5, 2021
A thought provoking page turner and such a fun read!
July 28, 2021
I'd probably have to give this 3.5. I liked the beginning and was intrigued by the premise of the story, but I can't help but feel like the ending was very rushed. It seemed like the entire book wrapped everything up in like the final 20 pages.
June 24, 2021
Such a great book! Why isn’t it getting more attention? This is a book where I did not like the MC at all and still enjoyed the story. RTC
May 4, 2022
Kate Norris is a writer to be reckoned with: in this powerful, time-bending novel, Winnie must travel to a parallell universe in order to -- hopefully-- save someone from her "other life." Winnie is faced with some pretty tough choices, and decide who she is but what her future (and past) are going to be.
I was especially taken with the friendships in the novel; as tender as she is tough, Winnie's complexities are a masterstroke in Norris' writing. When You and I Collide is a novel that somehow makes physics seem crystal-clear-- no mean feat. I enjoyed every single moment of it, and highly recommend!
I was especially taken with the friendships in the novel; as tender as she is tough, Winnie's complexities are a masterstroke in Norris' writing. When You and I Collide is a novel that somehow makes physics seem crystal-clear-- no mean feat. I enjoyed every single moment of it, and highly recommend!
July 9, 2021
Sarah Naughton is one of my favorite narrators, and she did a fantastic job on this book! The story though, I don’t know. It was good, but it was really missing something. There was so much worry and drama and emotions leading up to…not much of anything. I mean, it was really all for nothing, and we don’t know what happens with Beta. Good idea for the story, but I feel like there were ways to make it better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2021
This book was a very long 400 pages -- I never really got in to it or enjoyed it. The story was very slow and the characters bland.
December 28, 2021
Late afternoon sunlight poured through the classroom windows, and Winnie watched the light dapple her lab bench in a dancing pattern of oak-leaf shadow.
Winnie has been able to see splits since the fateful day years ago when her mother was killed in a car accident. Now sixteen, she finds herself the subject of her father's experiments trying to prove the existence of the multiverse in hopes that they can change their past. When an experiment goes wrong and her father's lab assistant, a boy that Winnie has a crush on, is horrifically injured. Winnie suddenly finds herself living in the split where Scott is still alive and whole. Unfortunately, there is already a Winnie in this universe as well. Will Winnie be able to find a way to turn back time, save Scott, and get back to her own universe before she tears the fabric of space-time apart forever?
I really enjoyed this book and its exploration of multiverse theory. Though this is not a new concept for stories, I found this story to be unique and a lot of fun. The story is set in 1942 and wartime plays a large part in what is going on. Winnie and her father are German immigrants and face a lot of prejudice from those around them. Winnie's father is also part of a science department of Columbia University that is working on a lot of top secret government projects. The sensitive nature of this work and a lot of the paranoia that surrounds it makes everything a bit more difficult for Winnie than it would otherwise be.
Winnie is a great character. I liked seeing a girl who is interested in science. She has her flaws, but there is a lot of growth over the story. I was a bit concerned when I first read the blurb that much of the story would be focusing on her feelings for Scott, but that was not the case. There are many relationships and friendships that are cultivated over the course of the story. Despite the cover design, the romance is not the central theme of the story.
The book has a lot of science in it for obvious reasons, including several diagrams scattered throughout the book. I feel like the author explains things fairly well as they are happening, even if you aren't a physics minded person (I am not). The science makes sense in the story, even if the story is a bit fantastical. I also appreciated the author exploring ethics in science experimentation. My only issue in the book is how easily things were resolved at the end, but I sort of expect that from YA novels.
If you like science-fiction, especially books that involve multiple universes or time travel, then I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for books with science-minded heroines, this is definitely one to try.
CW: alcoholism, animal cruelty/death, child abuse, death of a prominent character, deceased mother, homophobia, medical procedures, murder, sexual content (mentions of, only kissing on page), swearing (mild), war
Winnie has been able to see splits since the fateful day years ago when her mother was killed in a car accident. Now sixteen, she finds herself the subject of her father's experiments trying to prove the existence of the multiverse in hopes that they can change their past. When an experiment goes wrong and her father's lab assistant, a boy that Winnie has a crush on, is horrifically injured. Winnie suddenly finds herself living in the split where Scott is still alive and whole. Unfortunately, there is already a Winnie in this universe as well. Will Winnie be able to find a way to turn back time, save Scott, and get back to her own universe before she tears the fabric of space-time apart forever?
I really enjoyed this book and its exploration of multiverse theory. Though this is not a new concept for stories, I found this story to be unique and a lot of fun. The story is set in 1942 and wartime plays a large part in what is going on. Winnie and her father are German immigrants and face a lot of prejudice from those around them. Winnie's father is also part of a science department of Columbia University that is working on a lot of top secret government projects. The sensitive nature of this work and a lot of the paranoia that surrounds it makes everything a bit more difficult for Winnie than it would otherwise be.
Winnie is a great character. I liked seeing a girl who is interested in science. She has her flaws, but there is a lot of growth over the story. I was a bit concerned when I first read the blurb that much of the story would be focusing on her feelings for Scott, but that was not the case. There are many relationships and friendships that are cultivated over the course of the story. Despite the cover design, the romance is not the central theme of the story.
The book has a lot of science in it for obvious reasons, including several diagrams scattered throughout the book. I feel like the author explains things fairly well as they are happening, even if you aren't a physics minded person (I am not). The science makes sense in the story, even if the story is a bit fantastical. I also appreciated the author exploring ethics in science experimentation. My only issue in the book is how easily things were resolved at the end, but I sort of expect that from YA novels.
If you like science-fiction, especially books that involve multiple universes or time travel, then I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for books with science-minded heroines, this is definitely one to try.
CW: alcoholism, animal cruelty/death, child abuse, death of a prominent character, deceased mother, homophobia, medical procedures, murder, sexual content (mentions of, only kissing on page), swearing (mild), war
June 27, 2022
This is a story about a young German immigrant living amidst WWII in the USA with a huge secret: she has visions called “splits”, kind of like when Raven from “That’s So Raven” would get visions about something that was going to happen, except Winnie saw what would play out in an alternate reality at the same moment in time she currently was experiencing. However, she couldn’t choose which reality she lived out.
Something that interested me was that this book is based in 1942, smack dab in the middle of WWII, so it did talk about how people were treated back during the war: you were judged based on your race; women students (scientists) weren’t at the Ivy League schools with the men, or offered the same educational experiences as men; you were scrutinized based on your sexual orientation, and if you were not heterosexual, you were an outcast. Sure, this book was written to be based in 1942, but has much changed when comparing it to 2022? We are still dealing with the same bullshit…. Just a thought I had while reading
So did I really actually enjoy the story??? meh…. It was interesting, but the characters weren’t anything special, the plot didn’t hook me, it felt like a chore to get through, and I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. Part of the reason I feel it was challenging to connect to this book was because the story is based around something scientists have yet to discover: time travel. The romance in the book was the only good thing going for it IMO. It’s the only part of the boom that made me see it through and not give up on it. All in all, I’m glad I gave this shot a fair chance, but overall I’m going to have to give it 2/5 stars.
Something that interested me was that this book is based in 1942, smack dab in the middle of WWII, so it did talk about how people were treated back during the war: you were judged based on your race; women students (scientists) weren’t at the Ivy League schools with the men, or offered the same educational experiences as men; you were scrutinized based on your sexual orientation, and if you were not heterosexual, you were an outcast. Sure, this book was written to be based in 1942, but has much changed when comparing it to 2022? We are still dealing with the same bullshit…. Just a thought I had while reading
So did I really actually enjoy the story??? meh…. It was interesting, but the characters weren’t anything special, the plot didn’t hook me, it felt like a chore to get through, and I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. Part of the reason I feel it was challenging to connect to this book was because the story is based around something scientists have yet to discover: time travel. The romance in the book was the only good thing going for it IMO. It’s the only part of the boom that made me see it through and not give up on it. All in all, I’m glad I gave this shot a fair chance, but overall I’m going to have to give it 2/5 stars.
January 27, 2022
Started off okay and interesting with the physics and the multiverse, but could not get over how, in the end, it was just the selfish whims of a 16 year old girl who just seemed to kill everyone around her and felt bad, but “she had to get home.” The ending tried to sum it up with making sacrifices and doing things for others, which just fell flat and felt stupid to me. And in the end, end, the character development is just unbelievable (in a bad way).
I also was not a fan of the fact that WWII was just a kind of barely-there seasoning for the book. With the cover and blurb, I thought it would be more integral to the story. But save a handful of references, this book could have been in a variety of modern eras. Thought the famous person name dropping was also weird?
Overall, I thought this book was a disappointment, and didn’t have a satisfying ending. Not that I wasn’t glad everything seemed to work out in the end, I just didn’t find it believable.
I also was not a fan of the fact that WWII was just a kind of barely-there seasoning for the book. With the cover and blurb, I thought it would be more integral to the story. But save a handful of references, this book could have been in a variety of modern eras. Thought the famous person name dropping was also weird?
Overall, I thought this book was a disappointment, and didn’t have a satisfying ending. Not that I wasn’t glad everything seemed to work out in the end, I just didn’t find it believable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2022
I started off really interested in this book and then I lost my previous enthusiasm as I kept reading. It took me so much longer to read this book because of that. I think the main reason I wasn’t a big fan was because I really didn’t like Winnie as the protagonist. She started off okay, but as the book went on she became really selfish and hard to root for. It all wrapped up with her sacrificing her happiness for other people which was good, but she was so worried about herself the entire book that it wasn’t the most believable. I liked the idea of this book a lot, but having a protagonist that I can’t connect with or support made it fall flat for me.
I would give it 2.5 stars.
I would give it 2.5 stars.
November 7, 2025
I gave this book a fair shot, but overall, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While the concept was intriguing—especially with its focus on time travel—it was hard to connect with the story. The characters felt underdeveloped, and the plot didn’t manage to pull me in. At times, reading it felt more like a chore than an enjoyable experience.
One redeeming quality was the romance element, which stood out as the most engaging part of the book. It’s what kept me going and ultimately helped me finish it. Unfortunately, the rest of the story didn’t leave a lasting impression, and I wouldn’t personally recommend it.
One redeeming quality was the romance element, which stood out as the most engaging part of the book. It’s what kept me going and ultimately helped me finish it. Unfortunately, the rest of the story didn’t leave a lasting impression, and I wouldn’t personally recommend it.
July 9, 2021
Although this book was 400 pages, I just couldn't get into it. It took me weeks. The story was meh and the characters felt bland. I was never really hooked. There's not much to say. There was nothing exceptionally good or bad about this book. Although a few og the characters got on my nerves near the end. Most of it was science talk. And although the cover makes it look like a romance, it wasnt.
I did really like how this book focused on the discrimination German immigrants faced during WW2. Not a subject I have read about before.
I did really like how this book focused on the discrimination German immigrants faced during WW2. Not a subject I have read about before.
December 3, 2021
4.5 rounded down!
A very interesting and good read that made me think more about the multiverse theory! It’s an interesting concept with so many unknowns, so it made me ask questions and use my brain for once.
As she ends up in a different universe, the romance in her own doesn’t develop for a while there. Scott though? Smart, kind, and hot? Pretty good combination if you ask me.
There are a lot of good things about this book -- I’m surprised not a lot of people have read it?
Worth the read!
A very interesting and good read that made me think more about the multiverse theory! It’s an interesting concept with so many unknowns, so it made me ask questions and use my brain for once.
As she ends up in a different universe, the romance in her own doesn’t develop for a while there. Scott though? Smart, kind, and hot? Pretty good combination if you ask me.
There are a lot of good things about this book -- I’m surprised not a lot of people have read it?
Worth the read!
January 18, 2022
Winnie is the daughter of a scientist and she has a gift of seeing what is in the future. When her father tries to teleport her to another universe, she sees the love of her life, Scott, die. While she is in the other universe she meets herself and that universe Scott. The 3 of them work together while trying not to get caught, to teleport Winnie back to her universe.
May 24, 2023
Love, love, and loved this book. It was different from any other books I've read. She was trying to find herself and this book took an interesting step in doing that. I would read this book so many times. It was a little confusing at times, but I loved it so much. It also ended way differently than I had expected it to.
January 15, 2024
I think I would have liked this more if it had come out in the height of my doctor who phase. This would have given me rose / ten feels after the doomsday episode. But now it just didn’t hit for me. Also I don’t believe it’s clarified in the books how old Scott is but he’s in college??? Why is a high school student dating a college student 😭
August 30, 2021
Just not my style of book. The plot sounded really interesting, but for my taste there just didn't end up being much substance. This is a not a book I'll be thinking about again in the coming days. It might work better for much younger readers.
December 1, 2021
My teen recommended this one to me and I did enjoy it overall. The ending left me wanting a little bit more. I wasn’t completely satisfied. I did enjoy the science side of this story. That’s something you don’t find in fiction very often.
January 3, 2022
I LOVED this book. Winnie is a wonderful character that tries figuring out who she is amongst all the chaos of her life. She loves her father but he doesn't know how to show his love for her. The gentleness that Scott (both of them) shows for Winnie is beautiful. I definitely recommend this book.
September 15, 2022
I was really interested in the concept of this book, but like others have said, it took me way too long to read. The pacing of the story could have been a lot quicker, although I understand that the exposition was important to the plot going down the line.
September 10, 2021
Read physical book. 2.5 stars. Premise was SO good, but I did not enjoy the writing or characters, and thought the plot line was repetitive and slow. Don’t recommend.
October 2, 2021
Better suited for younger readers. The science was interesting but the emotional aspects felt dry.
November 22, 2021
Interesting ideas about time travel, alternate realities. But the ending seemed rushed and it felt like more could've been made of the alternatives.
November 29, 2021
*3.5 stars
December 17, 2021
Solid multiverse/historical novel. Very enjoyable.
April 19, 2022
I did enjoy the book but it seemed like nothing really happened for a large part of it
May 14, 2022
Amazing concept! Overall the story was good, the pacing was a bit slow, and the characters seemed pretty one note. I wouldn’t read it again but I would definitely recommend to a friend.
July 2, 2022
1/5
This book was confusing to me. I need to remind myself that I can’t follow books with multiverse or time warping plots. They just get aggravating
This book was confusing to me. I need to remind myself that I can’t follow books with multiverse or time warping plots. They just get aggravating
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews