'Notes on Infinity' is a sharp, emotionally intelligent debut that balances the thrill of scientific discovery with the fallout of unchecked ambition. Set against the pressure-cooker environment of an elite university, the novel follows Zoe and Jack - two brilliant, mismatched students whose partnership in the lab soon becomes something far more complicated.

What begins as a shared research breakthrough quickly snowballs into a biotech start-up with world-changing potential. But as their company gains traction, so do the cracks in their relationship, and the novel turns from academic drama to something darker - an excavation of ego, grief, and betrayal.

Taylor's writing is smart without being pretentious. The scientific detail is immersive but never alienating - more about mood and momentum than jargon. The pacing is deft, with a compelling shift halfway through that recontextualizes much of what came before. Zoe's perspective is especially well-drawn: focused, ambitious, emotionally guarded. When the narrative later pivots, it doesn't lose steam - it adds nuance.

What struck me most was the emotional honesty beneath the glossy exterior. This isn't just a story about a start-up; it's about what we sacrifice for success, how women are subtly (and not-so-subtly) sidelined in environments that claim to be meritocratic, and what it means to build something with someone - only to realize you never really saw them clearly.

There's a chilly precision to the prose that fits the material perfectly, but Taylor also knows when to let the emotions breathe. Some of the later turns may feel abrupt, but the ending lands with both clarity and ache.

Recommended for readers who love: campus novels, introspective character studies, stories that weave science into narrative without losing the heart.

A confident, compelling debut. I'll be watching to see what Taylor writes next.

This isn't my normal read but I thought it was enjoyable. Can see some similarities to another book. But, all in all, it was good.

Thank you Celadon Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Notes on Infinity follows two Harvard students who are abruptly launched into a life of fame and success in the glittering world of tech startups. Zoe and Jack are forced to quickly navigate not only the halls of scientific research that spurred their anti-aging discovery, but also the board rooms and conferences of investors and the pages and stages of media outlets, as well as their own quickly changing personal relationships.

Read if you like:
“Will they or won’t they” vibes
Flawed/unlikeable characters
Unconventional relationships of all kinds
Dual POV but with a little twist
A little taste of academia in your reading

My personal thoughts:
This is an ambitious debut and has a very clear mission and point of view, which I always like to see. Personally I had a few hang-ups that I just couldn’t quite get past throughout the book, but I did think that the final conclusion had some interesting layers and a certain poetry to it — and if you haven’t read much about biotech startups in the past, you may have a very different experience!

Mostly, my challenge was that the storyline was clearly based on a real-life startup that I’ve read about before (see below for the spoiler version), and the fictionalized elements of the story just didn’t provide enough to sink my teeth into and allow me to read this as a new or fresh take. The characters themselves and their relationships with one another felt a bit two-dimensional and caricatural — almost YA-esque — so my heart wasn’t quite in it, and the plotline itself and the ethical questions it raises I felt like I had already read in a lot of ways, so my head wasn’t either.

‼️ SPOILER BELOW - STOP HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY IDEA WHERE THIS STORY GOES!

The author drew on the story and coverage of Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes as well as her own experiences, and has said that this book is meant to remind the reader that for every splashy scandal we see on the front page, there’s years of backstory that led to that point. That objective came through loud and clear — the majority of the book explores the “lead-up” to the fall from grace, and all the personal motivations, internal and external pressures, and trusts built and broken that come along with that. But it’s many of the same themes and questions that were laid bare in the actual accounts of Theranos — i.e. if you’ve read Bad Blood and/or watched The Dropout — and without a different and compelling cast of characters to carry a fictionalized version, it just fell a bit flat for me.

This is the story of Zoe and Jack. It combines their quest for a profound scientific discovery combined with their developing relationship. Although I thought the plot idea was interesting, it felt like I was reading something similar to Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. I wanted more complexity to the characters. Throughout the book I never felt like I was invested in the story/characters. The book also felt more YA - which isn't my preferred genre. I am grateful to Celadon for the advanced copy.

Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor follows Zoe and Jack while they discover they may be able to create an anti-aging drug. This was a read outside of my normal genres and was fun to experience.

Notes On Infinity by Austin Taylor...

It was neither plot nor character driven, was slow to get through, and made me want to scream. I was never truly compelled to pick this book up, finally getting to the point where I just wanted it behind me, so I binged the majority of it. Then I was overly heartbroken and wanted to cry, feeling the whole gamut of emotions alongside the characters. Yes, it's emotional, but not always in a good way.

I can understand the misogyny, the sexism, the unjust reality that is women in traditionally male dominated industries... but overall, it felt like I was missing a key part to the inside of this story. I know it's supposed to be deeper than face value, I know it should be read with this depth in mind, but I just couldn't access that. Instead, I felt like an outsider looking in.

It's both trying too hard, yet never really delivering solid answers for what it's trying to get across. I kept trying to figure out what it was really about and what the point of it was.

Was it a love story? Was it just about the rise and fall of fame? Was it neither of these things? Are the characters given too much power, money, and importance at too young of an age? Is that the point?

The second perspective was not fluid or continuous and was altogether too confusing - although it had a quicker pace. But its non-linear timeline was simply too jarring to follow properly.

Now this ending... I just didn't like its ambiguity.

Next onto the audiobook... there is simply no other narrator to voice Zoe than Helen Laser. No one else could have narrated it with the same air about them, matching both the rise and fall and every single question in between. Also narrated by Shahjehan Khan, his voice was a perfectly powerful presence to represent Jack. These two voices worked harmoniously together overall while still reflecting who their characters were by voice alone. It's truly such a fantastic audiobook!

I'm really struggling with how to rate this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

I grappled with this one and had to pause and then unpack. Their tangled romance and work dramas made my head spin in infinite circles. The struggle was real with the first half of this book but my persistence paid off. The messy plot was so bad, it’s ending was actually good?

I was deceived, toyed with, fell into its dizzying vortex like an endless fevered dream, survived it and came out feeling conflicted and depleted. I haven’t felt so ruined or bothered in a long while but these main characters — their romance made my brain cells hurt. The final act and most anticipated curtain reveal had me shook. I’m still not over it.

Bravo to the author for an unforgettable debut, eliciting in me such emotional and terrible unrest.

This is a really interesting insight into science and startups, as described. I enjoyed the diverse characters and their character development.

This is a slow-paced story of two college students, Zoe and Jack, who seemingly discover the cure for aging and drop out to pursue their research while navigating relationships, business decisions and their personal lives.

The juxtaposition of Zoe and Jack's backgrounds was very interesting in the context of their research and start-up business. Zoe's desire to be taken seriously as a woman in STEM by her parents as well as the academic and business world was very relatable.

The last quarter of the book was my favourite and really boosted my rating. It rounded out the book incredibly well with its raw emotions and near poetic writing. I loved Jack's perspective.

While I felt the story lagged in the middle and could have been shorter, I did enjoy it overall.
3.5⭐️

Thank you to Celadon Books for the opportunity to take part in Celadon's Read Together Initiative. Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thanks to Celadon Books for the gifted copy. All opinions below are my own.

I got a copy of this one for Celadonbooks Little Free Library drop day and I'm actually glad they gave two copies because I really loved this book.

I get all of the comparisons to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, although I think this one lacks some of the charm of that story. To me it read a lot more like a Blake Crouch writing Bad Blood. Zoe and Jack are college students with a great idea and they literally throw all of their eggs in that basket like any naive geniuses would. It definitely reminded me a lot of my time living in Boston and working in Cambridge. I liked both characters and felt like the author really showed how easily they were swept up in the momentum. The last third switches perspective and that was really eye opening and heartbreaking. I really loved how the story was told in this way. It danced with a five star read for me, I think a little more of the trial at the end and it would have been perfect. Still will probably be one of my favorite reads of the year.

** spoiler alert ** ***I received an arc of this book in exchange for a honest review***


I am absolutely blown away by this debut. It’s hard to put my finger of exactly why I loved it so much, but I will do my best to try.


The writing style was amazing. There were run on sentences, scientific terms, and references to songs/poems/movies that I’m not familiar with, and I still devoured this. Everything about the writing style made sense and mirrored the plot. It helped me as the reader to experience the feelings and thought processes of the characters.


The first half of the book is written in Zoe’s point of view and then after the peak of her discovering that their success has been a lie, it switched to Zack who, up until this point, has been a bit of an enigma. As the reader, you don’t know anything about his back story or his feelings toward Zoe and their company until this switch occurs. It wrecks you, getting his side. You want to hate him, but you already love him.


You want so much for this to work out for them. Want them to figure it out and become these amazing scientists that found the cure for aging. However, for most of the book, you know that’s not this story. This story isn’t one that will wrap up nicely in a bow with everyone getting their happy ending. There’s sacrifice, forgiveness, and intense grief present at the end. There is hope and love as well.


This might very well be my favorite book of the year and I’m so grateful to Austin Taylor for taking me on this journey. I will be getting a physical copy for shelves and recommending to all of my friends.

Thank you NetGalley, Austin Taylor, and Celadon books for an e-Arc of this novel.

Notes on Infinity is the kind of novel that hooks you with sharp writing and a fascinating premise then dares you to stay, even when the very things you loved about it begin to frustrate you. It’s a maddening, brilliantly executed, deeply complicated book. And that’s exactly why it earned four stars from me.

At the heart of the story is Zoe, a brilliant young scientist with a brittle shell and a hunger for significance, and Jack, a charismatic yet enigmatic figure who barrels into her life with all the warning signs of a storm. Their relationship is immediate and volatile. They risk everything for each other, despite barely knowing one another. It’s the kind of romance that ignites and scorches in equal measure, and Taylor doesn’t flinch from showing how Zoe and Jack both elevate and damage one another.

Zoe is one of the most complex characters I’ve read in a long time, and not always in ways that made her likable. She is a contradiction: fiercely ambitious in a male-dominated field, demanding to be taken seriously by her male colleagues and professors, yet holding a quiet, unsettling disdain for many of the women around her. Her internalized misogyny is one of the most persistent threads in the novel, at times making it difficult to read but brutally honest. She disconnects from other women—her roommates, professors, peers—and her judgment often turns cruel. One unforgettable passage for me is when Zoe is reading fan letters from young girls who want to be like her, and she cringes while reading their praise of her. She signs responses others have written but doesn’t connect to them emotionally. It’s a raw, uncomfortable portrait of someone who has learned to see success as scarcity, and women as competition. Taylor doesn’t ask us to forgive Zoe, just to see her clearly.

The plot is engrossing. It’s twisty, well-paced, and built on a genuinely fascinating scientific premise. But it occasionally drowns in its own research. Some sections get bogged down in heavy scientific detail that stalls the momentum and forces the reader to wade through long explanations that could’ve been streamlined. Still, it’s undeniable how intricately the story is crafted.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of Notes on Infinity is the way Zoe’s brilliance is ultimately dimmed by the very system she seeks validation from. Her downfall isn’t just Jack; it’s a lifetime of centering male approval, chasing ideas and theories that pleased others instead of pursuing the ideas that once lit her up inside. Taylor explores this with precision and empathy, showing how a woman like Zoe, so smart and driven, could be undone not by failure but by misplaced allegiance.

In the end, Notes on Infinity is not a tidy novel, and that’s where its power lies. It’s messy, flawed, and full of contradictions, just like its main characters. I felt such a range of emotions while reading this book, and that to me is what great fiction does.

Thank you so much @celadonbooks for the ARC

♾️ Thank you Celadon for including me in this read along

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Notes on Infinity
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Austin Taylor
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Helen Laser, Shahjehan Khan
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: June 3, 2025

🔸 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 🔸
Two Harvard students Zoe and Jack meet and start working on a biotech startup to cure ageing. They quickly gain momentum, drop out of Harvard and get investors for their startup. Things look promising as Zoe heads up the business and Jack the research. Once some rumors start circulating that their business may not be as it seems, their business and everything they’ve built is at risk!

The premise of this story drew me in. Two college students think they have discovered the cure to aging. And there is also a bit of a love story building along with the business. It’s intriguing and begs the question if such a thing is possible.

When it came to getting into the meat of the story, I started to get a bit lost. I don’t have a science background, and I feel like this story would have been more enjoyable if I did! Or if I had more of an interest in labs and research.

Overall, I think this story appeals to a specific group of readers, who takes more of an interest in biotech and startups!

♾️ 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🔸 Biotech Startups
🔸 Anti-Ageing Research
🔸 Females in STEM Stories
🔸 Science Research

I can see the comparisons to Tomorrowx3 - but this story does stand on its own. I loved reading about Zoe and Jack and how their relationship evolved over time. There is a lot of science jargon in this, and I found myself skipping through a lot of the heavy parts... but ultimately I loved the character study in this book and that is why it is a 4 star for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Notes On Infinity follows two Harvard students, Zoe and Jack, who first meet as competitive rivals until they find themselves working together on a project that could get them funding before they graduate. It's a mix of science, romance and suspense and, I admit, the science was a little overwhelming for me as someone with no background on it at all. However, there were several real world situations addressed in the book, form Zoe facing the struggles of being a woman in science to Jack being a diabetic to them having to deal with the success of their project. I highly recommend the audiobook version because, not only did it help with the science, but also better set the atmosphere for me.

I absolutely loved the college setting and the Stem science part of the story and found it fascinating. Two Harvard undergraduates Jack and Zoe uncover a lead to reverse aging. This book is such a perfect bookclub book for its many layers and complex topics the story involves. It’s emotional, thought provoking, and hard to put down.

I really wanted to like this one! It sounded really cute, had a lot of potential for a cute romance story….

My issue is the writing itself. You can tell she’s a really young writer. The book feels like a written by and for teens or YA. This is what knocks off so much for me - I couldn’t really relate with the characters, and the writing felt so distant from something I could see as my own life.

That being said, I would still check out this writer in the future. I think she has a ton of potential.

A beautiful debut about first loves, friendship, and the ambitious world of biotech startups.

Zoe and Jack are Harvard students who find themselves on the cusp of a scientific breakthrough: the promise of immortality through an anti-ageing drug. They drop out of Harvard, find an investor, and form a startup. But a startling accusation threatens to destroy everything they've built together.

I found this book so compelling! It's always interesting to me to get a look at the way women in STEM have to navigate their way through a male dominated world. It was also fascinating to get a glimpse of the cutthroat environment of Ivy League academia and young ambition that goes too far.

I really had to make myself slow down with this one so I could take it all in. The pacing was great as was the pov switch part way through. The writing was beautiful and captivating.

Thank you Celadonbooks and Macmillan Audio for all the advanced readers copies via Netgalley and the gifted finished copy for the Celadon Reads Together! What a fun idea to match other bookstagrammers together to make a buddy read for an upcoming release!

Let me first say:
Cover? Stunning.
It’s what initially drew me in on NetGalley.
Premise? Promising.
But I’ll be frank- it took me 3 times to get into this one and even still it remained difficult for me to stay invested. I think that while it may have had more to do with my mental capacity at the time and being preoccupied with heavy life things, not necessarily due to the writing or science talk per se, but I never connected with the characters or story. I do advise this to be read in as few and frequent sittings as possible (but that could be because it never left an impression on me so I was quick to forget what happened and where I was in the story).

It’s like a mix of Theranos and Tomorrow x3 in terms of concept (college-aged kids starting a product; I’m curious if these were Taylor’s inspirations?). It’s ambitious beyond its capabilities (like its main characters) and I never felt fully sold on the concept in general (also, these “geniuses” never seemed genius, just driven by a young, naive and faux-invincible mindset and happen to love science). While I applaud Taylor for her attempt, it just didn’t do much for me. I wanted more intrigue, more character depth and development, more suspense even. I also thought there would be more sci-fi/speculative fiction in this so perhaps that expectation made the actual story fall flat too. Maybe I’m too critical of a reader…

I’ll probably still keep my copy and possibly give it another chance in the future but for now I’ve got more than plenty on my tbr to pick up before that option crosses my mind. Content includes profanity, light sexual content and remarks, suicide, allusions to drug abuse and eating disorder.

Happy pub day to Notes on Infinity, a debut sure to make a big splash this summer as it is very bingable. Zoe and Jack are Harvard students studying organic chemistry class who become intertwined in many ways when they begin intense work in a lab working on an anti-ageing drug that could promise immortality. They are so confident in their work that they drop out to form a startup, but...as these startups often go, money, fame, and secrets start to derail all they are working towards.

This is going to be comped everywhere to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which I loved. And in some ways, yes. There is a will they/won't they back and forth as well as the intense focus on a passion project. This also had me quickly turning pages. What it doesn't have is the same emotional pull of Tomorrow x 3 and the characters flat to me. The plot shifts around 60% also felt sort of been there done that, when there seemed to be real potential there.

Overall, I'm glad I read this as it was easily digestible and held my attention, but didn't do much more than that. We all need a book like that sometimes.