I received a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review

One of the strongest points in this sci-fi bender, which contains a psychological side with the human thrill in the need to believe that something bizarre is going on, even by the most cynical Scully, has to be the friendship between the main characters. There’s a chilling antagonist as well. In a series of multiverses [which is handled craftily here], the interaction being the draw keeps this story fresh.

There's something certain people fear above all else. It's anxiety-inducing, the kind that makes your palms sweat and your ears ring and your head feel cottony. But you won't realize it until late in the book, then you'll look askance at the possibility of that world being the "real" world, hoping it's not, but if it is, hoping there's a chance that it won't end up like it could...

I know! That's a terrible review. But I'm trying to tell you nothing because I'm afraid I might inadvertently ruin the book for you, and it is so good.

How to compare this? Let me see if I can do that "this" meets "this" thing that publishers are so fricking fond of...

It's Blake Crouch's Dark Matter meets.... Nope. Can't do that. It will give too much away.

Universe-hopping Trina is shocked when, for the first time in her existence, someone recognizes her from the past: an old man named Colin she encounters in a cafe. The two team up to help Trina escape the nebulous Shadow that is chasing her. I was hoping this story would be interesting, but was disappointed. Trina isn’t so much a character as she is a blank slate for plot to happen to. Colin is mildly interesting, but not enough so to make me enjoy reading this. The strangely meandering prose didn’t really match the high-stakes, fast-paced adventure that was being set up, which made it really hard to track what was actually happening and kept pulling me out of the story.

Starting at a breakneck pace and only occasionally slowing down, I Contain Multitudes by Christopher Hawkins is a beautifully crafted puzzle-box that eschews info dumping background in favor of hiding it in plain sight. In less capable hands this approach can be off-putting or even annoying enough to earn a Did Not Finish result. Instead, I thoroughly enjoyed being pulled along on this thrill ride of a story.

This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley. The book will be available on April 30, 2025.

Trina Bell never wakes to the same reality twice. She’s endured countless Turnings – her term for the world shifts – but doesn’t know why they happen or when they began. Trina has an indistinct memory of her grandfather, and flowers, but not who or what she was … before. Even though the worlds before and after a Turning are often similar, no one knows or remembers her.

Well, except the Shadows – black outlines in reality that resemble people and a dog – that’re searching for Trina. The touch of a Shadow is cold and unsettling, and she’s been fortunate to avoid capture as she leads a nomadic, lonely existence, vaguely heading in the direction of a place that may hold some answers. Trina has gotten close to this location before only to find herself hundreds of miles away after the next Turning.

But then a chance encounter with an older gentleman in a coffee shop is like having a bucket of ice water splashed in her face. Against all odds, he remembers Trina after the next Turning, setting in motion a series of twists and turns (and Turnings) building to a wholly unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

I was offered the ARC for this book, and I accepted without even reading the synopsis. Being from this author, I knew it would be good, but I had no idea how deep this one would get. I also have no idea how to write a review for this, because it’s not going to make sense. Still, I’ll try…

Trina Bell is having a problem with the Turnings, which is a short period of time where the world changes and she ends up in different places, at different times. The Shadows are always there, watching, waiting and wanting to get her. Soon, she meets an elderly librarian named Colin Williams, and while having a conversation, there was a Turning. After it happened, Colin was still there, and he remembered her. For the first time in Trina’s memory, someone stayed after a Turning. From then on, she tries to keep herself with Colin as this book takes you through a complete mind-fuck full of flowers, floods, a past and a future, cobblestone roads and flying cars.

See? It makes no sense when I write it, but somehow Christopher Hawkins made this work…yet I still didn’t know where it was going. What is all this for? Is this some cosmic punishment? Does Trina have a power that she hasn’t been able to control? Why does this keep happening? Then I got to the end, and my mind was utterly blown. To say I was shocked is an understatement; I wasn’t just shocked. I was dumbfounded. I was heartbroken. I was astonished. But most surprising of all, I was happy. This was a suspenseful science-fiction horror/thriller story that very few minds could have pulled off. It’s a must-read for fans of the author, and in my opinion, his best work yet. Five stars, because, THAT ENDING.

(Thank you to Coronis Publishing, Christopher Hawkins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 30, 2025.)

This book was SO good! Gotta be honest, I was pretty confused for the first bit trying to figure out just what the heck was going on, and then I was trying to figure out how it was all gonna come together — and I was NOT disappointed! This was like if Stephen King and Blake Crouch had a book baby LOL, and I am totally HERE FOR IT!

Once again, Christopher Hawkins has written a novel I didn’t want to put down. While the primary genre may be science fiction, as the story unfolds, it reveals itself to be something much deeper. On a second read, many elements take on new meanings, making it just as enjoyable—but in a different, more thoughtful way.

The story centers on Trina Bell, who wakes up each day in an alternate version of her world. While these worlds may share certain structures or familiar faces, after each “Turning”—Trina’s word for the event that shifts her between realities—no one remembers her… until someone does.

Driven by a growing sense of urgency, she spends each day searching for a way to stop the Turnings and return to her own world.

Thank you, NetGalley, Coronis Publishing, and Christopher Hawkins for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I really wanted to enjoy this one. I loved reading Christopher's first book, Downpour. I think part of the reason I'm weird about this one is the genre of the book.

I knew the book was advertised as horror going in, but it gives off more a Sci fi, general fiction, horror book instead. And it was a tad slow in the beginning for me.

I really wish I was more into this book.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley. I would say overall this story is okay, but it didn't live up to my expectations. For me, it started out engaging, then took a roller coaster of ups and downs, with both the pacing and my interest level. The worlds Trina visits during the second half of the book were intriguing, but I felt like I kept reading to chase an explanation (rather than because I was simply enjoying the story), and the one I got requires a lot of assumptions. There is no explanation why Sweet was cognizant of the Turnings and Colin wasn't. This also could have benefited with reasons why Trina's connection/ability with the flowers she learned from her grandfather also gave her the ability to create these worlds on top of worlds, especially because there are tidbits at the conclusion implying the other worlds physically existed for the other characters on some plane. On that same note, if these creations came from Trina's mind, how did she meet some people in multiple other worlds who she hadn't met in her home universe yet? I don't have the most scientific-oriented mind, but I thought the coveted particle accelerator had wasted potential to give us some clues. It wasn't explained how the accident happened, or why Trina got stuck in the cycle of Turnings. Ultimately this story is very original and the author is clearly talented and I may check out some of his other work, but I probably wouldn't read it again.

I Contain Multitudes by Christopher Hawkins is a mind-bending journey through shifting realities, following Trina Bell as she struggles to return to her own world - only to find each new version more unstable than the last.

The world-building is incredibly vivid and imaginative, with new surprises waiting around every corner. At times, though, I felt the story got a bit bogged down in the details. While I appreciated the effort to highlight the subtle differences between each reality, those deep dives sometimes slowed the momentum of the plot.

The characters were a highlight for me, especially in how they evolved across the different worlds. While I didn’t find myself especially attached to Trina, the supporting cast added depth and played off her well. The villain, Sweet, is particularly memorable - chilling and mysterious, with his true nature only revealed in the final chapters. That twist was genuinely satisfying and gave me one of those “Aha!” moments. Honestly, I’m tempted to reread it just to catch all the breadcrumbs I missed the first time around.

Overall, this isn’t a book I would have picked up on my own, and I did find parts of it a bit challenging to get through. But I’m glad I stuck with it—the ending tied things together in a clever and unexpected way that made the whole journey worth it.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A book that builds to a credendo, I Contain Multitudes is a nuanced novel that transforms a slightly rocky start into a fantastic climax.

I will admit I had to push through the book for the first little bit (maybe 10%). Not because I didn’t find the concept very interesting, but because Trina is really hard to get to know as her personality is a little blank (as she doesn’t have a lot of memories of her “real” world) and it’s one of those mimetic texts where the character doesn’t know anything about what it going on, and thus the reader doesn’t either.

The brilliant thing about this book, though, is that it all makes sense. There is a really great twist (or perhaps development is a better word) in the last quarter that ties everything together. It also includes a very specific one of my greatest fears, so when that came about my heart was in my damn throat, and the ending also made me tear up.

And when I say it takes a bit to get into, I don’t mean it was a slog (as the pacing is great); it just didn’t grab my interest in a vice. This is because a lot needs explanation - in every world Trina encounters, she has to describe it to us so we understand what has changed. Once you understand the mechanics of how the multiverse works, the book gains a lot of momentum. This is also because Trina is not only lost in these worlds where it will shift to another (sometimes overnight, sometimes at random), but she’s being hunted by strange beings, and later, another person. And the entire time she’s not really sure what the hell is going on. She has the vaguest idea of getting to the hadron collider for whatever reason, but as the story progresses, the worlds start getting more and more degraded and strange that her goal becomes survival. It reminded me of The Long Earth a bit. Yet, the worlds are not so strange it becomes fantastical - why it doesn’t get wacky relates to the development I mentioned - and there are recurring characters and places so trying to spot what stays and same (and trying to figure out why this is) is a big part of what keeps it engrossing.

The book carries a sombre yet urgent atmosphere, and this is another one of its strengths. It never lets itself go nuts with the multiverse stuff, never gives us a world where everyone is a banana or something, so the tone and tension remain at a tipping point and the entire time I was trying to figure out where it was going, but in a good way. It’s like a mystery puzzle - you don’t know what the image is supposed to be but you need to put it together.

It’s a tightly wrought book that gets tighter and tighter as the story moves along. If you enjoy contemplative sci-fi with a psychological bent, you should check this out.

"I Contain Multitudes" follows young Trina Bell as she grapples with a world that keeps changing all around her...and not just in the metaphorical sense. With each "Turning", Trina finds herself in a new world where sometimes things are only a little different than they were previously, maybe the color of paint in a room has changed or the number of streetlights along the road are fewer. But now, the world is shifting dramatically. One minute things seem relatively normal, but the next "Turning" brings flying cars, and the next "Turning" brings pre-Industrial horse and buggies. And if it wasn't already awkward enough to deal with these changes, she is the only one who notices any of these changes and remembers what came before, even to the point that those she is talking to even as a "Turning" happens forget the beginning of the conversation. Oh, and she is also being hunted by some weird otherworldly shadow creatures across each of these realities, as if she needed one more complication.

Hawkins has written an interesting and engrossing story with a phenomenal twist. The sci fi trappings can be enjoyed on their surface, but the whole story takes on a greater meaning once completed. I will be re-reading the story to see all the elements which I missed reading through the first time simply enjoying the narrative. Having not read any of Hawkins' other works, I will definitely be adding him to my list of authors to follow as I track down his previous works.

A grateful thank you to NetGalley and Coronis Publishing for the opportunity to read this eARC.

This was an interesting read but certainly started slow. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The beginning of this really did not click for me. The information drip was just a little bit too slow, and I didn't find Trina to be particularly interesting. Nothing was wrong with it, but it just didn't work for me.

The back half really got me though! Once I had a sense of the lore, and Dr Sweet raised the stakes, it fell into place for me. The different worlds got more interesting, I liked the lore fill-in, and the twist was... fine? It felt slightly cliche, but it was effective. Everything that needed to be tied up was tied up. Sweet was a particularly effective villain for me, particularly in light of the twist. His sense of entitlement and egomania felt very real and made him feel grounded, even though he spent a lot of this book villain monologing. The other characters didn't do so much for me; they all felt a little like props for Trina (which I guess works? considering the twist? it doesn't make the book more enjoyable to read though).

Fun read! Good if you want a bit of a mindfuck!

Such a great book that had me on my toes that through me all around. An amazing sci-fi would recommend to everyone it was amazing

This book is like jumping into a river, no warning or explanation, you just find yourself immersed in a world at once alien and recognizable. I had no idea what was going on but I was in for the ride. Trina is dumped by the side of the road with nothing but a backpack. She is on the run and the world keeps “turning” around her. With no warning everything changes, in small ways and then incrementally more radically. She meets an old man who, unlike everyone else she finds, remembers her after a “turning” and she enlists his help to find out more about her predicament. In each world there are people who are kind to her and others who ignore or even hurt her, but nothing as bad as a sadistic doctor who seems to think that she’s causing the “turnings” and is helping some dark entities that keep chasing her through these worlds. I had no idea what was going on, but I was engrossed. The world building is impressive in that there are so many different worlds, and every little detail works. And the action is non-stop. I was worried that the final resolution would be a let-down but it worked so well that I was very satisfied with the ending. Highly recommended.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Coronis Publishing.

I was completely drawn into the world the author created. He does a good job making the reader feel the unbalanced and shifting experience of the main character, Trina. This is the second novel I read by Hawkins. The first was Downpour. I look forward to reading more of his books.

I am a library associate and received an advance copy from #NetGalley.

Set in a series of dystopian worlds, Hawkins has a great writing style that draws you into the story from the first few paragraphs. The twists and turns throughout the story made it even more entertaining. Just when I thought I knew where the story was heading, a new wrinkle appeared.

Even if sci-fi isn’t your go to genre, if you love stories in the vein of The Midnight Library, definitely consider picking this one up.

Special thanks to Coronis Publishing , Christopher Hawkins, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this novel. This review is my own opinion.

This was just okay. Some of the book felt like it was trying to hard to be gripping and that made it feel unnatural.
The writing was basic and the characters felt underwhelming to me.

This was such a fun book! I had no idea what to expect going in but happy to report that I really enjoyed it and can highly recommend.

I had previously enjoyed Christopher Hawkins horror novel – Downpour, so I was excited to receive the ARC for his latest sci-fi – I Contain Multitudes.

Trina Bell wakes up in a new reality every morning – the world shifting around her and people forgetting her. Until one day, she meets a librarian who remembers who she is – can she break the cycle?

The premise for this book is unusual – every day, the world around Trina resets, and it isn’t just the people that change, but the entire world - skipping backwards and forwards in time and also introducing parallel worlds. This kept the story engaging and the pace high throughout. Trina is our anchor in the story, and we hold on to her as we progress through the worlds she inhabits - Hawkins ensures that she feels real and believable throughout.

The book starts to pick up the pace as Trina and librarian Colin move through the realities together, being chased by a mysterious doctor and the shadows. There’s a lot of action in these sequences and I raced ahead to work out what was happening and how all the various threads would come together. The ending blew me away – I was not expecting it at all, and it instantly made it a five star read for me (but no spoilers, I’m afraid!).

Overall, I Contain Multitudes is engaging and unusual sci-fi with a fantastic plot progression. Thank you to NetGalley & Coronis Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.