This is an intriguing and ambitious debut novel combining dark academia with literary fiction. Whoever thought giving a couple 20-year-olds $9 billion was a good idea? Zoe and Jack were able to get enough funding from the investors of their biotech start-up that they both dropped out of Harvard to go all in.

Much of the book is told from Zoe’s perspective, but and the end it does switch to Jack’s point of view. He is a bit of a mystery, from an unknown background. Whereas Zoe comes from a stable family with a father who is also a successful scientist at MIT, a brother who goes to Stanford and can do no wrong, and a mother who ushers fellow researchers into their home with a flare for southern hospitality.

The idea that Zoe came up with that they are deep in the lab trying to prove viable is the key to immortality; a way to reverse the signs of aging. But when Zoe’s takes the helm of the company as CEO and spokesperson, and leaves the science to Jack, things go askew.

“He looked at the clock in the top right of the screen 11:11 PM he shut his eyes for a second made a wish and then shoved the files into an email” – I had to highlight this because I loved that Jack made a wish at 11:11 before sending off evidence to incriminate himself.

I really enjoyed this book because I am a bit of a science geek and it reminded me of one of my favorite books of 2024, Fruit of the Dead. It made me think, and beyond the main plot there were deeper messages and social commentaries to unpack about feminism, women in STEM, social media influences on culture, and big pharma. There were hidden gems of song lyrics, biblical references, and the cult-classic movie, Dogma. If you are looking for an intelligent, well-written novel that is different than much of what you will find in the mainstream, this book is for you.

Great story, well read by both voice actors. They captured the characters well. Kept me listening. It was just twisty/turny enough for me and I enjoyed the characters and was rooting for them. It also made me think about how we can assume a lot and misplace trust when it comes to smart people, complicated science, and institutions of higher learning. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and offer an honest review.

This book felt like a complete rip-off of "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" to me: two friends with similar interests in STEM launch a start-up enterprise, followed by a "will-they, won't they" romance that is complicated by a third character integral to their endeavor, down to the dramatic plot twist at the end. The characters lacked depth and the plot felt formulaic.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this book five enthusiastic stars, but I feel like it won't be a universal recommend. So, here's the tea.

-Helen Laser and Shahjehan Khan a banger job of dual narration. Wow. At no point was I not RAPT by this story and outcome. This audiobook was consumed during two 1.5 hr lifting sessions and 12 miles of hiking. I could not stop. Thank you deeply Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the early review of this amazing debut!

-Zoe is a Harvard student and daughter of a brilliant MIT professor that has lived life in her brother's shadow and always plays second fiddle to him. We don't know much about Jack. He's brilliant, sure. He's Zoe's match academically in Organic Chem. Their relationship is so rapt with intrigue and academic shine--watching them spar ideas and their fever inspired lab sessions are compelling to witness.

-This is part founder/startup/internet/VC culture, part academic science obsession, part first love.

-It's HEAVY on science. (My background is in science and I ADORED it, but a few reviewers were stressed about overwhelm googling chemistry terms. ) I ADORED it.

-Much of the negative feedback of this book was that a) It's Tomorrow x3 in new packaging. It is NOT that. The feel is VERY different. b) It's too science forward and technical. I would argue that it isn't a plot point and after the first third of the novel it's firmly focused on the people. c) There is a POV change at 70% in and that it's too abrupt. Taylor's debut novel is gorgeous. I loved doing the book specifically on audio to bridge this changeover!

Honestly, I think this is one of the standout debut novels of the year. I think the right reader will find it as compelling and satisfying as I did. Hopefully, this review will help you decide to pick it up!

I will say it took me a long time to get into this book. I was expecting more of a sci-fi book that dove into the science of their discovery but it was more about their partnership and life instead of the discovery itself. It started to remind me of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow which I actually had to DNF that book due to the dullness. I will say this book held my interest and got much better the last half of the book. I felt that the change up of the POV really helped piece the story together.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy of the ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Every time I assume I'm not going to like a science themed fiction, I'm proven wrong. This book has done it, once again. this was emotional and entertaining and I loved it.

Zoe and Jack meet each other as Harvard undergraduate students in organic chemistry class; almost immediately, they recognize they're both geniuses. It's not long before they join together and create an (initially) highly successful startup company based on a groundbreaking anti-aging drug promising immortality.

I quite liked this debut and found it to be unique and enticing. I was curious to see where the story would go. It had aspects of romance, drama, and even a bit of dark academia, none of which were cheesy or drawn out. Some reviewers were bothered by it's science-y jargon, but I didn't find it to be too annoying or overwhelming. I also appreciated that it took place in Cambridge/Boston (but I'm biased because I'm from here).

I don't really agree with the comparisons it's received to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow- except that it's a complicated story with male and female main characters in STEM.

I listed to this via audio and appreciated the dual narrators. Overall, I'd recommend this book and thought it was a great debut novel. It is NOT your typical romance (which for me is a plus).

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the eARC!

"Notes on Infinity" is ultimately a coming of age story: what happens when two young adults are propelled into the spotlight before they're ready.

Zoe and Jack are Freshmen at Harvard and quickly connect over a shared scientific idea: creating a drug to slow aging. They drop out and receive seed funding for a start-up based on this drug development. They reach momentum and financial success with ease, feeling on top of the world. However, behind the scenes, troubles begin to form and their entire life project is thrown into question.

Even though I enjoyed the premise of the story (love reading about smart capable youth) I found that it lacked heart: it unfolds exactly as you would expect with little to say. Zoe and Jack's characters are clearly influenced by Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos and read more as avatars than real characters with depth, nuance, and rich interior lives. I finished the book and immediately thought "ok onto the next one!" Nothing lingered with me.

The audiobook was well done even though Zoe's voice narrator shined through much more than Jack's. There's quite a bit of anguish in the latter half of the book and feel Jack's actor missed an opportunity to show off his chops.

I can’t even describe how much I loved Notes on Infinity

This debut by Austin Taylor is absolutely enthralling, fast-paced, deeply thought-provoking, and layered with complex questions about ethics, science, and how blurry the lines between truth and ambition can become.

The whole question behind their research in increasing lifespans and anti aging was so interesting to read, although all of their advances were doomed from the start. Manna (love the biblical reference) was built on the foundation of lies, and the rise and inevitable unraveling of a billion-dollar startup, built more on image than integrity, is a sharp reflection of how greed and the thirst for success can warp even the most promising visions.

The characters shift and evolve alongside the chaos, and watching them navigate the fallout as everything spirals was both heartbreaking and fascinating. Their focus shifts from the science itself to self-preservation, image control, and unchecked ambition. Jack and Zoe’s central relationship that grows in such a strange, decaying way, it adds emotional depth to the already tense atmosphere, which correlates directly to their failing start up.

I absolutely cannot wait for this to be published.

This book feels like it was made for me—science, academia, a touch of Silicon Valley chaos. Jack and Zoe meet as Harvard freshmen, bond over their obsession with biology and aging, and end up dropping out to launch a startup promising immortality. Of course, things get messy. The story explores ambition, friendship, and what happens when your ideals meet reality, and I loved both main characters. Their relationship is layered and complicated in all the best ways.

The audiobook is fantastic—told from both Jack and Zoe’s POVs with excellent narrators who really bring their inner worlds to life. I couldn’t put it down and cried through the ending. That said, I do wish we got more of Jack’s perspective earlier on. His side of the story comes in late and explains a lot, but I think the emotional payoff would've hit even harder if it had been more balanced.

If you’re into campus-to-startup stories, complicated friendships, or anything vaguely Theranos-adjacent, this one’s worth picking up. Definitely for fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, but with more biotech drama and moral gray areas.

Notes on Infinity is reminiscent of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but more cerebral and informative. It was hard to get into with all of the new information, and I felt it was slow. It picked up after the first half when the story starts coming together and ended up being an enjoyable read.

I was happy with the narration in the audiobook.

I received this advance audio copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

OH MY GODDDD ?!$&@?!!!!!!!!!

ok ok, wow! I loved? but also hated?? this book!! it was sooo good, but the ending killed me.

I read another review that said this book was as if Lessons in Chemistry and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow had a baby, and I couldn’t agree more. But I’d also add in a touch of The Dropout.

I couldn’t put it down!

(Thank you, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

Thanks to Netgallary and Macmillan for the advanced listening copy. This is about two young people, Zoe and Jack who meet at college. Both are brilliant and leave school early to start their own company, their own startup, make their millions.

They focus on science that will help people live longer, maybe even forever.
Is that possible? Jack says it is.
But also, why would anyone want to live forever?

It is slow, and I actually lost interest near the end and had to force myself to finish.
Maybe because I don't care much about like tech culture and start ups and investors, it just wasn't for me.

I have a feeling this will be the next romance/lit fic darling. I’ve been seeing buzz around it already so I’m sure at release this will be the next big thing. But honestly, to me, this was fine.

We follow Zoe and Jack, two scientists who
start a new biotech company after Zoe’s research leads to a possibility for a cure for aging. We see their partnership and their business through various trails and tribulations as their research continues to grow.

The writing is good but I felt it was bogged down by a lot of scientific jargon. It might work for someone who has a background with science, but as an average reader I felt like it held a the story back like everything comes to a screeching halt so we can hear about a certain subject.

At around the 60% mark is where the book shifts and doesn’t work as well. I won’t say what it is but I think other reviews have discussed it so if you’re curious I’m sure you can figure it out. The remainder of the novel is very redundant and not as compelling as the first 3/4ths. It honestly would’ve been better if all of it was weaved together even if it negated some of the more shocking revelations later on.

I don’t regret my time with it. I’m sure it’ll be a hit for other people but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both in the ebook and audiobook format, and am looking forward to recommending it to patrons and fellow readers alike. Taylor has perfectly captured the pressurized world of academic science and the start-up culture while managing to also create very relatable characters that break your heart and infuriate and everything in between.

While this book may be tailormade to my own interests in science and academia, I am still pretty sure this is one of the best things I have read in a long time, and I can't wait to make everyone I know read it and discuss it with me.

Notes on Infinity follows the story of Jack and Zoe, two students who meet during their freshman year at Harvard and bond over their love of biology and an interest in understanding the cellular basis of aging. When an experimental breakthrough leads them both to drop out of college to pursue a well-funded startup, their friendship is quickly put to the test as public scrutiny increases and their promised immortality treatment seems increasingly out of reach. I loved both main characters so much, and Austin Taylor does such an excellent job in exploring how their own personal backgrounds inform their approach to research, success, and love.

I honestly could not take a break from this book once I had started it, and I can't believe that this is a debut. The audiobook production is fantastic and both narrators do an excellent job of telling the story from both Zoe and Jack's point of view, I would warn that I think it's best to jump into this one without reading too much about it beforehand, so you aren't spoiled by any of the twists and turns the plot takes. Even though I cried through the entire ending, I can't wait for a physical copy to arrive to read this all over again.

2.5 stars
This book sits at the crossroads of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow and He Said/She Said and the Theranous story. It was difficult to get into at first with the heavy on science details. I started to get into the story after a while, only to reach the climax and have it switch from Zoe’s perspective to Jack’s. Then we had to go back and relive the events of the book from his POV. It would have worked better for me to rock it back and forth during the main body of the work, not chop it 75/25. The narrators did a good job though, which made it easier to connect.
*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley

4.25/5. I really enjoyed listening to Notes on Infinity. Other reviews have noted comparable books like
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, but I find the story to be unique. It's also seemingly loosely based on Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos scam, though the first half doesn't touch on that as much. I truly enjoyed the perspective of Zoe, and her accounting of her time at school with Jack was definitely my favorite part of the book.

The characters in this book are interesting, but where it didn't totally click for me was the last quarter or so of the book where Jack's POV begins and explains a lot of what Zoe didn't know was occurring. I wish more of his perspective had been woven into the earlier parts of the book.

However, it's still a book that's well worth reading. I'd recommend this to literary fiction fans, those who enjoy campus-to-startup stories, and those interested in a loosely based Theranos retelling. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A heartbreaking story of new love, hopes dashed, dreams and the reality of startups. Liz and Jack, both brilliant in their own right, end up at Harvard together. They meet in a class and try to out compete each other. From this a friendship develops and an idea about "stopping aging" develops. They start collecting funding for a start up and the story unfolds from there. A lot of challenges along the way with both wins and losses. A sweet love story with the realities of life in the fast lane thrown in to help and hinder along the way. The narrators fit the characters well and did a wonderful job. I really enjoyed the audible version of this novel and freely recommend it. All thoughts are my own.

Thought-provoking fiction about the pressure on scientists to produce viable research that is expected to produce viable products. In this story, two sophomores at Harvard (“Cambridge”) from very different backgrounds collaborate on a “game-changing” theory and pursue it by every means possible.
The story alternates between her backstory and his, both interesting and flawed characters. I enjoyed the science - just the right level of detail to be engaging and to make me feel a little smarter for listening to and being able to follow the concepts. Two narrators made this easy to follow in the audiobook format.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #NotesonInfinity for review purposes. Publication date: 3 June 2025.