--- description: Find out why "We Were the Universe" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'We Were the Universe' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd303bfd24174f2d5/698a8d159862f5603689b19c/We-Were-The-Universe-Kimberly-King-Parsons.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # We Were the Universe by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  In Kimberly King Parsons’ debut novel, _We Were the Universe,_ indescribable grief knocks a suburban Texas mother out of orbit. Four years after losing her little sister, Kit is struggling to hold it together. While she loves her spirited young daughter and considerate husband, she longs for the days when casual sex and recreational drugs would help her numb the pain. (Her relentless sexual fantasies, often delivered in a breathless stream of consciousness, are sure to make readers blush.) Kit’s recently dumped bestie presents her with the return to hedonism she’s been desperately craving: a weekend getaway that could heal them both. But the short vacation conjures an unexpected visitor who Kit can’t shake, the spirit of her late sibling. Parsons, an [acclaimed short story writer](https://www.nationalbook.org/books/black-light-stories/ "undefined"), offers a hilarious and haunting look at the astronomical nature of loss. **Buy Now:** _We Were the Universe_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780525521853 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3YDL51J "undefined") | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/48DUcUI "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172799/we-were-the-universe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172799/we-were-the-universe/"},"headline":"We Were the Universe","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:18:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:43:05.040Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172799/we-were-the-universe/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd303bfd24174f2d5/698a8d159862f5603689b19c/We-Were-The-Universe-Kimberly-King-Parsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd303bfd24174f2d5/698a8d159862f5603689b19c/We-Were-The-Universe-Kimberly-King-Parsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172799/we-were-the-universe/","name":"We Were the Universe"}}]}] ```