“Witty…singular…entertaining. The ride could not be more rewarding; Parsons’s transgressive boldness allows us to feel the soul in places that moderation simply cannot reach…Parsons has gifted us with a profound, gutsy tale of grief’s dismantling power.”
—Alissa Nutting, The New York Times Book Review

“Parsons offers a hilarious and haunting look at the astronomical nature of loss.”
—Shannon Carlin, TIME, Best Books of 2024

☆A Dakota Johnson Book Club Pick☆
☆A New York Times Editors’ Choice☆
☆#2 on TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2024☆
☆A National Bestseller☆

“Kit is one of the most whip-smart, hilarious, atypical mothers in the history of fiction…A book that astonishes by a writer who possesses the same brilliance as her narrator. One caveat: You must read until the end. The last seven pages will leave you breathless.”
—Leigh Newman, Oprah Daily, Best Books of 2024

“Hilarious, profane, and profound all at once… Horny and haunted…. Parsons has written one of my favorite short story collections ever, and now one of my favorite novels.”
—Ruth Madievsky, Vanity Fair

“Fun, filthy, hot…about self-understanding, about locating and reasserting an essential identity that’s drowning beneath the commotion of work and family life.”
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker

“Stunning…filled with compassion and an understanding of what it means to be a person in the world who wants—needs—to withdraw, but for too many reasons to count, can’t. This is a beautiful book that asks how we move on, or fail to, when our universe implodes.”
—Michael Schaub, The Boston Globe

“Exuberantly sex-positive…Prismatic writing…We Were the Universe is a smart, hysterical, aching novel.”
—Elle, Best Books of 2024

“Stunning, a testament to the power of prose, a portal…a novel of contradictions and confluences, a novel of language and experience… Reading [Parsons] is like taking a drug that amps you up and calms you down, somehow all at once.”
—Allie Rowbottom, Forever Magazine

“Compelling...funny, sad, honest. Porn and sex addiction, hallucinogens, music, friendship, nature, parenthood — they all form pieces in the mosaic of grief at this story’s core.”
—Sarah Neilson, them, 16 Best LGBT+ Books of 2024

“I will follow Kimberly King Parsons into the abyss…This debut solidifies her as one of the greatest writers working right now.”
—Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful

“Parsons has created a character so appealing in her cheerful brokenness that you won’t want to leave her side for a minute…This book seems suggestive evidence of a New Psychedelia, young women writers updating Carlos Castaneda for the 21st century, filling the eternal trippy desert with love and yearning and laughter.”
—Kirkus, ☆Starred Review☆