Notes on Infinity, Austin Taylor
Notes on Infinity, Austin Taylor
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Notes on Infinity
A Novel

Author: Austin Taylor

Narrator: Helen Laser, Shahjehan Khan

Unabridged: 10 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/03/2025


Synopsis

"It stole my breath and my heart. It’s a grand story of science and startups, and a simple story of first love and belonging." ―Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark and We Begin at the End

“Laser's boldly confident tone is perfect for the sharp, privileged young woman who is studying the relationship between DNA and consciousness.” —AudioFile

A singular, extraordinary debut about Zoe and Jack, Harvard students who find themselves propelled into the intoxicating biotech startup world when they announce they’ve discovered the cure for aging. A different kind of love story where the thirst for achievement consumes and the stakes are forever.

Zoe, the daughter of an MIT professor who grew up in her brother’s shadow, can envision her future anew at Harvard. Jack, a boy in Zoe’s organic chemistry class with unruly hair and a gleam of competitiveness, matches her intellect and curiosity with every breath. When Jack refers Zoe for a position in a prestigious professor’s lab, the two become entwined as colleagues, staying up late to discuss scientific ideas. They find themselves on the cusp of a breakthrough: the promise of immortality through a novel antiaging drug.

Zoe and Jack set off on their new project in secret. Finding encouraging results, they bring their work to an investor, drop out of Harvard, and form a startup. But after the money, the magazine covers, and the national news stories detailing their success, Zoe and Jack receive a startling accusation that threatens to destroy both the company they built and their partnership.

A captivating novel about young love, the allure of immortality, and the recklessness that can come with early success, Notes on Infinity asks: How far would you go to achieve your dreams?

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

About Austin Taylor

Austin Taylor graduated from Harvard University in 2021 with a joint degree in chemistry and English. Notes on Infinity is inspired in part by her undergraduate studies, peers, and lab work in Harvard’s chemistry department. She has also worked as a public speaking coach and in science policy. Austin is a private pilot, a registered Maine guide, and a bassist. She grew up in central Maine, where she now lives and writes.

About Helen Laser

Helen Laser is an audiobook narrator, voice artist, and actor of stage and screen. She's an Audie Award Finalist, SOVAS finalist, LA Times Book Awards Finalist, and multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner.Her narration has been picked by Reese Witherspoon for her book club, and has made many best-of lists including features by (but not limited to): Audible, Apple, Libro.fm, Amazon, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vulture, and many more.She's lent her voice to over 150 audiobooks.Her narration style is natural, immediate, and lyrical. Sharp wit and vulnerability wrapped up in a youthful down-to-earth package. Her greatest inspirations are her love of the theatre, independent films, Miyazaki movies, and of course The Princess Diaries audiobook, narrated by Anne Hathaway—the audiobook that started it all as a kid.She's a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.

About Shahjehan Khan

Shahjehan Khan is a Pakistani-American narrator, actor, and touring musician. He fell into this work when a producer at Audible heard his punk band interviewed on NPR in 2009, but didn’t start to dive into the medium until relatively recently, thanks in large part to the lovely folks at Macmillan Audio who have believed in him since his first title with them. Although he is now often distracted with roles in movies, TV, and playing in all his bands, he will always love the booth. He’s now approaching 30 official titles with many of the major publishers and recently won his first Earphones award. Shaj’s voice is on the chill, smooth, and calming side, but he’s definitely skilled at pushing it and finding multiple characters within a story with consistency and agility. He’s also an award-winning podcast host and producer: his show “King of The World” was nominated for an Ambie and a Webby; and he’s currently producing a Tribeca-nominated mini series on groovy 60s psychedelic Pakistani music called “Karachi Nights”.His main inspiration is his awesome and super smart scientist partner Lauren.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jessica on April 18, 2025

I don't know when this book was written so I can't tell if it's a direct ripoff of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow or if it is just a coincidence that made the publicity team's job very easy. But the problem with being so similar to a big book like that is that you make the comparisons so easy an......more

Goodreads review by Holden on May 22, 2025

Austin Taylor is coming out of a Harvard degree, with a debut novel and is politely giving us one of the best books of 2025. Just wow. How to summarize a story with so much intrigue and depth and love and heartache? This genre is unmatched, coming from a place similar to The Circle and Tomorrow, and......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on May 21, 2025

3.75 stars. 4 for the first 60%, 3 for the remainder. This is NOTHING like Tomorrow x3. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. The writing styles are nowhere similar. Zevin hooked me in from the beginning, while Taylor's writing is quite different. If you see a book that says it's familiar to Tomorro......more

Goodreads review by Hallie on June 10, 2025

2.75 ⭐️ I was so interested in the premise of this book, the first 2/3 of this book I was continually feeling more and more invested in the characters and their plot but it did get pretty slow throughout the last 1/3 of the book. I just didn’t love the direction the plot went. I do wish there was a......more

Goodreads review by Debbie H on May 13, 2025

3.5 ⭐️ This was an interesting read heavily focused on science and lab research at Harvard. Zoe is a bright student interested in the anti-aging field. She befriends Jack an equally brilliant science major. Their working relationship develops into much more. They find themselves working long hours i......more


Quotes

Notes on Infinity is mesmeric, and beautiful, and it stole my breath and my heart. It’s a grand story of science and startups, and a simple story of first love and belonging. A cautionary look at our need to push our limitations, and a perfect portrait of friendship, family, and that fine line between exhilaration and agony. I really couldn’t have loved it more.”
—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark and We Begin at the End

"I adored this book. It follows two Harvard students developing an antidote to aging. I have an absolute fascination in start-ups from colleagues’ stories of Google in its early days. This delivered in that respect, but in so many others, too: love, and partnership, and being the only woman in the room, growing up and deciding who you wish to be. It is very clever, but it has a huge, messy heart, which is exactly what I love in a book."
—Abigail Dean, author of Girl A and Day One

“Dive into the world of Harvard's brightest minds with Notes on Infinity. This unputdownable campus novel offers an inside look at the intense, high-stakes world of academia, where ambition, brilliance, and pressure collide. Austin Taylor gives a sharp, thoughtful exploration of the pursuit of dreams, of greatness, and the cost of success in an environment that demands nothing less than perfection. For lovers of campus dramas and anyone who has ever wondered what really happens behind Ivy League walls.”
—Weike Wang, PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author of Chemistry, Joan is Okay, and Rental House

“The best of books: one I could not put down while also, simultaneously, wishing it was truly infinite. A perfectly realized novel with crystalline characters and a palpable sense of time, historically and of the characters' lives. Austin Taylor's ability to tell a story is superb and Notes on Infinity is a reading experience to savor.”
—Lottie Hazell, author of Piglet

“With Notes on Infinity, a tangled tale of biotech gone awry, Taylor shifts the boundaries of the campus novel, portraying a newly pressurized student culture… [and] explores arguably the most human boundary of all—mortality.”
Publishers Weekly, Writers to Watch feature

"Taylor thrills with her crackling and science-heavy depiction of the hothouse startup and its founders’ dizzying ascent into the spotlight.... readers will race through the pages to see what happens next. This is a winner.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review