review: The Singular Life of Aria Patel

Title: The Singular Life of Aria Patel
Author: Samira Ahmed
Date: Hachette, May, 2025
Main character: Aria Patel
YA; science fiction

The first iteration of Aria

that we meet in The Singular Life of Aria Patel lives in Chicago. She is independent, data-driven, and loyal to friends and family. Aria just quit her boyfriend and is beginning to have a few doubts about her decision. That’s hard for this young lady who appreciates a drama-free, well-ordered life. Her favorite teacher, Ms. Jameson, gives the class a poem that is part of a cross-curricular unit with the English class, and it feeds into Aria’s questioning.

Where are your roots planted?
Where did your wings take you?

What a day this has been! Aria’s migraine returns, and relief comes only after she shifts into another universe. Aria’s pretty sharp: although her friends and family often look the same, they’re not! She’s able to fit into the various universes where she lands, but she really just wants to get back home. Things that change in these different spaces include the nicknames she’s given, the city where she lives, the seeming length of her visit (time is relative), and whether her dad is still alive. The facts about Aria, that she’s an 18-year-old girl, from an affluent Muslim and Indian American family, remain constant as she travels through the multiverse. English remains her first language, and she always lives in the United States. I almost hesitate in saying that Ahmed is quite skillful in applying theories based on quantum physics to this story because it will sound boring and inaccessible. But that’s the last thing this book is! It’s a very quick-moving and will have readers wondering about the multiverse, the consequences of their choices, and perhaps even reality itself. Where they don’t connect to science, they’ll find meaning through poetry which Aria combines with science to make sense of the world around her and in doing so, Ahmad provides readers with a unique way to understand the complexities of life, and a compelling reason to figure things out: to get back “home”.

Ahmad herself grew up in the predominantly white city of Batavia, IL and was the first Muslim and South Asian student in her high school. She began creating stories in the multiverse when writing Ms. Marvel. Although she’s not a scientist, she enjoys creating worlds where girls can be the lead character in empowering, hope-filled stories.

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