Every Version of You is a meditative, unsettling, and thematically rich exploration of humanity’s relationship with technology, identity, and grief. Grace Chan crafts a world that feels all too plausible: a near-future Australia where society has almost entirely transitioned into Gaia, a fully immersive virtual reality where users can upload their consciousness permanently. In Gaia, people are free from the limitations of the physical body — aging, illness, and even death are no longer concerns — and yet, there is a strange eeriness in how closely this digital world mimics the real one.

What I appreciated most about this novel is how Chan resists the temptation of turning this into a fast-paced dystopia or high-stakes thriller. Instead, she keeps the narrative intimate, focused primarily on Tao-Yi and Navin — a couple trying to navigate their diverging perspectives on Gaia. Tao-Yi’s reluctance to fully commit to this digital afterlife is palpable, stemming not only from fear of the unknown but also from a deep attachment to her cultural heritage, familial bonds, and the irreplaceable texture of real life. Navin, on the other hand, embraces Gaia almost unquestioningly, symbolizing a more common societal desire to seek convenience and transcendence through technology. Their relationship is at the core of the story, and the tension between them serves as a strong emotional undercurrent throughout.

The book shines when it grapples with themes like the meaning of embodiment, the compromises we make when choosing convenience over authenticity, and how even in a world without limits, humanity still seems bound to recreate the familiar. There is a particular moment where characters reflect on how Gaia, despite its potential for infinite creativity, is still just another version of the real world — orderly, recognizable, and predictable. This passage stood out to me and gave me chills.

That said, I did find parts of the world-building frustrating. The premise raises incredibly compelling questions — questions that are begged by the story — but many are left untouched or underdeveloped. For instance, if Gaia is a paid service, how has the entire world transitioned into it so smoothly? Wouldn’t class, access, and inequality deeply affect this process? Why are so few characters critical of the technology? The novel hints at these concerns but often pulls back before fully engaging with them. Similarly, the psychological implications of living in Gaia, especially regarding identity fragmentation (as briefly shown in the origami-themed episode), could have been more thoroughly explored.

Stylistically, Chan’s writing is quiet, contemplative, and at times beautifully sparse, but the beginning may feel overwhelming as the reader is introduced to many concepts without much time to absorb them. That said, this disorientation works thematically — echoing Tao-Yi’s own discomfort and confusion within this hybrid world. Once I accepted that the book prioritizes mood and introspection over exposition-heavy explanations, I found myself more immersed.

Ultimately, Every Version of You is a solid read, with valuable insights and moments that will stay with me, even if I wish it had pushed some of its ideas further. It left me feeling a satisfying but slightly infuriating unsettledness — the kind of story that lingers precisely because it doesn’t give you all the answers.

I recommend this to readers who enjoy quieter speculative fiction with literary undertones and don’t mind when the most haunting questions are left for you to sit with long after you’ve closed the book.

An intelligently crafted, sometimes terrifying, examination into the direction that technology and society could go. What happens to the real world when more and more time is spent immersed in virtual reality? Forget remote working, send your consciousness into Gaia and work from a virtual office in a virtual district! When food, drink, and other sensory experience rival the best you can get in the real world, why bother cooking a meal from scratch in "Meat Space"? But when technology advances to the point that the human body is no longer required and consciousnesses are permanently Uploaded, what does that mean for the people who are left behind?

This was an immersive and philosophical real, and certainly gave me a lot to think about!

An intricate take on a dystopian future, the tone of the writing captured the essence of the story so well.
I loved reading Chan's explorations as to how technology has the power to shape and change our societies and what that means for human existence.
I absolutely love the cover, it drew me to request this book and reflects the tone and themes of the novel

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Every Version of You is an enjoyable speculative fiction read from a fresh perspective but it fell short of my expectations for a few reasons.

It suffers from a problem that I find in a lot of speculative fiction works set in the near-future: I struggle to understand how our world became the world Tao-Yi is inhabiting in ˜60 years time. It's clearly our world, ravaged by climate change, but how our these massive jumps forward in technology powered? I understand the desire not to expo-dump all the details of how this world functions (has a new source of renewable energy been discovered? etc.) but I was constantly distracted by my inability to suspend disbelief about these aspects in the first half of the novel. I will say though that I found it very believable that there would be little protest to AI and virtual reality gaining monopoly in the world.

However, I found much more enjoyment in the second half after Navin and Tao-Yi's friends upload to Gaia. The issues that were explored, including how disabled people would engage with virtual reality, were interesting and I found Tao-Yi's journey and eventual departure from the virtual world moving.

Ultimately, though, I think Chan does not go far enough with ideas she introduces in the novel. The origami segment, for example, is intriguing and introduces a dystopian aspect within the virtual reality - why doesn't Tao-Yi wonder if there is a version of Navin trapped within Gaia who is constantly living in pain so that the rest of him can live a happy, fulfilled life? The dystopian aspect of 'meatspace', where the homeless and poor are abandoned and children are raised by androids, is also intriguing and left relatively unexplored, but I understand that Chan primarily wants to focus on Tao-Yi's emotional journey.

All in all, I would recommend this as an easy read for those interested in speculative fiction and I look forward to seeing what else Chan writes in the future.

Thank you to Verve Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

.˚🦋༘⋆ 3.75 stars

Every Version of You is a speculative science fiction set in near-future Australia, where consciousness can be uploaded into a virtual world called Gaia. The world-building is immersive, with explorations of climate grief and class, but key themes like depression and poverty are not fully developed. Tao-Yi’s journey feels rushed, and the narrative might have benefited from more time to explore its concepts, particularly from a human emotional perspective.

Despite its flaws, the book raises important questions about virtual escapism versus authenticity which do feel particularly relevant given current AI discourse. If this topic interests you, or you are a fan of Apple TV's Severance, this would be the book to pick up!

Thank you kindly to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review!

The book is sci-fi but also confronts questions about current situations about social media and how we present ourselves online. After I had some trouble getting into the book at first, it was easy to connect to the shown reality as the people act very much like I imagine a lot of people would, though I was at times frustrated with our main character, as her reality is at the same time so different from our own.

All in all, I think it is worth reading if you like sci-fi and women’s fiction and wonder what you would do if technology developed further to the point where you could live in a virtual reality.

I’m someone who always gravitates towards books written about social media / the cost of too rapid modernization etc and i thought every version of you would be right up my wheelhouse. unfortunately, it was a bit too sci-fi for my tastes however, despite that i still managed to enjoy the book! i quite liked the way Chan has managed to create a whole atmosphere without it becoming boring or tedious and i especially liked how fleshed out the characters were. giving this 3.5 stars, but if i were someone who really enjoys sci-fi i could easily see myself going upto 4/4.5 stars!

Thanks first and foremost to Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced ARC, it is truly appreciated.
While the premise is strong enough and the writing really good, sometimes it felt as if nothing was really happening, and that, for a book where a VR world presents itself as way more fulfilling than the real one, is sort of a miss for me. That being said, the descriptions are completely immersive and the story itself is well-developed, so if you really immerse in it it could be a thrill.

Quite engaging and readable but it doesn’t have enough plot to sustain it. And it almost feels like it’s not different enough from how we live now!

easily one of my favourite books of 2025. a beautifully written scifi novel looking at what it means to exist in a future where consciousness can be uploaded into a digital utopia. we follow Tao-Yi and Navin in a time where the outside world has been almost completely destroyed by climate change, as Tao-Yi grapples with deciding whether she should upload to be with her partner and the rest of the world, or stay on Earth where her mum and reality are. it explores grief, love, loss, climate change and feeling like you no longer belong in your home country or the country you migrated to. I adored this book and can't wait to get a physical copy for my bookshelf<3


huge thanks to netgalley and @verve_books for an arc of this book which is out in Australia and has its UK release on May 22nd✨

Every Version of You is a beautiful, sentimental and deeply emotional look at what it means to really exist. Like the Ship of Theseus, Grace Chan asks how much you can change before you are no longer yourself, or the person your partner fell in love with.

Tao-Yi is never a luddite, and never anti-technology, which makes her journey and her ultimate decision that much more real and understandable. The value of the promise she made to her mother is really kept throughout the story, sometimes at great personal cost to Tao-Yi.

Watching the distance slowly grow, almost unobserved between her and Navin was masterfully done. An ever-growing elephant in the room, until there wasn’t so much a gap, but more a chasm between them.

Of all the supporting characters, I found those who chose to remain the most compelling. Uploading is not a technology I think would be for me, and I found them kindred spirits in that sense. Is a ‘miracle’ truly a miracle if it still excludes those traditionally on the edges of society?

Every Version of You is an easy five stars! I found myself horrified by the society presented in the book. As I read it, often outside on my deck, I found myself craving the offline. Hiking, walking, touching grass, breathing clean air - I needed it! In fact, after finishing the book, I immediately went for a long walk in the hills.

The writing pulls you in and breaks you apart. The story, while speculative, feels terrifyingly real. Grace Chan is an excellent writer and I can't wait for what's next!

5 Stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and VERVE Books for the ARC!

This book is so tender and emotional and has just enough of sci-fi elements that isn’t hard to understand which I appreciate it. I wasn’t bored at all and my god the writing is stunning.

The publisher compares "Every Version of You" by Grace Chan to "Station Eleven" (somewhat a new classic!)—a comparison that might be daunting for any speculative fiction novel, given the fear of falling short. While I understand the basis for this comparison, it's important to note that this is NOT Emily St. John Mandel's amazing book. That said, "Every Version of You" holds its own quite well. Although the story and form are engaging and interesting, the book lacks Mandel's beautiful language and style.

There were elements I enjoyed, and the book was a page-turner—I could not wait to see what would happen next! However, ultimately, the story fell a little short. What I was waiting for—a big reveal, a crazy twist, an unexpected punch from the left—just didn't materialise. Even in the virtual world where ANYTHING could happen, nothing really did. It felt quite lacklustre.

The publisher also emphasises the themes of "immigration" and feelings of being an outsider as important elements of the book. However, I did not feel these themes were adequately developed (similar to a few other topics mentioned below). Similarly, depression was mentioned in passing a few times but not fully explored. The same goes for poverty and climate change, as well as issues surrounding parenting and the ability to have children in the "real world." There are numerous topics that were only touched upon, which I believe would greatly enhance the story if expanded.

Last but not least, I struggled to understand how the virtual world would operate if everyone important were only "alive" in that space. Who would run and maintain the servers and hardware? Surely not the poor derelicts left behind.

What I loved about the book is how thought-provoking it was. I spent a lot of time contemplating the questions raised and even discussing them with my family—something that happens very rarely. All the topics mentioned in brief speculative suggestions, along with the concept of the virtual world, are compelling, thought-provoking, and rather scary. These are important topics that need to be discussed.

Published a couple of years ago in Australia and only now coming to the UK, it is an interesting and thought-provoking read. However, I understand why it did not become a "global phenomenon."

There and a half stars. With many thanks to the publisher.

Every Version of You
This is a thought-provoking story and scarily tells a future that goes beyond Virtual Reality and AI.. with the way that the world is heading with climate change and all that, is migration to an online universe the way we are heading?
I actually found the first third of the book quite difficult and jarring as the story kept trying to explain futuristic concepts whilst trying to let the narrative flow seamlessly… this is quite a tricky skill to do in a sci-fi book I guess… but once the majority of the futuristic language was more or less concluded, I started to get a feel for the book..

.. and so the book had the sci-fi, futuristic backdrop, it really revolved around Tao-Yi – her life, her relationship with Navin, her ancestry and their values, her thoughts – all this combined to provide conflicting emotions about whether Tao-Yi should upload to this online, immersive digital world..
Much of the storyline gave glimpses of possible futuristic advances – some sound wildly exciting but others sound utterly terrifying – including the question about our own existence – if technology and AI can upload the whole of you – including all your memories, thoughts and personality traits – and where the online you is 100% better with no ageing, no illnesses and faster responses, is there a real need for a physical being anymore? Can we “upload” to this digital universe and still exist as “humans”?
The description of the book is given as “Never Let Me Go meets Black Mirror, with a dash of Murakami surrealism thrown in” and I wholeheartedly agree with that and it has given me much food for though about where we are heading and the moral and ethical beliefs that are very much being questioned.. I very much enjoyed this thought-provoking story, and I was captivated with the futuristic concepts – it just, for me, tried a bit too hard in explaining these theories whilst trying to keep the narrative flowing – but on the whole, I enjoyed this debut novel by Grace Chan.

Many thanks to Verve Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

First off, the cover is the best. It’s got that sleek🐈‍⬛, futuristic aesthetic that makes me wanna frame it. 📖✨

The story—this is basically Ready Player One🥽 if it wasn’t about gaming🎮 but instead about casually LIVING inside a digital📱 world. Like, imagine leaving your physical body behind and just fully existing in an online utopia. Sounds cool. But also terrifying.😱

🧠💥 Tao-Yi’s journey is personal but also something that many others in that world 🌍 can relate to, especially with how she grapples with her Malaysian heritage, her relationship with her mother, and whether physical 🧍🏽 existence even matters anymore.

I would describe this as a casual sci-fi that’s less about explosions 💥 and more about FEELINGS and BRAIN 🧠 MELTING THOUGHTS.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC ☺️❤️‍🔥🐸

A beautifully written book that attacks numerous themes and evokes so many emotions. The novel is immersive and the world building is multidimensional. I was hugely impressed and quietly terrified (in a good way) by this debut novel.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and it did not disappoint. This is the type of story that leaves you thinking long after you’ve finished the last page. A thought-provoking and sometimes scary tale of how technology may eventually become our world. I did find it difficult to adapt the futuristic language in the beginning and I think some elements could be explained more to help with the world building but in some ways it added to the feeling of alienation from the world of the characters in the book. Highly recommend!