Okay, prepare for a historical mystery with time travel. The story includes a young woman who lives off the grid and edits wikipedia entries in 2016, and whose father has recently gone missing, and a 1933 Vienna a young man joins a group of intellectuals discussing time and space. There are whispers of a time travel music box, but is it real? Will the young woman and young man’s paths cross? What will happen if the woman finds the book her father sent her to the library for? Will history be erased?

This one is a little difficult to describe, but trust me, the book is great. The narrative alternates between three different narrators in different times. I found each narrator’s voice was enjoyable to follow. I was concerned that the story with the different timelines would be confusing and hard to follow, and I’ll admit I did have to think about the narrative a lot to follow, but I enjoyed how the story came together. You definitely need to pay attention to the details to remember all the layers of the characters and how they relate to the events.

If you like time travel stories, I think you will really like this one. My favorite narrator was Hase because she was giving weird girl lit vibes at times. I also love the cover of the book! I’ll probably be thinking about this book for a while.

2.5 stars @crownpublishing | #partner Do you ever read a book where you end up feeling like it was completely over your head? That’s exactly where I landed with 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 by debut author Kirsten Menger-Anderson. I was originally drawn to this book because of its time travel element, which I almost always enjoy when it’s done right. In this case, the time travel played a backseat to a lot of other things that were both confusing and not all that compelling for me.⁣
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Beside time travel (which was never really explained), the story had two timelines, one in 2016 San Francisco and the other in 1933 Vienna. It involved mathematicians vying for attention in Vienna, a missing father in San Francisco, more than you ever want to know about Wikipedia, and probably a lot of other things I missed. While I liked several of the characters, the two timelines were jarring and the answers to my questions were never clear. I feel terrible being this negative about a book, especially a debut, but I just think this one was far too intellectual for me.🤷🏻‍♀️

Some stories challenge both the heart and the mind

On a bench outside a bookstore near the water of Half Moon Bay a young woman waits for the man who raised her to sail in according to plan. Hase is her name, or at least one of the names by which people know her. She had an unusual childhood, homeschooled by the man she considers her father, a gifted mathematician. Their existence is completely off the grid....they exist in no paperwork, governmental or otherwise, and communicate with one another now that they live apart either by ham radio or mail that goes to an address where they rent the use of a mailbox (off the books, of course). But this time her father does not arrive as he has said he would, and Hase can't raise him on the ham radio. When his boat is discovered abandoned, she embarks on a quest to find him based on instructions he had left for her for just such a time. Then there is a separate tale, this one of a young man and mathematician named Anton Moritz who lives in 1930's Vienna, part of a group of intellectuals known as the Engelhardt Club who debate questions of time and space. Tensions are mounting in Vienna as politics rears its ugly head, and being an intellectual is not a particularly safe endeavor. The members of the Club face threats and harassment from those who value conformity over the pursuit of philosophical questions, particularly when rumors grow that the group has created a device that allows travels through time. Separated by decades, the two stories will become intertwined as the past is rewritten and revelations are made about family and identity.
Beautifully written and ambitious in scope, The Expert of Subtle Revisions is part historical mystery, part metaphysical consideration of the possibility of time travel, and part a look at how history is written and by whom. The book's greatest strength in my opinion is its characters, particularly that of Hase, a young woman out of step with her world yet comfortable in her relationship with it. She edits Wikipedia entries for fun, revels in provoking online arguments, and straddles the connected world in which she lives with her distinctly unconnected self. Author Kirsten Menger-Anderson also vividly conjures up a Vienna on the brink of political upheaval, basing the group of intellectuals in the novel with one that actually existed in those days. This is a book that requires the reader's attention, with philosophical musings woven into the storyline (which at times can weigh the story down a bit) and layer after layer of meaning condensed into the relatively few pages. Highly imaginative and blessed with deft, evocative prose, this is an intelligent offering that should appeal to fans of authors like Alan Lightman, Kate Atkinson, and Ruth Ozeki. My thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me access to this intriguing tale in exchange for my honest review.

“Why shouldn’t I be the one who writes the story? Why shouldn’t I decide my own fate?… I am an expert of subtle revisions. Line by line, each word a choice: ‘she accepted’ or ‘she chose,’ ‘they parted ways’ or ‘their ways were parted,’ he wrote a letter or ‘the letter was received.’”

I always love a story that has “everything.” Give me romance, mystery, family, friendship, murder, suspense and, yes, maybe an element of fantasy or science fiction. Bonus points for some sort of academic setting. The Expert of Subtle Revisions by Kirsten Menger-Anderson, out on March 18, has all of these.

The story follows, broadly, two timelines. The first begins in 2016 California and is narrated primarily by a girl named Hase, who is raised by a mysterious, off-the-grid mathematician who, at the novel’s start, has gone missing. The second, told by two characters affiliated with the University of Vienna, takes place in 1933 and revolves around the Engelhardt Circle, a group of intellectuals facing increased scrutiny as fascism rises.

I gulped this book down over the course of a few days, coming to the final pages in a dimly lit bar in Newport, RI and promptly turning my gaze to the middle distance like a protagonist awaiting a voiceover of their thoughts, which were at the time about my students, my friends, the headlines buzzing on the phone in my pocket. All of these had coalesced while reading.

In trying to pin down what sucked me in, I’m torn between the span of the novel (complicated relationships between academics and mentors, daughters and their mysterious fathers, strained courting, time travel!) and the poignant reflection it holds up to our current political moment.

Inter-character dramatic intrigue aside (missing parents! jealousy! romantic obsession!), much of the story takes place against the backdrop of the rise of fascism in Austria between the world wars, wherein professors are ordered to inject religious philosophy into their teaching, to promise allegiance to political leaders, and must worry that petty disagreements with colleagues and students may swell into accusations of disloyalty, termination, even violence.

An unusual- and challenging- novel that merges historical and science fiction through a bit of time travel between the present California and 1930s Vienna. Hase follows her father's direction to find a particular boat after he disappears and the world opens and changes. Anton and Joseph, two men who love each other, are dealing with fascism and prejudice in Vienna. The POV shifts between the three and you'll wonder how it will all line up- trust that it does. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Hard to review without spoilers- this is one for fans of literary fiction.

"The Expert of Subtle Revisions" is a masterfully crafted novel that intertwines the fates of three characters across different timelines and genres. The story is set in both contemporary San Francisco and 1930s Austria, blending elements of sci-fi, historical fiction, and speculative mystery.
The protagonist, Hase, is a teenager living in the San Francisco Bay Area who embarks on a quest to find her missing father, a reclusive and brilliant mathematician. Her journey is guided by cryptic clues left in a specific book and an intricate web of Wikipedia edits. As Hase delves deeper, she uncovers startling truths about her identity.

Parallel to Hase's story are the lives of two men in 1930s Austria: Josef, a self-assured student and waiter, and Anton, a mild-mannered professor. Their narratives eventually converge, revealing complex connections.

The novel is a very different one for me – the storytelling departs from what I’m accustomed. The characters are varied and quirky, some have backstories with depth and intrigue (whereas others lack. The themes of belonging, the implications of rewriting history, and the spectrum of belief are explored with careful thought and exposition.

While the novel's loose ending might be considered too “open” for some readers, it underscores the ongoing journey of self-discovery and the fluid nature of history. The author's ability to balance multiple perspectives and timelines in her debut novel is commendable and thought-provoking.

This was a very interesting dual-timeline novel taking place in both Northern California in 2016 and Vienna in the 1930s. There's twists and turns, math, academia, and possibly time travel. I admit that I gravitated towards te modern day timeline just a bit more, but it was a thoroughly engaging read. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’m sad to say that I didn’t connect with this book at all. Initially, I was intrigued by Hase and her father’s off-the-grid lifestyle, as well as the mystery surrounding his disappearance. I also found their shared habit of editing Wikipedia pages fascinating, particularly the emphasis on phrasing and how subtle word choices can change a sentence entirely.

However, once the timeline shifted to Vienna, I felt lost. It probably didn’t help that I read most of this during my commute rather than in one sitting, but even so, I found myself confused every time I picked it back up.

The narrative meandered in a way that made it difficult for me to stay engaged. I felt similarly when reading Sea of Tranquility, which I wasn't able to finish since it seemed pretty vague and directionless. I also struggled to connect with the characters, though I did enjoy the light romance between Haskell Gaul and Anton Moritz.

That said, the prose in this book was lovely, especially lines like "I am an expert of subtle revisions. Line by line, each word a choice: 'she accepted' or 'she chose,' 'they parted ways' or 'their ways were parted,' 'he wrote a letter' or 'the letter was received.'"

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't the right fit for me and I had to push myself to finish it.

Please don't assume my rating is me being generous due to this being a review copy. The Expert of Subtle Revisions is an absolute 5 star read!

The story is inventive and complex but not convoluted. The plot pieces fell right into place as the story progressed, it was a great thing to experience. I was very impressed with how well researched the story was while I was reading it initially, and have even more respect for the author after seeing the amount of sources she used in the acknowledgments.

The characters are nuanced and individual. I love Anton as a character. He was as honest as he could reasonably be with Hase. He told her early on that she was named by her real father and mother. I kept this in the back of my mind when Sofia was introduced and it stopped my suspicions about anything developing between her and Anton. Also, the chemistry between Anton and Haskell was immediate, their romance adds a layer to the story that sets it apart.

I was thrilled for a few pages when I thought Josef had died but he was an irritant till the end.


Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy.

A layered blend of historical fiction, sci-fi, and literary fiction, The Expert of Subtle Revisions is as clever as it is engrossing.

The cover is what drew me to this book, and it has complete relevance to the story. In truth, this is a time travel paradox novel, as the blurb said, but how it plays out is intricate and less about the mechanics of the device/process than the impact it has on the relationships between the characters. It’s a mystery with intricate clues, surprising connections, and a satisfying result.

The novel follows three perspectives: Hase, Anton, and Joseph. Hase is in the near-present, and then the two men are in Vienna leading up to WWII. The rise of fascism in the interim war period is an important aspect of the story (both plot-wise and thematically), and the author provides a good deal of context (though it might be helpful if you go into the story knowing a bit about politics/society in this era).

Yet, even if this hadn’t been so well-wrought, the characters would have carried it quite easily. They are fantastic. Hase is a very strange individual with odd hobbies and deep introversion, yet she isn’t shy or scared or whatever stereotype generally applies to those who prefer to live on the outskirts of society. I adored her right from the start - I love quirky, weird characters. And then we have the boys (who grow into men); one who is heartbreakingly likeable and the other who is quite awful, but in a way that is very human, and he is such due to a mix of circumstance and personal failing (he’s a complex villain). I will say, for the first little bit, I got Anton and Joseph confused, but in retrospect, I think their similarities had a purpose, one going back to how society shapes us.

Everyone in this story is not happy, or they are suffering from something (whether societal, existential, tangible, or all three), yet the book carries with it a lightness, a sense of hope.

The book is also extremely well-balanced - there are moments of humour, tender romance, tension, and mystery. I was entranced the entire time.

The writing is also lovely, with beautiful turns of phrase and artful descriptions.

The conclusion is absolutely stunning. It’s not so much an explanation or a twist (I mean, there are a few) as a turn of events, and that in itself made the main trope (the only thing about this that makes it even remotely sci-fi) work. It’s very hard to make time travel work without holes, but this book pulls it off.

This is a strange, thoughtful, unique book I will think about for a long time and will delight in re-reading again.

When I saw that my friend Jenna was reading this, and it was at least partially about Wikipedia, and it had such a sick cover, I knew I had to request it on NetGalley. I went in knowing next to nothing and was surprised to find a multi-POV, multi-timeline, genre-bending, inherently queer, speculative-historical mystery that <i>worked</i>.

At its heart, this novel is about searching for the place where you belong and the people with whom you belong, the implications of rewriting history—whether on Wikipedia or through time travel—and the spectrum of experience between skepticism and belief (in oneself, in theories, in love). The characters are fresh and distinctly written, bizarre in their own unique ways, and to watch them all dance around each other and piece together the puzzle was quite compelling. The ending is a little abstract, but even though we don’t get closure, I was personally ok with this because sometimes I wonder if the search for <i>our place</i> and <i>our people</i> isn’t a lifelong journey. No person is a static thing, after all, and neither is history.

The fact that the author was able to balance all these elements with such grace in her DEBUT NOVEL is baffling to me, and I sincerely hope she writes 500 more books thank you very much.

Gratitude to NetGalley and Crown for the advanced copy.

prose is epic. writing is epic. idea is really interesting. 5 stars. would definitely recommend and dive into!!!

The hook for this book was not as grabbing as I had anticipated. While it built well and was setting up for a very interesting premise, the pacing really is what lost me in this book. It felt like it moved so slow that I had to force myself to keep reading, it lacked that big sense of wonder for what was going to happen. Despite this, the premise did keep me coming back. The air of mystery about the main character's situation in combination with the play of the timeline allowed for reader speculation as to the connection. That space for wonder and for the reader to develop their own predictions really is the only thing that kept me coming back to this book. However, the pacing and the drag of it still made it feel like a chore to read, and thus I ended up giving up before making it to the end.
I believe that the issues I take with the book and the reason why I did not finish it fall on me as a reader and not on the author as a matter of skill or talent in writing. This book was simply just too far outside of my personal preferences in writing style and genre to keep me until the end.

I am not a huge fan of multiple points of view unless I am engaged with each one. Sadly in this novel, I was not. Thankfully the opening chapter set in Berkeley California from which the novel makes a rather slow start shifts quickly to an intriguing (mostly true) story set in the dark days of Vienna during the 1930s.

This was the POV story that I found utterly fascinating. That period is so resonant. It features the rise of fascism under the government of Chancellor Dolfus. A conservative champion of the Catholic Church who sought not only to crush the communist menace in the working class neighborhood of 'Red' Vienna but to stamp out secularism at the universities. The novel gives us a glimpse of politics targeting intellectual movements and distorting them into enemies of the state, enemies of all that is good and true. This seems to lead to the all too sad axiom that once you dehumanize a person or group some people may feel justified into harming them.

In this novel that 'enemy' goes by the moniker of the Vienna Circle. A group of philosophers that 'asserted' that claims that cannot be scientifically verified, claims like the existence of God, do not make sense, those claims are simply nonsense.

There's a touching queer romance that begins under these awful conditions. Awful in the sense that during that period being exposed as gay and an atheist was tantamount to risking one's livelihood and even one's life.

I suspect the best science fiction being written today is outside of the genre but in this case, I thought the time-travel element was a bit underwhelming. But that's subjective on my part since I wanted to read more about the Vienna Circle and the cultural wars of that period.

Disclaimer: I received a copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

If you start the book cold, with no knowledge of its plot, it takes quite awhile to see that this is a time travel book or even that there are any connections between the characters in the different chapters. In 2016, Hase (which means rabbit in German) is a young woman scraping by in San Francisco, keeping in touch with her math genius father, who lives on a boat, by ham radio. Both Hase and her father avoid cellphones and tracking tech generally, though Hase is addicted to reading and editing Wikipedia. When Hase’s father doesn’t show up at their agreed-upon shoreline meeting place for her birthday, and doesn’t respond to her ham radio calls, she knows this is the “in the event” contingency that he told her should spur her into looking up a particular book and following his lead in the book to . . . something.

In 1933 Vienna, Anton Moritz arrives in Vienna to take up a teaching post in logic and mathematics at the university, where he hopes to become a member of the circle of the famed Professor Engelhardt. He is intrigued by Engelhardt’s protegée, the beautiful Sophie Popovic, and puzzled by the hanger-on Josef Zedlacher, who seems to despise Moritz, practically on sight. It’s a fraught time to be in Vienna, with the fascist Dollfuss in charge of the Austrian government, and Nazi gangs roaming the streets and regularly attacking the university.

For such a short book, this is packed with ideas and a mind-bending quest through time. It also raises issues about personal identity, connections, and one’s place in the world. The writing is evocative and appeals to both the mind and the heart. On top of all that, I’d say it’s a bit of a love letter to Wikipedia, which I think is one of the most under-appreciated and important resources of our time.

4.5 stars, rounded to 5

4.5 ⭐
Wow, what a gem this book was! I'm so glad I read it (thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC).

I think it's best to go in blind with this book - I'll just say that it alternates between modern-day San Francisco and the mathematical/philosophy circles of 1930s Vienna. Add time travel, obsession, Austrofacism and Wikipedia and you've got a great story. Menger Anderson is a beautiful writer too and I loved what she did with the ending. Her writing reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel (whom I love). I really think this book would make a great Netflix miniseries -- kind of similar in feel to the German show "Dark".

The Expert of Subtle Revisions comes out on March 18th!

Amazing writing and vivid imagery. However, this novel is a pretty slow burn and doesn’t really pick up the pace until over halfway through.

First off, the book cover is a Wiki article - it’s what initially drew me to this book and is actually pretty central to decoding the story. The book follows two alternating timelines and 3 character’s POV - it’s a little challenging to follow why these stories were intersected at first but once you get the basics of who they are, it is easier. There’s
* Hase, a young woman searching for her missing father in the year 2016 in SF;
* Anton, a brilliant mathematics professor of the University of Vienna in the year 1933;
* and Josef, a disgruntled academic of mathematics who is also from Vienna 1933

Overall, I thought the writing was well done, and I do like that it makes you think - it’s definitely not a book that hands everything to the audience. However, the multiple POVs did interrupt critical moments (although to be fair, this is a technique that many TV series use to get audience to keep watching) plus there is a lot of exposition in the beginning that you have to be patient with.

Hase and her father pretty much live off the grid and their only online presence is through editing Wikipedia articles, so it was interesting to see how every word matters when it comes to conveying a message or concept. I think this is a good novel for readers who are okay with going along with the ride and putting in some effort to appreciate the writing and see how everything comes together.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are independently my own.

This book had me hooked from the beginning; I couldn’t put it down. I’ve had I went in completely blind, yet somehow intuitively knew the author was leaving breadcrumbs for a mystery that would unfold. While I was correct, I was not prepared for the journey that unfolded (in the best way!). I am not a reader that highlights or annotates, but I went into full detective mode trying to decipher all the clues I could. This is the most fun I have had reading in a long time.

The writing is beautiful. The story switches POVs which can lead to underdeveloped characters or uneven plot pacing. This is absolutely NOT the case here. The characters are fully fleshed out. The POV switches are expertly timed, appropriately progressing the plot and leaving me wanting a little more, yet quickly immersing me in the next POV. I enjoyed my time with each character (expect maybe Josef, but I still enjoyed disliking him).

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

the reason i picked this up is because it sounds right up my alley - i love meta lit and this reminds me vaguely of cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr (another fave). at first it was a lot to get a handle on. hase lives such a strange life and since it’s a mystery story, it was a bit difficult to understand where the story was going and even where it was starting. but the slow burn was so worth it and by halfway i could not put it down. the prose is lovely, but more than anything, it is such a smart book. it waits until the very end to start making sense and that’s exactly what i had hoped for. i would’ve liked it to be longer i think, but i was so overwhelmed by how subtle it is that in the end i forgive it for any of its shortcomings because i just loved watching it all come together. i’m still not sure what the ending turned into but it is quite an abstract book as it is, so i’m not really concerned. it just felt so surreal, so romantic, so unhinged. i know a lot of people won’t get this or enjoy it but I DO and that’s what matters!!!!

perfect for fans of cloud cuckoo land, alone with you in the ether, the invisible life of addie larue, and the starless sea (aka MY FAVORITES)

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Expert of Subtle Revisions.

The fact this ARC contained no summary piqued my interest as well as the artsy cover art so I thought, why not request it?

It's hard to categorize this novel; it's kind of about time travel but it's a minor subplot.

It's about love, revenge, jealously, family, secrets, and preserverance; yes, I know, that's a lot of themes.

It's well written, but not suspenseful or dramatic.

There's a lot of exposition to get through due to the past and present timelines which is necessary to establish the backgrounds of the cast of characters.

Hase is the main character, who is searching for her missing father, yet at the same time, she's not the main character.

She isn't a well developed character; she's secretive, quiet, introspective, most likely due to the way she was raised.

Actually, there's really no one character to sympathize or root for.

The past timeline offers context to Hase's life and her search for her father in the present.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Vienna in the 1930s, and not just because I recently returned from a vacation in Vienna.

The political climate and civil unrest during that time in Vienna adds tension and anxiety but I felt the author just wanted to discuss Vienna and its politics and threw in the time travel as a literary device just to make it 'more interesting.'

I wanted to know more about the device; why did Gaul create it, unless I missed that part.

The lengthy exposition dragged the pacing of the narrative and after I finished this, I wondered what was the point of the plot.

That time is linear? Or not? That we can't change the past? That we will always have regrets?

I wanted something to happen, not just exposition and monologuing and with characters to care about.