In What World by Bridget Morrissey Book Review – A Sapphic Multiverse Romance About Second Chances

Why In What World by Bridget Morrissey is a glorious sapphic romance about every version of love

What if the person you could not stand in high school was also the person you could never quite stop thinking about? Now make the situation worse by adding a mysterious former drama teacher, a machine capable of opening alternate realities and several possible versions of the life you could have lived. In What World by Bridget Morrissey, published on August 11, 2026, takes that wonderfully chaotic idea and turns it into a contemporary sapphic romance about regret, second chances and the terrifying possibility that the person you spent years arguing with may understand you better than anyone else.

Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla Covington-French were high-school rivals, and adulthood has taken them in very different directions. Priscilla became a successful television actor, while Marlowe remained connected to theatre through high-school productions and a life that feels much less glamorous from the outside. Their rivalry should have expired years ago, except unresolved attraction has a frustrating tendency to ignore sensible timelines.

The person connecting both women is Dallas Winthrop, their former drama teacher and the kind of mentor whose influence remains part of your internal voice long after you leave the classroom. When Dallas disappears, he leaves behind clues involving alternate realities and a strange wooden Memory Machine hidden in the theatre. Marlowe and Priscilla are forced to work together, which would already be complicated before you add the possibility of meeting versions of yourselves who made entirely different choices.

The multiverse idea sounds enormous, but Morrissey uses it for something surprisingly intimate. Every alternate world becomes another way for Marlowe and Priscilla to examine regret, identity and the stories they have created around each other. Rather than asking which universe is perfect, the novel becomes much more interested in whether these women are brave enough to choose something different in the life they already have.

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The story at the heart of In What World

Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla Covington-French have spent sixteen years carrying old versions of each other into adulthood. Priscilla’s television career gives her life the polished appearance of success, while Marlowe remains close to theatre in a much less glamorous way, helping with school musicals and quietly wondering what happened to some of the ambitions she once possessed. Their lives appear almost deliberately mismatched, which only makes the unresolved tension between them more interesting.

Dallas Winthrop is the person who connects those old identities because he knew them when their rivalry was still being performed loudly in high-school drama spaces. He saw possibility in both women, becoming the sort of teacher whose belief remains meaningful long after graduation. When Dallas disappears and leaves behind a mysterious message about moving through universes, neither woman can walk away from the puzzle.

Their investigation leads them to the Memory Machine, a strange object hidden inside the school theatre that opens access to alternate timelines. Suddenly Marlowe and Priscilla are not simply discussing roads not taken; they can actually encounter versions of themselves who took them. Some alternate selves are more successful, some appear happier and some reveal uncomfortable truths about what the original women have spent years avoiding.

The search creates forced proximity, but the emotional conflict is much older than the mystery. Marlowe and Priscilla already know how to irritate one another perfectly, including the exact comments that will produce a reaction and the easiest ways to disguise attraction as annoyance. Their rivalry has become a language that allows them to remain emotionally connected without admitting what that connection might mean.

The alternate realities make that strategy harder to maintain because each new world offers another possible answer to the question they have been avoiding. Seeing different versions of themselves forces both women to consider how much of their current life was shaped by genuine choice and how much was shaped by fear. The speculative concept therefore becomes less about science and more about emotional possibility.

Dallas’s disappearance keeps the plot moving, but eventually the mystery becomes secondary to the characters’ internal journeys. Marlowe and Priscilla have to decide whether loyalty to the identities they built after high school is worth the loneliness those identities sometimes create. The real adventure is not finding the perfect alternate world; it is learning whether they can make a braver choice in this one.

How Bridget Morrissey brings this story to life

Bridget Morrissey writes with bright theatrical energy, which suits a romance rooted in high-school drama, old creative wounds and characters who have spent years performing versions of themselves. The school theatre has personality because old costumes, backstage memories and the strange intimacy of rehearsal spaces make it feel connected to the characters’ emotional history. Morrissey can move quickly through comedy and then slow down when an alternate reality reveals something neither woman wanted to confront.

The dual point of view is particularly effective for a rivals-to-lovers story because Marlowe and Priscilla regularly interpret the same interaction in completely different ways. Readers can see that both women believe they are protecting themselves while accidentally revealing far more than they realise. That dramatic irony gives the romance a playful quality even when the underlying feelings are complicated.

The multiverse also works as a structural device because Morrissey does not need endless exposition about who these characters might have become. She can simply let us meet those people. The science-fiction mechanics remain deliberately loose, but emotionally the device is wonderfully clear: every alternate world becomes another mirror.

The themes that make In What World much more than a sapphic romance

The lives we do not choose are everywhere in this novel because each alternate version of Marlowe and Priscilla represents another road. Morrissey does not suggest that one hidden universe contains the correct life and everybody simply needs to find it. Instead, she asks what imagining another path can teach us about the choices still available now.

Readers who enjoy queer romance built around self-discovery should also explore 10 Queer Romance Books That Feel Like Summer Reads. The settings are very different, but that collection shares this novel’s interest in joyful queer possibility rather than treating identity only as a source of pain.

Rivalry as emotional armour gives the relationship much of its energy. Marlowe and Priscilla know how to stay close by arguing because conflict allows emotional intensity without requiring vulnerability. Their history demonstrates how easily longing can become irritation when admitting the truth feels more dangerous.

Queer self-acceptance is handled with warmth because desire is not presented as something tragic or doomed. The characters’ difficulty comes from fear, timing, old assumptions and the messy business of adulthood rather than from the story suggesting that queer love itself is the problem. That gives the romantic possibility a sense of joy even when both women make things unnecessarily complicated.

Art and mentorship provide the fourth major theme because Dallas’s influence reaches far beyond the central mystery. Theatre becomes a space where people rehearse other lives, try on identities and learn that performance can sometimes reveal the truth more clearly than ordinary conversation. Readers interested in queer stories where identity and public life collide might also enjoy The Open Era by Edward Schmit.

The thought that stayed with me is reassuringly simple: you do not need to become another version of yourself before you deserve the life you want. Sometimes imagining all those alternatives merely helps you recognise what you have been too frightened to choose.

What In What World gets absolutely right

• The multiverse serves the emotions. Alternate realities never feel like technology added simply to make the premise sound clever. Each world exposes regret, desire or fear, which keeps the speculative concept connected to the romance.

• The sapphic yearning has history. Marlowe and Priscilla’s attraction does not begin when the novel does, so every argument carries years of unresolved feeling underneath it. That makes even small romantic shifts feel loaded.

• The theatre atmosphere gives the novel personality. Rehearsals, mentors, backstage spaces and creative ambition create a world recognisable to anyone who ever found refuge in performance. The setting also reinforces the novel’s fascination with trying on different identities.

• The characters feel like adults rather than teenagers frozen in old roles. They have careers, disappointments and regrets that developed after high school, which allows the second-chance element to feel genuinely mature. Their rivalry survives, but they have both become more complicated people around it.

• The overall message remains hopeful. The book never promises that another version of life would have been easier. It simply reminds readers that choice remains possible even after years of assuming a certain story has already been written.

A few places where In What World could have gone further

• The multiverse rules are deliberately loose. Readers approaching the novel as hard science fiction may want clearer mechanics and limitations. The concept works much better as emotional metaphor than technical system.

• Dallas’s mystery sometimes becomes secondary. His disappearance begins the entire adventure, yet the romantic and character material naturally becomes more compelling as the book progresses. A slightly stronger mystery thread could have kept both sides of the story equally urgent.

• Some alternate selves deserve more time. A few glimpses of other lives are so interesting that I wanted to remain in those worlds longer. The novel usually prioritises their immediate emotional purpose and moves on quickly.

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If you loved In What World, read these next

The Open Era by Edward Schmit

Our The Open Era by Edward Schmit review is a strong recommendation for readers who particularly enjoyed the questions about public identity, authenticity and the courage required to become fully visible. It is a completely different setting, replacing theatre and alternate realities with professional tennis, but both romances understand that loving someone can force you to confront versions of yourself you have carefully constructed.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Buy One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston on Amazon. If sapphic romance mixed with a speculative twist is what attracted you to In What World, this is one of the easiest recommendations to make. McQuiston also uses an unusual high-concept premise to explore connection, identity and the strange ways love can alter our relationship with time.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Buy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid on Amazon. The speculative element disappears completely, but the questions around public identity, private desire and the stories people tell about themselves remain powerful. Readers who connected with Priscilla’s celebrity life and the tension between public perception and private truth may find plenty to think about here.

Who will love In What World the most?

• Sapphic romance readers. Marlowe and Priscilla have history, friction, longing and enough emotional avoidance to keep the tension alive.

• Former theatre kids. Anyone who remembers rehearsal spaces, backstage friendships or creative rivalries should recognise the atmosphere immediately.

• Fans of speculative romance. The multiverse adds a playful high concept without overwhelming the emotional love story.

• Readers who adore second chances. These are adults reconsidering an old connection rather than teenagers simply finishing an unfinished high-school romance.

• Anyone who constantly wonders “what if?” Readers looking for more queer recommendations can also browse 10 Cozy LGBTQ+ Books for Cold Nights and Warm Drinks.

Content Warnings: High-school bullying and rivalry, emotional distress, a missing mentor, relationship conflict and discussions of regret and self-doubt.

How In What World stayed with me long after I finished it

I loved the way this book made possibility feel emotional rather than abstract. Most of us have wondered who we would be if one decision had gone differently, but we normally have the luxury of keeping those alternate lives imaginary. Marlowe and Priscilla have to look those possibilities directly in the face, and Morrissey wisely refuses to turn that experience into punishment.

Both women felt real to me because neither is completely correct about the other. They have spent years building stories around old hurts, and those stories have become comfortable even while continuing to make them miserable. Watching them gradually realise that rivalry has become a safe substitute for honesty felt more satisfying than a simple romantic confession.

I finished the book with the hopeful ache I always want from a good second-chance romance. Self-acceptance rarely arrives through one enormous revelation; sometimes it is a collection of smaller choices to stop rejecting the person you could still become. That message fits the multiverse idea beautifully because the future remains open even after you have seen how many other directions life might have taken.

Final Verdict: Is In What World by Bridget Morrissey worth reading?

Yes. In What World is a clever, tender and wonderfully queer romance that uses alternate realities to explore the emotional architecture of regret rather than simply showing off a high-concept premise. Marlowe and Priscilla have exactly the history and friction a rivals-to-lovers story needs, but their connection becomes meaningful because the book understands why admitting that attraction would feel dangerous to both women.

Bridget Morrissey’s smartest decision is making the multiverse intimate. The alternate worlds are not distractions from the romance; they are physical manifestations of questions people ask themselves all the time. What if I had stayed? What if I had left? What if I had been braver, said something sooner or stopped allowing an old hurt to organise the rest of my life?

The theatre setting adds charm and personality, while Dallas’s role gives the novel a lovely sense of mentorship and creative legacy. His disappearance moves the plot, but his larger importance comes from representing the person who once saw potential in these women before either knew what adulthood would do to that potential. That connection gives the speculative journey an emotional reason to exist.

Read this if you want sapphic yearning, messy adults, theatre-kid energy, second chances and a little science fiction hiding inside a contemporary love story. Most of all, read it if you have ever looked at an older version of yourself and wondered whether that person made the wrong choices. Morrissey’s answer is kinder than that: maybe the important question is what you choose now.

➡ Buy In What World by Bridget Morrissey on Amazon

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About Bridget Morrissey

Bridget Morrissey is a contemporary romance author whose work frequently combines humour, found family, distinctive settings and emotionally messy characters. Her books include That Summer Feeling, Anywhere You Go and In What World, while her wider writing career has established her as a lively voice in modern queer romance. She grew up in Oak Forest, Illinois, and her work often balances playful concepts with sincere questions about belonging and identity.

Learn more about Bridget Morrissey: Official Website | Goodreads Profile | Instagram

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Frequently Asked Questions About In What World by Bridget Morrissey

Is In What World part of a series?

In What World is presented as a standalone contemporary romance. Readers can begin with Marlowe and Priscilla’s story without prior knowledge of Bridget Morrissey’s other novels.

What is the book’s speculative element?

The characters discover a Memory Machine that allows them to travel through alternate realities. Those worlds reveal different versions of Marlowe and Priscilla and give them a literal way to examine the choices that shaped their lives.

Is In What World a sapphic romance?

Yes. The central romantic relationship is between Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla Covington-French, two women whose long-running rivalry gradually reveals a much deeper emotional connection.

Is it science fiction or romance?

It is primarily a contemporary sapphic romance with a playful science-fiction premise. The alternate realities support the emotional and romantic story rather than functioning as hard science fiction.

Is there an audiobook?

An audiobook edition is available alongside the novel. Readers should check their preferred retailer for regional availability and current narrator information.

If you're enjoying this blog, here are some other captivating reads that will sweep you off your feet: The Open Era by Edward Schmit, 10 Queer Romance Books That Feel Like Summer Reads, 10 Cozy LGBTQ+ Books for Cold Nights and Warm Drinks, and 11 Queer Winter Romance Novels to Melt Your Heart. Explore these amazing reads and let your imagination soar. Happy reading!

External Resources

For more book reviews, discussions, and recommendations, check out these fantastic resources:

Dear Author – Honest and well-thought-out reviews with sharp commentary.

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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – Humorous and insightful reviews with a podcast and community.

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