Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Book Summary and Reviews of The Art of Saving the World by Corinne Duyvis

The Art of Saving the World by Corinne Duyvis

The Art of Saving the World

by Corinne Duyvis

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2020, 400 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

One girl and her doppelgangers try to stop the end of the world in this YA sci-fi adventure.

When Hazel Stanczak was born, an interdimensional rift tore open near her family's home, which prompted immediate government attention. They soon learned that if Hazel strayed too far, the rift would become volatile and fling things from other dimensions onto their front lawn—or it could swallow up their whole town. As a result, Hazel has never left her small Pennsylvania town, and the government agents garrisoned on her lawn make sure it stays that way. On her sixteenth birthday, though, the rift spins completely out of control. Hazel comes face-to-face with a surprise: a second Hazel. Then another. And another. Three other Hazels from three different dimensions! Now, for the first time, Hazel has to step into the world to learn about her connection to the rift—and how to close it. But is Hazel—even more than one of her—really capable of saving the world?

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"The representation of mental health issues is at times so painfully accurate that the novel becomes difficult to read but at the same time, impossible to put down...A midnovel twist takes the standard chosen-one plot formula and tips it on its head...A compelling narrative based around the subversion of generic fantasy and science fiction fodder." - Kirkus Reviews

"Duyvis' rich, layered character development—grounded in Hazel's raw, first-person perspective—offers an authentic exploration of questioning sexuality and asexuality, what makes us who we are, and what our responsibilities are to ourselves and to others." - Booklist

"The main characters are unique and empowering, and sure to entertain. Duyvis is a cofounder of the website Disability in Kidlit and the creator of the #OwnVoices hashtag. This is a fast-paced adventure story with the perfect mix of fantasy and coming-of-age realistic fiction." - School Library Journal

"Duyvis capably balances a zippy sci-fi plot that barrels along at a breathless pace with an intriguing look at how one girl in five different worlds could be both the same and different" - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This information about The Art of Saving the World was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Corinne Duyvis

Corinne Duyvis is the critically acclaimed author of young adult novels Otherbound, which Kirkus called "original and compelling; a stunning debut," and On the Edge of Gone, which Publishers Weekly called "a riveting apocalyptic thriller with substantial depth" and which won the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award. She is also the author of the original Marvel prose novel Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All. Corinne hails from the Netherlands. She is a co-founder of the website Disability in Kidlit and the originator of the #ownvoices hashtag.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Art of Saving the World, try these:

  • UnWorld jacket

    UnWorld

    by Jayson Greene

    Published 2026

    About this book

    From the author of Once More We Saw Stars comes a gripping novel about four intertwined lives that collide in the wake of a mysterious tragedy. Set in a near-future world where the boundaries between human and AI blur, the story challenges our understanding of consciousness and humanity.

  • Meet Me at the Crossroads jacket

    Meet Me at the Crossroads

    by Megan Giddings

    Published 2026

    About this book

    From the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of Lakewood and The Women Could Fly, a dazzling novel about two brilliant sisters and what happens to their undeniable bond when a mysterious and possibly perilous new world beckons.

  • Meet Me at the Crossroads jacket

    Meet Me at the Crossroads

    by Megan Giddings

    Published 2026

    About this book

    From the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of Lakewood and The Women Could Fly, a dazzling novel about two brilliant sisters and what happens to their undeniable bond when a mysterious and possibly perilous new world beckons.

We have 10 read-alikes for The Art of Saving the World, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

More Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History

Browse all Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History books

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
When No One Else Will
by Amanda Skenandore
1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
  • Book Jacket
    Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young
    by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
    Son of Weather Underground radicals recounts life on the run and decades of revolutionary struggle.
  • Book Jacket
    Look What You Made Me Do
    by John Lanchester
    A propulsive tale of intergenerational tension and revenge from the Booker Prize nominee.
Who Said...

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.