Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Review

Multiverse of Madness minus Marvel

Happy Wednesday! Blake Crouch's mind-bending thriller Dark Matter is a book that had everyone questioning the nature of reality and choice. It’s perfect if you've ever wondered "what if" about major life decisions. Crouch combines simple to understand physics with some light psychological dread to create something that's equal parts scientific speculation and emotional gut-punch.

The Road Not Taken, Literally

Dark Matter follows Jason Dessen, a physics professor living a comfortable if unremarkable life in Chicago with his wife Daniela and teenage son Charlie. One night, he's kidnapped by a masked stranger. Jason wakes to find himself trapped in a different reality where he never married Daniela, never had Charlie, and must navigate an infinite multiverse to find his way home.

Crouch's greatest achievement is making quantum mechanics feel accessible. I always recommend this book as a good intro to people new to the sci-fi genre. The concept of infinite parallel universes, each representing different choices and outcomes, becomes a perfect vehicle for exploring regret, ambition, and the paths not taken. The science never feels like window dressing—instead, it drives both plot and character development in ways that feel organic rather than forced.

The pacing is absolutely relentless in the best possible way. Once Jason's ordeal begins, Crouch maintains breakneck momentum that makes the book genuinely difficult to put down. Each universe Jason visits reveals new possibilities and new dangers, creating a sense of escalating stakes that keeps readers constantly off-balance. The author excels at crafting cliffhanger chapter endings that propel you forward.

Where Dark Matter truly succeeds is in its emotional core. It's a meditation on marriage, parenthood, and the sacrifices we make for love. Jason's desperate desire to return to his family gives weight to all the multiverse-hopping adventure. Crouch understands that the most interesting question isn't "what if you could travel between universes?" but rather "what if you discovered that the life you chose to build was more precious than infinite alternatives?"

The supporting characters, particularly Daniela and the various characters from other realities, feel genuinely human rather than plot devices but they do fall a bit flat. Crouch handles the complex logistics of multiple versions of the same characters with surprising clarity, avoiding the confusion that often plagues multiverse stories.

However, the novel occasionally stretches credibility in its action sequences, particularly as Jason becomes increasingly competent at navigating dangerous situations. Some of the universe-hopping becomes repetitive in the middle sections, and certain plot conveniences feel too neat given the story's otherwise rigorous attention to consequences.

The book's exploration of identity and choice stayed with me for a while after reading. Crouch asks whether we are the sum of our decisions or something more fundamental, and whether the lives we don't live haunt us as much as the ones we do.

For its inventive premise, emotional depth, and page-turning excitement, I give Dark Matter 4/5 stars.

Spoiler Section

The multiplication of Jasons creates the novel's most terrifying and brilliant complication. As more versions of himself enter his original reality, each convinced they deserve to reclaim their family, the story transforms from adventure into horror. The image of multiple Jasons stalking Daniela and Charlie, each believing himself to be the "real" one, turns the concept of identity inside out. Crouch's insight that every version of Jason would make the same choices and feel the same desperation creates a nightmarish logic that's impossible to escape.

The final confrontation between the various Jasons forces both characters and readers to confront an impossible question: if multiple versions of the same person have equal claim to the same life, how do you determine who deserves it?