A Gay Love Story With an Expiration Date

Ansel is completing a nursing internship when he meets Emil. Emil’s diagnosis changes everything: every day they spend together is precious, every moment is framed by an approaching farewell. Yet the two young men grow closer.

From the start, they know there won’t be a conventional future together. That’s precisely why small gestures and ordinary moments gain meaning.

Between hospital corridors and the intensive care unit, a love grows that has always known its limits. Ansel and Emil talk about fear, hope, and loss, but also share lightness, warm humor, and tangible closeness. The illness shapes their lives without fully ruling their relationship.

A Road Trip Against the Time Left

Spontaneously, Ansel and Emil set off in a camper van to England and Scotland. Narrow roads, rain, and long conversations shape their journey. The road trip becomes an attempt to push back against the diagnosis—at least for a while—and to create memories that will endure beyond the coming farewell.

The journey affords space away from the clinic routine, without erasing the illness. Even while traveling, it remains in view and gives their shared experiences a special intensity.

Meanwhile, “In Our Universe, We Are Infinite” (Amazon Affiliate Link) is not about a love that can save everything. Ansel must come to terms with the fact that his feelings won’t defeat Emil’s illness. Yet their relationship carries them through a period in which closeness and pain are almost inseparable.

Sarah Sprinz blends queer romance with a story about incurable illness, grief, and moving on after a loss. The dramatic farewell isn’t the sole focus. Equally important is the question of how a shared moment can feel infinite even when the time left is limited.

The author, born in 1996, had already written books for young adults while studying medicine and earned a spot on the Spiegel bestseller list with them. “In Our Universe, We Are Infinite” is her first novel for teens. Sprinz lives by Lake Constance. (dd/pm)