Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Unbalanced Equation by H.L. Macfarlane

8 reviews

linnea_tornblom's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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redwoodreads's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Thankyou to NetGalley, the publisher and H.L Macfarlane for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Liz and Tom meet 4 years prior to the story at the beginning of Liz’s PhD. There’s some chemistry that gets squashed by Tom becoming Liz’s PhD assessor. 4 years on, Liz’s PhD finished, their lives are forced together again when their respective, previously widowed, parents announce their engagement.

Liz and Tom are petty, childish and selfish. They sabotaging each other, making the other’s life difficult and bring out the worst of each other but somehow they fall for each other. I really do not like the step-sibling trope despite them knowing each other before becoming step-siblings (this however is my own fault for not reading the blurb first). The miscommunication really grated on me and whilst the step-sibling trope was easy enough to ignore for the majority of the book, any reference to “our parents” really gave me the ick.. 

I didn’t DNF the book and I did keep reading but I now know these tropes are not for me. 

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covinsky's review

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0.5


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restingconfusedface's review

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The only reason I finished this was for net galley. 
This book was so slow and I hate Tom.
He’s a waking red flag.
Not even just the childish crux of the enemies to lovers. Because god forbid he control himself or report a conflict of interest sometime in the last four years. Or the fact that he was in her phone controlling her dating life and housing situation.
He is way too controlling and it is concerning. He makes everything about him and sucks at being a decent human. 

Characters: 24
Plot: 30
Overall: 37

- enemies to lovers
- coworkers
- woman in stem
- forced proximity 
- a controlling walking red flag 

Save yourself the time and don’t read this and read The Love Hypothesis or Applied Electromagnetism instead. They hit a lot of the same tropes and stuff but actually have heroes that aren’t terrible. 


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risseandshine's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Elizabeth Maclean and Thomas Henderson first met in a department social event. The two had sparks but thanks to a sticky situation (literally) involving spilled orange juice and forgotten soiled clothes, it sadly didn't escalate. Things got more complicated when it turned out that Tom was to be Liz's PhD assessor. So as to avoid problems regarding him being in authority, Tom decides to be a complete d*ck to Liz in order to hide his true feelings. Four years full of antagonism later, they find out that 1. their parents are getting married; 2. Tom's lab got burned down; and 3. Liz just got booted out of her apartment. And what do those ultimately mean? Forced proximity both at home and at work, of course.

To start off on a more positive note, I really appreciate that this book dabbled in women in STEM. I liked that Liz was very passionate in her career and was obviously excelling in it. I loved that she was very adamant in not wanting to get married and have kids. This book even shied away from the typical formula of the hero and heroine eventually settling down and popping out a child or two by the end and it was very refreshing to read. I also liked that there was a nerdy charm in their shared love for anime, which is the main commonality that pushed them to talk in the first place.

However, these positive points were greatly overshadowed by the blatant manipulation and miscommunication in this book. Tom's decision to be mean to Liz from the beginning because of his feelings for her painted him as very immature hero for a 38 year old, and a professor at that. To add fuel to fire, he made further decisions that were clear invasions of Liz's privacy. His irredeemable actions plus Liz forgiving him too quickly despite all of them did not sit well with me. I honestly didn't want this couple to end up together and a romance novel eliciting that kind of feeling isn't a good sign at all.

Frankly speaking, I expected more from this since it is marketed as very similar to two very popular, very solid romance books. Unfortunately, this book completely missed the mark.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book. All opinions stated above are my own.

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belarna's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Do you want a lovely rom-com set in Scotland? A STEM, work-place, 2nd chance romance (kinda enemies to lovers) story arc? Then definitely check out this book! 

MacFarlane really hooked me in with this story. The spice was great! The pining between the MCs and providing dual POVs? Easy wins in my book. I also loved the dynamic between characters in this book - especially the friendship between Tom and Daichi. Their dynamic as best friends was very believable, and even reminded me of myself with my best friend. They were definitely stand-outs for me!

The only thing stopping me from giving this book higher than a 4 was Tom’s selfish motivations towards Liz during the book - these just rubbed me the wrong way (you’ll know what I’m talking about once you give this a read). No spoilers, but he did redeem himself by the end of the book because of his self awareness, so that’s a bonus.

If you love a STEM workplace romance, I definitely recommend this read. I will be recommending this book to my romance loving friends! 

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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tifcochran's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Now, I love Romantic Comedy books. They are just the perfect palate cleanser between dark fantasy or thriller books. The tropes, the banter, the tension, yes please! However, with Unbalanced Equation, it just did not hit the mark for me. I love the Sunshine/Grumpy, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers tropes, but Thomas is not grumpy instead he is mean and manipulative.

The story starts with an almost Instalove, they immediately fell for each-other in a matter of minutes and then instead of being an adult, Thomas decides he is going to be an ass to her when he finds out he is now assigned her PHD Advisor. 

There was tension, but it seemed much more physical vs emotional for both of them. Which i feel 4 years of pining on Thomas' part would maybe make him fall a bit in love with her for her mind/personality.

This story also hinges on Thomas' and Elizabeth's single parents announcing they are marrying each-other. Even though they are not related, it just is on the edge of 'ick' for me.

Overall, The story was okay and had fun banter. I was just wanting a little bit more from the characters and Elizabeth not to be such a pushover with Thomas. 

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ramreadsagain's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I was gifted an advance reader copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Liz's new lab partner is her old PhD supervisor who was horrible to her for years. They then find out that her dad and his mum are engaged, forcing them into close proximity amid sexual frustration and unresolved drama and lies. 

Despite containing a couple of tropes I dislike (age gap, step-siblings (sort of)), this was a solid sexy science romantic comedy. The workplace enemies-to-lovers is well done and the banter was top notch! 

The characters are loveable and remain so throughout the conflict/mistakes, unlike a lot of romances where I end up hating one of the MCs due to an unforgivable fuck up. They have great chemistry as well and I really rooted for them. 

The pacing is good, not flopping at any point and I read this in two sittings. I really enjoyed the science as well, it was really well done (saying this as someone with a degree in a biological field). 

The rating is brought down by the whole age gap thing which really is just unnecessary. Furthermore I like romances to have a few extra side plots which I feel like this just didn’t have. Side characters apart from one or two also felt underdeveloped. 

Still an enjoyable read and I’d recommend this for any fan of the genre! 



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