Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

72 reviews

lalaexni's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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ariallbooked's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.25


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brittany_jean's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book! 

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emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition

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

3.75


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leahrosiee's review against another edition

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hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Such a cute, easy, afternoon read!

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louisa_pennyfeather2021's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

*spoilers*

I loved this book. I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't two socially awkwar STEM nerds trying to figure out how to navigate a relationship.

I will say that the sexual tension was more sexuak than the actual set scenes, which I found absolutely hilarious. 

Overall a great read, especially for gushing romantics.

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severelyhopefulcloud's review against another edition

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

3.0


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ncoletti's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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joice_'s review against another edition

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

3.5

I'm surprised I don't like this book as much as I do. it has all the tropes I love - fake dating, soulmate, even DNA. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood to be reading romance.. 

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arwombat's review against another edition

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

4.0

This was a fairly good story, but because I like science, I'm going to write my review about the science in this book. 

So, first, the studies about the the students and the married couples don't make any sense. They don't mention the control groups at all, and for another thing the "experiment" with married couples would definitely be an observational study and not an experiment. For the student experiment, they didn't compare the genes in the successful couples with the comparative genes in friends or strangers or even exes. There were so many interesting studies they could've done. Like seeing if there were any genes that led to higher rates of divorce. 

Another thing, which was actually brought up in the book was that people who were base matches were less likely to end up together because they thought they were less likely to end up together. It would be so interesting if they did an experiment of base matches telling them they were gold matches with a control group of base matches, would the group who thinks they are gold matches have higher rates of long term relationships, and how would that compared to the actual gold couples? What if you do the opposite and tell gold couples they are base matches? The psychological implications are so interesting. 

Another interesting thing about the science in this book is that it really implies that nature is more important than nurture. It definitely chooses genes, rather than personality or life experience, as the determining factor in a relationship. And maybe it is a factor, but I would argue that nurture is almost as significant, if not more, and so I'm not sure how valid the premise is. According to modern (not book) psychology, the three determining factors in developing a relationship with someone (whether platonic or romantic) is proximity, attractiveness, and similarity. Clearly they had two initially, and as they got to know each other, they learned their similarities. (Self disclosure is a factor in forming long lasting romantic relationships as well). 

Also, maybe this is just me, but the concept does seem kind of eugenics-y, just a little. 

Moving on to their relationship. One thing that annoyed me was that at the end, even after actually committing to a relationship, River abandoned her (maybe) because it wasn't guaranteed that they were a Diamond match anymore, and although it's impossible to know what he would've done had he not had assurance that they were still a Diamond match, but based on his reaction, he might not have stayed with her. He didn't really make a choice to put her first and commit to their relationship because he figured out it was a sure thing before he had a chance to choose her. Part of committing in a relationship is trying even if you don't know whether or not it will work out, and he didn't do that. 

Thanks for listening to my rant. 

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