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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Wow! What a perfect wintertime book. Cozy and sweet. So wonderful.
After Lauren and Jack spend six perfect hours together after a fortuitous meeting and a print shop, the future feels limitless—until Lauren realizes she mistyped Jack’s phone number. But in a lucky twist of fate, they end up working together a few months later. They’re coworkers and can’t date (obviously!), but that doesn’t stop them from growing closer. As their feelings grow, they must decide where their priorities lie. Fate brought them together, but will they choose to take advantage of this moment and be together, even if the future is uncertain?
Red string theory is the idea that we are each connected to an invisible red string, and on the other end of that string is our true love. Ugh! Soulmates! I love it.
You can expect:
After Lauren and Jack spend six perfect hours together after a fortuitous meeting and a print shop, the future feels limitless—until Lauren realizes she mistyped Jack’s phone number. But in a lucky twist of fate, they end up working together a few months later. They’re coworkers and can’t date (obviously!), but that doesn’t stop them from growing closer. As their feelings grow, they must decide where their priorities lie. Fate brought them together, but will they choose to take advantage of this moment and be together, even if the future is uncertain?
Red string theory is the idea that we are each connected to an invisible red string, and on the other end of that string is our true love. Ugh! Soulmates! I love it.
You can expect:
Maybe fate can lead to love after all. I’m not a huge believer in fate but rather in coincidences like Jack. However, maybe fate might have a role when it comes to love. This book was fun,simple yet so endearing at the same time. I really enjoyed the development of both Jack and Rooney as not only did they push each other but also supported/encouraged one another to pursue what they love. Overall this was a great read for Lunar New Year and I can’t wait to read more works by Lauren Kung Jessen.
Respectfully, VERY respectfully, this book made me ANGRY.
Sigh, I thought I would enjoy this because I love BOTH the red string of fate myth AND the empirical nature of science. I think the idea of fate is fascinating given the abundance of decisions that dictate the progression of our lives and the people we are in proximity to. Perhaps that’s why I could not get behind this book - there was a refusal on both MC’s part to see how much fate and free will intermingle. That fate and free will can operate together and that one’s existence does not negate the other. It ANNOYED ME TO NO END THIS WAS A LESSON(?) LEARNED AT THE END OF THE BOOK.
This book took all my favorite romance tropes and made them drab and lackluster. The main characters felt very one dimensional and stereotypical to their career: “extroverted excessively optimistic art girl with daddy issues my art is my only personality” meets “EQ of 0 emotionally unavailable but secretly soft control freak boy engineer”. The “fated” interactions were too unrealistic and felt forced and cringey. So many parts of this book just didn’t make sense… is NASA really investing in a random girls art residency, giving her access to their lead engineer and allowing her to use actual confidential space resources. Like, come onnnnn
If we are going for true delulu-ness, fate is SOFT, its is graceful, it is SUBTLE. This was very much missing, and I think the obvious “fated” interactions contrasted by the lack of chemistry between the two characters made this story jarring and forced.
I felt like there were no real, believable conflicts in this book, which made this book sooo long.
To end on a positive note, I did enjoy the multiracial representation and the inclusion of various chinese myths/traditions to further discuss the role of fate in our lives.
Sigh, I thought I would enjoy this because I love BOTH the red string of fate myth AND the empirical nature of science. I think the idea of fate is fascinating given the abundance of decisions that dictate the progression of our lives and the people we are in proximity to. Perhaps that’s why I could not get behind this book - there was a refusal on both MC’s part to see how much fate and free will intermingle. That fate and free will can operate together and that one’s existence does not negate the other. It ANNOYED ME TO NO END THIS WAS A LESSON(?) LEARNED AT THE END OF THE BOOK.
This book took all my favorite romance tropes and made them drab and lackluster. The main characters felt very one dimensional and stereotypical to their career: “extroverted excessively optimistic art girl with daddy issues my art is my only personality” meets “EQ of 0 emotionally unavailable but secretly soft control freak boy engineer”. The “fated” interactions were too unrealistic and felt forced and cringey. So many parts of this book just didn’t make sense… is NASA really investing in a random girls art residency, giving her access to their lead engineer and allowing her to use actual confidential space resources. Like, come onnnnn
If we are going for true delulu-ness, fate is SOFT, its is graceful, it is SUBTLE. This was very much missing, and I think the obvious “fated” interactions contrasted by the lack of chemistry between the two characters made this story jarring and forced.
I felt like there were no real, believable conflicts in this book, which made this book sooo long.
To end on a positive note, I did enjoy the multiracial representation and the inclusion of various chinese myths/traditions to further discuss the role of fate in our lives.
Rooney Gao is anonymous conceptual artist Red String Girl whose works center around the Chinese legend of the red string of fate tying people together. Jack Liu is a NASA scientist who stumbles across Rooney and her work on a trip to New York and spends the day with Rooney not knowing she is behind the art. When Jack has the opportunity to help select an artist in residence for NASA he suggests Red String Girl and he and Rooney are reunited. Jack is a man of science who strictly does not believe in fate, but is interested in Rooney’s belief and the pair spend time together learning about each other’s philosophies.
Both of Lauren’s books (this and Lunar Love) are wonderful celebrations of Chinese culture and interesting tales of the traditional elements the younger Chinese-American characters choose to embrace. I do thing Lunar Love worked a bit better for me, but I still enjoyed Red String Theory. I personally am not a big believer in fate so I was happy that this book was dual POV and I could see my views reflected in Jack. I do think the book got bogged down by the repetitive philosophizing about fate and I did find myself skimming sections. I absolutely loved the side characters and would happily read whole books about Jack’s grandfather and Rooney’s mother. I love the works of Christo, and was lucky enough to see one of his installations in person so I had context for the type of art Rooney was known for and enjoyed the artist aspects of the book. This book does come with discussion questions and recipes which would make it a great book club book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Both of Lauren’s books (this and Lunar Love) are wonderful celebrations of Chinese culture and interesting tales of the traditional elements the younger Chinese-American characters choose to embrace. I do thing Lunar Love worked a bit better for me, but I still enjoyed Red String Theory. I personally am not a big believer in fate so I was happy that this book was dual POV and I could see my views reflected in Jack. I do think the book got bogged down by the repetitive philosophizing about fate and I did find myself skimming sections. I absolutely loved the side characters and would happily read whole books about Jack’s grandfather and Rooney’s mother. I love the works of Christo, and was lucky enough to see one of his installations in person so I had context for the type of art Rooney was known for and enjoyed the artist aspects of the book. This book does come with discussion questions and recipes which would make it a great book club book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rooney Gao is a creative artist and free spirit who believes in the Chinese legend that true soulmates are tied together by the red string of fate. Jack Liu is a smart, sensible systems engineer for NASA, who believes in facts, figures, and by-the-book testing. But on one magical night in NYC, was it fate or coincidence that brought them together?
I absolutely loved how these two met. Their special first night in NYC was so fun and magical. And I enjoyed the slow burn of their budding relationship as you get to really know these characters. But toward the end—all the non-stop dialogue about their feelings and why they work and don’t work got a bit repetitive for me. Other than that though, I really enjoyed this romcom.
Thank you @NetGalley, @ReadForeverPub, and @LaurenKJessen for the advanced copy of this book.
I absolutely loved how these two met. Their special first night in NYC was so fun and magical. And I enjoyed the slow burn of their budding relationship as you get to really know these characters. But toward the end—all the non-stop dialogue about their feelings and why they work and don’t work got a bit repetitive for me. Other than that though, I really enjoyed this romcom.
Thank you @NetGalley, @ReadForeverPub, and @LaurenKJessen for the advanced copy of this book.
This one is hard for me to review. While it's cute and I liked the story and the elements of Chinese culture, it lacked the impact that her first book had.
Fate brought me this beautiful rom com that easily has become my most favorite closed door romance novels that I have read in a long time.
The book follows two Chinese American protagonists who meet through a string of fated events. This book is charming and playful. I smiled the entire time I read it and that smile is lingering. And, even though this is a closed door romance, let me tell you the sexual tension is hot. I savored every morsel.
The book was released in January 9, 2024 and I simply cannot recommend this book enough.
Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and the author Lauren Kung Jessen for giving me this ARC.
The book follows two Chinese American protagonists who meet through a string of fated events. This book is charming and playful. I smiled the entire time I read it and that smile is lingering. And, even though this is a closed door romance, let me tell you the sexual tension is hot. I savored every morsel.
The book was released in January 9, 2024 and I simply cannot recommend this book enough.
Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and the author Lauren Kung Jessen for giving me this ARC.
i did not expect this book to make me cry, but it did. it was just so sweet! i loved reading this
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes