A review by kristyndcruz
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

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

3.5

This was my second Christina Lauren book I read, and the first was almost a 5 star read, so I had high expectations for this book. It did not live up to my expectations as it wasn’t good as the first book (LAOW), but I still did really enjoy reading it. The story starts off kinda cringy and awkward, but slowly got better once the plot picked up. This was a very easy, lighthearted book to read so I didn’t expect any serious emotional damage anyways. It was a cute story about the relationship between Jess and River, and how it built where you see he does fall in love with her. I loved all the characters. I didn’t like how it was a very fast burn. The first conversation they have alone for more than 5 minutes is flirty, which is near the start of the book. Considering how much they disliked each other, and how rude River was at the start, I would have much preferred a more slow burn between them. This book also built up to a very unexpected plot twist. I really did not like the plot twist. It made the whole storyline meaningless in my opinion and wish it was a different plot twist. The conflict focuses on the company members of GeneticAlly, but I didn’t like how they dealt with the conflict. Especially River. He just ghosted Jess and Juno. This gave the impression that the score was what made them fall in love in the first place. This was later implied to not be true, but it wasn’t very fun to read. I also hated the ending. The ending itself was cute and sweet and happy, but left so many questions unanswered that just annoyed me more than intrigued me. I understand the point of the ambiguity was that the score didn’t define their love, but it was slightly irritating that they put so much emphasis on it and then just didn’t reveal it. It is hinted that theirs was a Diamond match through River’s disregard for the ethics of not revealing the falsification, but regardless but that just gives more questions than it answers. If it was a Diamond match, why did the company fabricate it in the first place? If it wasn’t, why did River not care? And how could the results be fabricated both times when River specifically said he wanted to make sure he got the results himself? Something seems off about that. I didn’t like the way this was dealt with. I liked how the book also explored Jess’ relationship with Juno, Fizzy, and her grandparents. But I didn’t like how this took away from the romance. There were a lot of scenes between Jess and River that I would have liked to see, i.e, their first sleepover, River sneaking in and out. I would have also loved more River and Juno! My heart would melt with daddy-daughter scenes, but there wasn’t many. I would recommend this book for lighthearted, sweet romance but I do think there are better books with those qualities since there are more complaints than praises with this story. I do love the idea and it has a lot of potential, but this book doesn’t really let the story live up to it’s potential. 
“Destiny could also be a choice. To believe or not, to be vulnerable or not, to go all in or not.”
“Statistics can’t tell us what will happen, they can only tell us what might happen.”
“I understand that you needed to see the data, but I hate that you needed to see it to choose me.”
“I haven’t been home in years, but I feel that way with you.”

Expand filter menu Content Warnings