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sriyasbooks 's review for:
888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers
by Abraham Chang
slow-paced
This is such a deeply quirky book that I think it’s the first thing I have to mention. Capital D, Deeply Quirky. There were parts of it I enjoyed, from some of the repetitions reflecting Young’s fixations with the same, the way we follow Young growing up. I liked when we moved through loves 1-3 to understand the way Young grew up in NYC and his family dynamics, but this also felt quite self inserty in a way that just felt too obvious. Every woman in Young’s life seems to fall for him wholeheartedly and does their part in seducing this wholesome young boy. Wendy feels at least somewhat believable, and even Gina to some extent where they have a weird conversation because of prom and then messily want to start something. But Erena is such a big part of this book and all of her dialogue is so deeply a fantasy of this fun, somewhat nerdy, hot girl who likes the same things that Young does where it counts. It’s just so blatant and hard to read at many points. And the parts with Erena drag because so much of this book is her and Young dating with no issues. It genuinely feels like a jumpscare at the end when the book says they’ve only been dating 6 months, and I get the way college relationships get so intense, but my god. The few conflicts in their relationship are so dumb and always paint Young in the most saintly, perfect boyfriend light that just can’t help that other women are just soo into him. I was really debating giving this a 2.75 stars but ultimately I enjoyed the ending, because I do think they needed to break up and find themselves. And I love the concept of the multiple futures that could play out (even if the futures with Gina and with Erena are almost disgustingly corny), especially the final future that rings the most true for a kid who is doing his best to find himself.