A review by rachels_booknook
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

4.5

Jess is a single mom whose best friend, Fizzy, convinces her to sign up for GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. As a data and statistics wizard, Jess may not believe in soulmates but she does understand the reliability of numbers. Unexpectedly, the test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with GenetAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. 

This was such a fun spin on romance, matchmaking, dating app romance stories. I loved this idea of fate vs. free will and examining how Jess and River react to finding out that although they may not like each other very much at first, the data shows they are soulmates. As data scientists, they have to decide if they owe it to the data, and River’s company, to investigate this possibility by getting to know each other. I may not have fully understood all of the data analysis behind DNA-based matchmaking, but I got the basic premise and it was fascinating. Kudos to Christina Lauren for coming up with this whole idea of DNA-based dating and building it out in the novel. 

I loved Jess and River together and watching their relationship grow as they got to know each other, and I thought River’s relationship with Jess’s daughter was really sweet and special.