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pforpedrox23 's review for:
The Calculation of You + Me
by Serena Kaylor
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
My no spoilers review:
Marlowe Meadows is a Southern, mushroom-obsessed math nerd who has been dumped by her golden boy boyfriend because she apparently was bad at being romantic. She starts the school year determined to prove him wrong and win him back by enlisting the help of her AP English project partner, the moody Ash Hayes whose rock band song lyrics make Marlowe believe he's the perfect love tutor who can help her.
This was a fun read that I obsessed over for the weekend because it hit the right notes of sweet and funny. Marlowe has autism, and her ex seemed to imply that he didn't think she loved him back because she just wasn't able to, which is objectively awful. Still, the author does a good job of developing why Marlowe is hung up on him despite that. They were in a relationship for two years and Marlowe was made to feel loved and special despite her tendencies to not always do/say the "right" things (again, yes, her ex is awful). Where Marlowe shines is when she is allowed to be herself, supported by her friends, family, and, of course, Ash.
Ash's character was almost too good to be true, but that's fine because this is a YA romance and a large part of the book is dissecting romance tropes. Ash works at a bookstore that exclusively sells romance books. This is not the first romance book I've read that decides to get a little meta with its own genre, and I think it works here.
This is a YA romance that I can actually put in my classroom because it's not spicy at all. It's sweet! And to prove it, there are several occasions when Marlowe stress bakes mug cakes. You'll probably end up looking up your own mug cake recipe before you finish reading it.
My no spoilers review:
Marlowe Meadows is a Southern, mushroom-obsessed math nerd who has been dumped by her golden boy boyfriend because she apparently was bad at being romantic. She starts the school year determined to prove him wrong and win him back by enlisting the help of her AP English project partner, the moody Ash Hayes whose rock band song lyrics make Marlowe believe he's the perfect love tutor who can help her.
This was a fun read that I obsessed over for the weekend because it hit the right notes of sweet and funny. Marlowe has autism, and her ex seemed to imply that he didn't think she loved him back because she just wasn't able to, which is objectively awful. Still, the author does a good job of developing why Marlowe is hung up on him despite that. They were in a relationship for two years and Marlowe was made to feel loved and special despite her tendencies to not always do/say the "right" things (again, yes, her ex is awful). Where Marlowe shines is when she is allowed to be herself, supported by her friends, family, and, of course, Ash.
Ash's character was almost too good to be true, but that's fine because this is a YA romance and a large part of the book is dissecting romance tropes. Ash works at a bookstore that exclusively sells romance books. This is not the first romance book I've read that decides to get a little meta with its own genre, and I think it works here.
This is a YA romance that I can actually put in my classroom because it's not spicy at all. It's sweet! And to prove it, there are several occasions when Marlowe stress bakes mug cakes. You'll probably end up looking up your own mug cake recipe before you finish reading it.