This was an adorable nerdy, YA romance. It hit all the right notes for me. Best friends fall in love, lots of nerdy school stuff, a little bit of Shop Around the Corner/You've Got Mail vibe as well.

This was a great read and will appeal to those young adult book lovers who really love physics and math! There was a sweet love story and alternating points of view, but my favorite part was the way the author dealt with anxiety and the treatment of those who suffer with anxiety in our society. The light shown on therapy and discussion of medication was something that I found refreshing and well done. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a DELIGHT. I loved the strong, female lead who is a kickass Math genius. There have been a lot of books in the past year published that include anxiety and other mental health issues, but I think this one does it especially well. Descriptions of Evie's anxiety episodes were really detailed, and helped us to better understand her. Also, the way that she learned to manage her attacks showed strength. The lead male in this romance, Caleb, is really wonderful. He supports Evie completely even when she choose someone else. And although I am not a Science/Math lover, I learned to appreciate it and be interested in it through this book. It's not giving it enough credit to say that the book was sweet, but it was just so good, and felt true to first love and best friends. I loved all the characters in this book. I loved that there wasn't a bad guy necessarily (although the mom is certainly flawed). There's just so much to love here. Highly recommend.

What is a TV show friends group you wish you could be a part of?

One friend group I wanted so desperately to be a part of was Big Bang Theory. Reading this book, a little bit of me got to live out that dream.

First the writing in this book is phenomenal. To take something as complex as Adinkras or Hammering Code and intertwine it with an entertaining and captivating friends-to-more love story is extremely impressive. I never thought I would see the day when I would crave an angsty teen story with mathematical equations and string theory and have it be a hit.

At times the writing was stagnant only because the subject was completely overwhelming. Talking about theory, equations, or binary code I was completely lost. I felt completely inadequate and utterly intimidated by the intelligence of each character because I couldn’t understand what they were saying. The author did bring a light to a world that I wish I could understand. I never thought I would ever try to google error correcting code or even try to understand how to use that to demonstrate mathematics. So I’m really grateful to the author for this chance to enter a world that is completely fascinating.

Evie is a strong force but has everything stacked against her. Not only is she a mathematician genius, but she is a female who is working through anxiety in a male dominated field. All her life she was trained to use the analytical side of her mind. Base her decision off proven facts or things she can prove and she finds anything that is subjected or open to interpretation irrelevant. Plus how could I not relate to someone when we share the same preferred state for other people, silence 😉.

Honestly there’s no way I couldn’t have fallen in love with Caleb. He is completely friend zoned with no end in sight and has to watch situations unfold on the sidelines. He’s a guy who has kept track of all 14 almost-kiss and had the most adorable games and traditions with Evie. From “can you help me find..” to a HOGWARTS CHRISTMAS! I mean c'mon. I didn’t stand a chance. There was no way I couldn’t root for this kid.

There is a lot of strength with the relationships in this book. I love Bex and Evie. Their friendship is pure and unwavering. How they stand for each other and boost each other when needed is something I love seeing in a book. They balance each other so perfectly. Leo was the underdog I didn’t want to root for but couldn’t help it. I loved how he wasn’t intimidated by Evie and loved the intellectual match he was for her.

I love that Evie is strong enough to have a positive outlook with her anxiety. She let it take over her so many times and has let her mother control her because of it, but now that she’s coming into her own she is able to take control over it and not let it define her. I love that these are not the stereotypical teenagers worried about superficial problems. They are driven young adults with a brilliant mind with the same intricate emotional range that every teenager experiences.

This book left me gobsmacked 😏. It was witty and intelligent without being stuffy. It had well rounded characters and a story that I completely adore. Thank you to NetGalley and Amulet Books for this ARC and thank you to the author for this story.