4 out of 5 stars

Isn't that a cute cover? This is a unique take on YA contemporary. I was completely taken with the main characters and thought the author did a fantastic job on turning a strange premise into a riveting read. While there isn't what I call instalove in this book, it is pretty close to it. While original in design, it does feature quite a few of your classic YA romance tropes that both draw you in and infuriate you. I would definitely add this to your TBR if you are looking to pick up something a little more light hearted and sweet.

I thought this book was well-written, and there was a lot of humour in the writing style. Although I'm not really into maths so the specific jokes weren't entirely my cup of tea, I do appreciate nerd humour and bad puns and the fact that these played a big part in the friendship-relationship between Eva and Zenn in this book, because most of my most meaningful friendships are full of bad puns too.

However, I think I would have liked this book more if I could relate to it a bit more, which would have required me to be either straight or American or both. While I've read many books that I couldn't relate to on a personal level and enjoyed them, with contemporaries I think there needs to be some kind of shared, universal experience to draw me in, and this didn't have that.

So, straight, or at least interested in relationships and sex of some kind: because it's very romance focused and a lot of it revolves around Eva's frustration with not being able to touch people due to the visions ('fractals') she sees when she does. As someone who is asexual and aromantic and generally not a tactile person except with like four people in the entire world, I found this difficult to relate to, and I'll never be able to make sense of decisions people make based on romantic feelings because I don't understand romantic feelings full stop. I am bad at romance okay? Which made that aspect of the book hard to relate to, and that was a big part of the book.

My reaction when people start making out in a church: " *rolls eyes* #str8ppl". Like, why. Why do that. CONTROL YOURSELVES AND YOUR HORMONES PLEASE IT'S NOT THAT BIG A DEAL. I will never understand kissing.

As for why it might have worked for me if I was American, well, that's because the other big aspect of the book, or one of them, was college applications and scholarships and trying to figure out how on earth you'll afford the horrendously high fees. And I'm British, so while our tuition is higher than it used to be and my rent is horrible, thanks to Student Finance England and our much more sensible system, I will never be in the position of trying to find hundreds of thousands of pounds to pay for my education, nor am I dependent on winning scholarships to be able to go to uni. If there's one thing that makes me grateful for the UK's system, it's reading YA fiction where characters can't afford college because the US is broken.

SO, as you can see, there were a couple of major aspects of the book that were so far outside my experience as a British non-mathsy person not interested in relationships, and that made it difficult to get fully invested. I wanted the characters to succeed, sure, but I didn't have the personal connection I'd have had with a book I could relate to on a more personal level.

(There's also loads of complicated family backstory stuff which, given my very conventional and normal family, I *also* could not relate to, but I think that was not meant to be as universal an experience as the whole 'first boyfriend and also college' part of the book.)

One other problem with the book was that Eva was occasionally somewhat slut-shamey in her narration. Especially near the beginning. She made quite a few offhand comments about other girls, and referred to her baby sisters' potty training (which involved bribes) in the context of them growing up to be girls who would "give it away" for any guy who bought them dinner -- which seemed both entirely unnecessary and inappropriate in the situation, and also totally slut-shaming. I wasn't very impressed with that. I felt she got over a bit by the end of the book though, and was more accepting of the people around her; if she'd kept it up I probably wouldn't have liked her at all.

Anyway. On the whole, this was well-written, with quite a lot of humour, but it was just a wee bit too far outside my own experiences and interests to fully engage me on a personal level.

This is my review from Goodreads, and will be cross-posted to my blog once I'm no longer on hiatus (probably some time in April depending on my health).

Where can I start or how do I describe, this book was incredible. So intense!! And to think it’s the debut novel for Wendy Brant!

As you might have read from the blurb, Eva has this “power” that allows her to look into people’s emotions simply by touching them or their things.

"I get these glimpses into people – the insecurities and struggles that make them who they are – but only a bit at a time.."

She and her parents do not understand why and how she gets to see those visions – she calls them as fractals. After years of trying to understand its cause, she has given up therapy and decides that she will restrain herself from touching people and will invent the cure for it herself by getting into neuroscience research.

Thus continues her life, with only one best friend and cute quadruplet siblings and helps her parents with them. As she is extremely good in math, she volunteers to tutor the jocks in her school and saves them from failing the subject, thereby ensuring they can stay in their teams. When she has to tutor Zenn Bennett, she mistakenly touches his army jacket and gets a hell load of dark visions and is intrigued what sort of fractals they are.

They run into each other often and Eva finds herself attracted to him. Zenn is an incredible artist and Eva finds some of his work similar to the visions that she gets. So why is she getting fractals from his jacket and not from him. How is he able to put those fractals into art. What is this connection that keeps pulling them towards each other and how the truth affects their lives is what follows later.

I loved the writing style and the idea of the fractals. Initially i was not able to connect with Eva because she comes out as a egotistical geek who thinks “C” grades are so much beneath her. But once the story gets moving, I could see how much her character evolves into a selfless person. Zenn… well he is tall, dark and handsome and is full of dark secrets that haunt him and responsibilities that overbear him. Another notable character is Eva’s mom. The fractals she gets from her mother was confusing but later we are told the reason for it and I get it. But that cannot justify her behavior in the latter part of the book.

Eva and Zenn’s chemistry …<3 Its magical, intense and beautiful. Eva’s longing to have a normal human life, to touch and feel, to comfort, to hug is all beautifully explained and which is why when there is a threat to her relationship with him, she needs to act on it and becomes a rebel, sort of 🙂

This book is definitely a must read 🙂 Its easily a 5/5 for me.

~4.6/5~

This book made me so emotional, I was on the verge of tears toward the end. The epilogue was so satisfying as well. Zenn and Eva are great characters, each imperfect in their own incredible way, and Zenn Diagram just touched me in ways that I couldn’t possibly put into words. I wouldn’t be able to do my feelings justice anyway. I could literally read and reread this book over and over again without getting tired of it; it’s that amazing(not to mention the puns). The writing’s simple, and Wendy Brant conveys her ideas through very nicely.

While I may or may not be in love with the fractal and math genius concept, not to mention the way the author described the former(*swoons*), the book does have some iffy moments, like how the main characters don't really have a realistic relationship. Things work, and nothing seems to bother them. They don't have relationship issues because of disagreements, which I guess could be credited to their abnormal relationship history-wise. It's not a huge deal, but it irked me for whatever reason.

Zenn's your typical broodingly deep and dark love interest, and it's cliché at its finest. Eva reminds me of myself a little, not because of her math-obsession or magical fractal stuff, but because she sort of takes the backstage in life while simultaneously suffering from a bit of a hero complex. They both have their share of complexity with a good dose of backstory.

One thing that kind of bothered me was the fast-pacedness of their relationship, physically at least. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with it, it’s just that for a girl who avoided using her sense of touch, Eva got over it fairly quickly. But what are teen fiction books without a hint of unrealistiness? I’m currently struggling to get over my post-book haze that I may or may not be going into shock, so excuse me while I mentally freak out again.

This book was a very cute teen fiction novel with a nice supernatural-ish aspect. Personally, I adored it.

Many many thank yous to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read this brilliant gem.

More romance-y than I usually go for but an interesting premise (main character reads the emotional well-being of others through contact with their belongings or skin) and an interesting plot as well. I would read more from this author for sure!

Firstly, great cover, it really drew my eye when I was looking through books. Loved the book, it was a bit different than what I expected but I enjoyed the story, and there was great character development

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

From the very first chapter, I knew I was going to have a major problem with this book. A problem that persisted throughout and made me seriously dislike the main character, Eva.

With the very first paragraph, we are introduced to Eva and her unique ability. With just touching a person or an object of said person, Eva can see into their lives, knowing things she would never have known otherwise.

This makes Eva very special indeed. It is not, however, what makes Eva go on and on about how she’s #not-like-other-girls.

Honestly, few words bother me more out of the mouth of women than, ‘I am not like other girls’. By saying things like that you are implying that there is something wrong with ‘other girls’. You are saying that if the world has blessed you with big breasts and you happen to like make up you are now an ‘other’. That you are entirely generic, with no personality, no hopes, and dreams. So, of course, our humble, ‘down to earth’ main character, cannot possibly be like those other bimbos. Right?

Not even our snowflake’s best friend Charlotte, who is described as beautiful and statuesque, is described as never being able to be popular because guys only want the loud, big breasted cheerleaders. You know, because all guys (except our heroic love interest, of course) are all painfully generic and are all into the same thing. Right? That certainly is what books like this say to me. And there are a lot of books like this.

Seriosuly, why do authors keep thinking that we will relate to people like this? I am a total nerd. The kind that owns every X-Men movie on DVD/BluRay and has watched every X-Men cartoon out there. The kind goes to comic book stores and randomly spews out facts about any and every subject you can think of. When I was a child my mother bought me an animal encyclopedia, which I read from start to finish because I wanted to know about all the creatures inside. I’m the kind of person who can spend an entire day in bed, reading. The kind that considers a fun outing to be going to the zoo or museum. And yet, I like makeup. I have an unhealthy love of purses and shoes. I love wearing pretty dresses and bows in my hair, and having fun and doing things with friends, and you know, being a normal human being.

I’m sick of the plain main character who insist of proclaiming to the world that she is not like ‘other girls’ simply because she likes ‘nerdy things’.

Another thing that bothered me was Eva’s inconsistency. She is someone who shows very little emotion. Which is fine, a character doesn’t need to be overly emotional. I am not an emotional person. But, she doesn’t seem to care much about her family, or only friend Charlotte, which is not cool. But then Zenn comes about and she’s in love? In a very insta-love fashion, to make it worse. No. Just no.

So, why three stars instead of two? I don’t know. I am feeling generous I guess. I so desperately needed a good book to read that I guess I just had to love this a little more.

That said, the book did have some pros. It was a cute, fast read (all the aforementioned things aside). It was a fun contemporary if you want zero diversity (then again most contemporaries don’t, like seriously, not even one POC to say one random, unimportant line in the background), are into insta-love, and generic characters. I liked it, though. Despite the problems, I was entertained. Somehow.

The idea was cool. I love that fact that Eva unapologetically loved math. I love that she had such a cool ability. Sadly, when I look back at the books I read this year, this is not going to be one that stands out. I am not going to remember the setting, the characters, or the romance. This will get lost in my memory, as there was nothing memorable about it.

This was everything I love in a contemporary: cute, adorable, funny, sweet, light-hearted and heart-warming. All of the characters were so likeable and the story was wonderfully thought out. I found myself rooting for Zenn and Eva and they were so adorable together. That, my friend, is a new OTP formed. The writing style was perfect, the story flowed so well, and I read it in an hour because I couldn't stop reading about the pair. Loved it and would highly recommend to anyone who needs a cute, adorable but wonderfully written contemporary novel.

The eBook for Zenn Diagram is 222 pages so it was a very quick read for me; I finished it in a day. It's a super-cute contemporary that has its quirks and an underlying secret that will leave you shocked.

Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there’s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them — from clothes to textbooks to cell phones — she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read a person’s fears and anxieties, their secrets and loves … and what they have yet to learn about calculus. This is helpful for her work as a math tutor, but it means she can never get close to people. Eva avoids touching anyone and everyone. People think it’s because she’s a clean freak — with the emphasis on freak — but it’s all she can do to protect herself from other people’s issues.

Then one day a new student walks into Eva’s life. His jacket gives off so much emotional trauma that she falls to the floor. Eva is instantly drawn to Zenn, and her feelings only grow when she realizes that she can touch Zenn’s skin without having visions.

Ok, so first I'm going to start off by sharing with you some sentences from this book that I thought to be problematic. This is just my opinion, so if anyone feels differently about any of the, I would love for you to leave a comment or drop me an email with your thoughts. Ok so here goes:

- "Once in a while a vision will start like an algo and then go all Jekyll and Hyde on me."

So from studying Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at university, I gathered that the book was about Jekyll who had a split personality and Hyde was the side to himself that was dangerous in society and was demonised. I'm not sure that used split personality disorder as a passive joke is funny...



- "How a C is good enough for anyone, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand. But somehow he will be satisfied by his own mediocrity"

How is getting a 'C' grade bad? Just because she is a maths genius, doesn't mean everyone is dumb because they're not at college level straight away... I got a B in maths; does that make me mediocre? No.



- "occasional coat of mascara when I’m feeling nutty. I mean, I’m not Amish, after all."

Is she calling Amish people crazy? If so, I really really don't think that's funny.



- "Which makes me think I might consider bearing his children immediately."

We're 41 pages in... You shouldn't be thinking about bearing anyone's children at this point...



- "The car slows politely. Then it slows more, pulling up next to me. My stomach drops and I wonder if anyone will hear me scream when the rapist yanks me into his car."

Yeah, because being kidnapped and raped is hilarious



- "I mean, I am a quarter Asian, after all.” (When Zenn is talking about himself being an honour-role child)

The "I'm-asian-therefore-i'm-clever" trope is getting really old...


- "What the hell did he do? Murder a few people? Run a drug ring? Sexually abuse some kid?"

Again, I didn't realise that murder or sexual abuse was something that you could just make a flippant comment about...



Am I being too critical? I don't know... Please let me know what you think... But when I was reading them, they really shouted out to me that they were wrong.

Anyway! On with the review! Apart from those 7 sentences above, this was a really cute, fast-paced, brilliant read. I was so caught up in the romance and the back story of it all. I did feel a little bit cliche when *minor spoilers* Eva didn't get any fractals when she touched Zenn and yet again, Zenn was the 'troubled', 'mysterious' teenager, but those things can easily be looked past. I thought Zenn was such an interesting character and I especially loved that he was really interested in art.

Eva was relatable. I felt for her when Charlotte ditched her for her new friends and a guy because I know how it feels when your good friend just suddenly finds a new friend and you constantly feel like the third wheel, so you just remove yourself from the situation. Some people have reviewed this and said that Eva was stupid for being angry at Charlotte when she got new friends but I disagree. Eva wasn't angry because Charlotte made new friends, she was angry because Charlotte completely and utterly DITCHED Eva for her new friends that she had only known for like... 5 seconds. That hurts. A lot.





"The university websites are wonderful, all the text written in an informal, laid-back voice that makes you fall in love with them. They say things like, If you are admitted to *insert school name here*, we will make sure that you can afford to come to *school name* and We will help meet every single cent of your family’s demonstrated need. Um, yeah. Right. Maybe if I sell my soul. How can they possibly promise that?"

- Wendy Brant, Zenn Diagram



I also enjoyed that Eva was a super maths geek! It was awesome to see two main characters passionate about something, and something that made them want to go to college. I loved Eva's family as well! I thought that - even though they were secondary characters - they were thought out really well and you felt like you knew their characters really well (almost like getting a fractal!)

Speaking of fractals... What an interesting concept! I've heard about getting visions, but seeing colours is really interesting - it's almost like seeing a person's aura. I'm also very intrigued as to what caused Eva to get these fractals... Is it what she thinks it is? (I'm not going to say because of major spoilers!), or is it something completely different? I don't know... What do you think?

Overall, even though this book had its moments - as aforementioned - that just didn't sit right with me, this book was a brilliant read. It captured my attention from the very first page and threw me into the world of Eva and Zenn.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Released 4th April

I liked this book. The writing was good and the concept original.
Since, back in high school, I used to love math and was really good at it, I really liked its place in the book.
I also liked the characters.
The "fractals" were well explained and I enjoyed how they were used.
However, a few things upset me.
Most of all, those quotes :
"I guess my indifference to my appearance is unusual. Most women could make a full-time job of trying to be prettier, and sadly beauty is the one thing that we, as a gender, work at the hardest."

"I just hope it doesn't mean they'll grow up to be slutty girls who give it away to any cute boy who buy them dinner."

I underlined more while reading but I think you get my drift. As a woman, this hurts me. It actually hurt to write it in this review. This, to me, is sexist.
Finally, at the end, I was disappointed by the fact that the last conflict is so easily resolved. Moreover, we never understand why Zenn is special.

So overall, I really enjoyed this story but it was far from perfect..

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.

Pros: I loved Eva's passion for math and her unapologetic geekiness. I loved that she marched to her own beat and didn't care what other people think. I also liked the supporting characters, especially Eva's entire family (the E's!!!) and her friends.

And thank you so much for not dragging the reveal on and on. In a lot of books, when the MC realizes the truth about their situation, they keep it from their significant other for chapters, and there's just pages of misinformation, tension, and hard feelings. I'm glad that's not what happened in this book. SO GLAD.

I also liked the reveal quite a bit. I wasn't expecting that at all.

Cons: I had problems with Eva's ideas of selfishness and sacrifice. I got that it was tied into her Christianity, but she kept saying that she didn't believe a lot of what was preached, and it didn't seem like an organic choice for her.

Also, the "you suffered more than me" arguments with Zenn were frequent and unnecessary. I got uncomfortable every time Eva downplayed her parents' deaths and her injuries. Can you really quantify suffering? I think they both suffered, and trauma isn't a contest. But that's just me.

Overall the book was readable and well written, and I look forward to see what Brant writes next.

Wow. Just wow. I loved this book. I work with teens - and, have 3 of my own - and this book captures the very teen essence right down to the snark and sass. Zenn and Ev have a beautiful, yet haunting, relationship full of twists and turns and surprises. I devoured the book in one sitting. I couldn't stop reading it to see what happens next. I love how each character is well-rounded and has their own story to share with the reader. The story is told through Ev's point of view, but we get a strong sense of everyone she encounters because of her special gift - the ability to read people when she touches them. What seems like a curse at face value, turns out to be a gift that leads her down a path she least expected. Zenn has a lot of going on in his life and yet, his burdens don't make him jaded and hard thanks to his relationship with Ev. I finished the book and am still thinking about it so much, I had to post my review right away! I will definitely recommend this book to my students, buy it for my children, and suggest it to my teen book club. Love, love, loved it. Truly.

I really liked this book at first. We've got an intelligent, thoughtful protagonist who genuinely cares about her family. She has barriers to happiness but a clear plan for overcoming them. She meets Zenn who has a dark and brooding vibe. So of course it's obvious that they're going to fall in love. That's standard teen romance. I could deal with that predictability given the otherwise strong plot and the novelty of the concept. But I feel like Brant let us down in some key ways.
1) Secondary characters are almost entirely without depth
2)The final plot elements are all over the place. Give your romantic leads separate hurts, their own barriers to happiness. OR make them inexorably linked. Don't try to do both. Don't try to mix up guilt, poverty, psychic ability, judgement, self sacrifice. When you try to do all of that it tends to become a mess.

Eva is a geek, a math loving geek whom even has a favourite calculator! She has been involved in helping out to tutor students. She is told by Josh, one of the popular school footballers, that she looks like a librarian with her glasses, but a cute one which boosts her low confidence. She has a serious issue with touching other people's belongings in an OCD behavioural way. But, she sees a pattern or a vision, a part of that person that isn't on show to the world, a secret. Both her parents are dead and so she has been raised by her mum's sister and pastor husband whilst they cope with quadruplets too.
Charlotte is her best friend and her opposite, tall, blonde and plays the cello.

Zenn, is a guy whom is struggling with math and is late when we originally meet him in the book, to meet up with Eva as she tutors struggling students and Zenn is new to the school.

Eva struggles with her college applications, she feels she should stay home and help with the kids but does want to study despite the huge debt. Charlotte fits in with the popular crowd after being asked to homecoming by Josh and subsequently she hangs out with Eva less too. Meanwhile, Eve starts to hang out in the art room and eat her lunch there with Zenn after he's done her family and church a favour. Zenn and Eva meet up and have their first kiss as well as Eva meeting Cinde, his mum.

As Eva grows closer to Zenn, she discovers the reasons to why she can't get any more visions/feelings when touching him or his clothing anymore, items around him that aren't his are still an issue though.

The surprise however, is a secret which drags up around eighteen years of history they never even knew they had between them both.

It was a gripping but heartwarming read dealing with love, loss and of course, proving even geeks fall in love when it's right. Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Side note: I accidentally said Zenn diagram instead of Venn diagram to my A level maths teacher because of this book. It was incredibly embarrassing.

I don't usually like typical YA romance stories very much, but I quite liked this. It wasn't just romance, but that was quite a big part of the story.

Eva is eighteen and has never really been able to touch anyone or anything. Not because she can't, but because she gets serious fractals when she does. They're like visions, only made of just patterns and colour that show Eva the issues and problems people are hiding.

One good thing from these fractals is that they make her a great math tutor. Her maths skills are amazing, and when she touches anyone's calculator she can feel what math frustrations they have. Combining these two factors make Eva the best tutor, well, eva.

She has two students currently; Josh, the footballer and her best friend's crush, and the new kid, Zenn. Little does she know how both these boys are going to change her life...

Quick note: No, this is not one of those annoying love triangles.

Without giving too much away, it turns out that the circles of Eva and Zenn's life overlap more than they ever knew.

So the themes in this book are wide and plenty, ranging from religion to death of family, loss of virginity, first loves, best friends, and way more. I like how Eva is, at first, a very stereotypical nerd who finds most girls shallow and horrible, but that she allows herself to try makeup and become obsessed with a boy because she knows it's natural. Feminism should allow for love and crushes and makeup and girliness.

The writing is very appealing to the age group I think, the voice of Eva pretty accurate throughout the book. There is loads of humour, but also some pretty nice serious notes, too. The change brought on by her best friend beginning a relationship is very relatable, and well-portrayed. They drift apart, get new friends, but find their way back to each other eventually. It's quite sweet.

Eva's family is great, too. I won't ruin too much but her mother reacts so naturally to the circumstances.

My only real issue with this book is with the ending. I like that we don't know exactly what happens, but the whole deal with the scholarship/grant money... Hmm. Surely it would make Zenn angry to be treated like charity? And although it's nice, it's maybe a little too easy and perfect.

It was a really nice book. Not too long, but full of great content. Because of the ending, I will have to put my rating at 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5.

Ahhh this book was so cute! After my last read completely tore me to pieces, I was hoping to read something a bit more light-hearted and that's definitely what I got. This story was well paced and had a lot of humour and wit coming from the characters, especially Eva. I enjoyed every single thing about this book, from the connection between Eva and Zenn to the plot twists that I 100% never saw coming to really rock the boat and keep you on edge at all times wondering what would happen to the pair. So many issues are addressed in this book, such as family and friendship and how important the future is. Forgiveness and loyalty, and how social ranking really means nothing.

A full detailed review will be up on my blog http://adailycloud.blogspot.com on March 21st anticipating the book's release on April 4th but I would 100% recommend picking this heart warming book up!

I'm sorry but I'm not interested in finishing this book, I realized Im not in the mood for this and after 35 pages of trying to read it I decided I didnt want to bother wasting my time if Im not interested. Nothing personal, just not what I was looking for.

This was a cute read! The main character got on my nerves at first, but eventually grew on me! It was a little predictable, but there was also some good humor!

i've been devouring YA romances like candy lately, and this one has been my favorite in a while. The characters were interesting and unique. The storyline had a sweet romance but was deeper than just that. Very enjoyable read!