writing this review the day before release day!! sorry!! this was such a swoony read and i adored the romance and the friendships in this story, if you enjoy YA romcoms, then this is for you! thank you for this arc!

3.5 ⭐️

With a traditional matchmaker for a Great Aunt, Gigi Wong tries to spice up the old matchmaking ways with the use of coding and an app. The idea is also perfect for a junior coding competition. The only thing is… the app goes viral at school, and it causes a whole lot of ruckus and scandal among the students, her friends included. Between living up to her parents’ expectations, being caught between friendships, and romantic feelings with her best friend Kyle, how does Gigi juggle it all?

I love stories with STEM in it, and while this was a YA, I adored the coding aspect of it. When it came to the friendships, I liked the various characters, especially Etta and her Filipino culture, and of course Kyle. There were so many moving parts though that I was easily distracted on audio. Overall, it was an easy and entertaining read for those who like cultural YA with vibrant characters.

Love, Decoded by Jennifer Yen is perfect for Jenny Han and Jane Austen fans. This sweet, fast-paced rom-com is equal parts hilarious and heartfelt. A well-written story that is sure to stay with you long after reading.

Fans of Jennifer Yen’s 'A Taste for Love' will be happy to return to its romantic world in 'Love, Decoded'. This time around we get a story about James’s little sister, Gigi, and readers are in for lots of drama with her!

I absolutely loved 'A Taste for Love'. Despite my addiction to reading every 'Pride and Prejudice' retelling out there, it was a solid story on its own. I was positive that I was going to enjoy 'Love, Decoded' just as much even if 'Emma' isn’t my favorite Jane Austen book. Sadly, it fell short for me and left me disappointed.

Gigi lives her life trying her best to be perfect at everything. She’s trying to be a good daughter, matchmaker at her aunt’s business, student, and a friend to the new girl at school. We get to read about all of this in Gigi’s life and this made for a lot of different plot lines. At times it felt overwhelming to be inside of Gigi’s head and the story’s pacing didn’t always work.

If you’re familiar with Jane Austen’s 'Emma' then you won’t be surprised when I admit that Gigi wasn’t always likable. Jennifer Yen does a great job tackling Gigi’s privilege throughout the story and handles her character development really well. There were moments when I enjoyed Gigi despite her constantly judging others. I think by the end of the book readers will be able to root for her happy ending.

'Love, Decoded' is more of a coming-of-age story rather than a rom-com. The romance between Gigi and her childhood best friend, Kyle, was extremely lacking. I thought that we would be getting a lot of cute scenes shared between the two of them, but honestly, Kyle was hardly in the book. He didn’t play a major role in the story and this was disheartening because I love a good friends-to-lovers story.

Overall, I enjoyed 'Love, Decoded' but it didn’t stand out to me. I wish there was less going on, especially when it came to the characters besides Gigi and Kyle; keeping up with the different relationships between all of them was confusing. I think cutting pieces of Gigi’s story out of this book would have helped it feel more balanced. I definitely would have been able to connect with the characters more as well.

If you were a fan of 'A Taste for Love' then I think you should still give this book a try! Plus, James and Liza have a sweet cameo! Readers will be able to relate to Gigi’s growth and realize that it’s okay to not always be perfect at everything.

LOVE, DECODED follows Gigi as she navigates new friendships, a coding competition, and matchmaking. This had elements I really like, but they weren't executed as well as I'd hoped they'd be. I definitely think this would appeal to those reading on the younger side of YA; at 19, this felt a little immature. There's a lot going on in this book--like I said, there's new friendships, a coding competition, Gigi's family interactions, commentary on classes and wealth, a romance--and because of the many topics, none were as fleshed out as I wanted them to be. There was essentially no chemistry between Gigi and her love interest, which I found very disappointing since this seemed to be marketed as more of a YA romance than anything. The coding element was fun and I enjoyed seeing Gigi learn what she was passionate about, but overall this fell flat for me. I would recommend it for younger readers though!

The concept of Love, Decoded drew me in. I love a good Woman in STEM novel, and also a school scandal? Not to mention friends to lovers. This book had everything I needed. While at first I found Gigi pretentious and self-centered, her character grew on me. I enjoyed the development she went through and at the end of the book, I found myself deeply relating to her. However, I did find many aspects of the book confusing. It was extremely unclear at times who was dating who, or who liked who- I was flipping back and forth trying to catch up when they mentioned another couple out of nowhere. The main relationship also seemed underdeveloped and hastily done, although I still enjoyed the pairing. Love, Decoded was also chock full of pop culture references, which I always have mixed feelings on. Overall, a light and fun book to read while I was procrastinating on my very own AP Computer Science project (definitely could not relate to Gigi's motivation in that area!)

Love, Decoded is such a good time. It’s a bit of a trainwreck (aren’t most rom-coms?) but a very entertaining one nonetheless (I don’t know what that says about me). We follow a girl named Gigi Wong who is Chinese and heiress to her great-aunt’s matchmaking business. However, after she submits an app of her own creation called Quizzlet to a competition for a highly esteemed internship, her life is turned on its head.

This is apparently a take on Jane Austen’s Emma, which I should probably read at some point? I loved how Gigi has a passion for computers and coding, and that leads to her creating an app with the intention of helping people make friends. It’s amazing seeing how many Asian characters are in this book and how fully fleshed out they are, each with different interests and hobbies.

Love, Decoded is far more of a coming-of-age story than it is anything else. Gigi makes friends, loses friends, and has to come to terms with her own prejudices and selfish wants. This book was uh…a little hard to read at times because of that. Gigi is rich rich. As in, when she goes shopping with her underprivileged friend Etta, she recommends a four-hundred dollar sweater like it’s nothing. Who has four hundred dollars to spend on a sweater? Why do rich kids have this much money? Am I just getting old and prickly?

She is just so oblivious to how rich she is. I’m pretty sure at least half of the designer brands in existence were mentioned in this book. I gotta say though, I did like the shoutout to Cha Eunwoo.

Anyways, Cha Eunwoo aside, Gigi is pretty annoying at times. She is not very in-tune with the people around her, and not in a socially awkward way. She is just rather ignorant. I will say that I loved her best friend Kyle, and her new friend Etta a lot! I actually enjoyed the dynamics and personalities of most of the characters in this book. I think that some interesting topics such as the biracial identity crisis and being true to yourself were just glossed over in a way that actually fits the tone of the story really well. It never felt like too much, but just enough.

The plot at times was kind of all over the place. On the one hand, we have Gigi trying to be a matchmaker. On the other hand, she’s putting together Quizzlet and working day and night on it. Sometimes, she’d be incredibly kind and thoughtful. Other times, she’d be strangely cold to certain people for no reason? And then we have a possible love triangle but not really? It really was a trainwreck. A very, very entertaining one that I couldn’t put down.

If you’re expecting a romance, you might want to reel in your expectations. The romance is very slowburn, and the love interest actually doesn’t get a ton of page-time. That’s why I’d definitely call this is a coming-of-age story with romantic side plots and undertones, just like Emma.

I absolutely adored this book! It took me forever to realize that this was a companion novel to Jennifer's first book but I loved that it did because I would've been wondering about past characters throughout...it also was the sister of A Taste Of Love's hero so the viewpoint was very different. I enjoyed all the witty banter and friendships in this book as well as the journey this MC went on. I pretty much flew through this book because I was having so much fun reading it and laughing quite a bit of the time!

Dnf at 27%

This is basically gossip girl but with if Serena knew how to code. Gigi is insufferable and so self absorbed. I can’t tolerate reading any of her interactions with people because she comes off as such a spoiled brat.

As for the writing, it’s extremely bland. There’s plenty of action description describing the exact directions of her walks home. But the only “physical” descriptions are of peoples outfits because that’s really all Gigi cares about.

There are mentions of Covid but I guess it’s passed because no one seems worried about masks or anything like that. There seem to just be a lot of references like that or pop-culture mentions to try and make Gigi seem super relatable.

There’s also the classic attempt at a make over for the new student who sticks out like a sore thumb. But it’s so toxic and manipulative, Gigi’s only helping her because they have to be seen together.

This book was just no it for me, it was far too high school and only focused on superficial drama from what I read.

This book pleasantly caught me by surprise! I have very little interest or experience with coding, yet that was not a barrier for understanding and enjoying the plot of this book which surrounds a coding competition. All of the characters had a depth that was revealed as the story continued, and I found myself being emotionally invested in almost every character even though there were a lot of different plotlines occurring at the same time. Discussions about what it means to stay true to yourself while being there for your loved ones whether that be friends or family were present throughout the entire book. Love, Decoded is as much a friendship love story as it is a romance. Gigi’s relatability allows the story to progress at a really natural pace. We all have moments where we forget our privilege, where we get so focused on a project that we forget to be there for our friends and family, where we work ourselves a little too hard, and Jennifer Yen makes the space for us to do so with this YA contemporary novel!

I was really excited for Love, Decoded, after hearing all about A Taste for Love, but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. I think other people would really love it, but I just really struggle with Emma retellings and finding main characters likable. I understand that's the point of Emma, but something about Gigi just didn't click for me. I ultimately thought this story was very sweet, and true to the original story.

Thank you Penguin Teen for giving me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute classic romcom. I loved how it was an Emma retelling. Everything about this book was good. I loved the characters, and I also really liked how we saw the main character genuinely mess up and face consequences for it.

It wasn't just a romance, there were also valuable lessons taught too.

The one thing that I didn't enjoy as much about this book was the dialogue. At times it felt unnatural or forced. Also, when I finished the book I found myself wishing that we could have seen more of Kyle and Gigi!!

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)

Thank you PenguinTeen for this eARC.

Unfortunately, this was not a book for me. I was pretty disappointed. It was described to me as a rom-com, but severely lacked in the romance department. The two characters that did have a small romance interacted like 5 times over the course of the book. So, don’t go in expecting a rom-com and maybe it won’t be as disappointing. Also, I don’t know if it was just me or not but I found myself skimming the last few chapters. I honestly got so bored.

In addition to that, I don’t like the main character at all. I found her to be too shallow. Her conversations lacked depth. I also found her/the book to be very classist. She goes in and “saves” the poor scholarship kid. Why does the poor character have to struggle with fashion and makeup? It’s so stereotypical…it’s cringe-inducing. Like, it was an entire point that because she’s poor, she’s lacking in the fashion department and is clueless about how to do makeup…oh, and of course nobody wants to get to know her. I rolled my eyes so hard I had to grab them from off the floor. Why couldn’t it just have been a new student that struggled fitting in? Why did it have to be a poor student? Maybe I’m making a big deal of this, but as somebody who was a scholarship student, it was pretty icky.

Lastly, the main conflict was a little too unrealistic for me. The main character kept saying, “Why wouldn’t people just text each other?” ….. EXACTLY. If you’re going to cheat, I have a really hard time believing teens won’t just send the answers on a group message or an email.

Overall, a bust for me. I really wanted to like it more than I did, but I couldn’t. I really hope that somebody else discovers this book and loves it.

Jen Yen at it again! I LOVED A Taste for Love, and was so incredibly excited to get my hands on this. I was not disappointed, and I loved every second of this sweet, feminine book. How many girls do we see in YA that can code? Gigi was such a badass, and I loved going on this fun journey with her and her friends. I would definitely recommend this if you want a light-hearted, matchmaker MC who cares about her friends and discovers what love really is.

I had a lot of fun with this author’s debut and couldn’t wait for her next book, especially because of the premise! It has been a couple of years since I read A Taste for Love, though, so I didn’t even realize that this was about James’s sister until I started this. Love, Decoded was a cute best-friends-to-lovers Emma retelling with a coding twist.

Gigi has been learning the ropes of her great aunt’s matchmaking business for years and has been bugging her to go digital for about the same amount of time. When Gigi’s computer science teacher announces that she’s planning on nominating one of the students’ apps for a contest with an elite internship as the prize, she would do anything to win. Meanwhile, Gigi takes Etta, a scholarship student, under her wing and tries to help her fit in more. Soon, she realizes that she can combine her current app with her aunt’s matchmaking questions to help Etta make friends, as well as win the contest. However, her complete obsession with the app brings her to a crossroads with her best friend Kyle and Etta, and she must decide what’s more important—her friends and family or her dreams.

I’m not sure why, but when I first read the summary of this book, I didn’t realize that it was an Emma retelling. It wasn’t until I started it and reached the part where Gigi takes Etta under her wing that I connected the characters and the matchmaking to that. I haven’t read Emma although I’ve seen movie adaptations, and from what I know, this book follows the source material’s plot pretty well with a modern twist.

I liked the characters! Gigi can’t help but meddle in her friends’ and family’s lives because she cares so much about everyone in her life. Meanwhile, Kyle is a constant in her life, providing support and comfort when she feels like she doesn’t have anyone to turn to. While Etta seems like a lot at first, it soon becomes clear how sweet and kind she is.

I also liked Gigi’s relationship with her family! She’s very close to her parents, even more so now that her brother is away at college in Houston. They are extremely protective of her while also being a bit absent from her everyday life because of how busy they are, but their reassurances that whatever she does is good enough make her feel like she’s not allowed to pursue her own dreams. This is partially why she wants to win the contest so badly, and it was interesting to see her navigate this.

The romance was cute. Kyle and Gigi have been best friends forever, and they often have teasing conversations where everyone can see their chemistry with each other. Of course, Gigi doesn’t see the signs, even when Etta points them out to her. It was cute reading about her realization moment and how Etta steps in to mend their rift.

I also liked the coding aspect of this book, particularly how realistic it felt! I feel like some books like to hand-wave building an entire app into an entire weekend instead of portraying the reality of the amount of time that goes into it. Gigi’s intense focus on working on her app, and how she unintentionally neglects her time with her friends because of the sheer amount of work she had to code, made sense to me.

I will say that this book felt a bit unbalanced in terms of pacing. I read the first half so quickly without realizing it, but the second half slowed me down considerably. This occurred because so much of the big events of this book happen in the second half, with many of them then feeling rushed. Also, why name your app “Quizzlet,” which is phonetically the same as an already existing app? Those are just my thoughts though.

Overall, Love, Decoded was a cute story with a best-friends-to-lovers romance. I liked the characters and the family dynamics. If you’re looking for a contemporary with a coding protagonist or an Emma retelling, you may like Love, Decoded!

"Kyle smirks. "Gigi Wong, are you calling me hot?"
"Full of hot air, maybe."

Matchmaking, a viral app, and a scandal! An Emma retelling set in the A Taste for Love World. Hello, James' little sister, Gigi! I enjoyed Love, Decoded; however, I had a hard time keeping up with the relationships and who was with who. (Probably my age LOLOLOL). I wanted more Kyle Miller and Gigi Wong scenes. Love, Decoded is perfect for readers who like coming-of-age stories with family, friends, culture, and ladies in STEM.

THINGS & STUFF:
-friends to lovers
-super sLoW bUrN
-matchmaking
-NYC setting
-Crazy Rich Asian's meets Emma
-sponge cakes
-women in STEM (programmers)
-anime & gaming
-kpop
-#IsThisAKissingBook: 16+"I'm soon lost in a flood of sensations."

Thank you Penguin Teen for an advanced copy!

So I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t finish this book because there was just a LOT lacking in the story. I loved the concept and I thought it was going to be a really great book, but I made it last 100 pages and realized I simply did not care about the characters or what happened in this book. I think my main issue with the the main character, Gigi. She is a very rich girl who seems to have everything handed to her in life and yet all she did for the first third of the book was just complain about the most trivial things. Also, I know that this is supposed to have remnants of an Emma retelling, but it did not work out for me because it seemed to have kept more of the rich classist side of that story, instead of the nosy matchmaker side. Gigi is very rich and the fact that in todays day and age, she still doesn’t realize that not everyone has as ,cub as she does just seemed too unrealistic.. Also, Yen made at least three references to Covid and I would like to leave that in the real world. So, I just did not connect with these characters and did not care enough about the story to finish this.

Gigi Wong is torn between her family's business of matchmaking and her love of coding. Her solution? Make a friend match-making app and submit it to a national competition in order to prove that she is both amazing at match-making and coding. But of course, problems arise when the app grows beyond its intended purpose, and Gigi is left dealing with the fallout.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I thought that the friendship/relationship between Gigi, the mc, and her love interest and best friend, Kyle Miller, was super super cute! The romance was introduced pretty late in the book, and I wish it could have occurred earlier, but the other plotlines in the book were engaging enough that I didn't really mind it. One of those included how Gigi befriended the new kid at school who arrived on a merit scholarship, Etta Santos. Their relationship was well done and Etta was just so adorable! I loved her from the very beginning and felt for her when her and Gigi's friendship went through the gutter. I also loved how cute she and Tyler ended up being. Gigi's friendship with her academic rival Anna Tam was also super cool, as new information about Anna and their former best friend Joey Kwan was revealed. I loved how the love triangles kept forming and unforming, although I can see how this might be an issue for other readers. This book also had a very slow plot, as the climax doesn't happen until very late in the book. I didn't take issue with this, but again, I can see how this might be unfavorable for some.

Overall this read was so lovely and I will definitely be rereading!

A cute coming of age story!! I was very intrigued when the headline was “for fans of Jenny Han”. This was titled a romance which is the main reason I requested, but it was lacking in romance, it wasn’t even slow burn, just a barely there romance which is fine since the story was interesting but it wasn’t what I wanted to read.

Love, Decoded is a story that follows high school student Gigi who wants to take over her great aunt’s matchmaking business. An overachiever, Gigi feels the pressure to do more even though she’s juggling so much already. Determined to reach valedictorian status and prove those around her wrong she decides to bring her app “Matchmaker 3000” to bat and dabble in love herself. But when things go wrong how will she make it right again?

From the very beginning of the story, I love that Gigi seems like a well-rounded person. She’s overly busy but seems to enjoy all the things she does inside of school and extracurricular activities. She’s passionate about coding and I like that having the main character invested in the stem field. Combining elements of culture (history of matchmaking) plus technology was a cool concept.

On top of coding, this novel also brings up discussions around bullying, social groups, economic gaps, and above all navigating high school. It reminds us that the high school experience is a slippery slope full of ups and downs. It can be hard to make friends, fit in, and get adjusted to new surroundings as Etta is a new student from school. In befriending Etta, Gigi realizes just how many biases she actually has and it forces her to reflect on how she’s acted in the past and relationships that are strained because of it.

Overall Love, Decoded is a cute fluffy YA read. It’s wholesome and has an overarching theme of choosing the path you carve out for yourself with a bit of romance. I love how Gigi is so passionate about coding and even experiences are friendships and important life lessons along the way. My favorite parts were the one-on-one sessions with her Auntie Rose who helps her decide what’s best for her.