- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was a cute read! the relationship between Ro and Miller was nicely developed into a raw slowburn, and i ached for the moments they spent together. the struggles that Ro dealt with as well were real and genuine, as she struggled with her dreams and her relationships, which feels so human to readers.

- this was a great read, and for anyone who likes contemporary and romance, this is for you!

Senior project gone viral! Contains a lovely array of characters. How does Ro grapple with these coming of age dynamics as she begins her senior year of High School? This is the story of a girl who grew up missing her mother, even if she appeared to bury these hurts and find solace and comfort with dear neighbor and family friend, Vera! She also has a emotional relationship with her father and I believe she truly does not want to disappoint him but as many of us also do...she has her own dreams, goals, and ambitions for herself and she wrestles with how to express this to a father who does really care and wants the best for his daughter, but may not see her for who she really is. This is a novel of discovery and reflection for all of us, no matter our age!

This was a fun read! Great enemies to lovers YA story that includes awesome women in STEM representation.

Ro creates an app for her senior project. The concept? MASH. That's right, the game many of us played to imagine our futures of living in a mansion in Hawaii with our crush and 24 children. It's just a fun app she created (with a retired behavioral scientist) until her influencer cousin talked about it and it took off from there.

This was a quick and light read but it also hit some important topics which I enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Determined to work in Silicon Valley’s tech space straight out of high school, Ro Devereux’s senior project is an app designed to predict one’s future to a 93% accuracy, including who one’s soul mate is. This is the story of her entrepreneurial journey as the app takes off and a fake dating scheme (childhood friends to “enemies” to lovers style) that ensues to prove the app is accurate, all while figuring out her next steps after high school and balancing her family’s needs.

Filled with heart, this coming-of-age novel is centered on the (un)predictability of life. It’s about how to take chances and embrace the unknown and unknowable that is naturally a part of life. There are some thought-provoking moments, many likeable characters, and lots of heart. I enjoyed the entrepreneurial side of the novel and following the journey of this tech savvy, clever heroine.

Overall, I’d recommend this to YA fans that enjoy the books of Emma Lord and Lynn Painter.

A story that is not only about predicting the future, via a game of MASH, but the story also explores the topic of all the things happening in the world of socials in the 21st century.
The writing style was engaging and easy to relate to. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fun , entertaining and lighthearted story.

I loved loved loved this book! I read the whole thing in 2 days and was entertained the whole time.

It was such a unique concept and executed so well. I loved Ro as a strong female character and loved the inclusion of coding and STEM. I enjoyed watching Ro's character development throughout the book.

I can't wait to read more of the author's (hopefully) future books!

I had to suspend some disbelief about the premise and some character choices, but overall o really fell for the characters and cried multiple times. It definitely got to me.

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux is my favorite kind of YA contemporary - romantic, melancholy, hopeful. It follows Ro, who creates an app based off the kids' game MASH. The app blows up, and ends up having to fake date her ex best friend to prove that the app's matchmaking feature is legitimate. I don't always love books about tech, because they sometimes bore me, but this worked because it also about human connection. This book has a lot of heart, and a lot of heavy emotions, but I think, in the end, brings a lot joy.

To me, the best part of this is the romance. Its childhood friends to enemies to lovers. And its fake dating! Its pretty slow burn, but the miscommunication that ended their friendship is actually understandable which was refreshing. Ro, and Miller, the love interest, just totally complete each other. They just make sense and it was really sweet to read about all the ways they had been there for each other, in childhood and beyond. They go through a lot, but support each other no matter what. It was very sweet and definitely felt reminiscent of Rachel Lynn Solomon's YA romance titles.

This book gets pretty at heavy at times. Ro experiences a major loss, and its truly devastating. This melancholy is what sets this apart from other YA romances, and I think its really well done. I think this book is very much about the dangers of growing up too fast, and the author gets this across in smart and poignant ways. I'm definitely considering this for our library collection and recommend it to fans of Sarah Dessen, Rachel Lynn Solomon and Emma Lord.

Finally, a book this year that I could not put down! I just loved this story and these characters. Journeying with Ro and Miller and Vera and Maren and Ro’s dad was just so good. I loved reading how Ro and Miller each changed over the course of the story, how they found their way back to each other. This is marketed as a slow burn but I wouldn’t call it that - more former friends to enemies to “we tolerate each other for money but act like we hate each other” to apologies and forgiveness to love. This story also has a lot to say about what makes life what it is and our choices and the things we do that impact other people. Just, all of it - 😘

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux has amazing relatable characters with a plot that will make your heart swoon in the best possible way. This was my favorite read of the month and is most probably going in my top 10 of the year.

The ending was beautifully done with some bittersweet moments which only add to the beautiful writing of Ellen O Clover. One of the best debut of 2023

THIS BOOK is something so special. Ellen is an incredible talent. From the first page you’ll be swept into Ro’s vividly imagined world full of unforgettable characters, emotional ups and downs, and twists and turns you’ll never see coming. The writing is impeccably clean and delicious, the romance sizzles and burns at the perfect pace, and Ro herself is exactly the kind of smart, strong, and yet heart-wrenchingly relatable female protagonist that we love to see. You won’t be able to stop turning pages. For fans of a perfect balance of high-stakes contemporary YA and deeply emotional storytelling, do yourself a favor and add this beauty to your shelf.

This was such a wonderful read and cute story.

For Ro's senior project she has developed an app based on a childhood games and cognitive behavior science called MASH. The app can with 93% accuracy tell the user their profession, location, and #of kids for the future based on how they respond to a survey and soon Ro would like to add the partner piece as well. After her presentation the app blows up on social media and is then picked up by an incubator called XLR8, they want to build and grow the app and to do so the match/ partner piece needs to work.

Ro is thrown into the real world really fast, while 18 she is still young in a lot of ways, but when offered her dream she jumps at the chance. When the app gets picked up she almost immediately signs a contract and effectivly gives up half of her app to them. In addition, she is now the face of the app and its new dating match functionality. What starts as fake-dating soon becomes more complicated.

Miller, the fake boyfriend, is hard to get a read on at first and seems so mad all the time. He does what he has to do but then intentions become clearer and it is swoon-worthy and so cute in a very PG way.

We have so many great elements to this plot and story, Ro is a strong, determined, and stubborn characters, thinking she knows what is best and running into trouble along the way. We have her and her overachieving 'match' Miller, who used to be best friends growing up but Ro ruined it, then we have some mom drama, STEM awesomeness, and in the end enemies to love. This was a slow-burn romance with so much depth around the tech work. While the story is told from Ro's POV, we also have some wonderful flashback scenes that are so well done and placed well too.

I really enjoyed the progression of the book and connected so well with the characters, because they are written so well and true to their ages. There were a few twists that seemed obvious to me, but I enjoyed the closure and I would love to read more about Ro and her life.

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❝ We are not only the things you've proven us to be with this algorithm. There will always be a space that separates us from computers, a gray area in which we are shaped by the influence of new friends, and inevitable surprises, and love. Still, after a decades-long career in behavioral sciences, there are so many things about us I can't understand. They're unquantifiable. They are what make us human. ❞

❓ #QOTD What life did your 18-year-old self expect to live? Are you living it? ❓

🦇 18-year-old Ro Devereux can predict your future; at least, with the app she created for her senior project. Inspired by the classic MASH game of the same name, the app can predict the "Core Four" elements of a person's future with 93% accuracy: the city you'll live in, your profession, how many kids you'll have, and who your partner will be. When a tech investment company offers to improve and market the app, Ro is one step closer to her dream of working in Silicon Valley. The company, XLR8, plans to use Ro as a poster child for the app alongside her soul mate: the childhood best friend she fell out with three years ago. Ro never anticipates the impact MASH could have on everyone's lives--and futures--though. Is accomplishing her dreams worth destroying someone else's?

💜 Ellen O'Clover brings her characters to life with stunning ease. From the moment we meet Ro and ex-best-friend Miller, there's more to learn, another unexpected layer to unlock, key to understanding their history and present motivations. She doesn't force-feed us the answers, instead giving us relevant flashbacks when we need them most. Falling in love with each character--their passions, their faults--comes naturally. (Yes, I did cry at one point, so grab those tissues!) The slow-burn romance is beautiful, the character development between Ro and Miller even more so. Every relationship Ro has--from her single father to mentor and surrogate mother--contributes to Ro's development in this coming-of-age story. The surprise reveal made me set my Kindle down for a second in rage on Ro's behalf. It's the novel's theme that struck me most of all: We change as we grow. Our futures aren't set in stone. We're more than an algorithm, too complex to capture in a formula. It's that unpredictability that makes life worth living.

🦇 There are moments when Ro's inner dialogue is difficult to get through. The belief that society would give so much power to an app is a little difficult to grasp as well. We needed some skepticism from a third party, which would have given Ro another source of conflict to contend with.

🦇 Seven Percent of Ro Devereux is an enthralling, slow-burn romance full of a fun, diverse cast. I recommend this contemporary YA novel to anyone looking for a comforting yet surprisingly enlightening read.

⏩ Friends to Enemies to Lovers
⏩ YA Debut
⏩ Second Chance Romance
⏩ STEM Protagonist
⏩ Fake Dating
⏩ Representation: Bi and gay side characters

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #SevenPercentofRoDevereux #NetGalley

Ahhh, Seven Percent of Ro Devereux immediately went on the "favorites" list. Absolutely adored this gorgeous, gorgeous book. The writing was absolutely wonderful and I am such a sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers trope. This one was fantastic.

Wow, such an interesting and intriguing concept that somehow worked so well and was not too unbelievable. Ro is such an interesting character and I loved watching her unfold.

I thank Netgalley, HarperCollins and Author Ellen O'Clover for an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Let me start off by saying that I wish I could give this book many more stars than what's allowed! Based on this debut I will read any book written by Ellen! I love her writing and there were several times that I re-read a sentence because the words were so dreamy! Ro is getting ready to face her senior year and creates an APP with the help of her long time neighbor for her senior project. Even though her mom chose to leave,Ro's love of all things techy stems from her(get it? STEM). THE APP named MASH predicts people's future,including employment and relationship. When Ro's cool cousin posts about the APP on the "gram", the school project snowballs into a chance at a future Ro could only have dreamed of. The caveat is that Ro use the APP to find and fall in love with the partner she is matched with. Feeling like she could at least feign interest in the guy,Ro takes the survey. Is it possible to be matched to someone she hates and is pretty sure that the feeling is mutual? How will she be able to get Miller on board to hold up his end of the ruse? Will it be worth it in the end? Seriously go read this book!! You will love a lot of the characters and get incredibly angry at a few others. Trigger warning: parental absence and neglect,illness.

now, i don’t know when this review will be posted. i’m currently writing this mid-strike. so, of course, i’m not posting this until, well, who knows when. but what i can say is it’s a bit of a shame that i can’t immediately rave about my first five star read of the year. and who knows if i’ll have none, one, or even ten more until then. ultimately, i’m so glad that this is my first five star read of 2023.

when i’d first heard about this book, i remember it pitched as a bit like a black mirror-esque story using the childhood game of MASH as a tipping point. and you might not know this about me, but i absolutely adore black mirror. its messy and scary and it’s the type of stories (many, which are set in our near contemporary world) that gives me the underlying heebie-jeebies. and that’s a bit what i was hoping for with this story.

now, i knew going into it that it wasn’t going to get as dark, this is a YA contemporary after all. but it has its sad moments and it has its concerning moments following ro (and miller) after getting unexpectedly thrust into the limelight. we see how people can be power hungry, how an image can be created and destroyed within such a short life cycle. we experience a flame catch over an imperfect app, changing peoples life trajectories. and i ate it all up.

i truly truly adored the tech side of it, even though i’m not usually the biggest fan of stories featuring fame or celebrities. but for this, we see how ro is still just a teenager, wanting to have her thing. wanting to do her best. wanting to prove her deep-set insecurities wrong. and that’s what kept me hooked. ro, and all her flaws. ro, knowing when she finally went too far and working to correct her mistakes. it’s humanistic.

oh, and of course throw in a little bit of second chance, childhood best friends romance and you’ve got the icing on the cake. honestly, there’s so much i could say about the parallels between ro and miller’s childhood and the events of the book. but we’d be here a while. just know, it was so so well done. at least i think so.

this whole book was just so technically polished, everything thought out so perfectly for me, but still so real and in the nitty-gritty of this teenager’s life. and i happily flew through it all.

-pacing was a bit strange throughout the novel, seemed to happen in bursts. sometimes it took me out of the story.
-i appreciated that we learned what the conflict between ro and miller was pretty early on and it wasnt this huge reveal towards the end
-OMG THAT PLOT TWIST!! HER MOM????
-absolutely LOVED miller’s character and how there also wasn’t this big huge friend fight with maren and ro that can happen in a lot of YA novel, they were all pretty good communicators
-the premise is obviously unrealistic, to the point of absurdity, especially the solution they come up with, but i still had a really good time reading it and really loved the characters
-overall i thought this was a fantastic debut and the ending really pulled it together for me

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Ro’s made family with her dad, Vera, best-friend Maren and all of her support system that she built after her mom left.

The author created a well-rounded cast of characters with their own flaws which I appreciated as sometimes it feels like the characters in YA novels are one dimensional. They’re perfect and have no flaws at all, which definitely isn’t authentic.

This was an enemies to lovers and second chance romance all rolled into one which I enjoyed very much.

Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I love a good YA novel that features girls in tech, and Seven Percent of Ro Devereux is one of the best I’ve read so far!

The story follows Ro, a high schooler who created an app (with the help of a good family friend who happens to be a behavioral scientist) based on the popular children’s game MASH (honestly, this took me back!! I didn’t know the kids were still playing MASH these days LOL). The app has a 93% accuracy rate (hence the 7% reference in the title) and hits all of the main points of the original game except for the partner match. Ro creates the app for a school project, but hopes that it can catapult her into start up success so she can skip going to college. When her influencer cousin mentions the app on her socials, it goes from being a school project to an online sensation, thrusting Ro into the tech world faster than she anticipated when a larger tech company offers to buy 50% of the rights to the app and help her distribute it.

Despite Ro’s father’s initial skepticism, she goes ahead with the partnership, and they immediately pressure her into adding the “match” portion, which gives the app a dating app type feel. In order to sell the “success” of the matching feature, they ask Ro to match first and then publicly date her match. This turns out to lead to a fake relationship because -surprise!- her match is her old bff who hates her now. If you like the fake dating trope, I think you’ll definitely enjoy this story, as it was cute and emotional at the same time, and I really did think Miller was an adorable YA love interest.

However, the romance wasn’t the main draw for me in this story, but rather the exploration of ethic surrounding Ro’s app. The science her and her family friend input into the app’s creation had been diligently tested and only focused on predicting a few categories. When the larger tech company gets involved, they not only pressure Ro into adding the dating/match element, they also start adding all kinds of random categories (breed of pet?) using some rather shady science to back the results. It soon turns into a runaway train that leads to long term relationships breaking up, teens dreams of certain careers dying, etc. It’s the classic case of something small turning into a massive monster that has escaped its creator’s control. It also brought up some interesting questions around fate vs. choice and how different characters interpreted the meaning of MASH on their lives.

Of course, in true YA fashion, Ro and Miller pull a stunt in the last act to “fix” things that 1) Probably wouldn’t actually work and 2) Would probably get them sued IRL, but it’s a YA novel so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There was also an interesting plotline regarding Ro’s estranged mother that was interesting but felt a tad convenient at the end.

Overall: I think this novel is a really strong addition to the girls in STEM sub genre of YA books, and is very on trend for the current times.