“What do you want, Marlowe?”

Thanks to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC!

This book is the ultimate love letter to the autistic teen and the autistic experience in general. I was never diagnosed with autism and tbh, I don’t know that I am, but I see SO much of Marlowe in my son - and have learned a lot about him, myself, and autism in general over the past few years and this book just makes me so happy… To learn more through another’s eyes. I love Serena Kaylor’s ability to show us Marlowe - not read us textbook definitions of ASD, but let us see the world through her eyes. And it’s so beautiful and inspiring.

I absolutely loved the discussions about toxic love, about learning what you want, figuring out your own life story and not letting anyone be your crutch. And I adored the discussion between Marlowe and her mom, Bunny. It’s so beautiful to read a YA book with supportive parents, especially with a neurodiverse child.

Then, there’s this lovely supportive (and slow burn) romance between Marlowe and Ash. You want nerd/emo he-falls-first? Here you go. It’s the teen romance of my dreams. God, Serena really knows how to hit the right notes: I also loved the romance in Long Story Short. And what I love about this one is that it wasn’t a copy-paste. Neither character felt like a rehash of her old ones.

All in all, there are no words I can use to describe how much this book truly hit me in my gut. And I LOVE that YA authors are now making books about neurodivergent characters- teens who don’t understand social cues, who need more time to process information… it’s so wonderful that teens nowadays get to see themselves in these books or learn more about others through them.

All the props, Serena. You AMAZE me. Looking forward to anything and everything you write.

Officially obsessed with Serena Kaylor. The Calculation of You and Me excels at its young adult romance. The author did amazing job at developing characters that you fall in love with in like twenty pages.
They were slow-burn and filled with sweet yearning, and the payoff was incredibly adorable. Overall, this book solidified Serena Kaylor as an auto-buy author for me.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.