CAN I GIVE IT AN 8?!!!?!? Seriously!!!! This book! For the love!!! So ridiculously beautiful and sweet and poignant and well written and just really really lovely. I adored it so hard. Here’s why:
I am an old broad. But, as a high school librarian and lover of story, I read almost exclusively YA titles. So, I learn A LOT as I read a title like this. See, in the olden days when I went to school, we had a very limited view of what it meant to be autistic. And a book like this, from an author with the gift of “instructive” writing that is still so very soulful, can educate me about neurodivergence in all its, well, glory.
Thank you, Serena Kaylor. You are a new favorite and I so look forward to your next gem! 💜💜💜💜💜📚

“The Calculation of You and Me” gets off to a slow start. And it is somewhat disappointing that Marlowe is so desperate to get back together with Josh, who clearly is not good for her. However, once Marlowe and Ash start spending more time together and she allows herself to open up to new experiences and ideas, the story improves. I liked that the small town had a bookstore devoted to romance novels, and that it was Ash, a man, introducing romance novels to Marlowe and her friends (Odette and Poppy), flipping the stereotype.

This is both a love story and a finding-yourself story. As Marlowe navigates the aftermath of her first heartbreak (and aims to win his heart back), she finds herself in an unexpected new friendship with bad boy Ash. What really stands out about this book is the seamless integration of neurodivergence, with Marlowe’s autism portrayed as a layer of her identity and the way she navigates through the social world of high school.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I adored this book! It was exactly what I needed. Marlowe made me smile throughout the book.

Marlowe is lovely high school senior who loves math and her two best friends. Her high school boyfriend dumped her after two years at the beginning of the summer saying she wasn't good at showing her love to him. She gets paired with goth musician Ash for an English Lit project and Marlowe gets him to help her woo Josh back. Sweet young adult romance--highly recommend.

Let's say the world needs more teenage boys like Ash. He reminds me of Abby Jimenez's male characters which are just wonderful.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

I had so much fun with this book! It was a bit slow to start, but the characters' characterizations drew me in. The main character's friendship with her friends was really realistic and reminded me of my high school experience. The autistic representation was welcome and well done. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC, I read it in one day!

This is how YA is done. Marlowe, Ash, Josh, Odette, Poppy, and Blue are all very much teenagers dealing with teenager things. Nobody seemed to be growing up too quickly, they are all trying to learn to be their own age, and dealing with heartbreak and moving on at an appropriate level. A lot of YA misses the mark, or honestly I could be getting too old to read YA.

The storyline is familiar but still manages to be unique. I did think the beginning was a bit choppy, and I did have some trouble placing people in the scene and certain timelines, but overall this was a great read.

I really enjoyed this book. I only picked it up because I'm a math teacher and the cuteness of calculation got my attention.
I finished this book in 4 days. Granted I have to teach.
Marlowe is the main character., struggling to get her ex-boyfriend back.. You know how life is. She teams up with her classmate Ash, and that romantic journey begins. Slowly simmering. Nice progressions.. The characters are entertaining. The fieldwork dates cute, adorable touches.
Enjoy this story!
I just reviewed The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor. #NetGalley

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, in return for an honest review.

Neurodivergent/autistic Marlowe is a senior in high school whose boyfriend of two years, jock Josh, breaks up with her right as senior year begins. Josh breaks up with Marlowe because she is "not romantic enough". Simultaneously, Marlowe gets partnered with Ashton (Ash) the very tall, all-black wearing, guyliner adorned "new" kid for their senior English project. One thing leads to another and Ash makes a deal with Marlowe--if she will help with some grassroots PR for his band, Never Mind the Monsters, he will educate her in how to be more romantic.

I adored this book. The writing is snappy, funny, crisp, and clean. The characters are well developed, diverse, and friends anyone would love to have (Odette and Poppy are just delightful). The family dynamics of Marlowe's mom, stepdad, and half sister are supportive and realistic. Poor Ash's parents having to travel all the time felt plausible too. I thought this was a sweet story of helping Marlowe find out what she wants through "romance fieldwork" and reading romance novels for research. It's a little predictable and the scenes are just oh so perfect. I enjoyed the depiction of Marlowe's autism through her narrator perspective. And Ash is just...swoon. what a cinnamon roll wrapped in all black.

I also appreciated that Marlowe only gets kissed, nothing else physical, because I think that is appropriate and respectful for where the characters are age-wise and relationship-wise. Super cute, well-written, well-paced and it will stick with me awhile.

I didn't love it nor did hate it. It is a quirky YA rom-com. The characters are interesting but I had trouble resonating with them. Just wasn't the book for me when I read it

This was such a sweet YA romance with fantastic representation. The ending felt a bit rushed but this book gives all of the sweet and fuzzy feelings one could want from a romcom.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This was described as Ali Hazelwood-esque and I do see that, but I also think this author has similar talent and dedication to neurodivergent representation that really reminds me of Mazey Eddings. Both of these comparisons are notable because I love both of those authors!
I WISH this book had been around when I was a teen, I think it would have made me feel seen and also been a story I could actually relate to, unlike most YA romance available in my day that was totally unrelatable and made me feel bad about myself for its lack of convergence with my own life. Bravo, I’ll look for more from this author.

While this book has a bit of a slow start, once the action kicked into gear, I couldn't put it down! The representation in the story with regard to Marlowe is fantastic. I think her neurodivergence is handled in a very delicate way that makes understanding her thought patterns and processes easy to understand and relate to. I also really loved that she had such great friends in her corner--female friendships that are full of love and support, especially teen ones, are so important!
When it came to the romance story, I was enthralled! Ash is such a good match for Marlowe. His patience, kindness, and understanding were all excellent traits, of course...but it was the way that he showed such respect for her and appreciated her nuances that really sealed his perfect "book boyfriend" status.
All in all, I think this is a wonderful story that is going to appeal to teens, tweens, and new adults. There is something here for everyone, with fantastic representation, females lifting each other up, and an empowering couple leading the story.
I've never read anything else by Serena Kaylor, but I can't wait to find more from her. Her style is really fun to read, and I can't recommend this one enough!
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had an ARC of this book and had a difficult time putting it down. The characters and their decisions were realistic, making the story plausible and entertaining. The FMC friend group reminded me of my friends in high school. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was one of my favorite romance books of 2024. I am looking forward to reading her first book soon!

I will read everything Serena Kaylor ever writes. Heartfelt and so swoony, The Calculation of You and Me is a dream of a book I would have adored as a teen (and adore all the same now.) If you need me, I'll be telling everyone run, don't walk, to grab this book when it releases!

This was such a cute book. Marlowe is such a sweet girl. She is autistic, but that's not who she is. She navigates through her year learning that we all love differently and there is not a thing wrong with the way she loves. I truly enjoyed reading this book.

The Calculation of You and Me" is a super cute high school love story! Follow Marlowe’s journey through her last year of high school, with the support of her family and two best friends to help realize that what she thought she wants isn’t actually what she deserves. Really love the book, so happy to had the chance to read it. First book I read by Serena kaylor and will be looking forward for more of her projects.

This book is the definition of cute. If you want a fun romance between two unlikely people, then this is the book you’ll want to pick up. If you are a fan of Serena Kaylor’s previous novel, Long Story Short, then you will absolutely wanna read this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I will give my thoughts once SMP addresses their readers with an explanation. Until then, all my reviews will be withheld.

something i always have, and always will, love about serena kaylor is her absolute commitment to making science and art kiss on the mouth.

there’s not quite as much science in this one –– i found myself missing how deeply statistics was woven into beatrice in Long Story Short, and, as one reviewer has already put it, marlowe waxes poetic about it in her narration, but there is not enough math! there’s also a touch of the impromptu hacker about her, which always grates me: the plot needs her to program bots and game the social media algorithms at some point, and the skills appear out of nowhere, as if talent in math and computer science always go hand in hand. i thought we weren’t lumping all of nerddom together anymore!

but where this book is patchy as a love letter to math, it’s rich in other places: the way kaylor writes about the pain of wanting to belong in high school in a small town is timeless but never cliché. there’s a gorgeous, quiet heartbreak in the way marlowe twists herself into something she isn’t to match with josh, the boyfriend she starts the book wanting to win back. the romance book store that features in this book is filled with lovely detail and local charm. and ash, the cyrano of the piece, is shown loving music and romance and storytelling in all these specific, emphatic ways –– kaylor is somehow able to make him marlowe’s highly charismatic guide to artistic and romantic realms she hasn’t visited before without it ever feeling heavy-handed or mansplain-y. one day, i’ll write a medium essay about romantic heroes in eyeliner, but that’s for another time.

on the whole, The Calculation of You and Me manages to pack the entire highlight reel of high school rom-com tropes into a non-stop litany of familiar delights. it doesn’t get as outrageously funny as cyrano tropes sometimes allow –– though after The Half Of It (2021) why would anyone bother swinging for the same stands? —- but it’s tender and it knows what it wants, and it’s so gratifying to see marlowe find out what she wants, too.

Marlowe Meadows has a problem. Her boyfriend of the last two years just broke up with her because he doesn't think she is romantic enough. She is assigned to work with a partner, Ashton Hayes, on a project for English class, and when she discovers, by mistake, romantic lyrics Ashton has written for his band, she makes a deal for romance lessons in exchange for helping his band go viral. What Marlowe discovers is that there isn't just one formula to be romantic and a math genius can be romantic, given the right person. A very sweet love story!