I DNF'd Serena Kaylor's debut release a few years ago, but I really loved The Calculation of You and Me. Marlowe was so sure of herself—she knew her and her friends were strange, but they stayed true to themselves. She through writing love letters to her ex, she was discovering that he wasn't a great guy at all.

GENERAL INFO

The Calculation of You and Me-a standalone

Publication date: 6-18-24, Read 6-13-24

Format: e-Book, 297 kindle

🙏🏾Source: Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC🧡! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance

Tropes: small town, coming of age, neurodivergent h, dating coach, opposites attract, book lovers, divorce

Setting: Riven Haven, GA

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Marlowe Meadows is a self-admitted calculus nerd who was in love with Joshua Stallings the "it guy" at school. After two years, he breaks up with her because she wasn't romantic enough towards him. He knew about her autism and taking medication, but still asked for a break. When Marlowe gets put together with the "goth guy" Ashton Hayes to work on a English class project, she agrees to a business arrangement. If Ash, lead singer of Never Mind the Monsters and avid romance reader, helps her write anonymous romantic letters to get Josh back. In exchange she will revamp his band's online presence to get them some gigs. Can Marlowe get Josh back or will she formulate a new plan with Ash?

Marlowe went from the "in crowd" dating Josh to becoming a social pariah. She did have two BFFs Odette and Poppy who were supportive and protective. Josh was the popular guy who wanted to have his cake and eat it too. Marlowe was obsessed with him and believed herself in love, until Ash accepted her for who she was. Her mother Bunny also gave her a great talk about Josh and love.

AUTHOR OVERVIEW

Serena Kaylor- new to me author

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 4 ⭐

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: maybe

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

COMMENTS/NOTES: I'd recommend this for high schoolers because it addressed being different, bullying, and coming of age in a clean romance.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 18, 2024

I was so upset at the beginning of this because no one seemed to call out her patronizing, manipulate ick-monster of an abusive ex. Thankfully everyone comes to their senses in this one and by the end I felt like I would fight anyone who came for Marlowe! This gave me some 10 Things I Hate About You vibes and I was definitely cheering on the sidelines for this to go a certain way. Great cast of supporting characters in this YA romcom!

Marlow found herself!

Marlowe Meadows was devastated when her boyfriend broke up with her because she wasn’t romantic enough because he made her feel bad when she didn’t follow along with his plans. Marlowe decided to figure out how to be more romantic by getting lessons because she had never failed anything. But getting paired with Ashton Hayes for a project and finding out that he worked at a romance bookstore. Marlow getting help from Ash made her realize that there was more in life than trying to get Josh in her life.

I really didn’t like Marlowe when the book started because her boyfriend Josh Stallings put her in a box but she figured out who she was with the help of her friends and family plus romance books.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a bit over the top for my tastes. Dropping the neurodivergent a bit too frequently, lest the reader forget. It was also incredibly angsty (even for ya)

Marlowe Meadows is a genius when it comes to math, science and mushrooms but needs help in the romance department. When her boyfriend turns their summer break into a breakup by telling Marlowe she’s bad at love, she resolves to get better and win him back. She enlists grumpy goth musician Ash Hayes to help her learn romance. Before long Marlowe finds that she doesn’t really know the answer to “what do you want, Marlowe?” after all.

This was a super cute YA romcom with excellent representation on many fronts. I loved Marlowe’s friend group of Odette and Poppy and how they worked together to embrace their diversities. I loved that Ash wasn’t the stereotypical hot jock that so often gets the girl in teen romance. I love that Ash really helped Marlowe be honest with herself when discovering what she really wanted.

The last chapter is one of the cutest things I’ve ever read and had me kicking my feet and grinning like a fool. I am so completely charmed by Ash and Marlowe!

Highly recommend this one for all the YA romance lovers out there!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own. The Calculation of You and Me will be out on June

*All of my reviews are spoiler-free!*

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!*

When I started this book, it struck me as a typical high school romance. The main character is dumped, and she asks another boy to help her win her ex back. But, this book has such surprising depth that it had me turning the pages faster than I could have ever expected!

Marlowe seems like your typical teen girl who has been dumped by her boyfriend. She is embarrassed and desperate to win him back. What I didn’t see coming was her autism diagnosis. She is very open about her struggles with typical social situations, as well as “appropriately” showing affection. I loved that this book discussed this topic so openly and honestly. I feel like it is fairly rare in YA to see the female main character struggle with autism. We see it a fair amount in male characters, so this was a refreshing change of pace for me.

Ash is my new favorite dark and moody teen. He puts up this moody and gruff persona, but he is really a sweet, sensitive little teddy bear on the inside (albeit one that is dressed in all black with smudgy eyeliner). I loved seeing Marlowe and Ash become friends and bring out sides of each other that they were afraid to show to the world.

Marlowe and Ash’s friends were so much fun, and I loved when they all started to intermingle. I liked that Marlowe’s friends were so supportive of her, even if they didn’t feel like she was making great decisions. Love a good female support system!

Overall, I thought this was such a sweet romance! It was a lovely story of finding yourself and not making your entire personality about who you happen to be dating. Not to sound like an old lady, but this is such an important message for teenage girls 🙂 Pick up this book if you want to read a great romance with some depth and lovely friendships.

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

I gave The Calculation of You and Me 4.5 Stars!

Rating:4.5/5
I received eARC for my honest opinion

This book is about a girl named Marlowe, and after having her boyfriend of two years break up with her during the Summer break she is determined to make it right with him. However, there is one small hitch to her plan, he broke up with her because she was not good at all the love and romance stuff that he was craving. Marlowe gets Ashton, a student in their grade, to agree to help her understand the art of romance, but she wasn’t expecting to start having feelings for Ashton while doing this. Who will Marlowe pick, Ashton the eyeliner wearing gothic or the jerk that dumped her?

I loved this book. The author did an amazing job with connecting high school life drama to readers of all ages. I could relate to the characters and I understood the reasons why Marlowe felt that she would have to change the person that was to make someone else happy. I thought the pace of the book was good, I didn’t feel as though it was dragging in areas. I thought the author handled the autism rep well, I didn’t see any harsh representation on it, but more of an understanding on how people with autism handle things differently. I liked that it was talked about throughout the book, because it was something Marlowe understands and accepts but she would like to better herself in different areas. I liked that it was not the main focus of the book. You will find friendship, love, romance, acceptance and understanding, great rep for Autism and overall a really cute romcom. Oh and chow can I forget to say the slow burn romance in this book was done so well.

Marlowe, I would love to be her friend. I love how she thinks and plans things out. I can understand that is more of her Autism side of her but having a family member on the spectrum I have found myself loving those qualities. She is smart, determined and funny. I loved that she wasn’t scared to have to learn new ways to do things that fit her, when she was showing her love. Also, to have another book nerd that happens to fall in love with romance books because one night she picked up a historical romance novel. Ashton, I really liked this character a lot. He is smart, knows what he wants, he is confident in himself that he doesn’t care what others think of him. He wears eyeliner and gothic clothing but he is also in a band! When I found out where he works, in a romance book story!!!. I fell in love with him right away, not just because he works there but he also reads the books too. I liked that he didn’t judge Marlowe, he accepted all of her for who she was and didn’t want to change her but help her understand what she needed.

I loved that in this book you will find a great read, but so much more you will see an understanding of yourself/acceptance and your own worth. It’s a powerful book with great meaning. I highly recommend this book to all readers.It comes out on 6/18

I want to thank NetGalley and St.Martin Press for the opportunity to review this book.

This opposites-attract romance was really wholesome & entertaining!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Calculation of You and Me is an absolutely adorable slow burn strangers-to-friends-to-lovers small town YA romance with on-point neurodivergent representation.

The takeaway of this book, for me, was to get rid of anyone in your life who doesn’t see and accept the fullness of who you are! Don’t change yourself to fit someone else’s expectations. There are people out there who will see you, validate you, and love every quirk. A message for teens and adults alike!

(I also learned a lot of mushroom and jellyfish facts and I’m here for that.)

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I had such a fun time with this. I read it at just the right time when I needed something breezy and light hearted. Another well written YA from Serena. I do wish Marlowe's autism wasn't such a passed over discussion but also I'm glad it wasn't the full focus. I ended laughing out loud at a couple of parts and that is usually a hard thing to come by in YA anymore for me, however the over use of 'hot' for Ash was A LOT to handle.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for this arc.

The description of the novel is what attracted me to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype. While I do enjoy the Teens & YA genre, The Calculation of You and Me didn't resonate with me. I found the writing style a bit too juvenile and more in line for middle grade readers.

The story unfolds through the lens of the main character, Marlowe and appears to follow a friends to lovers trope. It would have worked had it not been for Marlowe's obsession with her ex-boyfriend, and her desperation to get back together with him. It was this obsession that put me off. It was time to get over it and move on. But for a younger audience, this storyline would probably be popular.

I didn't finish the novel early on as I just couldn't get invested with any of the characters. They were all too young and immature for my tastes. However, I do see the attraction it would have for the pre-teen audience.

Since I didn't care for the novel and didn't finish it, it rates one star for me. However, I'm sure that a younger audience would enjoy this high school drama.

I received a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

I loved this book. And I knew I would so I put it off. Because Serena Kaylor’s last book was so extremely wonderful, that I was devastated to have to wait so long for another one.

But man, Marlowe felt like me in high school. Minus the mushroom facts. That’s never been my special interest. I was her in the sense of feeling like an outsider looking in and settling for less because what if it’s all that’s offered.

And man, Ash is the broody, romantic poster boy for The Cure and all of our teenage dreams.

I loved this book and if it weren’t after 1am and I didn’t have to wake up for work in a few short hours, I could wax poetic about Kaylor’s beautiful writing and how she makes math sound wistful and infuses scientific imagery into describing teenage longing.

Seriously, snatch this book up—it’s easily one of the most adorable love stories of 2024!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and to Dreamscape Media and LibroFM for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Just before summer break, Marlowe's boyfriend announced they needed to take a break because she wasn't good at relationships. Now they're returning to school after a summer apart, and he wants nothing to do with her. When they are assigned to work together for a school project, bad boy Ashton volunteers to trade places and work with her instead.

I really enjoyed this YA romance. I found it an incredibly quick read (a single afternoon). The plot followed precisely the path I expected, but the journey along it was great.

Ashton's character had a great deal of nuance. And I especially appreciated seeing Marlowe's relationship with her little sister and parents. But what I found most unique was how well her autism was portrayed.

I would have enjoyed a bit more math. Despite the title, the primary school subject was English. But I ended up loving that since I absolutely agreed with Marlowe and Ashton's take on Wuthering Heights. And I loved the description of an all romance book store and of several characters learning to love the genre!

4.25 stars

Yes, the plot will be familiar to anyone who has read a rom-com book in the last decade -- but as a late-diagnosed autistic woman who was broken up with randomly (with no closure!) as a teenager by a boy named Josh, this book was both comforting and healing in a way I didn't know I needed. For 25 years, I have wondered why my soulmate just stopped loving me one day...and now it's clear I missed a few things along the way.

I loved the friendships in The Calculation of You and Me, I loved the family relationships, and I loved all the "behind the curtain" romance talk (every conversation with bookstore-owner Sloane felt like breaking the fourth wall!). Ash is adorable, as you would expect in this kind of book, but the real love story is Marlowe discovering her true self and figuring out what SHE wants from life.

My thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of "The Calculation of You and Me" in exchange for an honest review.
Serena Kaylor pulls off what I think is a remarkable achievement - to fashion a story comprised of every familiar, unsurprising YA romantic trope and still keep readers fully engaged with its lead characters, anxiously cheering them on through every speed bump on their ride to an HEA.
Your heart aches right away for autistic calculus whiz Marlowe, dumped by her boyfriend Josh in a particularly cruel way. Marlowe's crushed by him telling her she's simply not wired to comprehend and respond to romance and love. Though it's pretty much clear that Josh's charming popularity masks an abysmal human being, Marlowe's determined prove him wrong and w00 him back with flowery prose......as soon as she figures out how.
This daunting task leads her to make a 'Cyrano' bargain with her new unlikely partner in a required English Lit class project on romance novels., the black-clad, moody Ashton. Though seething at Josh's treatment of Marlowe, he reluctantly agrees to help her in exchange for her applying her savvy marketing skills to boost his talented garage band.. Naturally (as if you didn't know), this puts Marlowe and Ash in close proximity to each other. Hmmmm....what could possibly come from that?
I hardly need to describe how the rest of this plays out, but I don't think anyone picks up a book like this for outrageous twists and reveals. The very familiarity of what happens won't stop any reader from quickly turning those pages to reach that warm hug of a satisfying ending. The bonuses along the way are the ample helpings of wit and wisdom that the author provides (I especially liked Odette and Poppy, the usual BFF Greek Chorus to all the proceedings.)
As well worn as these tropes are, it didn't make the calculated plot turns of 'Calculation' any less fun to read. And a perfect poolside or beachside companion, or just cozy up to it any time at all.

Started but did not finish. Unfortunately, I didn't jive with the writing style - perhaps too young on the "young adult" side.

3.5 rounded up. Thank you to Serena Kaylor, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for this ARC of The Calculation of You and Me! All opinions are my own.

This is a cute, YA, neurodivergent love story set in a small town and with all the familiar antics of a young adult romance. I always love seeing an autistic heroine learning to be unapologetically herself, which this books gives with Marlowe.

I took a star and a half away because some of the plot details felt either a little too old and inconsistent for the age of the characters. Maybe I went to a more restrictive school, but a teenager in high school having a lip piercing definitely wouldn’t have flown in my high school so I doubt it would work in a south Georgia school 😅I think this part of Ash’s character as a “goth kid” went a bit too far. Also, as a 17/18 year old, it felt like he had the romantic knowledge of a grown adult man, which was slightly odd. Maybe this whole plot would have benefitted from aged up characters with more worldly experience?

Also, not that I know anyone who goes into YA books looking for math, but for all that the plot synopsis hinted at Marlow loving calculus and using it the help Ash, as well as the use of “calculation” in the title, this book mentioned calculus a single time and mentioned math maybe five times? Just a weird marketing angle to take if that’s not what the book was really about.

Overall, this is a cute YA romance with lovely neurodivergence rep.

*Possible spoilers below*

POV: single first person

You can expect: musician MMC, high school setting, forced proximity, classmates, romance novels as a teaching tool, small town.

Rep: bisexual MMC, autistic FMC, queer side character, nonbinary side character, asexual side character, misophonia.

CW: neglectful parents

This is the stereotypical love triangle story where a guy breaks up a girl who wants him back only to fall in love with the broody guy who is helping her try to win back the ex-boyfriend. It’s a cute, quick read!

Marlowe 's boyfriend just broke up with her. And her brain is not just able to take it. She wants to get him back, even if it takes asking the gloomy goth lead singer to become his romance tutor. Ash thinks it's a bad idea.However, Marlowe just offered to make sure that his band will get the attention they need.

This title is everything to me. I'm a STEM girl myself and I'm all over this. But I am saying this now, I wish there was more Math! I know it's not the point, but I just wish there was more nerdy things included. But, not gonna lie, I did like them bonding over mushrooms.

Anyway, I'm already in love with Ash. More sensitive goths/emo love interests please! You just don't see it often anymore, which is fine. But I just loved the personality differences. Marlowe was also an excellent main character. I love her thoughts and what more can I say about her character development. I love the perception of self love on here. It is so organic and natural.

I truly enjoyed this book and I love that it show cases how important romance novels are. It's like an homage to romance novels and how it's not only entertaining but how it may also be life-changing.

This is the first book I read from this author, and her debut book is already in my to-read list. I really enjoyed this book.