BOOK DETAILS:
title: Love and Other Unknown Variablesauthor: Shannon Lee Alexander
series: none; standalone
publisher: Entangled Teen
pub date: October 7th, 2014
genre: contemporary, romance, realistic fiction, coming of age
format acquired: eARC; for review
links: goodreads, amazon, tbd, author site
synopsis:
Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.
The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.
By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared).
REVIEW:
What do you think is under the title?
- It think it's about Charlie venturing out of his comfort zone and finding things in life he never even considered finding
In general: (didn't like it, okay, liked it, loved it)
- It's been on my mind since I finished it a couple of days ago.
Why?
It always takes me long to finish a good book. And I sort of want to spank myself other head for it.
Love and Other Unknown Variables is a witty and a beautifully written novel. I requested is on Netgalley without so much of an idea as to what this is about--just that I knew I liked the cover, the title, and the synopsis.
This novel isn't something I'd seen coming. I thought it's like one of those contemporary romance YA novels with, you know, the typical fluffy romance YA novel plot/concept. Wrong. It would be hypocritical of me either if I said the concept was unique--heaven knows cancer novels are literally all over the place nowadays (thank you, The Fault in Our Stars), and honestly, if I knew initially that this was a cancer novel, I would have rolled my eyes and told myself that this would be another TFIOS. And thank god I didn't know of it initially, because if I did, I wouldn't have discovered this amazingly written of a book.
I loved everything about it except for one thing: there were times I thought the story is moving too slowly, but actually, once you get the hang of it, you'd never want it to end. I loved the main character being a hardcore math geek and all. Charlie Hanson is adorable. I liked his sense of humor, the fact that he sees math in things in daily life, hell, even the fact that he does physics homework for pastime--I refuse to believe that such human beings actually spend free time with equations and numbers.
This novel made me cry. So many times. The feels are being squeezed out of you before you know it, and we all know we like torturing ourselves with romance like this. It made me cry because of Charlie's observations, mainly. About how one will miss something when it's gone, about how something so small changes so many things in a span of time, about how he's willing to take all the risks--even though he knows bloody well he's gonna get hurt in the end.
Call me stupid or hopeless but I really hoped for a HEA. Even after everything went downhill. Because it made me cry like a baby and because it's cruel. But, oh well, it would be sort of cliché if it did, wouldn't it?
Smart, funny, and thought-provoking, Love and Other Unknown Variables is a novel you need to read--not only for the famous concept, but also for the lessons and realizations you just might come across with while on the journey with this book.
Love and Other Unknown Variables is a witty and a beautifully written novel. I requested is on Netgalley without so much of an idea as to what this is about--just that I knew I liked the cover, the title, and the synopsis.
This novel isn't something I'd seen coming. I thought it's like one of those contemporary romance YA novels with, you know, the typical fluffy romance YA novel plot/concept. Wrong. It would be hypocritical of me either if I said the concept was unique--heaven knows cancer novels are literally all over the place nowadays (thank you, The Fault in Our Stars), and honestly, if I knew initially that this was a cancer novel, I would have rolled my eyes and told myself that this would be another TFIOS. And thank god I didn't know of it initially, because if I did, I wouldn't have discovered this amazingly written of a book.
I loved everything about it except for one thing: there were times I thought the story is moving too slowly, but actually, once you get the hang of it, you'd never want it to end. I loved the main character being a hardcore math geek and all. Charlie Hanson is adorable. I liked his sense of humor, the fact that he sees math in things in daily life, hell, even the fact that he does physics homework for pastime--I refuse to believe that such human beings actually spend free time with equations and numbers.
This novel made me cry. So many times. The feels are being squeezed out of you before you know it, and we all know we like torturing ourselves with romance like this. It made me cry because of Charlie's observations, mainly. About how one will miss something when it's gone, about how something so small changes so many things in a span of time, about how he's willing to take all the risks--even though he knows bloody well he's gonna get hurt in the end.
Call me stupid or hopeless but I really hoped for a HEA. Even after everything went downhill. Because it made me cry like a baby and because it's cruel. But, oh well, it would be sort of cliché if it did, wouldn't it?
Smart, funny, and thought-provoking, Love and Other Unknown Variables is a novel you need to read--not only for the famous concept, but also for the lessons and realizations you just might come across with while on the journey with this book.
Quotes you liked:
Literature is different from math and science because we don't always have one correct answer.
Mi casa es su casa.
When most people think of explosions, they go for the Hollywood special effects version, with lots of noise and fire and people's limbs flying everywhere. In reality, the silent ones are more devastating.
"Sometimes life is like that, you know. It smacks us when we're down. The brave get back up. At least, they do in the books."
You are not an open book, unless that book is a mystery.
Make a three to five song playlist for the novel:
- Not a Bad Thing - Justin Timberlake
- My Heart is Open - Maroon 5
- Latch - Disclosure, Sam Smith
- Mama Didn't Raise No Fool - Magic!
- Tenerife Sea - Ed Sheeran
Rate it by stars/rubber ducks:
 |
| I would give this all the ducks if I could. |
Would you recommend it?
- YES.
Last words:
- The feels are real. I am still on a book binge--will forever be on a book binge. I need a physical copy of this novel in my shelves. (I suggest you get yourself one too. And then another copy for your friends, and neighbors, and dogs, and cats.)
- Thank you thank you, Entangled Teen (and Netgalley) for the ARC! :)
'Til next time!
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