I love that the math/science elements of this book are more than just a gimmick. It's not just that it is set at an academy or that Evie is "really into math". It's a vital part of the plot. It forms the lens through which Evie views the world. Also, there are some frank discussions about privilege and prejudice. How much harder it will be for Evie to get taken seriously because she's a girl. How she has to consider things that Caleb never even thinks about. And yet, her own place of privilege based on her private school education and whiteness. And I liked the view of relationships. Sure, we all know from the start that Evie and Caleb will end up together. But that doesn't invalidate their other relationships. They can like different people in different ways.

There were elements I didn't like as well, most of them involving Bex. To be clear, I liked the character. I like the way she supports and challenges the main characters. She presents her own concerns and biases. But she's also largely there to prompt discussions about religion and femininity. The religious discussions are fairly elementary, not what we would expect of advanced students. I do appreciate that Bex is both a woman of science and a religious person, a combination generally not present in books. But her conversations about beauty and femininity bothered me. She won't let Evie wear bland clothes when presenting. She has to look "amazing", like she has some obligation to natural beauty, like she has an obligation to play up her feminine characteristics.

Overall, I feel like the positives outweigh the negatives but I also would want to discuss them with teen readers, to encourage them to read those scenes critically and consider the messages they convey.

It’s wasn’t that it was bad it just wasn’t remarkable. A story that just been reworded but told many times.

This is a YA friends to lovers rom com! It’s super cute and is about Evie and Caleb, besties who grew up next door to each other. Evie is a math brainiac and Caleb is a baseball playing coder. Evie struggles with anxiety and panic attacks; her mom makes the situation even worse, but Caleb has always made her feel safe! Caleb has been in love with her since they were 13. Evie is finally starting to explore dating; will Caleb ever be able to win Evie over as more than just friends??

Things I loved:
💕 Girls in STEM represent!! As a woman in STEM, I loved that Evie was kicking ass and taking names. And I really loved the exposure the author showed of how women in STEM feel: the pressure, the isolation, etc.
💕 Caleb was literally making me laugh out loud. His dialogue in relation to Evie dating and just in general was cracking me up. He also wants to go to MIT so is into Boston (brownie points there!).
💕 I loved the exposure and highlight of mental health.
💕 Alternating perspectives/chapters. Every other chapter is told in Evie or Caleb’s perspective but the story doesn’t repeat at all, it just continues on in whichever perspective the chapter is told from.
💕 The title plays into the book very nicely and in a really cute way!
💕 Evie and Caleb were truly the best of friends and so comfortable with each other. I loved all of their moments together.

Things that I didn’t love:
⚫️ As much as I love math, some of the Physics talk was a bit much for me. I enjoyed some of the parts about math and coding though!
⚫️ I didn’t like Leo (Evie’s first bf) at all. Even though Caleb thinks he’s a nice guy, I didn’t feel the same. He moved a little fast and was kissing Evie all the time; I felt like he didn’t even care to ask what she was comfortable with. Evie thinks to herself when Leo calls them bf and gf in public, shouldn’t there have been a conversation about that; I totally agreed with her.

Loved this audio book. This is my new way to read book. Listen to them is my new normal. Must listen to book. Really enjoyed this book.

This was a cute story. As a whole the characters were adorable and I can see it being relatable for teens. The setting and character quirks were unique and the dynamic together almost seemed impossible at times. Easy recommendation to young teens looking for a instalove story.

Cute. Fun. Light. Fun.

Meeting Evie was like walking in a meeting my daughter for the first time. She was exactly her but just as a character in a book. I could relate to Evie. I wanted her to open up and fly. I wanted her to open her eyes to what was before her. Caleb was a friend. Watching these two make decisions was fun.

Nick Mondelli and Elizabeth Cottle did a good job with the dual narration smart girls, love struck boys and the quantum theory. I felt a fresh connection with Evie and Caleb. They both were experiencing a little something and Nick and Elizabeth provided the extra push for bonding with them outside the words on the page.

As the Mama to some highly anxious children, this book resonated with me. The characters are real and their interactions draw you in, leaving you wanting to know them more. It took me a minute to get in to the story, but once captured it didn't let me go. I stayed up till 4 AM, reading it in one sitting. I simply couldn't wait to know what would happen next.

My favorite part of the book is the relationship between Evie and her Mom. I have found my children's anxiety is either heightened or calmed by my reactions to situations. Being the opposite of an anxious person, I had to learn that anxiety in this extreme is very real. This book, its message and characters, showed me how far I've come and encouraged me to do better.

It's a delightful story, fun and captivating. I highly recommend it to any in the mood for a fun teen romance.

This book reminded me of Eleanor and Park, which was one of my favorite audiobooks. The perspective switches between childhood best friends Evie and Caleb. They are going through the growing pains that go along with high school as well as feeling the strain of an unrequited crush altering their relationship. One of them is sure that they would be great together with their basis of friendship and the other is too afraid to risk it to try. This book touches upon many of the struggles of growing up and even includes representation of a high school student with anxiety without making that the characters defining characteristic. I think it is a great listen for high school students who may be struggling with relationships, anxiety, or just the changes that come with growing up.

I was in the mood for a cute romance and thought I would take a chance on this somewhat nerdy version. I have to say, I was not disappointed!

Our main characters, Evie and Caleb, were a treasure to follow and were held up so well by Becks and Leo. The backstory on Evie and Caleb is a long one and was given throughout the story in a way that flowed so well with the present. Their slight touches and little thoughts made huge impacts with the reader.

I felt that dealing with first love, unrequited love, social anxiety, and ridiculous math skills would be way too much to handle in one book, but Parks wove them together spectacularly and had me smiling, giggling, and all sorts of other emotions. The math aspect was treated well so that my literary brain didn’t fizzle out when dealing with it. The mental health issue was tackled from both perspectives and delicately shown how to properly cope (and possibly overcome) certain scenarios.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future and getting this book out to my library patrons who will love this quirky tale.

The audio was a standard, robotic reading that neither heightened, nor took away, from my experience. It was clear and understandable.

I really liked this book and I think it's very interesting the characters were so original and the attention grabbed my attention from the start

This was a cute lighthearted romance. Caleb and Evie are best friends and both harbor feelings for each other. However, Evie, being completely inexperienced in the romance department, doesn't realize how she feels. Meanwhile, Caleb wants Evie to realize that they can be more than friends, and that it's worth the risk.

I love that it's told in alternating views and that we get into Caleb's head as well as Evie's. I think this creates a sufficient amount angst. I love friends to lovers romances and I think this was done very well. Their relationship progressed naturally. I also loved the fact that Caleb was more into Evie than she was into him. I love when the guy pursues the girl. I love how supportive he was of her and her quirks and idiosyncrasies. All in all, this was a fun book that dealt with some serious mental health issues yet still had me walking away in a good mood.

This book is the book of my nerdy teen selfs dreams! Being able to see how my past self could relate to these characters and knowing other teenagers could pick this up and see themselves within the pages is such a nice feeling to have when reading a book! The plot was overall fun and I found myself listening for hours at a time, until I had finally reached the end. I also liked the narration, it was easy to follow and they were voices and tone you were okay with listening to for the whole duration of the book!

I loved this book so much! What a great way to normalize mental health issues to teens and young adult readers.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy for my blog recently and then saw that the book was on here. I was so happy to get the chance to listen to this story. As a mental health advocate, I really loved how Amy explored options of therapy and medication and exposure therapy. All of these are ways I cope with my own mental illness. The love story was perfect. Five stars easily.

4.5 out of 5 stars

This was an overall fun book with a lot of interesting elements.

The fact that this story was set around a STEM school and a STEM competition was pretty cool and unique.

My favorite character was Caleb, and I enjoyed the moments with him and Evie because they had such a great relationship. They had so many heartwarming moments together, and I liked that they knew each other so well.

Also, even when Evie was really oblivious, she was still pretty endearing. Although, I did feel bad for Caleb a lot because Evie just didn't notice how she affected him.

Besides Caleb and Evie, none of the other characters were that likable or memorable. Leo was kind of meh because of how he was with Evie before he got to know her very well. I couldn't stand Evie's mom at all, and the things she said and did to her were awful.

I enjoyed that this story featured both Caleb and Evie's POVs because it made the story more interesting.

My biggest problem with this book was that it contained a lot of anti-Christian comments. I felt that these remarks were unnecessary to the story, and it made me dislike the characters.

As far as the audiobook format, I thought it worked well for this story. I enjoyed listening to Nick Mondelli and Elizabeth Cottle narrate.

Overall, I think this is a fun and unique young adult novel.

This was such a sweet and fun story!! I’ve never experienced a best friends to lovers story but I really enjoyed this and highly recommend! I related to Evie so much

I enjoyed this audiobook. I thought it was cute, nerdy, and fun. The narrators were absolutely excellent! Loved the back and forth chapters and their voices were fantastic. It was a cutesy YA version of The Big Bang Theory, essentially.

The start and finish of the book were well-paced but the middle dragged on a bit and I found myself not paying attention as much. I loved Evie’s character and I can picture her turning into a more confident young adult. What I did not like was the relationship with her mother.

I also did not care for Caleb. He was a “player” and I did not like the fact that he was a little toxic, making up a profile to have Evie fall for him, etc. For a book that felt like it could have been more empowering and feminist because it profiled a young woman in STEM, it fell a bit short.

Overall, a cute and fluffy little listen.

Synopsis: Caleb and Evie are best friends, since they were kids they have been inseparable. Caleb has always thought that once Evie was ready to date, she would date him. Caleb has been in love with Evie for years and has almost kissed her 17 times. Evie has never really been interested in dating anyone; too preoccupied with her Mathematics and her anxiety to have the time to worry about boys. Caleb and her therapist make Evie braver, maybe even brave enough to enter the prestigious physics paper competition Frontier and brave enough to say yes to the new boy in school who has been flirting with her.
Caleb is horrified as he watches Evie start to fall for the mysterious new boy, Leo - why would she fall for her best friend with a mysterious stranger around? Caleb decides to use the anonymous online forum to get Evie's interest.

My Thoughts: This was a really cute YA romance - I'd say if you like Jenny Han or Rainbow Rowell you would enjoy this book. The audio narration was great - alternating between narrators for Evie and Caleb. I didn't love the catfish aspect of this book with Caleb catfishing his best friend on the anonymous Frontier website. I really loved Evie's growth throughout the book, dealing with her anxiety and overcoming hurdles in her life. She did remind me a bit of Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, but that is probably because that is my favorite show so I could be projecting. I did receive this audiobook free from Netgalley and Amulet Books in return for my honest opinion.

TW: Anxiety, panic attach, cat fishing

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Seventeen-year-old Evie has never seen the point of dating, being too busy at her advanced STEM academy and dealing with severe anxiety. Evie's best friend, Caleb, has always assumed that when Evie did gain an interest in dating, she would end up with him. Now, however, Evie has started dating the new boy in school, Leo, and Caleb realizes he can't just stand by and watch her be with someone else. Evie, meanwhile, is learning how to juggle dating, school, and working on her submission for an advanced math seminar.

First of all, I am so jealous of Amy Noelle Parks for having the talent to understand such advanced math and science topics AND to be able to write this well! It's been 15 years since I got my bachelor's degree in math, and this made me want to go back and take more classes. I love a good friends to lovers story, and this one did not disappoint. Aside from the romances in the book, it also covers a lot of heavy issues – anxiety, discrimination against women in STEM fields, religion's sometimes anti-science bias. These topics were all well handled. I enjoyed seeing the instances of Evie using her CBT breathing techniques to handle her anxiety, as opposed to just magically being cured with no effort, as happens in some books. I enjoyed both narrators in the audiobook.

Released January 5, 2021

I received an audiobook ARC of The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss thanks to the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary thanks to NetGalley:

“A debut YA rom-com about smart girls, love-struck boys, and quantum theory

Seventeen-year-old Evie Beckham has always been too occupied with her love of math and frequent battles with anxiety to want to date. Besides, she’s always found the idea of kissing to be kind of weird. But by senior year, thanks to therapy and her friends, she’s feeling braver than before. Maybe even brave enough to enter the national math and physics competition or flirt back with the new boy. Meanwhile, Evie’s best friend, Caleb Covic, has always been a little in love with her. So he’s horrified when he is forced to witness Evie’s meet-cute with the new guy. Desperate, Caleb uses an online forum to capture Evie’s interest—and it goes a little too well. Now Evie wonders how she went from avoiding romance to having to choose between two—or is it three?—boys.”

Review:

Have you read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before? Do you remember how it felt to be Lara Jean? That is Evie 100%, but Evie struggles with mental illness and is a math/physics genius. I absolutely love her. And Caleb is so immensely sweet and adorable as he tracks every time they ‘almost kiss’ (aka times where he really wants to kiss her and almost does before backing down). They’re best friends, and losing that would be losing everything.

This is the epitome of contemporary YA with a strong friends-to-lovers vibe that has you rooting for Evie and Caleb from the start. But life isn’t that simple and Evie, oblivious to the fact that Caleb is a BOY, finds someone else who gives her butterflies. The story revolves around this triangle as you hope it doesn’t crash and burn.

The narration is perfection and when mixed with a wonderful plot-pace, it was a book I didn’t want to pause and dreaded finishing. I cannot wait to see what else Parks puts out into the world because I just know if it is even remotely as good as this one, I will be obsessed.