Actual Rating: 4.5

My expectations were low for this book, as I don’t typically enjoy main characters that prefer scientific explanations for everything that has ever happened. This book was so much better than any of those other books, though. There was a romance that I enjoyed and I found the characters very endearing. I loved the friendship between Evie and Caleb and every character’s personalities. There were many times this book had me laughing and grinning.

Since I listened to the audiobook, I thought I should mention that I enjoyed the voices of the narrators. The acting in this audiobook was great and I didn’t cringe when the male narrator tried doing a female voice.

I never wanted this adorable book to end and I hope there will be other books for the other characters!

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss is a smart and funny story about life-long best friends Evie and Caleb as they attend an elite boarding school for geniuses. In the book we see Evie figure out how to navigate various anxiety disorders while exploring romance for the first time. Caleb, meanwhile has been in love with Evie most of his life but worries about ruining their friendship if he were to pursue it. This was a very sweet book that I listened to in a single day. I was extremely hooked and charmed by this book.
As someone who deals with anxiety, I appreciated the care the author took not only to portray this side of anxiety but also the narrative choices themselves were very anxiety friendly. There were several points in the story where things could have gone way worse and each time I felt my anxiety beginning to rise at a particular possibility, the author swooped in and subverted my expectations in the best of ways. Like I would be sitting there going oh no this is about to go very bad but then it would tilt and go in a more pleasant direction and I was pleasantly surprised and delighted. That is certainly not easy to pull off but goodness was it appreciated.
On the whole though, this book had such a healthy perspective on dealing with anxiety and it was refreshing for once to have the story take place after the big break down and to show the main character in therapy and healing from it instead of chronicling the big break that necessitated therapy. I loved that. I love any fiction that normalizes talking about mental health and therapy so this got two big thumbs up and a hearty thank for that if nothing else. We need more books like this that show that you can heal and learn healthy ways of coping and deal with mental health in constructive ways.
I also think it was a smart decision to go with the alternating POVs. I liked getting to see both sides and how that would let us in on some of the shenanigans and miscommunications. It was a lot more enjoyable and interesting to see how Evie and Caleb respectively thought of each other and what was happening.
I enjoyed both narrators as well, they both were good fits for their characters and well-matched. There are some audiobooks with two narrators that I really struggle with because sometimes one narrator is a better performer than the other but, happily, that wasn’t the case here. It is always nice when I can just listen to the story without being distracted by narrators I don’t like.
I had a good time with this audiobook, and I was thrilled to have been granted this from the publisher on NetGalley. This was a solid 4.5/5 star read for me and a great audiobook as well!

This was a fairly cute romance between two best friends stuck in a "will-they-won't-they" scenario, but the scenario lives inside the head of one of them for most of the book.

I appreciated the representation of anxiety and other people's roles in the life of our anxious heroin.

Though I finished this a few days ago and kind of forgot about it, so I'm unsure what I think about it.

Pretty cute and easy to listen to.

To start off, I liked that in this story it was the guy pining over the girl. Caleb was in love with Evie and she was the one saying no to a relationship and dating another guy. So often it's the girl wanting the guy to notice her or see her as more than a friend so I appreciated the change. I didn't like that Caleb dated every other girl at school (almost literally.) It made him a player and wasn't fair to the other girls that he didn't really care about and of course it made Evie not want to date him. She thought she'd be just another notch in the belt and it would ruin their friendship.

Evie has anxiety and panic attacks, but is managing them well with therapy and medication. I liked seeing realistic mental health written, especially that it's not something that rules your life and there are ways to still accomplish all your goals. Caleb won me over with the sweet way he cares for Evie and understands her so completely.

The plot was okay, there were some slow parts while we were waiting for them to go to the competition. I thought the ending was cute and the narration for the audiobook was done well.

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks, 368 pages. Amulet Books, 2021. $14.
Language: PG13 (14 swears, 1 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Caleb and Evie have been friends forever -- and Caleb has been in love with her for most of that time. Meanwhile, Evie has only been in love with math. Until now.
From the first page, I fell in love with Caleb and Evie and their story. I love their cute nerdiness, their endless supply of adorableness, and their witty lines; but the thing that captivated me the most is how tangible their personalities are. Caleb and Evie feel like my friends because I feel like I know them well enough to recognize them if we could somehow pass each other on the street. Their story is humorous and heartbreaking and enjoyable from start to end. I’m already planning when I can reread it. Note: I listened to the audiobook, and it is read by two voice actors as they read alternating chapters from Caleb and Evie’s points of view. They did an amazing job, and I know they are at least half the reason I love this book. The mature content rating is for innuendo.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Story: 4.5 ⭐️
Steam: 1 🔥 (YA Romance)
Audiobook: 5 🎧

This book was so so so cute!! I adored it honestly. I love nerdy romances and this one certainly delivered!

This friends to lovers romance was perfect for those who love protective, lovable, reliable, classic golden retriever heroes 🤣 our heroine is brilliant, soft spoken, and a bit oblivious in social situations. I loved the peek into what it’s like to be a woman in STEM and seeing a girl kick butt at math!

We also got to see our heroine overcome her anxiety and learn to trust herself which was amazing.

Audiobook Performance: Fantastic. Both narrators did an amazing job and both sounded like how I would imagine the characters. Perfect!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an audiobook to review in exchange for an honest review.

This was the cutest book!! Evie is attending a private school. Everyone there is smart in different sciences. Evie has anxiety. She is working on it, but she doesn't understand social cues as well.
Who will she end up with? Her best friend for years or a great guy at school? What will happen when she stands up for herself and realizes that her therapy and being herself has helped her enough?
The narrator's were wonderful and you felt like you were watching a movie or you were just in the mix of things.

I loved the voices of this audiobook and I’m so picky! I thought the story was so cute gave me such a Big Bang Theory and Atypical vibe.

This book is a YA romance between two best friends. Caleb always wanted to be more than just friends and one day, an almost kiss happens but Evie quickly turns him down, saying no. After that, Caleb tries to do some damage control but he hasn't forgotten what he wants and he still hopes to get there someday. When Evie has her first boyfriend, Caleb ends up chatting with her under a false name to get closer to her.

Overall, for me, this was an okay story and I like that the book included mental health rep but unfortunately, I was never convinced by the romance. I found the way Caleb lied about not wanting anything more from Evie uncomfortable and weird sometimes and I also didn't love the plot about the anonymous chat.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

The fact that this audiobook was read in both a female and male voice really made the emotions pop for me. I loved all the characters and their roles in the whole story.

Caleb was the sweetest most thoughtful boy ever. The way he could understand and read Evie was pure. Although it seemed like Evie was out of reach for so long - he stuck around to be there even if it was on the sidelines.

Evie needed to give herself more credit. she is dealing with serious anxiety. although she has gone through a lot emotionally and physically she picks herself up and gets out there - she is my shero

Becks is also one of my favorite characters - she's like a guardian angel whom everyone relies on for guidance. I love the fact that they incorporated a religious vs science aspect to the story,. In conclusion - Love! and I hope Becks is the main women in the next one

I really enjoyed this book because it so cute and nerdy. The narration was great and really added to the story. The story perfectly describes anxiety and insecurities that almost anybody would feel.

Book 283 for the year! 4/5 stars for this nerdy ya contemporary! Great coming of age story. Perfect for fans of Geekerella. So beautifully nerdy! If you enjoy math/physics and a cute story then please give this one a go! Not my favorite cover. Loved the dual narration!

*I received this book in exchange for honest review from Netgalley* Book releases January 5th 🎉