Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had a great time reading this book. It was sweet, fun, but also covered a few serious topics and had a neurodivergent mc.

I am a reader who is very driven by characters. If I don’t like them, then I can’t like the book. I genuinely liked Marlowe, her two best friends, Ash, his band, and Ash’s colleague Sloane. The characters we were supposed to dislike were realistically (mostly) terrible. Plus, I want to go to the bookstore where Ash and Sloane! It sounds amazing.

One of my favorite things in this book was that Marlowe was not a fan of the romance genre at the start but dove in after being convinced to give them a try. Seeing her joy at reading was a delight. The growth of her relationships, with her friends, mother, sister, and Ash, kept me hooked. I was honestly rooting for each of them.

I definitely recommend this book if you want a charming YA book about learning who you are and what you deserve.

Serena Kaylor’ writing is like a warm hug, and the mix of academia tinged with some romance made quite a compelling story that kept me invested till the very end. I so loved and enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this! My favorite part was Marlowe herself: her voice, her humor, how she approached the world. Her autism is different than mine, but I really enjoyed how it came through on page and impacted how she engaged with situations without being overblown or a caricature. She's confident and matter-of-fact and a delight to read.

I also loved Marlowe's family. Her mother and stepfather are so supportive, even if they're very different than Marlowe, and her relationship with Blue was so quintessential sibling and I loved the push and pull and love and frustration and misunderstanding. Her friendship with Poppy and Odette was also fun and supportive.

I liked Marlowe's dynamic with Ash, even if it wasn't the highlight for me. I like how he clearly likes her sense of humor and rolls with whatever she puts out, and he works so naturally with her style. And it's really understandable how he'd be frustrated with how she keeps following Josh when from his perspective it wasn't a good relationship, and how he has a hard time seeing it from Marlowe's perspective because he was biased because he liked her. Their dynamic was fun and I liked how it wasn't really denied or a secret to either of them that they liked each other.

There's just something so great about reading a YA book as an adult that you know you would have ADORED as a teenager. That was what reading The Calculation of You and Me was for me. Marlowe is fresh off a break-up with the Josh, the popular jock. She's always been the "smart girl" so this relationship meant she was in a whole different social experience. Her English class finds her paired up with Ash, the emo kid. Ash agrees to help her win Josh back, but as the story goes, Marlowe starts to wonder if that's really what she wants. This was just a delight of a read, and I love the way there was humor and honesty sprinkled throughout. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this June 2024 release!

Serena Kaylor writes the books I want to read. Romance and swoony moments are fantastic, but her creation of real and relatable characters are really what make her writing magical. I can give this book to many of my students and they will see themselves in the diverse and entertaining cast of characters. I devoured this book, waiting for Marlowe to realize her value and that it is ok to ask questions and learn about the world, while not letting her autism put her in a box. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Very clever book while still having the warm familiarity you want in a YA romance. There’s a romance bookstore as a major setting, what more could you want? Was saddened by the acknowledgments that the author doesn’t feel like a real author, I think the author did great and should be proud of themself!

Positively delightful. I smiled through this entire book and finished it in record time. Marlowe and Ash were so fun to read and the side characters like Poppy and Odette really make every scene enjoyable. I liked it so much I wanted to go see what else of the author I could read only to discover I’d already read, and loved, long story short. Will absolutely read whatever this author puts out next.

When I first read the blurb for The Calculation of You and Me, it hooked me in and I couldn’t wait for its release. And so, I was super excited to receive an ARC! I was also a huge fan of the author’s debut novel and was hoping her second release would be just as good. And thankfully that was the case. This book was full of so many fun and heartwarming moments and I never wanted it to end.

Marlowe was an interesting protagonist. She was smart, funny and determined. Her heartbreak was also written in a way that felt real and honest. I related to her wanting to hold onto Josh, who represented the safer and more familiar option. He was her first love and that is sometimes a hard thing to let go of. It took her a while to realize he wasn’t the right fit for her, but she eventually got there. I admired her growth and how she learns to stand up for herself and recognized that she deserved better than Josh.

And Ashton!!! He was amazing!! He was so sweet beneath that gothic persona he projects to the world. I loved how respectful, protective and kind he was towards Marlowe. Their relationship developed in a way that felt super natural. And I was really rooting for them. They had excellent banter and chemistry and brought out the best in each other. I just loved the two of them so much and wished we could have gotten more moments of them as a couple before the end of the book. There were also some cringey moments as Marlowe did not always have well-thought out plans or ideas, but they were still really entertaining to read about.

All in all, I loved this book so much and would highly recommend it if you are looking for a YA romance novel. Serena Kaylor has definitely cemented herself as one of my favorite YA authors and I can’t wait to see what amazing story she puts out next!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“What do you want, Marlowe?”

Thanks to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC!

This book is the ultimate love letter to the autistic teen and the autistic experience in general. I was never diagnosed with autism and tbh, I don’t know that I am, but I see SO much of Marlowe in my son - and have learned a lot about him, myself, and autism in general over the past few years and this book just makes me so happy… To learn more through another’s eyes. I love Serena Kaylor’s ability to show us Marlowe - not read us textbook definitions of ASD, but let us see the world through her eyes. And it’s so beautiful and inspiring.

I absolutely loved the discussions about toxic love, about learning what you want, figuring out your own life story and not letting anyone be your crutch. And I adored the discussion between Marlowe and her mom, Bunny. It’s so beautiful to read a YA book with supportive parents, especially with a neurodiverse child.

Then, there’s this lovely supportive (and slow burn) romance between Marlowe and Ash. You want nerd/emo he-falls-first? Here you go. It’s the teen romance of my dreams. God, Serena really knows how to hit the right notes: I also loved the romance in Long Story Short. And what I love about this one is that it wasn’t a copy-paste. Neither character felt like a rehash of her old ones.

All in all, there are no words I can use to describe how much this book truly hit me in my gut. And I LOVE that YA authors are now making books about neurodivergent characters- teens who don’t understand social cues, who need more time to process information… it’s so wonderful that teens nowadays get to see themselves in these books or learn more about others through them.

All the props, Serena. You AMAZE me. Looking forward to anything and everything you write.

Officially obsessed with Serena Kaylor. The Calculation of You and Me excels at its young adult romance. The author did amazing job at developing characters that you fall in love with in like twenty pages.
They were slow-burn and filled with sweet yearning, and the payoff was incredibly adorable. Overall, this book solidified Serena Kaylor as an auto-buy author for me.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.