Well, I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this book. 4 stars for the book itself and 5 stars for the narration! I loved the duet narration and both narrators did a great job. I would definitely recommend listening to this one to everybody but especially if you’re an audiobook person. The pacing of this book was just right for me. I loved the beginning and how we got a lot of time with Jack and Rooney together, followed by only a brief period of separation. I did want them to get together sooner than at the very end even though I thought it was an appropriate time when they recognized and shared their feelings with each other. I love the idea of soulmates or fated mates so I was really drawn to the premise of the Red String Theory. I really enjoyed how the book emphasized both the idea of fate and the idea of choice. Overall highly recommend!

It took me a while to get around to this book but i really enjoyed the the way Jessen highlights Chinese traditions and holidays. These are not topics I typically find in a rom com so it was a nice change of pace. I really enjoyed the dual narration of the audiobook - giving each character a life of their own. Jack and Rooney had great chemistry and overall I enjoyed this book a lot.

Listened to the audio version of this book. Two narrators, playing the main characters, did a lovely job. This rom-com was sweet and clean. I think it would be acceptable to market as YA.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤>>>>

Thank you @readforeverpub and @hachetteaudio for the gifted copies of "Red String Theory. (Pub Date: Jan 9 2024)

"Red String Theory" hit me in the feels. As soon as I met Rooney & her artistic nature, I was immediately head over heels in love with this story. It makes my heart soar with happiness when authors go out of their way to appreciate art & artists. The hustle is hard out in the creative streets.

You know, when a book just really resonates with you that you can sit down and fully embrace the setting, characters, and vibe? This was that book for me.

I could go on for endless paragraphs about the endless things to love about this story. The theme of fate. The culture. The New York City setting. The appreciation of artists. Rooney and Jack *swoon* It's all delicious & I didn't want it to end.

Now I'm just itching to read "Yin Yang Love Story" Thank you, Lauren, for the beautiful stories & the impact your writing had on me for this one. You've gained a forever fan.

🎧 I love love love love when audiobooks have narrators intermingle in chapters. Yu-Li Alice Shen and Andrew Grace made this book flow so naturally that it's easy to binge listen to. It's addicting when you essentially hear the narrators have a conversation (literally almost like listening to a podcast)

❤️ Fate
❤️ Opposites Attract
❤️ Work Place
❤️ Appreciate Art
❤️ NYC
❤️ California
❤️ Nasa & Space
❤️ Learning New Fun Facts
❤️ Dual POV
❤️ Green Pepper Spice

I enjoyed this book and all the moments where their paths crossed. I think the writing grew stronger as the story progressed. I initially struggled with Rooney as her character started as a very formulaic manic pixie dream girl, but did eventually develop into a fleshed out character

it’s a lot of vanilla yapping about red string and fate. extremely cliche snoozy writing with no real tension, no real plot. it’s not bad, it’s actually rather terrible.

HATE that it’s supposed to represent Asian American culture but it plays on one boring, overused cultural (the red string of fate) and clings onto this one trope the entire time like a stubborn scar.

played to the opposites attract trope yet the characters have close to no personality. they were very literally quite boring people through the way this author had portrayed them. all they cared about was work and/or the idea of fate. Like literally get a life.

the final resolution was lazy and overdone. It reads like a YA romance novel from 2015 and it makes you feel like you’ve wasted your time getting through the last 280 pages.

there were some better quotes here and there but I could count them with a single hand.

A sweet romance with opposites-attract leads who enjoy a magical first encounter then get a second chance to reconnect, even if one of them doesn’t believe in fate.

Loved the dichotomy and collision of the art- and science-focused leads, Rooney and Jack, but had a harder time with the red string of fate storyline and overly tidy ending. Ultimately, I must admit that I preferred Jack’s line of thinking that love, especially lasting love, is a choice.

Really good on audio. The audiobook is well narrated by Yu-Li Alice Shen and Andrew Grace with each voice actor reading the chapter from either Rooney or Jack’s point of view.

Anytime DUET narration is in play, I’m a happy girl.

I wasn’t sure what Red String Theory was when I started this book but I kind of love it. The Chinese folklore about soulmates made my heart so happy.

♥️ Fate/Red String Theory
♥️ Chinese Americans
♥️ Art/Space
♥️ Serendipity
♥️ Forced Proximity
♥️ Secondish Chance

These two characters were fun on their own but I loved how they grew so much after meeting one another. I loved learning about Chinese culture and ambitious parents.

The narration was wonderful and it was such a fun slow burn.

I loved Lunar Love, and was excited to read this new release. Red String Theory is a sweet contemporary romance that centers around Jack and Rooney. They have a slow burn relationship that begins with a meet-cute in the city.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-slow burn romance
-banter
-Chinese culture and traditions
-elements of Science and space
-fate/soulmates
-Asian rep

🎧I listened to the audiobook format, and loved the narration that really brought the banter and dialogue to life.

*thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

I have a love/hate with this audiobook.

What I loved:
-The story. Lauren Kung Jessen writes fabulous books. They make me happy.
-The narrators when they were playing Rooney and Jack. Their voices were SO good. I could have listened to their banter for the whole book.

What I hated:
-When the narrators played other people. I don't know if it was a directing choice or if these two narrators are just not equipped to do more than one voice. The other voices kept breaking me out of the story. At one point, when I thought Rooney's mother would be a more significant player in the book, I almost DNF'd it. I'm really glad I didn't.

I'm glad I stuck with it. I will not listen to this again like I do a lot of romances I like. Read it? Yes, Iwould. But those voices are terrible. If I were rating on voices alone, it would be two stars, but factoring the story bumps it to a four.

Red String Theory was a great book that talked about lots of Chinese traditions and beliefs. It was interesting to see what they believe. However, the book fell short for me. I felt that it was drawn out a lot and not super exciting.

This was an utterly delightful read filled with charming banter that kept me thoroughly engaged. It beautifully employs the classic trope of fated lovers, as hinted at by the title. I found myself thoroughly immersed in the story and appreciated how well the pacing translated to audiobook format, enhancing my overall enjoyment of the experience.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

3 stars for the book itself
4 stars for the narration

I had a hard time connecting with this book. Rooney was so fixated on the idea of fate that she didn’t really take accountability for anything in her life. At times it felt like she just wanted something to complain about instead of actually just working for what she wanted. Jack was the complete opposite. He didn’t believe in fate at all but he still also felt like he wasn’t really taking ownership of his life. He complained about being passed over for promotions but didn’t take any of the critiques seriously until Rooney made him.
These just felt like two incredible incompatible people with very different views of life and I have a hard time believing that they work out.

I enjoyed the narration of the main characters. I liked that it switched between narrators when there was dialogue- I hate when the authors do the voices of the other mc when there’s two narrators. I wasn’t a huge fan of the narration of the side characters though. I thought they were all so annoying and honestly kind of grating.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for this ALC!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that the romance had an element of science, space, and Chinese mythology. The audiobook definitely enhanced the reading experience. I love an audiobook with 2 different narrators in a romance book! Rooney and Jack had real hurdles to work through and discussed issues like adults. Lauren Kung Jessen wonderfully weaved elements of science with whimsical elements of faith without having one mock the other. Chinese culture was weaved into the story but not so heavy handed that someone outside of the culture would feel confused or alienated against reading it.

Short synopsis: Rooney and Jack meet in New York and spend a magical evening exploring the city, but when she doesn’t save his number right in her phone Rooney thinks she’ll never see him again. Until he hired RSG (red string girl) to do an art exhibit for NASA.

My thoughts: The premise of this was so cute, the meet cute was adorable and the night they spent in the city , and the second chance aspect was fun too. I liked how they connected, and their slow but steady growth.

I really liked the art aspect and Jack and Rooneys desire to better understand each other and their interests.

I felt like the middle moved a bit too slow for my taste, and I liked when Rooney finally wore something besides Red knitted clothing (it was referred to far too often).

The audio of this as perfection. I loved how the narrators told both parts of the story, it really brought a whole new element to the story.

Read if you love:
-Fate
-serendipity
-STEM/NASA
-Art

This books follows Rooney, an artist who creates pieces out of red string based on her belief in fate and the red string theory, and Jack, a scientist at NASA. When the two run into each other in New York City, they immediately click. The main issue? He’s only there for the day and will return to California the following day. After a day spent together, Rooney is convinced that fate brought them together, but Jack doesn’t believe in fate.

This book was so so sweet and I loved the exploration fate and the red string theory. I had never heard of the theory before and found it so captivating and romantic. I loved the exploration of fate, science, and art.

As someone who is an engineer, I often find the representation of engineer in books to be cringey. This was done extremely well, though and I often saw a lot of myself in Jack.

Some of the more intimate scenes in this book didn’t quite hit for me, though. I much preferred the scenes where they were exploring NASA and NYC to the scenes where they were together or expressing their feelings for each other.

Jack’s grandpa was truly one of my favorite characters in the book and I wish we got more of him. He was such a delightful and refreshing character.

The narration in the book was done incredibly well, too. It really made the story come to life and each character was easily recognizable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it widely. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an ARC of this book!

I started this book and my attention waned a little bit, but I loved the concept so I'm glad I waited a week or two to be in the right mood for it because I really REALLY enjoyed this story. The idea of fate and the red string was interesting, the characters were great, and the chemistry between the two main characters was sweet and swoony. I loved the setting, the work environment, the sciencey and space bits, and the ending. SUCH a cute story.

Really enjoyed the story, and the audio of this book was very good. I really liked hearing the characters from the narrators voice, and it was a different type of enjoyment.

I learnt soo much about string theory from this book. I was really cute and informative. I loved how the Rooney and Jack really complemented each other and how their feelings grew out of mutual respect and wanting to help each other succeed. It was very much a meet cute and an opposites attract kind of situation. Eventho I haven’t read Lunar Love yet I loved the cameo/tie in.

Thank you @readforever and netgalley for an alc.