The Soulmate Equation

I actually quite enjoyed this. Was it a bit cliche? Yeah, there were the typical tropes, like the hot, tall, smart, socially awkward male love interest who comes off very cold but is quite gentle and nice to the female protagonist. And of course, our protagonist fits with the trope too. Jess is a bit insecure about herself, thinks of herself as a hot chaotic mess unworthy of love, not super financially secure, typically spews the “my hair and outfits are so ugly today but omg!! The hottie is checking me out, what do I do??”. I'm a bit tired of this dynamic (I just finished The Love Hypothesis which I hated), but The Soulmate Equation gets a slighhhhtt pass from me because Jess strays just a bit from this trope. Her insecurities are rooted from an anxiety about welcoming people into her life, a fear that people will run away from commitment like her mother and her daughter's biological father. However, she has a very strong support system around her, and I'm glad to see how supportive River becomes that it has me rooting for them so much. Had me giggling over how cute, respectful, and nice he was to her. Men, this is the standard.

One of my issues with Jess though is her characterization is so... bland at the beginning. I wasn't completely sure who she was as a person. I thought of her as kind of plain and “average” (in contrast to our resident hottie, River), who was not very confident or had high self-esteem, an easy pushover people-pleaser. I never imagined her as someone charming until she bought an expensive dress for that house party - suddenly she's extremely pretty? She socializes well? She's willing to stand her ground? She's confident? I guess this is perhaps Jess's character development, as she grows more confident and self-assured, but I'd hate to think it's from male validation. Love can improve who we are, but I feel like this book vaguely tells that (mostly through what River has to say about her) rather than showing it. I do appreciate the commentary about how she can and is allowed to shift her priorities of being a mom to her being an individual.

Random, but midway I started imagining Jess as Daisy Edgar-Jones and now I just need this to happen if it ever became a movie.

I'm glad the miscommunication wasn't the worst it could've been in these fake dating stories. I'm glad these adults acted like mature adults, who ask for mutual communication and support, and it wasn't dragged on for so long.

I'm not around 7-8 year old kids that much but do they really talk the way Juno talks? She talks like a much older kid in some parts, so the dialogue took me out. Also, while I think Jess is doing well for a single-mom, reading about constant chaotic mornings was tiring. Just get your kid up earlier PLEASE.