madeline's Reviews (776)

A coming-of-age novel set over two days and nights in Marseille. Antonio is on the cusp of adulthood and the last hurdle seems to be getting the all-clear that he's outgrown his idiopathic generalized epilepsy. To do so, he's got to stay awake for 48 hours under the supervision of his estranged father. 1980s Marseilles becomes the backdrop for Antonio's introspection and the development of his relationship with his father.

I found this book to be entrancing. I really appreciated the translator's note and thoughtfulness - I'd recommend reading it at the outset to get the full force of the clear and and unadorned translation. The book flows really well (literally nothing to break the pacing, since they can't sleep), but the moments where Antonio learns more about his father stand out as particularly impressive vignettes. I guess I'm in a real "understanding your parents as fully-realized people as you become an adult," and I found some of these realizations to be particularly thought-provoking.

Content warnings for

brief moments of police violence, a visit to a sex shop with implied masturbation, casual racism from minor characters, and a consensual sex scene between Antonio and an adult that I think is really meant to parallel the way his father lost his virginity but certainly isn't not squicky because of the age gap.

Jessica Davis is trying to balance her small business, single motherhood, and taking care of her aging grandparents -- she doesn't have time for dating. Instead, she'll remain content ogling the handsome stranger who walks into the cafe where she and her best friend sit and work at precisely 8:24 each morning. When their barista tips them off to the fact that this man is about to launch a dating app that matches people based on DNA, Jess and her friend are too interested not to learn more, and in an unlikely (except if you're a romance reader) twist of fate, Jess and her hot scientist are one of the best matches this app has ever seen. But are they simply forcing a relationship all the data says should work, or is this a match that will last?

It seems to me like four out of every five Christina Lauren books is a trope-tastic rom-com romp, and the fifth is a more serious rom-drama -- "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" vs. "Notting Hill," maybe. I love both, and since I've been kind of middling on the last few CL rom-coms, I was so excited to realize this was a rom-dram. It's a really sweet exploration of responsibility and community and boundaries; we learn as much about Jess's relationship with her best friend and her grandparents as we do about her relationship with River. I've noticed recently that the "black moment" in contemporary romances is less a Big Misunderstanding And Then Grovel, and more a gentle callout and effective communication, which is true here and I love. River messes up, he comes to apologize and understand how to do better, and only then does he explain his thought process, because he wanted Jess's forgiveness without excuses.

I admit that I wasn't super enthralled by the proposed plot of the book: a dating app based on genes does feel vaguely icky, and that's something the characters call out in the book. Someone with more ~science~ than me would probably read and understand the explanation and weighed in the balance find it fine. Still, I couldn't shake the underlying feeling that this is something that someone would 100% find a way to abuse. (But, like, also, isn't that the reality of all dating apps...?) For me, this is a 4.25 or 4.5 read, but I'm deducting the whole star because I do think the the potential for the whole genes/eugenics thing to go awry is particularly notable.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC!