Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
This book was a STEM, friends-to-lovers, not quite fake dating but rather let-me-teach-you dating trope, LGBTQIA+ rep book that was quite cute. It is slated as being a combo of The Kiss Quotient and Love Potion No. 9, but since I haven’t read either of those, I can say it gives me Love Hypothesis feels at times.
It follows Lyric, an experimental psychologist doc student and Kian, an environmental chemist (? I honestly don’t remember, it isn’t as important what he does) doc student, best friends and roommates at Columbia University, who have been best friends since Lyric started at Columbia as a 16 year old undergrad. Lyric studies sexual chemistry and is struggling to find her own sexual chemistry with partners, and Kian is in a rut with his dating life. Hijinks ensue.
My biggest issues with this book were non-issues for most people probably – and it really comes down to the actual psychological rigor/study aspects. As a psychology graduate student as well, there were just parts of it that made me confused and I found myself arguing with the book about realism, which is not really an issue in a romance book. Plus, I don’t actually know how experimental psychology works – as I am in a clinical field – so it could completely be right, I don’t actually know for sure! So this is a dumb thing for me to be annoyed with. The only other thing that really bugged me is a common trope with this kind of romance books, which is the miscommunication trope. I personally don’t like that trope, but I know a lot of people like it. So take that for what you will.
This book has some spice, it shows positive family relations and toxic family relations, and really healthy friendships. It is a definitely cute book overall, and I was able to read it in less than 24 hours. 3.5/5