The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
I am having a hard time deciding on a rating for this book. It was definitely fast and it had some sweet moments. It carried the signature Clo charm and banter. The San Diego references took me back to their early stuff. The coffee love made me shake with caffeine withdrawal. The pseudoscience was clear and concise (as a person not in a scientific field I understood what they were trying to explain).
But something didn’t quite sit right for me about River and Jess. It’s like there are all of these parts of the book that feel like missed opportunities for new ways to handle a romance.
River is a shy-turned-hot doctor with loving sisters and a toxically masculine dad, but there is never a confrontation or a discussion with the dad about the toxicity of his parenting. There is just one chat about River’s choices in spite of dad. There can be more here.
Jess is a single mom with an awesome support system, who is constantly comparing herself to her dead-beat mom. She has abandonment issues (which are very clearly laid out), but when she is abandoned by her soulmate, Jess takes him back without much of a discussion as to how hurtful his behavior was to her in particular. (She mentions it and immediately moves on from it. He “absorbed the information”). The entirety of the big confrontation has some weird vibes that lack proper and healthy communication.
It is never explored if Pop and Jo are a genetic match. (It could have been fun if they are not). We don’t really dive into the nurture v. nature discussion at all and whether knowing that you are genetically compatible affects the way you interact with someone for the first tie or even long turn. Fizzy brings it up, but it never really develops into a discussion.
Oh Fizzy, the ubiquitous best friend, felt more like a 2000s Quotables generator, than a person. She tells her best things like “I’m just saying the clock is ticking,” “that booty won’t be high and tight forever,” and “that man is everyone's type.” I was half expecting a drum roll and canned audience laughter after her remarks. She shows up to hang out with Jess’ kid and dumps water, in yet another comical display, on a married guy she hooked up with, but there is no reason why she couldn't actually be an uplifting and supportive friend. One that wants to see Jess happy, not “settled.” One that shows up emotionally and physically. Fizzy Chen was not that friend for me, in this book.
And lastly, and I know this is long already, Juno, the seven-year-old precocious kid. Someone mentioned in a review: think the kid from Jerry Maguire, but a girl and you got it. And that is pretty accurate. She has no flaws, she is polite, emotionally way too balanced for a 7-year-old, independent, self-aware, and all-around, not a child. All children get a perfect moment in their families’ eyes, but they also have emotional breakdowns and breakthroughs, we did not see that in Juno, so she seemed like a cut-out of a kid, rather than a three-dimensional child.
Overall, I wanted more depth. I wanted more sexual and sensual connections between the MCs. I wanted more self-discovery. I wanted more, maybe because Christina Lauren are “the soulmates” of romance writing right now, I hold them to a higher standard. Maybe I thought this would be a 98% and it ended up being a Base Match. -Sky
