Review Detail

I have fond memories of playing MASH when growing up, and seeing a story based on a senior who creates an app based on this game that can predict various aspects of your life with nearly perfect accuracy immediately caught my interest. While Ro simply created the app for her project, she didn’t expect it to blow up and catch the attention of an app developer who wants to partner with her to market it and make it even bigger. What she expected even less is to be the face of the match capability, which partnered her with her childhood best friend turned biggest enemy, Miller. The fake-dating trope is done beautifully in this story, with the dynamic between Ro and Miller changing slowly into a slow-burn romance that was one of the best I’ve read lately. However, the romance is more of a subplot, even if it is a major subplot, with the crux of the story being what happens when the app goes live and gets away from Ro. Ultimately, she’s forced to choose between what she knows is the right thing and what she’s being told to do by the developer as per her contract.

There really wasn’t anything I disliked about this book, and everything was enjoyable. The cast of characters includes several queer side characters, as well as people of color, and the plot was intriguing enough that I didn’t want to put this book down. The plot is engaging and fast-paced, and age appropriate. One of my favorite aspects of the story was that it featured a female main character who is a whiz at coding, traditionally a male-dominated field. But it also explores some deeper themes, including grief, loss, parental abandonment, death of a loved one, attempted sexual assault, and the impact that technology and social media can have on individuals, even without our realizing how deeply they affect us. All of the themes are dealt with in a sensitive way, without being overwhelming, making this a fantastic story.