Review: Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

Love and Other Unknown Variables 
by Shannon Lee Alexander
Released Date:  October 7th 2014 by Entangled: Teen
Pages: 350
View/Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Entangled Publishing, iBooks
Author: Website, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck. 

The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy. 

By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared).
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

My Review:

For a debut novel, Shannon Lee Alexander has done an amazing job bringing readers a fresh story that will certainly leave everyone wanting for more.

Charlie Hanson's story had me captivated from the very beginning. It was interesting and entertaining to read from a male's point-of-view. His perspective on things were refreshing, and so was his personality. He has a clear vision of what he wants to do with his future, and attending Brighton School of Mathematics and Science has his ticket to MIT, but being mathematically gifted doesn't give him any luck at finding a date. Every time he tries to make a move on a girl, he ends up getting hurt, (he basically doesn't know how to act around girls), but his luck changes when he meets Charlotte, the girl with an infinite tattoo that catches his attention from the start. 

Being new to town, Charlotte quickly befriends Charlie's younger sister and starts spending a lot of time at Charlie's house. Although their first encounter was unexpected, Charlie immediately finds Charlotte interesting, but stops himself from pursuing a relationship with her because he doesn't want to damage the friendship that Charlotte has with his sister. 

As the new school year begins, the students at Brighton are preparing to send their college applications, but first they have to take an English class, and with that comes a new English teacher, who also happens to be Charlotte's older sister. But being a school of math and science, not everyone takes literature seriously, and the students are determined to get Ms. Finch to quit by starting a series of pranks to get her to leave. What they don't know is that Ms. Finch knows what she is up against and is willing to ignore their pranks. When Charlie finds out that Charlotte happens to be Ms. Finch's younger sister, he starts to question whether to stop the pranks or not. As soon as Charlotte finds out about them, she convinces Charlie to keep going with the pranks in order to get Ms. Finch's attention away from her. What started with them spending time together, ends up becoming so much more the minute Charlie finds himself falling for Charlotte. But not everything is forever, and things change when he finds out what Charlotte has been hiding from everyone, including him. 

I really liked the overall idea of the book, I had some teary-eyed moments, but it wasn't awfully depressing at the end. Alexander did a good job executing the story and even the way the chapters were numbered was creative. I'm not someone that enjoys math, but adding it to the story really made it unique. Apart from having its funny scenes, the book also deals with a serious topic that did not overpower the book. The character's personalities, especially Charlie's personality was my favorite, he is just one of the sweetest guy's I've ever read in any book. He is timid, who also has a sense of humor, blushes (a lot...:D), and he also happens to be very, very, very smart. The book was very well-written, and the ending was satisfying (although I feel that there could have been one more to the ending, it felt a bit abrupt for me), but that's just my preference. Overall, if you are looking for a heartwarming story that is full of funny scenes, and romance, then I highly recommend this book, it would not disappoint. :) 

*ARC provided by Entangled Teen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

My Rating: