The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor

Plot: 4.5 stars Characters: 5 stars Writing: 4 stars Overall: 4.5 stars*** Genres: YA romance, fiction Huge thank you to Edelweiss, InkYard Press (HarperCollins Publishing), and the author for granting me access to the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Okay, so essentially you have a coding club made up of six students: Emma, George, Sam, Jane, Hannah and Robert. The six of them embark on this journey of coming in first at state and winning in the state of New Jersey by creating an app for love. George and Emma, the club co-presidents, are seniors and preparing to go off to college and have wanted to give this club as much as they can to help with the future club presidents and members. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one! It was quite a lot of fun, very lighthearted, and the characters were easy to hang out with. There were a few things I didn’t quite enjoy in regards to the George-Emma troupe, but I did enjoy the way the book was executed. I didn't like how long George and Hannah stayed together simply for the sake of supporting their project. It was so frustrating each time George and Emma would begin to breach the subject of their feelings for each other (WHILE HE WAS STILL DATING HANNAH) and then casually turn away from it. It was realllllyyyyyyy gougemyeyesout. However, I read Emma (Jane Austen) when I was in like 8th grade so it could just be a similarity to Austen's book that Cantor decided to include (and I was unaware existed). There was a lot of tension that I began to feel regarding Emma and George around halfway through the book and I definitely felt myself getting frustrated with Emma at times, but I think that just means Cantor did her job really well. I know this is a short review, there’s not really a lot to say about the book, but if you’re looking for a lighthearted read that doubles as a retelling of one of Jane Austen’s most popular, this is one for you!