This is the story of Emma Woodhouse, who is very good at everything to do with numbers, but when it comes to people and everything not quantifiable (such as feelings), she’s not that gifted. That being said, she is co-captains with her friend George of their high school’s coding club and they are in desperate need of a project for a competition.
When Emma’s sister expresses her concern over Emma’s lack of friends and romantic relationship, Emma comes up with a plan for coding club and starts working on an app that matches people according to their compatibility.
Emma is pretty content with people finding each other all over school thanks to her app. However, that feeling quickly changes when both George and Sam (who is pretty dreamy and new to the club) also start dating their matches…
The Code for Love and Heartbreak is a modernised, young adult retelling of Emma by Jane Austen. As a big Austen fan, I love modern adaptations, but I am also deeply suspicious of them because the potential to disappoint is just so, so big. This book however, did the exact opposite of disappoint. I could not put it down and I was absolutely immersed in the story. I even sent continuous voice messages to my friend that were just me squealing and yelling “I LOVE THEM” over and over. I couldn’t wait to read what would happen next, which is odd, because I have read Emma multiple times.
The characters are fully rounded and I absolutely adore how everyone has at least one weird but very lovable quirk. It is so great to see Emma realised as a modern, socially awkward tech nerd who is absolutely fierce and knows what she wants (most of the time). If you have read Emma, you will probably have an idea who she will end up with in the end. If you don’t, I bet you will not see it coming. That being said, I need to mention the pining because holy everything, the pining game is so strong and Emma is completely oblivious to it, which results in the reader having the best time. For me, that meant squealing while re-reading paragraphs, pages, or even whole chapters and, for me that also meant sending a voice memo to my friend after finishing the book saying: “My heart is beating so fast right now.”
This story is absolutely giddiness inducing and I cannot recommend it enough. Cantor’s writing is just so spellbinding and wonderfully romantic, that it is impossible not to be excited, not to gasp to fall in love and to swoon. This is the book for everyone who loves a good romance, everyone who loves Jane Austen, everyone who is a bit socially awkward themselves and most of all, everyone who loves a good book. Short and simple.
The Code for Love and Heartbreak is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of October 6th 2020.
Will you be picking up The Code for Love and Heartbreak? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
From bestselling author Jillian Cantor comes a smart, edgy update of Jane Austen’s beloved classic Emma.
Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you down—just like Emma’s sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers…those you can count on. (No pun intended.)
Emma’s senior year is going to be all about numbers, and seeing how far they can take her. When she and George, her Coding Club co-president, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George disapproves of Emma’s idea, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.
Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything. But there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.
