The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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The Soulmate Equation - Christina Lauren

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents--who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno--Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father's never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn't "father material" before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.
But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that's predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands. At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly's founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can't wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we'll pay you. Jess--who is barely making ends meet--is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the "Diamond" pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist--and the science behind a soulmate--than she thought.
Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

MY OPINION: ****

This was my first new adult Christina Lauren book and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't the biggest fan of Autoboyography, the young adult book I read before this. However, with all the hype this one and a couple of her other books are getting on TikTok, I was very interested to try out a book made for an older audience in the hopes that I would find it more interesting. 

This book was beautifully written and had such a unique concept. River Pena is an up and coming scientist who has created a new dating app that focuses on the genetics behind soulmates. Through his long, complicated scientific process that gave me too many PTSD-inducing flashbacks to AP Biology, his system can basically find anyone's soulmate. All you have to do is spit in a vial, run it through the system, and you'll be matched with people based on a score from 1-100.

Jess is a 30-year-old single mom of an eight-year-old who hasn't dated for a fairly long amount of time, prioritizing her kid and her job over her dating life, despite her best friend's entreaties for her to start playing the field. She personally knows River as the man who always gets the same Americano at the same cafe they go to everyday, and she doesn't think too highly of him and his apparent aloofness. 

However, after a bad night, she decides to spit in a vial on a whim. Lo and behold, she and River end up being a Diamond Match with the highest score ever seen within the system. She's called in and basically forced into a fake-dating situation to make the company look good and boost their reputation, as they have not officially launched yet. Despite her complete reservations against River and her distaste for basically everything about him besides his looks, she agrees due to the monetary benefits that she is promised by the company. 

I adore the enemies-to-lovers trope happening within this book. It was so well-done and took just the right amount of time for it to segue from enemies to acquaintances to friends to lovers. I personally would have loved to have seen River's point of view for a good amount of these scenes because his mind seemed virtually impenetrable for the first half of the book and I would love to know who fell first.

I loved all of the side characters within this book, even Jess's child, which is surprising due to my aversion to anyone below the age of say, fifteen. However, Juno was endearing and not too annoying and I liked her personality and relationship with River. I also adored Fizzy, Jess's best friend and romance-novel writer because of her vividness, her spirit, and her bubbly personality. I loved how Jess and Fizzy balanced each other out because I feel like a lot of my own friendships follow this same pattern. Jess's grandparents were also quite endearing and despite their small roles, were enjoyable to read about. 

I liked the addition of Jess's mother and their rocky relationship because while it did feel a little random, it was a good way to set up a lot of key characteristics about Jess that you start to learn more about once you understand her relationship, or lack thereof, with her mother.

The plottwist of the book didn't really surprise me as I sort of knew it was coming but it did leave that sickening unsatisfying feeling in me until it was all resolved. Even though I had an idea of what was going to happen, I still felt scared and anxious about it actually coming to light. There were a few ways the ending of the book could have gone and I'm glad it ended up going the way that it did because it was a solid conclusion that didn't leave readers angry. 

I personally really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers looking for a unique, cute, enemies-to-lovers romance novel. I am very interested in reading the rest of Christina Lauren's books (they're two people!) and getting to know the new-adult version of them, because I think they're just more my cup of tea.

Main Character: Jess
Sidekick(s): River, Fizzy, Juno, grandparents
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, lying, Jamie, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life (with the exception of the dating app, though it COULD be a possibility with some superior science).

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