Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publishing date: March 1st, 2022

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

Synopsis:

After Philly teenager Alexis Duncan is injured in a gang shooting, her dreams of a college scholarship and pro basketball career vanish in an instant. To avoid becoming another Black teen trapped in her poverty-stricken neighborhood, she shifts her focus to the school’s STEM team, a group of nerds seeking their own college scholarships. Academics have never been her thing, but Alexis is freshly motivated by Aamani Chakrabarti, the new Indian student who becomes her mentor (and crush?). Alexis begins to see herself as so much more than an athlete. But just as her future starts to reform, Alexis’s own doubts and old loyalties pull her back into harm’s way.

Charles A. Bush was raised in Philadelphia, and attended Cabrini University before honing his craft at the University of Oxford. In addition to writing young-adult novels, he played professional basketball overseas, spends far too much time obsessing over all things Marvel, has long run out of places to store his mountains of books, and dreams of someday debating literature with Rory Gilmore. Every Variable of Us is his first novel. 

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

1-I love the fact that Alexis describes her style at the start of the book so the reader can envision the character in the clothes. 

2- Alexis seems like a character who knows right from wrong. I feel like she just slips up sometimes, which makes her story authentic because humans also slip up. 

3- Alexis as a character is very bold and matter of fact. I love that so much.

4-I really enjoy Aamani as a character; I’m the kind of person who really enjoys characters who would be described as nerdy because I relate to them. 

5-Aamani is also a bold character but differently from Alexis. She corrects people that make assumptions about her, and I love that about her character. 

6-I felt so bad for Alexis. I know how much she loves basketball, and it’s very upsetting that she can’t play. 

7- I want the relationship between Alexis and her mom to improve. I understand that sometimes parents and their kids don’t get along, but I want them both to agree. 

8- Lex and Aamani are bonding over comic books, games, and the MCU, and I just love seeing them bond so much. 

9- I love that Alexis is starting to make friends, and find her community/ found family with the STEM team. 

10- The observatory scene was so cute. I really loved it, and I loved seeing Alexis and Amani start having feelings for each other. 

11- I was surprised by the choice Alexis made on the day of the last competition for the STEM team. 

12-I really hope this story has a happy ending. I hope the STEM team can make it to nationals. 

13-Alexis helping the team get to nationals seems like they are getting back on speaking terms again, and I love that. 

14- The scenes with the friends towards the end of the novel were excellent, and I just loved them. 

15- The end of the novel was so sweet and so heartwarming and this novel just left me with all the feel-good feelings. 

Rating: (*****)- 5 stars

What I loved 

Characters

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I’m a fan of characters and character-driven stories. I loved the characters in this story because they were flawed, and the characters felt real. I loved how they all had interests in their own things, including Marvel, math, and STEM. The main character Alexis really grew as the story progressed, and I loved seeing her grow for the better, and how she became a better person over the course of the story. Aamani was a supporting character in the novel, and she was another I really enjoyed reading about. The friends will be talked about later in this review, but I really enjoyed their character arcs as well. 

Plot

The plot of this story was a book I very much enjoyed. While this was more of a character-driven story, I still really enjoyed the plot of this story as it was about finding yourself and finding the true meaning of friendship. I love friendship-driven stories, and ones with found family elements, so this story was right up my alley. When the story started, I was not sure where the plot was going to go based on the summary, but I really enjoyed the journey this story took you on. The plot plays a part in every story, and this novel had a fantastic conclusion. 

Writing 

The writing in this story was fantastic, and I loved it. Every Variable of Us was filled with a mix of light-hearted scenes, and heavy scenes, which I loved. All the light-hearted scenes were filled with light and fun moments because of the writing. In a similar way, the heavy scenes, such as the ones with friends, Aamani and Alexis, and Alexis and her mom, were filled with dramatic style because of the writing. 

Romance/ Friendship 

I’m combining these two elements in my review because both played equal elements to the story. The romance between Alexis and Aamani was so sweet, and I just loved the two of them so much. They both had moments of finding themselves and exploring their sexuality in the novel, and I believe there should be more of that in YA. Alexis had two friend groups in Every Variable of Us. In the novel, neither of them interacted. In fact, Alexis was judged by the group she had before the novel for being friends with the second group. I loved the second group of friends because they all supported each other, even if they didn’t agree with the actions that Alexis took over the course of the novel. 

Personal Enjoyment & Recommend for 

I loved this novel so much. It’s one of my favorite novels of the year so far. I recommend this book for those that enjoy LGBTQ+ novels, and novels where the characters grow over the course of the novel.

Check Out the rest of the Tour

February 14th
Confessions of a YA Reader – Promotional Post
Pagies of Book – Review & 15 Reactions While Reading Every Variable of Us

February 15th
Melancholic Blithe – 15 Reactions While Reading Every Variable of Us
PopTheButterfly Reads – Review

February 16th
Stuck in Fiction – Promotional Post
The Written Journey – Review & Favorite Quotes

February 17th
Nine Bookish Lives – Promotional Post
Midsummer Night’s Read – Review

February 18th
Writing Rose Reads – Promotional Post
GivernyReads – Review,

February 19th
Inking & Thinking – Review & Playlist
Lily”s Cozy Blog – Review

February 20th
The Book Dutchesses – Promotional Post
Fanna for Books – Review

February 14th
emmreadsbooks – Review
theaterbookgirl – Blogger’s Choice

February 15th
hoardingbooks.herdingcats – Review & Favorite Quotes
popthebutterfly – Blogger’s Choice

February 16th
shereadytoread – Top 5 Reasons to Read Every Variable of Us
feliciareads11 – Blogger’s Choice
thewrittenjourney_ – Blogger’s Choice

February 17th
morningstarlitpages – Top 5 Reasons to Read Every Variable of Us
ninebookishlives – Blogger’s Choice

February 18th
tbrandbeyond – Promotional Post
writingrosereads – Blogger’s Choice
giverny.reads – Blogger’s Choice

February 19th
whisperingprose – Review
lilly_sreads – Blogger’s Choice

February 20th
karendeeandabc – Review
thebookdutchesses – Blogger’s Choice