I found myself having a hard time staying interested in this book. It was much better towards the end. All in all a cute romance with a little bit of drama/suspense. ( )

Great characters with unusual problems, abilities and events. An easy read. Sinking into the characters and going with the flow. ( )

This is more of a 4.5-star book. I toyed with adding the extra star, but since I spent most of the first half feeling disappointed, I had to take half a star. Mimi and Art are siblings, drawn together by tragedy and circumstance. Art is a math genius, possibly somewhere on the spectrum, though that is never said -- he's sort of a Sheldon Cooper character, kind of odd and socially awkward, bound by routine and ritual, but not characterized by a disability or syndrome. The premise of this story is that Mimi decides she's lonely and wants to meet someone and have a relationship, so she lets Art build her a profile for a dating algorithm. But, before she really gets into that, she meets Frank, and begins the frenzy of a new attraction. Art is unsettled by this, since it goes against all the scientific plans he's put in place, and also takes his beloved sister away from him. He was okay with that part as long as he could have a part in controlling it, but this gets out of his hands. When it begins to look like there is some subterfuge happening -- Frank isn't what he seems, he has ulterior motives for getting involved with Mimi, etc. -- things start to unravel and get very muddy. Is Art right about Frank, as he was about their parents? Is Frank being genuine? And then Art is injured, and the circumstances of that are also unclear. The characters in this novel are some of the most real and relatable I've read in a while. Mimi is torn between an old love and a new one. Art struggles to operate in a world of relationships he doesn't understand. Friendships are rare and precious. Even the sections where consciousness hangs in the balance are interesting and believable. By the time the story was resolved, I was totally absorbed, and couldn't put the book down until I'd seen it through. ( )

Mimi has always looked after her brother, a maths genius. Now he is a Professor and she has just begun working for her best friend in film sound. They live together in the former family home, left to them when their parents died. Mimi wants to fall in love and Art believes there is an algorithm for that but when Mimi meets Frank, another mathematician, professional paranoia ensues.
This is a very lightweight book which works well within its genre. I found it readable and fun without being profound in any way and, although the plot is more than silly at times, it whiled away an evening. ( )

The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything by Kara Gnodde

Siblings Art and Mimi have been living a quiet life together in London, staying close after the tragic death of their parents. Art, a neurodivergent math genius, has spent his life working on the solution to an unsolved problem. However, his quiet peace is about to be upended: after 13 years of caretaking, Mimi is ready to branch out from their routine and find love. In this complicated family drama, a war between logic and emotion develops amidst scenes of stargazing, suspicion, and of course, love.

While I found Gnodde’s main characters immensely unlikable, her witty and emotional dialogue felt very realistic. Although I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying, it neatly wrapped up the loose narrative threads dangling throughout the book. As this is her debut novel, I look forward to watching her work develop over time. ( )