ARC Review: “Love, Decoded” by Jennifer Yen

“Love, Decoded” by Jennifer Yen

Publishing Date: March 8th, 2022

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance

Page Length: 320 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

High school junior Gigi Wong strives to be the best: the top student, the perfect friend, and the ideal daughter. But it’s tough when there’s always someone who is just a little bit better. With college applications looming, she can’t help but worry that she won’t make the cut. Thankfully, her best friend Kyle never fails to find the right words–and the perfect bowl of ramen–to cheer her up.

After her teacher, Ms. Harris, announces she’ll be nominating students for an app writing contest, Gigi is determined to be picked. After all, first prize is an exclusive tech internship, sure to make her application stand out. There’s only one problem: she doesn’t have a winning program. It isn’t until transfer student Etta admits she’s struggling to fit in at Superbia that Gigi stumbles on an idea. She’ll use her coding skills–and the matchmaking experience she’s gotten from weekends with Auntie Rose–to create a friend matching app! Etta will meet new people, and Gigi will guarantee her acceptance into college. It’s foolproof.

What Gigi doesn’t expect is for her app to go viral around school. Soon, she finds herself at the center of a scandal–and at odds with both Etta and Kyle. Can Gigi fix what went wrong, or will her desire to be perfect cost her the people she cares about most?

Review:

Love, Decoded is a story that follows high school student Gigi who wants to take over her great aunt’s matchmaking business. An overachiever, Gigi feels the pressure to do more even though she’s juggling so much already. Determined to reach valedictorian status and prove those around her wrong she decides to bring her app “Matchmaker 3000” to bat and dabble in love herself. But when things go wrong how will she make it right again?

From the very beginning of the story, I love that Gigi seems like a well-rounded person. She’s overly busy but seems to enjoy all the things she does inside of school and extracurricular activities. She’s passionate about coding and I like that having the main character invested in the stem field. Combining elements of culture (history of matchmaking) plus technology was a cool concept.

On top of coding, this novel also brings up discussions around bullying, social groups, economic gaps, and above all navigating high school. It reminds us that the high school experience is a slippery slope full of ups and downs. It can be hard to make friends, fit in, and get adjusted to new surroundings as Etta is a new student from school. In befriending Etta, Gigi realizes just how many biases she actually has and it forces her to reflect on how she’s acted in the past and relationships that are strained because of it.

Overall Love, Decoded is a cute fluffy YA read. It’s wholesome and has an overarching theme of choosing the path you carve out for yourself with a bit of romance. I love how Gigi is so passionate about coding and even experiences are friendships and important life lessons along the way. My favorite parts were the one-on-one sessions with her Auntie Rose who helps her decide what’s best for her.

Final Verdict:

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.