Book Review: Serena Kaylor’s ‘Calculation’ proves predictable romance can be uproarious, nail-biting

Marlowe Meadows has great grades and a loving family, two best friends who understand her and all her autistic quirks, and a picture-perfect, blue-eyed, football-playing, romantic boyfriend, Josh. Serena Kaylor’s second novel, “The Calculation of You and Me,” is a phenomenal teen romance that celebrates romance itself — the concept and the genre — as Marlowe discovers what makes a healthy, happy relationship through her journey to try and win back Josh. His emotional intelligence rivals Marlowe’s calculus skills, he’s well-read in romance and writes tortured, lovesick song lyrics for his band. “Calculation” is everything you expect from the bubblegum cover and more; alongside the unsurprising romance arc, Kaylor’s characters have to learn to navigate everything from bullying to societal expectations to effective communication and relationship-building. Marlowe’s endeavor is juxtaposed with the books she reads that shape her understanding of her own situation: the classics she has to read in school that seem to show conflict and dissatisfaction in love, and the romance that offers a mysteriously unattainable shining path to happy-ever-after.