Mathematics of Love
This was such a good book. It is a gender swapped Pretty Woman. Stella a thirty year old algorithm analyst who has Asperger's. In order to get better at dating Stella hires escort Michael Phan to teach her how to connect with people. This was my first book that portrayed a main character with neurodiversity. Stella was such a relatable character, all the fear and irritations that most people ignore, are heightened for her. Hoang wrote such a compelling character, in Stella as we see how she navigates the everyday world that isn't compassionate to those with heightened sensitivities. As I read this book I found that I related a lot with Stella extreme social anxiety, avoiding eye contact, difficulty reading verbal cues, understanding sarcasm, and clumsiness. Some of these I didn't realize I had at the time. The more I fell in love with this story the more I felt seen and less alone. I will be reading more of Helen Hoang's books.