Summary
Eva (pronounced like a slang “ever”) is a math genius. But that’s not the most unusual thing about her. The most unusual thing is that she gets flashes of insight about people when she touches them or things that belong to them. Their hidden emotions and worries, their history – all pushes into Eva. It happens so often, Eva never touches people. She doesn’t hand people things or shake hands or even hug. If she does, she gets overwhelming “fractals” of emotion. Except from Zenn.
Zenn is one of the guys Eva tutors in math. Usually she can touch a kid’s calculator and get a mini-fractal that tells her where the student is struggling. It’s a brilliant gift for a tutor! But she gets nothing from Zenn’s calculator. Nothing from his phone or from his clothes or from his skin. But what she gets from the old army jacket he wears is enough to drive her to her knees. What’s Zenn’s story? And why is he the only person Eva can touch?
Review
I was hooked on this book after the first page! As Eva talked of her favorite graphing calculators with sharp, self-deprecating humor, I knew this character could be someone really special. And she is. Eva and Zenn made this book for me. I laughed out loud many times and read several snappy, sarcastic sections aloud to my husband. Eva’s “voice” is fantastic!
I have enjoyed several stories that live 90% in a realistic world but with the main character experiencing some magical quality. This is a stellar example of that story style. I didn’t need to know definitively how or why Eva is this way to completely enjoy watching her figure out how to live her life with these fractals.
The story’s plot-hinging, big-reveal moment caught me off guard in the best way. Clever plotting. And I couldn’t put the book down after that because I didn’t want to wait to see how things ended.
This is the sort of book I will read again. Eva is now one of my all-time favorite characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this story! (language and some mature content)