Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Every Variable of Us

How did you do in school? I’d like to think I was a pretty okay student. When I was in secondary school, my grades in Science were pretty dismal, but I was good at Maths. My strongest subjects were definitely English and Literature. In contrast, I failed PE though, because I took 20 minutes to run 2.4km (admittedly I walked).

That would put me at odds with our protagonist in Every Variable of Us, Alexis Duncan. The school’s star basketball player, Alexis is counting on a sports scholarship to kick her start her career as a professional athlete all while squeaking by with the bare minimum in her classes. That is until she gets shot during a drive-by, shattering both her leg and her dreams.

That is until new girl, Aamani Chakrabarti, invites her onto the STEM team, where a team of nerds (although they prohibit themselves from calling themselves that) compete against other schools to answer the most questions in a timed competition à la Mean Girls. Alexis is given a chance to get out of town after all, albeit on an academic scholarship rather than a sports one. But not everyone is happy to see Alexis succeed, and she has to choose between her future and her past.

I devoured Every Variable of Us by Charles A. Bush within two days of starting it. Alexis is a beautifully flawed character; when we first meet her, she is robbing Aamani’s parents’ store and mistakenly—and pejoratively—identifies them as Muslim rather than Hindu. We see her caught up with drug dealers, gang members and addicts, and time and time again, she chooses to return to their side out of misguided loyalty, even when it could cost her her future.

But her choices are never fully right nor wrong, but they’re treated with the empathy and understanding they deserve. We can clearly chart Alexis’ growth as the novel progresses, hand-held by her welcoming new friend group. It’s a coming-of-age story in more ways than one, as Alexis struggles to name her growing feelings for Aamani as well.

Perhaps my only grudge with the story is that I find Aamani too forgiving. Despite the many times Alexis mistreats her, insulting her for her religion and her sexuality, robbing her, traumatising her, Aamani still forgives her time and time again, even taking the time to explain to Alexis her mistakes. Definitely I have known people as forgiving as Aamani in real life—her patience is definitely characteristic of someone who grew up as a minority—but at some point, I was tempted to reach through my ereader’s screen and give Alexis a slap on her behalf.

But truly, I do think that’s the beauty of the book: even when we grow frustrated with the characters, we understand why they make the choices they do. If I had grown up in Alexis’ position, or in Aamani’s position, who’s to say I wouldn’t have made the same choices she did? For those looking for a YA novel with morally-grey characters, and teenagers having to make choices they’re too young for, Every Variable of Us is the book for you.

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dhwani's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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thanmayi's review

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dark emotional funny reflective

3.5

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending me an ARC of the book through NetGalley!

Every Variable of us is a stunning and gripping novel that follows Lex, A black teenager that comes from an abusive home as she tries to find herself after getting shot and losing her chances of getting a basketball scholarship both academically and sexually.

I absolutely loved this book, and it's shocking to see that it's Bush's debut. The book while being a perfect YA Sapphic romance also tackles several other issues including stereotypes, Islamophobia, homophobia, etc.

It's pretty rare to see queer Indian representation, so it was great to see people like me represented in a book for the first time. I actually liked the way the love interest was portrayed and her parent's reaction to her coming out is similar to those of several parents in the Indian community. I didn't see any overplayed stereotype in the rep and I absolutely loved it.

All that being said, I did feel like the book could've been like 100 pages shorter because some parts of it just felt extensively dragged. I also didn't like the excessive Hollywood/Star Wars/ pop-culture references but that's more of a 'me' thing.

This book feels somewhat like hearing a story from a friend about the craziest year of their life and I was 100% here for it.

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jamesflint's review

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2.0

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