Review: Principles of Emotion by Sara Read

Principles of Emotion by Sara Read
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a really interesting look into mental health, family dynamics, trauma, and women in STEM.  Meg is a brilliant mathematician, who's math abilities became apparent to her father at a very early age.  A mathematician in his own right, he made it clear that her worth was equal to her academic ability because she wasn't like other girls her age.  He also made it very clear that he was responsibly for all of her achievements.   Meg decided to leave academia to become a caretaker for her ailing grandmother where she meets Isaac, a carpenter who doesn't understand math but he understands Meg.  Isaac leaves to pursue a career in blacksmithing, while Meg works on solving an impossible math problem.  Years later they are reunited, and they both need each other to support them through some tough times.  Meg's father is trying to take credit for her life's work solving the impossible, and Isaac is in trouble with the law.  They are both struggling with very real trauma in their lives and don't have much of a support system in place as they deal with the stressors in their lives.  As they get to know each other again, they find it a bit easier to face life's problems with someone at their back.

I really enjoyed Isaac and Meg together.  Life is always easier when you've got someone in your corner.  Meg's family is horrible, except for her cousin Lizzie (she's great).  Meg has very real anxiety and panic attacks, which I think the author did a good job portraying those.  I appreciated that Meg was able to take charge of her situation and advocate for herself despite how uncomfortable it made her.  This isn't a super fun happy rom come like I expected.  It is kind of sad and bleak as Meg and Isaac deal with his legal troubles and she tries to get her intellectual property back and talks about math quite a bit.  There are some intimate scenes, but they are fairly fade to black.  

This book isn't going to be for everyone.  It is heavy on the math, and the romance is more on the sweet side than the spicy side.  This does cover some heavy topics, and I thought the author did a good job addressing them.

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