Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover

Synopsis

A clever, charming, and poignant debut novel about a girl who must decide whether to pursue her dreams or preserve her relationships, including a budding romance with her ex-best friend, when an app she created goes viral.

Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.

Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.

Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago. Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams.

Fans of Emma Lord and Alex Light will love this stand-alone contemporary novel with a masterful slow-burn romance at its core.

Review

4,5 stars

What a smart, hype, heartfelt and wise story!

I read Seven Percent of Ro Devereux in one day! I flew through that book that has everything I love in young adult stories.

You have Rose or “Ro” eighteen year old computer geek whose dream is to work at Silicon Valley one day. She lives with her dad since her mom abandoned both many years ago to pursue her dream in computers.

Ro has worked her whole summer with Vera, their neighbor and retired behavioral scientist to develop an app that can predict people’s future job, the place they’ll live in , the number of children and… their match: the one and only. All with 93 percent accuracy.

But what was meant to be a school project will go viral thanks to Ro’s cousin and influencer Sawyer. With one post from Sawyer and her star friend Josie and the app gets downloaded by hundred of thousands.

And of course, as with every successful app, XLR8 a tech company wants in!

Soon enough, Ro will be offered her dream on a plate: push her app and the promise to work at XLR8.

But… there is one problem. Becoming the face of the app, she has to find her match and it’s…Miller, her childhood friend turned nemesis after a bad experience.

Now she’ll have to get Miller on board to finance the app and they have to pretend to be in love.

There is also some decision made by XLR8 regarding the app and its add-ins that bothers Ro.

This book has all what I am looking for in YA contemporary.

-Great characters.

Ro is the geek with big dreams. She also loves her dad who raised her alone and put his dream of opening a restaurant on hold. She wants to help him realize his dream. She also launched MASH has a mean to understand why her mom left her. We feel the old wound that never healed.

Ro is someone driven by her instinct. She knows what she wants and that does not mean going to college to achieve her dream. She also is  a little bit “all over the place” sometimes. What started from a good intention, as a school project will derail and that will force Ro to make some choices. Thankfully, she has a strong moral compass!

Miller is Ro’s opposite. Steady with a plan he loves mythology and wants to study Classics at university. I adored Miller as he is described as a child feeling everything and wearing his heart on his sleeve. Of course, we know how other kids react with sensitive children… and that broke my heart to see Miller wear a cold façade to protect his heart.

–Childhood friends to enemies to …more

I love when we get flashbacks in the heroes childhood and friendship and I relished every peek into Ro and Miller’s adventures. That was so very sweet and had me smiling big!

Of course, we know something happened to have them in opposite camps and they’ll have to find their way back to each other…maybe.

And that hurt seeing Miller giving the cold shoulder to Ro. Especially as we see the story through Ro’s eyes and experienced her hurt.

-Contemporary and hype topic

The backbone of that story is literally an app and promoting it on social media. There is nothing more contemporary than that!

And with it comes the thoughts about corporation stealing the creator’s work or at least, changing the narrative. What happens to your creation when you sign with a capitalist venture? Can you still have a say in its development?

And what is more important. Money and success or doing the right thing?

-Great side characters.

From Maren, Ro’s best friend to Vera, Ro’s mentor, we have a bunch of side character well fleshed out who helped the story to keep flowing.

I had an amazing time reading this YA STEM book and I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you Epic Reads and Harper 360 YA for my copy!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie