100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Emily Apell knows exactly what she want to do with her life.  When she gets the chance to join a renowned research lab, Emily knows this is her chance to make a breakthrough in the science of smell. Emily has never felt like she fit in with other people.   However, lab colleague Aeden intrigues Emily like no one before.  Unfortunately, Aeden seems to have no interest in Emily and only sees her as a competitor.  Aeden's research is surprisingly similar to to what Emily was brought in to work on. When Emily's research proves more promising and Aeden is faced with being kicked out of the lab, Emily makes a decision to make Aeden an equal partner in her research. Emily and Aeden begin a clunky relationship, but as things progress Emily realizes she is in uncharted waters.  Years later, as Emily is about to accept an award for her work, she tries to unravel what happened in their relationship.

The DNA of You and Me is a very different type of romance where a neurodivergent tries to piece together what happened to a relationship that almost changed her goal in life.  I could tell Emily's character was a bit different from the beginning and yet I could relate to her not attaching to any people and feeling like she was just fine without them.  I have to admit I found the science part of the book way more fascinating than the relationship part.  It was clear that the author had experience in the lab as well as an extensive knowledge of the science of smell.  I enjoyed reading about the process of tirelessly searching databases, finding something that looks promising, isolating the gene and seeing if it does what is expected.  The reality of research science is also highlighted, that most of what is worked on is a failure- or at least not what was expected.  Aeden was a conundrum to me, approaching his relationship with Emily as something he needs to hide, almost hate fueled and willing to ruin everything that she has worked on for what he believes is love.  I understood Emily's attraction more since Aeden seemed to be the first person she ever clicked with, ever felt that she needed to be around.  In the end, I felt that Emily made the right decisions for herself and highlighted the strength of women in the STEM field.  


This book was received for free in return for an honest review.