The DNA of You and Me has been on my radar since its initial publication last year. Naturally, I was beyond ecstatic to be invited to participate in the blog tour in honor of the novel now being available in paperback! So, how did this romance live up to my expectations?

The DNA of You and Me
by Andrea Rothman 

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (March 12, 2019)

“Refreshing…. Asks urgent questions about female ambition. Fans of Lab Girl have found a worthy successor.”—Real Simple

A powerful debut novel—a wonderfully engaging infusion of Lab Girl, The Assistants, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine—that pits the ambition of scientific discovery against the siren call of love.

Emily Apell arrives in Justin McKinnon’s renowned research lab with the single-minded goal of making a breakthrough discovery. But a colleague in the lab, Aeden Doherty, has been working on a similar topic, and his findings threaten to compete with her research.

To Emily’s surprise, her rational mind is unsettled by Aeden, and when they end up working together their animosity turns to physical passion, followed by love. Emily eventually allows herself to envision a future with Aeden, but when he decides to leave the lab it becomes clear to her that she must make a choice. It is only years later, when she is about to receive a prestigious award for the work they did together, that Emily is able to unravel everything that happened between them.

A sharp, relevant novel that speaks to the ambitions and desires of modern women, The DNA of You and Me explores the evergreen question of career versus family, the irrational sensibility of love, and whether one can be a loner without a diagnostic label.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

As always, a copy of this book was provided by the authors in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.  

My feelings about The DNA of You and Me are a bit complex. On one hand, I positively adored the concept and Andrea Rothman's prose. On the other hand, I struggled with it from time to time in a way that made it drag on for me. It feels as though this book was a case of 'right book, wrong time' for me and was more dependent on my mood rather than the content.

Although there were times when my focus drifted from the storyline, there was still plenty to be admired within The DNA of You and Me. And ultimately, this is what made the novel work for me... even when I didn't necessarily click with it. 

The DNA of You and Me starts of solidly and fairly unique. The characters and relationships at the center of the novel are intriguing. Although, in the case of the male love interest, I wouldn't call everyone likable. Which is fine. For me, it adds a bit of a disconnect, but it doesn't define the story in an overly negative way.

Rothman has other ways that make The DNA of You and Me shine. Like all good books, this isn't wholly one thing. The combination of both science and romance makes for compelling storytelling. While the characters, and the central relationship, can get messy and lead to complications in their lives, The DNA of You and Me never feels messy.

What I liked most about The DNA of You and Me was that it instantly felt like something I'd never read before, while simultaneously feeling like something I should have read before.

Setting it within STEM, of course, makes the story all the more captivating. It's no secret that, in terms of literary exploration, there aren't enough books out there that showcase women in STEM. (I loved, too, that the author herself is a scientist as well.) And providing this representation leads us into something real and necessary.

My mind doesn't fare well when it comes to comprehending science and the like, so this made me quite nervous when it came to the book. Fortunately, The DNA of You and Me takes on the field--and the research at hand--in a way that translates smoothly into the narration and the romance. It doesn't oversimplify or understate itself in any capacity, and while it likely won't be for everyone, I think we can all agree that Andrea Rothman has a voice to look out for.

About Andrea Rothman

Andrea Rothman was born in Brooklyn NY and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. Her debut novel, THE DNA OF YOU AND ME, was published by William Morrow-HarperCollins in March of 2019. The novel has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal, and won an award for Best Popular Fiction in English at the 21st International Latino Book Awards in Los Angeles.

Prior to being a fiction writer, Rothman was a research scientist at the Rockefeller University in New York, where she studied the sense of smell. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and was a fiction editor for the VCFA journal of the arts-Hunger Mountain.

Her essays and short stories have appeared in print and online journals such as Literary Hub, Lablit, Cleaver Magazine, and Litro Magazine among others, and can be viewed here.

Rothman lives with her husband and two children in Long Island, New York. She is at work on a second novel.

Connect with Rothman on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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