In Serena Kaylor's sparkling debut, a homeschooled math genius finds herself out of her element at a theater summer camp and learns that life—and love—can’t be lived by the (text)book.
LONG STORY SHORT by SERENA KAYLOR
Series: n/a
Publication date: July 26, 2022
Published by: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA
SYNOPSIS
Growing up homeschooled in Berkeley, California, Beatrice Quinn is a statistical genius who has dreamed her whole life of discovering new mathematical challenges at a school like Oxford University. She always thought the hardest part would be getting in, not convincing her parents to let her go. But while math has always made sense to Beatrice, making friends is a problem she hasn’t been able to solve, so her parents are worried about sending her halfway across the world. The compromise: the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy and a detailed list of teenage milestones to check off. She has six weeks to show her parents she can pull off the role of "normal" teenager and won't spend the rest of her life hiding in a library.
Unfortunately, hearts and hormones don't follow any rules, and there is no equation for teenage interactions. When she's adopted by a group of eclectic theater kids, and immediately makes an enemy of the popular—and, annoyingly gorgeous—British son of the camp founders, she realizes that relationships are trickier than calculus. With her future on the line, this girl genius stumbles through illicit parties, double dog dares, and more than your fair share of Shakespeare. But before the final curtain falls, will Beatrice realize that there’s more to life than she can find in the pages of a book?
In this sparkling debut from Serena Kaylor, Long Story Short is a YA rom-com about a homeschooled math genius who finds herself out of her element at a theater summer camp and learns that life—and love—can’t be lived by the (text)book.
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Praise for Long Story Short:
"Charming repartee and plenty of heart make for a delightful debut." --Kirkus Reviews
"With characters you can't help but fall in love with, a vibrant, fun atmosphere and a stunning, tender romance at its center, Long Story Short is the perfect romantic comedy for connoisseurs of hate-to-love, fans of Pride and Prejudice, and readers who love found families. An unmissable debut from a voice to watch in the YA romantic comedy sphere!" ―Sophie Gonzales, author of Perfect on Paper
“I loved this book to pieces. Delightful and charming with the familiar biting wit of a Shakespearean production, Long Story Short was the perfect read. At times I wanted to scream at Beatrice and others, I wanted to give her a big hug (or three) for being so darn relatable. Thankfully, she had a supporting cast to die for in Mia, Nolan, Shelby and *sigh* Nik who lead our heroine gently from behind the curtains to center stage in her own life.” -Erin Hahn, author of You’d Be Mine and Never Saw You Coming
REVIEW
Long Story Short: A Novel by Serena KaylorMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Beatrice Quinn is a handful for her parents to deal with at the age of sixteen. Not because she's going through the normal rebellious stage that other teens her age do. No, it's because she's a mathematical genius who got her high school degree at fourteen and was accepted to Oxford University two years later. Most parents would be ecstatic for their child to get accepted to such a prestigious school at such a young age, but moving out and becoming independent in a foreign country with very little social skills is a bit of a problem. As a homeschooled student, Beatrice focused more on books and intellect. Her personality is very analytical and straightforward, leaving very little room for building close connections with others. She's been completely happy with that-up until now. Now her inability to pick up social cues and form connections with others may prevent her from her dreams in England.
[...]the entire city of Oxford,a place built by this paragon of learning,was likely filled with people who were similar to me.People who loved books more than people,and nobody thought that was weird.
I have a particular weakness for nerdy/socially awkward heroines and Beatrice certainly fit that bill. I think her awkwardness was more than just the lack of social skills. That plays into it, sure, but this is a girl that has probably never felt as if she never fit in anywhere her entire life. Not only was she far ahead of her peers intellectually and academically, she couldn't be more different from both of her parents. As marriage therapists working in Berkley, their world revolves around messy emotions and how to manage them. Beatrice tends to shy away from uncomfortable feelings.
I rolled my eyes for what wasprobably the millionth timeand once again reminded myself why I’dnever really fit in here.Berkeley, California,where even the academia hadan emotional component to it.Sometimes I wondered ifI had any emotional components at all.
Now that she's free from her high school obligations she just wants to leave the stifling environment of her parents house and find somewhere that she finally fits in. I would imagine it's incredibly lonely and isolating to not have one single person in the world you can relate to. You really feel for Beatrice's intense desire to move on to the next stage in her life where she can grow intellectually and hopefully truly feel at peace. One thing that bothered me a little was that the emphasis was put on her homeschooling being the major cause of her socializing deficiency. This is a stereotype, not a developmental handicap. You are perfectly able to make friends and have normal teen experiences while doing in-home learning.
Getting approval to attend Oxford comes with conditions. She must attend an acting summer camp where she will be forced to engage with other people her age and practice at a variety of skills including making friends. As an introvert, the thought of being forced to act on stage is absolutely terrifying to her, but she's willing to do anything it takes. Once there, Beatrice bumbles nervously through meeting new people and trying to fit in. It's both endearing and awkward to watch her open herself up to new acquaintences and occasionally embarrass herself. She just brushes herself off and keeps trying. The more she persists, the more empowering the challenges become. Because she can see that even if she fails, it's a learning experience. She's learning how to find her own personal fashion sense as she understands who she is a little bit better. It was very sweet how her new friends helped her navigate through her new experiences with so much patience.
Beatrice clashes with the golden boy of camp immediately. She meets Nik at the welcome party and they immediately make a bad impression on each other. She snipes at him and blames nepotism as the reason he gets all of the leading roles. He makes an unflattering comment on her looks. Enemy status achieved. They spend the majority of the book circling around each other with distrust. There isn't a huge amount of noticeable development in their relationship, though it's not for a lack of trying on his part. He does try to understand her a little better but he's always firmly rebuffed by her. She's pretty much completely clueless recognizing his interest in her which did make me a bit impatient. Even when told by her friends, she brushes it off as nonsense and continues to hang on to her misjudgment of him. I do wish that there could have been a bit more tangible romance between the two of them earlier on, but the Shakespeare quote challenge they did was super cute and original.
Beatrice is pushed out of her comfort zone and beyond during the summer. Although she'll probably never be a social butterfly (and that's perfectly okay) she learned that she is capable of much more than she was giving herself credit for. She was no longer trapped by her routines, she adapted to change better, and she realized that people can't be put in neat and tidy boxes. Although she never could have conceived having anything in common with impulsive, creative theater kids, they still bonded. You can celebrate each other's differences rather than allowing them to separate you. They were just as impressed with her intelligence as she was with their creative sides. By the end of the book you see her mature quite a bit, but more importantly, she didn't have a complete personality
transplant. She was still that quirky girl inside, just with more confidence and strength.
Overall, I really enjoyed this debut author's first book and would definitely read more from her in the future. Her writing style is in the same vein as Emma Lord, so if you enjoyed Tweet Cute or You Have a Match, this could be the perfect book for you.
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