Description

Inventing a formula to predict people’s perfect partners doesn’t equate to love in this contemporary YA novel that New York Times bestsellers Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick call “honest, raw, and breathtakingly real.”

College freshman Grace Tang never meant to rewrite the rules of love. She came to college to move on from a grief-stricken senior year and to start anew. So she follows a predictable routine: Attend class, study, go home and visit her dad every weekend. She doesn’t leave any room in her life for outliers or anomalies.

Then, Grace comes up with an algorithm for her statistics class to pair students with their perfect romantic partners. Though some people are skeptical, like Julia, Grace’s prickly coworker, Grace is confident that her program will take all the drama out of relationships. That’s why she keeps trying to make things work with her match, a guy named Jamie. But as the semester goes on and she grows closer to Julia, Grace starts to question who she’s really attracted to.

In award-winning author Christina Li’s YA debut, Grace will have to make a choice between the tidy equations she knows will protect her from heartbreak or the possibility that true love doesn’t follow any formula.

About the Author

Christina Li is the author of the middle grade novels Clues to the Universe and Ruby Lost and Found, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature, as well as the forthcoming teen novel True Love and Other Impossible Odds. At any given time she is probably daydreaming about characters and drinking too much jasmine green tea. She grew up in the Midwest and California but now calls New York home. Find her online at christinaliwrites.com.

Praise For…

"Heartbreaking and deeply honest, True Love and Other Impossible Odds is a beautiful story about loss, second chances, and figuring out who we are." — Dustin Thao, New York Times Bestselling author of You've Reached Sam

“A reminder that love and joy can be found in the most unexpected places, and that there is no pain or tragedy that precludes us from finding our way to the happy ending.” — Sonora Reyes, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

"Every now and then you read a book that you know will stay with you for a long time. True Love and Other Impossible Odds is one of those books. Honest, raw, and breathtakingly real." — Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick, New York Times bestselling authors of She Gets the Girl 

"The blueprint for contemporary coming-of-age. True Love and Other Impossible Odds navigates the complex, beautiful time of burgeoning adulthood, where imperfect understandings of love inspire the greatest plunge toward growth."  — Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights

"The perfect story about the miraculous improbability of love in all its forms. At turns romantic, lyrical, hilarious, and moving, this book is as comforting as a hot drink after a day spent out in the snow with the people you love."  — Jake Maia Arlow, bestselling and Stonewall Award-winning author of How to Excavate a Heart

“Earnest and tender. Reading True Love and Other Impossible Odds feels like falling in love for the first time. Christina Li writes with an aching honesty that is both brilliant and heartfelt.” — Tashie Bhuiyan, author of Counting Down With You

"A textured, touching coming of age story that'll leave you believing in the impossible. Layered with echoes of grief, yearning for a perfect path to happiness, and the glory of finding peace in everything from new friends, old loves, and an unexpected future, this is a truly perfect book."  — Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All