Robin's Review

Complex Solutions
by Susan Dalessandro



Math is easy for Lexi, but complex emotions are difficult, and A.P. Calculus won’t help her overcome guilt, fear, or self-destructive behavior. 

Sixteen-year old Lexi Thompson believes she should’ve died in the car accident that took her parents. Now she slices her guilt into her skin, aggravating an already dangerous cutting habit. When Lexi is contacted about her parents’ lost proof of a famous math theorem, her guilt over her parents’ deaths intensifies. Math was her parents’ passion as well as her own. Lexi enlists her friend and fellow math whiz, Joe, to help find the proof. As their relationship deepens, Lexi struggles to keep her self-harm secret. Further, she realizes she’s not the only one interested in her parents’ proof. A mysterious man hangs around her family’s vacant home and lurks in the woods where she runs with her dog. The stalker's presence exacerbates her anxiety, along with the frequency and severity of her cutting. The more she tries to conceal her self-harm, the more she pulls away from Joe and from finding the proof. If she can’t let go of her fear and open up to Joe, she may lose him as well as the proof to a man who’s intent on stealing her parents’ legacy.

Triggers: Death, psychological issues such as depression, anxiety and self-harm.

Robin's Review: A complex and compelling story of teen Lexi. She is going through high school and life with a broken spirit. Her parents have died from a car accident, and she has had to move in with her grandmother which means a new school and new people. Lexi is going through so much; guilt over her parents death, anxiety and depression, which has resulted in self harm. She tries to solve a mystery concerning her parents mathematics secret, but that turns out to be quite dangerous for her, add bullying in because she is new and different at her school, and it’s hard for her to make new friends let alone open up her heart to someone.

This story has complicated mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and self-harm, but it is written with such knowledgeable concern and sympathetic understanding that it just blew me away. The plot is strong and full of teenage emotions and new found strength. It shows the main character grow throughout the story and then learning to forgive herself. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more from author, Susan Dalessandro.

It was my pleasure to receive a free copy of this book but that does not in any way affect my opinions in this review of this entertaining story.

#youngadult #urbanfantasy #teen #comingofage #mystery #romance

Walk With Me Into the Dark