Review Solving For Ex by Leigh Ann Kopans

Title: Solving for Ex
Author: Leigh Ann Kopans
Pages: 300
Date Published: February 11th 2013
1 crush on your best friend +
1 gorgeous, scheming new girl +
1 Mathletics competition =
1 big mess

SIMPLIFY.

Ashley Price doesn’t have much in life after being bullied so hard she had to leave her old school to live with her aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh. But the camera she borrowed from her best friend and secret crush Brendan, and her off the charts math abilities, make things a lot more bearable. Plus, since Brendan is the captain, making the school Mathletes team should be easy. 

But when gorgeous new girl Sofia rolls in and steals Brendan, Ashley's place on the team, and her fragile foothold on the Mansfield Park Prep social totem pole, it’s on. Sofia is everything Ashley left her old school to escape. The only thing Ashley didn’t count on is Sofia’s sexy twin brother Vincent.

Vincent is not only the hottest boy in school, he’s charming, sweet, and he’s got his eye on Ashley. He’s also not taking no for an answer. There's no real reason Ashley shouldn't like Vincent, but with the
battle lines being drawn between her and Sofia, Ashley’s not sure which side he’s on. Or which side she wants him to be on.

She does know Sofia is trouble with a capital T, and she’s determined to make Brendan see it.

SOLVING FOR EX is a YA contemporary romance that remixes Mansfield Park as Clueless meets Mean Girls in a crazy mix of high school society, mathletic competition, and teenage romance.

I began to read this book fully knowing it was a retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park so I knew there was going to be a shy demure girl that fell in love with her best friend but the best friend is attracted to the new girl therefore I knew there was going to be angst and pinning for the guy but this book took it to another level. I don’t think there was a single page in the book that didn’t have Ashley thinking how great life would be if Brendan loved her. What bothers me the most is that this book had great potential but it was ruined with all the pinning for Brendan.

-Ashley had all the things to make a great main character: She is smart loves math, very realistic problems and a love for photography but in the book she does nothing but think how unfair it is that Brendan doesn’t like her back and date a guy she admits that she doesn’t like.

-There were many interesting issues that could have been explored a little bit more like Brendan’s mother alcoholism, the way Ashley was bullied in her former school or the consequences Sophia and Vincent would face because of their cheating.

-I found Sofia to be a very boring mean girl, Ashley basically hated her because she was rich, beautiful and going out with Brendan. Another thing that annoyed me was how Ashley always had to say how good Sofia smelled, we get it she smells like flowers, how is that relevant to the plot?

Overall I got very bored so I wouldn’t recommend it very much. As far as retellings go you can see the elements that Mansfield Park inspired but the plot was badly executed

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