The Code for Love and Heartbreak

Written by Jillian Cantor

Narrated by Leah Horowitz

FROM USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR JILLIAN CANTOR COMES A SMART, EDGY UPDATE OF JANE AUSTEN’S BELOVED CLASSIC EMMA.

Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you
down—just like Emma’s sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers …
those you can count on. (No pun intended.)

Emma’s senior year is going to be all about numbers and seeing how far they can take her. When she and
George, her Coding Club copresident, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is
born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George
disapproves of Emma’s idea, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school
are proof that the app works. At least at first.

Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep
falling for each other, and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything.
But there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781705000335

Jillian Cantor

Jillian Cantor is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for adults and teens, including In Another Time, The Hours Count, Margot, and The Lost Letter, which was a USA Today bestseller. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.

Reviews for The Code for Love and Heartbreak

[Jewelry Bonney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For such a great story, a lot of audience must read your book. You can join in the NovelStar writing contest happening right now till the end of May with a theme werewolf. You can also publish your stories in NovelStar, just email our editors [e-mail], [e-mail], or [e-mail].

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor comes out in October of 2020. As a librarian, I occasionally get early reader copies of books at the kindness of the publishers. This book is one of them. I didn't realize it was a modern re-telling of Emma by Jane Austen until I was looking up the main characters name to make sure I remembered it correctly and thought, "That's the name of the character in Emma!" Okay, I can be slow sometimes! I even recently saw the Emma movie although I've never read the book, so I don't feel as though I can really compare them. Movies are notoriously unreliable even if they can be quite entertaining.Emma Woodhouse focuses her attention very well. Little if anything distracts her. She is whip smart and learns quickly. She plays the piano perfectly, can do anything with math, and resides at the top of her class, expecting to be first or second in her graduating class. That other people's opinions don't matter to her proves beneficial for her focusing abilities. Her sister Izzy has kept Emma close to her so that she doesn't miss out on anything after their mother died years ago. Their father works a lot and comes home late. Even though Emma finds joy with math and not with tagging along with her sister, she always goes because she loves her sister. Distraught that Izzy is leaving for college, Emma wonders how she will overcome the loneliness that will ensure. She does have math--always reliable. She also has George--always reliable. With Izzy gone after giving her advice to be more social by jokingly telling her to use her math to code a boyfriend, Emma begins to see a path to winning first place in a coding contest. She decides to code love. She and George are co-presidents of the coding club for their senior year. George wants to create a recycling app. Emma, focused, believes his plan is too mundane while her plan is creative, meaning a better chance at winning. Thus, Emma's senior year begins!As the app progresses so does the school year. The coding club needs beta subjects to test the app. As they experiment, they need information about why people date or stay married for decades in order to create an algorithm for love. The students at their school are more than willing to be test subjects and start asking for matches as word gets around that people are happy with their matches. Suddenly, Emma is popular, which she didn't pursue and doesn't really pay attention to. She also ends up with a host of friends from coding club. She discovers that she isn't lonely. She takes time to spend time with people in the club and discovers that she likes them and likes having friends as they keep tinkering with the app to adjust for changes or breakups with their matches. Her closest friend, George, knows Emma best and helps her when she starts getting too focused. When changes are needed and Emma is too focused to consider them, George can open her lens to see better.I like Emma because she isn't the typical girl in a YA novel. There's aren't bullies; she isn't upset about teenage stuff. She has a goal and she has a plan. Although she is stubborn about doing her app idea for the coding competition, she does listen to others when it comes to developing and modifying the app. I also like that she honestly questions how to react to other people. I think a lot of kids navigate these social situations--even adults--wondering what the right response is supposed to be. She makes friends with Jane, whom she considered rather odd before. As Emma gets to know these students as real people so does the reader. Emma can be challenging. She gets so focused that she can't see what's in front of her. Her friends give her a lot of slack and accept her as she is. If there is a problem, they apologize or talk it out--eventually. George knows best how to handle Emma. His presence can calm her and motivate her to do better on a task. She truly would be lost without George as her compass. Of course problems must ensue with the app because love cannot be solved with math, but they do a pretty good job getting people to date and to meet new people. As Emma navigates love for everyone during her senior year and possibly may find it herself, the reader encounters an entertaining read and a good message about getting to know people and forgiving people their idiosyncrasies in order to form solid friendships and relationships.