I’ve got to be honest with you – I struggled a bit to get into this book. So much so that I put it down at page 38 and decided to pick up another book that I was desperate to read. But as that second book was struggling to capture my imagination I decided to pick up The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything again and try again. And crikey I am so glad I did as I was soon completely immersed! I’m genuinely not sure what happened, but something magical happened soon after page 38, resulting in me falling in love with the characters and their unique heart wrenching but tender story.
I really believe The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything is a novel that will always stay with me.
The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything is the poignant story of Art and Mimi, two siblings in there thirties that live together. Art is a renowned and brilliant mathematician, he believes maths is everywhere and it is maths that makes the world go around. He is also neurodivergent. Following the death of their parents when Mimi was a teenager, she seemed to give up her dreams of moving away for university and settled into a mundane existence of working at the museum and living a quiet life with her brother. But when we initially meet Mimi, she is clearly unsettled and unhappy. Mimi loves Art but she wants a life other than the life she has with him. She also wants to find love.
With nervous hesitation and research to back her up, Mimi tells Art of her loneliness and need to find love. As someone who heavily relies on routine and doesn’t like change, Art struggles to hear this but agrees to help his sister. There is a condition though – she must follow his strict mathematical algorithm to do so. Art strongly believes that the only way Mimi will successfully find love is through the use of maths.
But Mimi accidently defies Art as not using her brother’s algorithm, she meets and falls in love with Frank. Also a mathematician, Frank is a sombrero loving romantic who adores Mimi. Although both men have maths in common, there is something about Frank that Art doesn’t trust. He is just not sure what.
As Mimi and Frank’s love intensifies, tension between the siblings begins to grow. On one occasion when Mimi hears her brother’s name she realises ‘Love and resentment strain to fit into the single syllable of his name. It feels like the click of a leash.’
With pressure on Mimi to make a decision that will change all their lives forever, a horrible tragedy happens leaving Mimi to question herself, her brother and Frank. Mimi is not sure what to believe or who to trust.
The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything is being compared to the bestselling novels Lessons in Chemistry and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, two novels which completely moved me. I love this comparison and totally agree with it as The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything is quirky, heart wrenching but also extremely heart warming. Lessons in Chemistry and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine are being made into films. I truly believe The Theory Of (Not Quite) Everything should be too.
Thank you to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to the blog tour of this fantastic, rich novel which is released on 16 March 2023. To follow the blog tour please see below.
