Life After Math (Love by the Numbers #2) in Q&A with S.L. Danielson

Aug 11, 2011 Elisa Rolle added it

Even in heaven there are trouble. After falling in love in Love by the Numbers, for Scott and Jared everything seemed easy and clear, they go to college, they graduate and then they build a family together. Only that living outside the protective shield of their family (at least Scott’s family), is not so easy after all, and they are also really young, truly more teenagers than young adult. Even if they see the truth, and what they should do, they face everything like a teenager would do, with d Even in heaven there are trouble. After falling in love in Love by the Numbers, for Scott and Jared everything seemed easy and clear, they go to college, they graduate and then they build a family together. Only that living outside the protective shield of their family (at least Scott’s family), is not so easy after all, and they are also really young, truly more teenagers than young adult. Even if they see the truth, and what they should do, they face everything like a teenager would do, with drama, lot of it, and are not able to see the straight path (no pun intended) to the right exit. Actually there is nothing really big against them, nothing they shouldn’t be able to overcome, but at that age it seems an insurmountable mountain.

Even if sometime Jared got to me with his emotional way of approaching everything, there is also to consider he didn’t have a supporting and helping family in the background like Scott did, and so it’s understandable he needs more reassurance than another boy his same age; but while this is clear to an adult, that is not the same to a teenager like Scott, who sees the needy attitude of Jared like something he should let go. Sincerely I sided more with Jared than Scott, even if, as I said, sometime I felt like Jared was just a little bit too emotional. In a way that is even more striking, considering he is the “jock” in contraposition to the “nerd” Scott, and usually the stereotypes are exactly the opposite, strong and careless the jock, attentive and moody the nerd. Another originality in playing with stereotype was the chosen physical aspect for the two of them, with Scott being taller and sturdier than Jared, even if part of the build was in part due to a weight issue Scott had while in high school (on a side note, I found a little too much the times the author highlighted how much weight Scott lost, once was fine, twice was good, more than that was too much).

All in all a nice and somehow ingénue coming of age story, young love and big emotions and all that is around.

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Sep 22, 2011 Julie Hayes rated it really liked it

Scott and Jared have weathered high school, now it’s on to college! They’ve managed to sustain and nurture their relationship through some pretty serious ups and downs, and have vowed to stay together forever. But when reality comes crashing down on them, in the form of pressure from their conflicting schedules, and they discover that the college world is vastly different than what they’ve known before, they’re faced with some decisions that have the potential to tear them apart.

Life is good as
Scott and Jared have weathered high school, now it’s on to college! They’ve managed to sustain and nurture their relationship through some pretty serious ups and downs, and have vowed to stay together forever. But when reality comes crashing down on them, in the form of pressure from their conflicting schedules, and they discover that the college world is vastly different than what they’ve known before, they’re faced with some decisions that have the potential to tear them apart.

Life is good as Scott and Jared celebrate their six month anniversary together with roses and Italian food. Jared’s mother announces her impending divorce from his abusive father and all’s well. Freshman year ends, on to sophomore. Things change when they find themselves in different dorm rooms.

Scott is still tutoring in math, and not just forJared (although he’s the only one who gets the strip algebra advantage!). He joins a club for math tutors and there he meets Daniel, a young and handsome Asian man. They become fast friends, even though he questions Scott’s engagement, thinking it’s happened too fast, especially at his age. Scott feels more attracted to Daniel than he should, and the feeling seems to be mutual.

Jared befriends a fellow psych student who introduces him to his study group—and his older brother Taylor, who’s in his thirties. Jared and Taylor become good friends, and he learns that that the big guy is gay too. Is Taylor crushing on Jared perhaps?

Junior year things only get worse, and when Jared demands Scott cut back on his tutoring, in order to get more personal attention, Daniel guilts him into keeping with his grueling schedule. Something’s gotta give—will it be the tutoring, or the relationship between Scott and Jared?

Let me start out by saying that this is a YA novel, not a romance novel, so don’t approach it thinking that it’s the latter. Maybe there’s romance in it, but that isn’t the same thing at all. I think the difference in the two has to do with the approach that the author takes. Ms. Danielson has a very bare bones, to the gut style of writing that is not flowery or romantic, and simply tells it like it is. Some of her descriptions during the sex scenes between the two boys are very graphic and not romantic at all—she is fond of comparing her characters to fountains when they orgasm, and spewing is not a romantic word at all. But she’s talking about teenage boys who just want to get off, so it works.

Where Ms. Danielson excels, rather than in the beauty of her language, is the depths of her characters, even if her situations border on or cross the soap opera line, which they do. She is fond of the dramatic and it shows. She creates characters that are more realistic than some romance novels. They have warts and blemishes and they need to use the bathrobe, and they have weight issues and self-esteem issues. And they’re far from perfect in the choices that they make. I would comment that she also builds a world where parents are accepting of their son’s sexuality without blinking and have frank sex talks with them. While that sounds nice, as the mother of five children now past those years, I know what I’d get if I’d tried to discuss their sex lives with them, and I can’t repeat it. But this is the world she creates, so suspend your disbelief when you enter it.

Frankly, I think the editor dropped the ball on this one, not in grammar or spelling, but in continuity and logic issues, but one can’t fault the writer for that. Perhaps as an editor, I tend to think that way, but I would think another editor would too.

If you enjoyed Love by the Numbers, you really should read the sequel, to see what happens with the boys, following their tumultuous lives. If you haven’t read the first one, then read it. They’re good enjoyable reads that will stick with you for some time afterwards.

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Mar 26, 2011 CAS rated it really liked it

The boys are back in this much anticipated sequel to Love by the Numbers and it was without a single doubt well worth the wait. This is only the second YA book I have read and I am quite taken by the genre thanks to SL, she does it incredibly well. :)
Although Life After Math could easily stand alone I have to say that having read the first book definitely gave me a much clearer understanding of their personalities and character as well as prior knowledge of their relationship dynamics. It allow The boys are back in this much anticipated sequel to Love by the Numbers and it was without a single doubt well worth the wait. This is only the second YA book I have read and I am quite taken by the genre thanks to SL, she does it incredibly well. :)
Although Life After Math could easily stand alone I have to say that having read the first book definitely gave me a much clearer understanding of their personalities and character as well as prior knowledge of their relationship dynamics. It allowed me to better understand and relate to how Scott and Jared, both together and apart dealt with the strain on their relationship. The stress and pressures of "real" life, the more often than not negative influence of "friends" and too much time apart leads them both to question their priorities both academically and in regards to their relationship and their future together.

I have to give the author well deserved credit and praise for not influencing the reader to lay blame solely on either one of these young men. The challenges and issues they face and deal with are presented without bias and both perspectives are always given equal space and importance. In writing it this way the author clearly illustrates that it does indeed take TWO to make a relationship work and in counterpoint, TWO to allow it to fall apart. It was a heartwarming and sometimes heart wrenching journey watching them grow and mature into more confident and independent young men. Over the course of four years the lessons they learn are more than academic, they are also learning what it takes to make a relationship work as young adults on their own for the first time. They are learning how to give and take and how to make sacrifices and concessions in the name of love and for the sake of their future together. All too often they act and react under the influence of basic human emotions and learn some very hard lessons from their mistakes and missteps. Once again their parents are a very important influence in their lives, playing a very vital and positive role. They offer comfort, support and guidance in equal measure yet ultimately always encourage them to chose their own path and make their own decisions based on what they feel is best for them first and foremost.

This is a very lovingly and beautifully written story. There is just that extra special something about Scott and Jared, a certain sweet and almost innocent quality to them, especially in their intimate moments together, and even with everything they go through it remains untarnished and constant and feels incredibly, refreshingly real and true.

I highly recommend this book along with Love by the Numbers and not only to adult readers but most especially to every Young adult looking for positive, well written stories they can relate to in regards to being young and in love and facing the pressures and challenges of everyday life in high school, college and beyond.

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