Review: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Book Title: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak

Author: Brian Katcher

Published Date: May 19th, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Book Award-winning author Brian Katcher’s hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens recovering from heartbreak and discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date.

It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip.

If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents.

Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon.

But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more…

Disclaimer: I received this book from Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was excited for this book. It looked nerdy and cute and fun. I was thinking that I'd enjoy this book, that it would be a treat for me and that I'd love the characters.

Well I was wrong, and really wrong.

I have no patience for characters who are doormats, who blindly agree with whatever their parents say or tell them. So Ana was utterly maddening to me. She was practically under lock & key ever since her sister Nichole had defied their parents. Nichole is now married, with a little boy of her own. Yet, neither Ana nor her parents have seen Nichole since she left. Ana was even invited to Nichole's wedding, but she didn't go. She didn't want to disappoint her parents.

Eye roll.

Please, this girl had no backbone. She had no guts. She lived in fear of disappointing her folks. She felt like she had to be this perfect daughter because Nichole had disappointed her parents so badly. She kept saying that she didn't have a sister, and that right there, infuriated me because she DID have a sister, she was just too afraid to stand up to her parents and demand to see her sister's family.

On the other hand, we had Zak. Zak's mom got married to a guy she had only known for 2 months. Zak disliked him for no other reason than the fact that he was not his real father. Zak's father hadn't run off, he had died. Yet, as the book unfolds, we learn Roger, Zak's stepfather is actually a decent guy. 

Zak really doesn't give a crap about anything, especially his schoolwork.

How the hell did he think it was okay to hand in a plagiarized paper? I don't even get how that was okay. That pissed me off considerably. The only punishment he got was joining the quiz bowl. 

Are you kidding me?

That is such a crappy punishment and I don't even understand why this was okay. It made absolutely no sense to me. My intense dislike of Zak only increased when he complained that he was going to miss Washingcon. 

Seriously, dude? Stop being a pain in the ass. He was lucky he wasn't expelled.

The majority of the book surrounded around trying to find Ana's brother Clayton at Washingcon. That's when things really started getting boring. I cared about finding Clayton, but I didn't care about Ana or Zak. Or the romance. Or really anything else about this book. I was hoping to love the romance in the book, but I did not like the romance at all. I felt no chemistry between these two.

I had a lot of hope for this book, but unfortunately this book did not work for me at all. I was so excited to be done with this book. I am giving it 2 stars. Unfortunately, I will not be recommending this book to anyone.