A book I apparently read while I was asleep

I think I liked this book? Maybe? Honestly, it’s been several weeks since I read it and I’m struggling to remember basic plot and characters. Which is its own sort of damning review in a way. Granted, I’m not great at remembering details of books, but they don’t usually get lost in my brain quite so quickly as this one seems to have.

Strongly relying on the Goodreads summary for this one. Isaac Severy, mathematician and beloved grandfather dies in what appears to be a suicide. His granddaughter Hazel gets a letter from him, asking her to deliver his final, shocking equation to a trusted colleague before a secretive organization gets it. The only thing is, he doesn’t tell her where the equation is.

While visiting Los Angeles for the funeral, Hazel crosses paths with several other parties also trying to find Isaac’s equation, including other members of the extended family. The Severy family on the whole is filled with dysfunctional geniuses who don’t see much of each other. There’s the son, a theoretical physicist, who never lived up to his father’s expectations professionally. There’s also the mathematician cousin who has been hiding out in Europe after a massive set-back in his career. Then there’s the shadowy organization trying to get to the equation and willing to use whatever they can get their hands on to do it.

This book may not rock your world, but I think it’d probably be a fun summer read if you just want something light with family drama. I could also see it being used as a palette cleanser if you read something you hated and want to set the stage before trying anything potentially polarizing.