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    The DNA of You and Me: A Novel
    The DNA of You and Me: A Novel
    The DNA of You and Me: A Novel
    Audiobook6 hours

    The DNA of You and Me: A Novel

    Written by Andrea Rothman

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A smart debut novel—a wonderfully engaging infusion of Lab Girl, The Assistants, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine—that pits the ambition of scientific discovery against the siren call of love.

    How does smell work? Specifically, how do olfactory sensory neurons project to their targets in the olfactory bulb, where smell is processed? Justin McKinnon has hired fresh-faced graduate student Emily to study that question. What Justin hasn’t told Emily is that two other scientists in the lab, Aeden and Allegra, are working on a very similar topic, and their findings may compete with her research.

    Emily was born focused and driven. She’s always been more comfortable staring down the barrel of a microscope than making small talk with strangers. Competition doesn’t scare her. Her special place is the lab, where she analyzes DNA sequences, looking for new genes that might be involved in guiding olfactory neurons to their targets.

    To Emily’s great surprise, her rational mind is unsettled by Aeden. As they shift from competitors to colleagues, and then to something more, Emily allows herself to see a future in which she doesn’t end up alone. But when Aeden decides to leave the lab, it becomes clear to Emily that she must make a choice: follow her research or follow her heart.

    A sharp, relevant novel that speaks to the ambitions and desires of modern women, The DNA of You and Me explores the evergreen question of career versus family, the irrational sensibility of love, and whether one can be a loner without a diagnostic label.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 12, 2019
    ISBN9780062897558
    Author

    Andrea Rothman

    Andrea Rothman was born in Brooklyn NY and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. Her debut novel, THE DNA OF YOU AND ME, was published by William Morrow-HarperCollins in March of 2019. The novel has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal, and won an award for Best Popular Fiction in English at the 21st International Latino Book Awards in Los Angeles. Prior to being a fiction writer, Rothman was a research scientist at the Rockefeller University in New York, where she studied the sense of smell. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and was a fiction editor for the VCFA journal of the arts-Hunger Mountain.  Her essays and short stories have appeared in print and online journals such as Literary Hub, Lablit, Cleaver Magazine, and Litro Magazine among others, and can be viewed at www.andrearothman.com.  Rothman lives with her husband and two children in Long Island, New York. She is at work on a second novel. 

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    Reviews for The DNA of You and Me

    3.5/5

    33 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My sister is the scientist in our family. She's a vet with a Masters in Toxicology. I'm the English major who had to sit in the hallway for the duration of high school fetal pig dissection because I got hysterical thinking about cutting into Wilbur. But just because I am squeamish doesn't mean I'm not fascinated by science. Because I am. Just from a distance. Especially if it requires dissection or euthanizing lab animals; I'm completely fine with sciences like geology though, one of my favorite subjects in college. And I do love to read about science and the amazing things that scientists are researching and discovering, what drives them to their field of study, the process of their work, and what it might say about us and our world. So Andrea Rothman's novel The DNA of You and Me was a completely engaging and wonderful read about the science world and one woman in it.Emily Apell is a bioinformatician who has just received that call that she's won a very prestigious prize. As she processes the overwhelming news, she thinks back to what first set her on the path toward this major achievement. Growing up with her chemist father, she was steeped in scientific research quite young. And as an only child with a severe environmental allergy, her childhood was very much spent indoors not around other people so her social skills never quite developed the same way that others' did. Even in adulthood, she is incredibly socially awkward and she struggles to make connections with others. Moving to a prestigious new lab where she is looking for a gene or genes in the olfactory system that create a sort of smell map, she is both consumed by her research and intensely aware of fellow lab mate, Aeden, who, with his technician, is also looking for these genes. They might be in the same lab but they are definitely in competition with each other, at least until they are forced to work together and an antagonistic and bumbling relationship forms. But when tensions and hostility in the lab prove impossible, Emily must choose between the research she's dedicated her life to or the promise of a different life with Aeden.The framing device of the impending award is well done as it leads Emily to look back a decade prior and wonder if her life could have been different, if it should have been different. Rothman has done a fantastic job creating in Emily a character who is afraid she doesn't have the emotional ability to connect with others that seems to come so easily to people around her. In fact, she is told by other characters, that she is distant and incapable of the depth of feeling that most people have, once as a compliment and once as a warning and insult. And yet this unemotional character feels deeply, absorbing hurt after hurt so that the reader has a lump in their stomach for her. She is so very alone, even in the midst of people. Told through Emily's eyes, Aeden is a far less sympathetic character, perhaps because she doesn't understand his motivations towards her as well as she understands her own position. Their relationship is not a give and take; it is as uncomfortable as the principals. They move from antagonism to emotionless sex, to something that is supposed to be more but that doesn't quite ever reach the richness to which it aspires. The atmosphere of the lab is well drawn, competitive to the point of being cutthroat, where even those driven by a desire to further science will resort to underhanded actions. The daily work, the diligence, the frequent failures, and the much rarer successes of a research lab weave through the narrative, driving the plot forward to its climax. The idea of isolating the genes that help us smell is completely fascinating and the sense of smell pervades much of the story thematically with Emily being acutely aware of smells and their role in her memories. There are many descriptions of the smell of her late father, Aeden's particular scent, a grad student's overwhelming perfume, the memory triggered by a peppermint, and more. Emily may be different but the reader feels for her deeply, for the little girl looking out at a world of people whose reactions are foreign and feel exclusionary and for the adult woman who still feels that way and tries to wrap herself in protective layers to avoid the hurt that she sometimes encounters as a loner. Emily is an atypical main character who really takes up residence in your heart. This is a poignant read about science and relationship, about whether some people are better suited to be alone, and the sacrifices that people make along their chosen paths framed within a story about a really smart woman in STEM.
    • 4/5
      Emily Apell knows exactly what she want to do with her life.  When she gets the chance to join a renowned research lab, Emily knows this is her chance to make a breakthrough in the science of smell. Emily has never felt like she fit in with other people.   However, lab colleague Aeden intrigues Emily like no one before.  Unfortunately, Aeden seems to have no interest in Emily and only sees her as a competitor.  Aeden's research is surprisingly similar to to what Emily was brought in to work on. When Emily's research proves more promising and Aeden is faced with being kicked out of the lab, Emily makes a decision to make Aeden an equal partner in her research. Emily and Aeden begin a clunky relationship, but as things progress Emily realizes she is in uncharted waters.  Years later, as Emily is about to accept an award for her work, she tries to unravel what happened in their relationship.The DNA of You and Me is a very different type of romance where a neurodivergent tries to piece together what happened to a relationship that almost changed her goal in life.  I could tell Emily's character was a bit different from the beginning and yet I could relate to her not attaching to any people and feeling like she was just fine without them.  I have to admit I found the science part of the book way more fascinating than the relationship part.  It was clear that the author had experience in the lab as well as an extensive knowledge of the science of smell.  I enjoyed reading about the process of tirelessly searching databases, finding something that looks promising, isolating the gene and seeing if it does what is expected.  The reality of research science is also highlighted, that most of what is worked on is a failure- or at least not what was expected.  Aeden was a conundrum to me, approaching his relationship with Emily as something he needs to hide, almost hate fueled and willing to ruin everything that she has worked on for what he believes is love.  I understood Emily's attraction more since Aeden seemed to be the first person she ever clicked with, ever felt that she needed to be around.  In the end, I felt that Emily made the right decisions for herself and highlighted the strength of women in the STEM field.  This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      Emily is a scientist studying DNA and searching for what strands of DNA control sense of smell. A lifelong loner obsessed with her work, she does not see her new position being any different. Then, she meets Aeden, who ends up being her partner in the project. From the start, their relationship is strange and unhealthy, and really it just gets worse as Emily gets closer to a major breakthrough that will make her career.Definitely not one of the top books I read this year, but not the worst either. The writing style felt dry to me, but perhaps fitting considering that the narrator is a research scientist. As a reader, I definitely felt like Emily was keeping her distance, even from her reader. Clever, considering Emily's personality, but I'm not sure it worked. And even though I think the reader is supposed to like Aeden, just as Emily does, I never did or understood Emily's attraction to him. He's a pretty big jerk throughout. The main tension in the novel is supposed to be this choice Emily has to make between Aeden and what he represents (marriage, family) and her work and career. But, from my point of view, the choice should not have been difficult at all. To me, Aeden would not be very difficult to give up.
    • 4/5
      Scientists, the science of genes, a dedication to endless hours of lab work and lab mice, and the loneliness that results from such anti-social behavior -- having just watched the finale of The Big Bang Theory I was reminded of Sheldon and how he avoided personal interactions like the plague. Emily, daughter of a chemist, was destined to become a scientist, and getting paired up on her gene project with elusive but handsome Aeden she was destined to fall for him, even if she did feel she was meant to be alone in life, that she was immune to the normalcy of having friends and family.It was my thinking of Sheldon that enabled me to survive all the science in this book, and to not give up on poor lonely Emily's personal life. I wasn't a die hard fan of the show, so maybe I'm way off in my comparison, but it helped me here. The outcome of Emily's project and her Aeden relationship, both highly unpredictable, kept me turning the pages. A very unusual but likeable character, and book.A win from LibraryThing.com.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to love this book because I’m not a huge fan of romance and the relationship between Aeden and Emily seemed much more realistic to me but it still wasn’t relatable and I feel like the story relied way too heavily on scientific speak which made the story feel a bit clunky at times. That being said I really enjoyed the ending and felt like Emily’s character was finally making some progress at personal growth. This book reminded me of other quirky love stories but didn’t reach the same level of relatability I was looking for.
    • 3/5
      Unfortunately there were more negative than positive things with the story. When I finished reading, I was left feeling confused about what exactly the author was aiming for when she wrote the book. And I'm not trying to say that in a mean way, more I just don't think I ever fully understood the main character and therefore it was difficult for me to know what to take away from the book. Graduate student Emily has been hired to work in a lab in New York. And let's just say things can get competitive when your coworkers are extremely focused and driven. Everyone hopes their research will produce groundbreaking findings. But when you eat, sleep, and breathe science practically 24/7 is there time for any type of a social life? And for someone like Emily who much prefers keeping to herself, is interacting with others something she even wants?I love how this book featured a female character working in the scientific community. The science was heavily featured in the story and I'm not going to pretend I understood it all, but I'm glad it was included, although maybe to a lesser extent, as it's not something you typically get to see in women's fiction. And speaking of the genre of women's fiction, I think your best bet is to approach the book interested in the character rather than thinking this is going to be some light and fluffy romance. The author has not only a scientific background but also holds as MFA in creative writing. Unfortunately, even though I liked certain elements of the story, as a whole I thought the execution was off. The transitions at times felt disjointed and sometimes it felt like I was reading a straight up science book rather than a fictional story. I just wish the book would have worked better for me because I do like to support these types of stories featuring smart and independent women.I won a free copy of this book from LibraryThing but was under no obligation to post a review. All views expressed are my honest opinion.
    • 4/5
      Chances are fairly good that if you know what an Eppendorf pipet is, you might enjoy this rather unusual novel. This is the story of Emily, a young woman navigating the intense demands of working in genetic research and it's set in laboratories right in the middle of test tubes and mice sacrificing. There is also an important romance in this book but somehow, it’s just not as intriguing as the lows and highs of cutting edge DNA research. It's frustrating to read about the power dynamics with the men, especially the head of the lab. Emily is often sacrificing a lot and work demands go hand in hand with loneliness.In the end, the compelling part of this novel is the view of a woman working as a dedicated professional scientist with integrity. I’ve worked in laboratories and this really brought back past experiences wearing a white lab coat.
    • 3/5
      There is a lot that is refreshing about this novel; Emily is a young, smart, and ambitious woman, and seemingly confident in her professional abilities. She rarely doubts her intellect and skills and knows what she wants in the laboratory. It’s exciting to read about a woman excelling in the STEM fields and Emily, herself, is truly a fascinating character as she struggles to balance her naturally introverted and driven personality with an unexpected love interest and the challenges that arise out of being a working woman. But the relationships in her life are strange. She is dominated by two manipulative and selfish men and it is troublesome to watch her struggle with herself to please them both while being true to herself. I wish we could have seen Emily make some genuine friendships which would have better allowed her to explore her personality, interests, and goals. Instead, we just get these men imparting their expectations on her. Emily deserved better.
    • 3/5
      I did like this book even if I didn't love it. This was a book that was very different than I thought it would be. I thought that this was a romance. It was labeled romance, the book's description sounds romantic, and even the title sounds like a romance novel. But it didn't feel like a romance. Yes, there is a relationship in the book but not one that I could get excited about. I still found this book to be very readable and did enjoy the experience.This book was really heavy on the science which I liked. It might have been a little too detailed at times but I like that kind of thing so it worked for me. I found the research that Emily and Aeden were doing really interesting and was eager to see how their experiments would turn out. I had some trouble with Emily and Aeden's relationship. They had no chemistry. None at all. I felt no passion between them. I also don't think that this relationship was really healthy. Things started between them with some rather odd sexual encounters. I felt like Emily was being taken advantage of more than anything, especially since one of the encounters were less than consensual. When I read a romance, I need a couple that I can cheer towards their happily ever after but with this pair, I felt that they really shouldn't be with each other.This book is told from Emily's point of view and I did find her to be a really interesting character. She was raised by her father in a lab so it was really no surprise that she felt at home in a lab. She is awkward in social situations and would really rather focus on work. While it is not confirmed, the story hints that Emily might be on the spectrum. I really did want to see good things come for Emily.I did enjoy this book even if I had some issues with it. I found this to be a very quick read and I am glad that I picked it up. I wouldn't hesitate to read more from this author in the future.I received a review copy of this book from William Morrow.
    • 4/5
      3.5 stars

      I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


      “I don’t think it’s just you, Emily. I think we all feel like mutants in our own way.”

      In a very strong debut, Rothman gives us a contemporary fiction slice of life story featuring Emily, a daughter of a single father, starting off in the science research community. As a child, Emily had an allergy to cut grass and had to stay indoors in the summer, essentially isolating her from playing around with kids her own age. Raised only by her father as her mother dropped her off as a baby and never looked back, he immersed her a lot in his science work. Trying to isolate the genes that allow us to smell, with hopes of possibly one day fixing anosmia, Emily ends up in a lab rife with personal and job political pitfalls.

      The story started off with giving us a peak at the ending and then rewinding to show how Emily got where she was. Told completely from Emily's point of view, the story is broken up into parts that worked really well to help conceptually understand where and how Emily is mentally and emotionally at each part. The background on her childhood, reason for not being able to be outdoors, relationship with father, and how this molded her, gave a good emotional impact building block for why her work was important to her and even her feelings toward Aeden, her co-worker and love interest.

      As this is, what I call, a slice of life story, it is a glimpse into one character's life, they and the other characters don't always act in ways that the reader wants them to. I thought it was interesting how the parallels were there to be drawn between Aeden and Emily's father. Emily mentions similarities between the two and then how she can't quite connect with Aeden the way she wants to, possibly why she very quickly became fixated on Aeden. Aeden was a bit hard to read as we don't get his point of view, did he feel guilt tripped or did his feelings just naturally grow from being around Emily? However, this uncertainty did put the reader in the same boat with Emily and as she seems to struggle overall with human connection; you'll feel it.

      The science in the story was interesting and if you go in with the desire to soak in this world for awhile, you won't feel overwhelmed or lost. I'm definitely a layman with this field and thought everything was explained and relayed in a clear interesting manner, very few times did I feel maybe some in depth moments could be edited out. I do wish I could have gotten a better feel for Emily and some of the emotional moments could have reached deeper; her relationship with her father seemed like a rich well. I also thought her relationship with her boss Justin could have been explored more.

      I did think, for a debut, the author had an amazing ease of writing style that flowed well and kept me engaged to keep reading; the pages flew by. However, I ended up feeling like I didn't quite have a solid handle on Emily, her growth emotionally and career wise, was left somewhat open. Competitiveness and relationships in the workplace, why we do the things we do, and destiny versus our own decision making were all leading themes in this story about Emily as she searched for scientific and emotional answers. A slice of life story, where mice hold a lot of the answers.

      “[...]because at the end of the day science has nothing to do with luck, but with truth, and the truth does not always make one happy.”