The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

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…

I was flipping through my kindle and found The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak. I remember being pretty excited for this one way back when, but never actually got around to reading it. I mean, with a cute title and cover like that, the promise of a wild night set at a convention...what's not to want? Well, I finally did it folks. I dug into it, and wowie wow wow–why didn't I read this one before?! I love quirky contemporaries that place a person-meets-person story in an interesting setting, and this one was so original!

I've never been to a comic/science-fiction convention before but it sounds AWESOME. I'm sure the mishaps that Ana and Zak go through aren't the usual scenario, but oh my goodness, it actually sounds great. However, I don't know too much about Star Wars and Star Trek, and all the other science-fiction-y/high fantasy things out there, other than Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Still...it does sound like a ton of fun. There are some wacky situations present folks. Bound to raise an eyebrow (or two), but damn, reading this book was so much fun. There were some funny quips here and there–even during the final third of the book, despite the fact it took a turn for the ridiculous and highly-unrealistic.

My only problem with this book came down to the two main characters. Don't get me wrong–they were well-rounded and I liked them in general. I liked Ana's character–I get why she would be super high-strung. However, I didn't appreciate Zak's constant commentary about things, and Ana's constant judgement of many of the women at this convention. Jeez. Zak's full of surprises though, I'll give him that, even though I found his cockiness a little annoying. Other than this though, I thought that both these characters had a lot of heart to them and that they were very real. It was just the little things that bugged me.

It's crazy that a majority of this book takes place in one night. Told through alternating perspectives, The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak was an incident-packed, laugh inducing story that readers are bound to love. You're definitely in for a wild ride!

If you like this, try...

• Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky ● Goodreads
• Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz & Kat Helgeson ● Goodreads