36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You

Hildy Sangster, 18, volunteers for a psychology experiment in which she is paired with a stranger and instructed to answer a series of increasingly personal questions. The goal is to determine if directed conversation enhances the development of friendships and/or romance. Hildy, who suffers from more than her share of hang-ups, is feeling a bit desperate since has never had a successful romantic relationship. She is paired with Paul (although the two refer to each other by the pseudonyms of Bob and Betty) who has signed up for the experiment because it pays $40.00. They advance to question 14, at which point Hildy, incensed by Bob/Paul’s snarky attitude, throws her fish at him and runs off. Later, they continue their questions on Facebook and eventually meet up in person again.

Grant’s latest offering features complex characters, much witty repartee, and hits all the expected notes of a successful rom/com. Hildy is comfortably middle class, a confirmed ‘good girl’, and aware that much of her neuroses stems from the negative family drama in which she finds herself currently enmeshed. Paul, too, has his own family issues but lacks the financial safety net Hildy enjoys. The narrative gradually reveals details of Hildy and Paul’s family situations, and Hildy’s school pals Max and Xiu offer her much-needed support. Although occasionally Paul and Hildy’s banter feels overly shallow, and Hildy’s father’s response to his own personal crisis seems a bit out of character for such an upstanding (not to mention up-tight) high school principal, the intended audience won’t mind. 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You is, after all, a rom/com … and a satisfying one at that.