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Resistance is Futile

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Connie thinks she's never met anyone quite like Luke Beith before.

She has no idea how right she is.

As a high-ranking mathematician in a male-dominated field - with bright red hair - Connie's used to being considered a little unusual.

But she's nowhere near as peculiar as Luke, who is recruited to work alongside her on a top-secret code breaking project.

Just what is this bizarre sequence they're studying? It isn't a solution to the global energy crisis. It isn't a new wavelength to sell microwave ovens. The numbers are trying to tell them something . . . and it seems only Luke knows what.

The truth is out there. Will Connie dare to find it?


In this whirlwind adventure, Sunday Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan boldly goes where no author has gone before . . .

336 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2015

55 people are currently reading
1617 people want to read

About the author

Jenny T. Colgan

29 books95 followers
Jenny T. Colgan is a pseudonym of author Jenny Colgan.

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

Under her Jenny T. Colgan pseudonym, she is a writer of romantic comedy fiction and science-fiction, and has written for the Doctor Who line of stories.

She also uses the pseudonyms Jane Beaton and J.T. Colgan

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5 stars
191 (11%)
4 stars
412 (25%)
3 stars
580 (35%)
2 stars
295 (18%)
1 star
141 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 264 reviews
Profile Image for Justine.
1,420 reviews380 followers
February 22, 2016
A surprisingly good book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Part SF drama and part mystery with an element of romance that was not overdone. The comedic writing tied everything together and made the wonderful mix of characters that much more real and emotionally engaging.

The style reminded me a little of Maureen Johnson, another writer who mixes emotions so well in her books. I would be happy to read more from Colgan.
Profile Image for Lindsay.
1,406 reviews264 followers
February 2, 2016
Laugh out loud funny and ugly crying sad at times, this "fluffy" SF romance has unexpected depth.

Connie MacAdair is a mathematician recruited as part of a team at the top of her particular area of mathematics brought together to crack what may be a message from the stars. The team of mathematicians is strange ("they're a frog box"), but one of them, Luke Beith, is much stranger than the others.

This is a wonderful story that changes identity several times as it goes on. It starts off as something of a scientific mystery, but becomes a more traditional SF thriller while also going with a strong romance element. The story mostly makes a lot of sense and the ending is quite satisfying. I felt the romantic elements were well handled even if the plot called for the main characters to fall for each other a bit more quickly than is believable.

I'd be remiss in pointing out the handful of wonderful Doctor Who references, most of which were quite subtle. There was a character lifted directly from the TV series who showed up here at an instrumental point in the plot. (Slumming it with a slightly different variant of her first name, which is the only name you get for her).

I was tempted to give it 5 stars just based on how much I enjoyed it and particularly the ending, but I think it's more of a solid 4 stars in terms of impact.

For context these were the last three books I gave 4 star reviews to:

This Census-Taker by China Miéville Infidel (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #2) by Kameron Hurley Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Profile Image for Blodeuedd Finland.
3,670 reviews310 followers
November 10, 2019
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS:










I feel this was a bit false advertising, I mean look at that cover, Kinsella says it was funny and romantic. Well, I will bloody well tell you now, there is no HEA. I repeat, there is no HEA, oh and he dies. He bloody well dies.



Yes, I feel liked I hope and thought something then wtf.



Ok so a bunch of smart people are put in a "dungeon" to figure something out.



Stuff happens.



Connie falls for Luke



And he dies



Wtf.



I hate this book



Booooooooo
Profile Image for Starlight Kid.
347 reviews20 followers
October 13, 2016
Now I took a gamble with this book and after a good start I was hoping for a good read. Unfortunatley the book lost its way about half way through the book, characters did stuff they shouldnt do and I didnt really get the attraction between the two main characters.

Worst thing however was how the author was trying to write to a younger audience by throwing in pointless popculture references but it just confuses the time period and makes it in consist. For example one character is smoking in a pub in one scene and the next for some inexplicable reason they are listening to Justin Bieber. Now I dont know how long the smoking ban has been put in place here in the UK but im pretty confident it was before Bieber. It really made me think of someone from an older generation trying to be youthful but failing.

The overal idea of the story was pretty good however the lack of chemistry and poor writing made me not enjoy this book.
Profile Image for Olga.
1,123 reviews162 followers
June 3, 2016
Empecé el libro motivada por qué los
Protagonistas son una panda de frikis estilo Big band theory pero poco a poco he visto que la trama se complica ( no porque la
Historia sea complicada que no lo es ), si no porque según vas leyendo van entiendo moralejas éticas y morales que la
Autora nos va colando en la historia como quien no quiere la cosa... Sobre el ser humano , su comportamiento, la sociedad en la que vivimos y bastantes cosas que me han dejado al acabar el libro sin palabras..

Es un libro extraño, raro que me ha hecho pensar en cosas que damos por sabidas y del día a día ... No creo que sea un libro para todos los gustos porque es difícil y raro ...

Lo recomendaría ? Pues no se muy bien que decir , depende del estado de ánimo, depende de las ganas que tengáis de pensar y de adentraros en una historia rara ...
Profile Image for Liz Maguire.
36 reviews13 followers
August 23, 2015
Resistance is Futile is described on the back cover as “Bridget Jones meets Independence Day”. Immediately that had me intrigued, I’ll admit. I’m human enough to confess that the cover art—catching, graphic and straightforward— grabbed my attention first. Supposedly this is authored by “J.T. Colgan” as the inside title page and “other works” page list, but I can’t help to wonder if because my copy is an uncorrected proof, they [ being the publisher] hadn’t noticed the use of Jenny T. Colgan on the cover. But I digress. Jenny T. Colgan is author to a number of “romance” novels, and one review I glanced at before beginning my own reading was that Colgan gets comedy. There were lines I laughed, where pop culture references were too well placed not to appreciate. Most of the time they came from/or around the character of “Arthur”, one of the [American] mathematicians brought in with Connie and four other math geeks to figure out a mysterious series of code coming from deep space. From there, chaos ensues—mostly in the form of “a-dorkable” Luke with his big eyes, cute smile and strange nickname for the red headed Connie: “Hair”.

I liked Resistance is Futile. This genre isn’t usually my go to so it was fun to deviate from the norm I’ve been reading this year— especially after coming from a series of short stories, a novel felt right. I’d recommend this one to anyone looking for a laugh and a cast of like-able characters. Colgan makes her universe believable. Never once did I lift my head and think “that wouldn’t happen—” because Colgan makes it plausible by having her characters, being logical thinkers, explore the flaws on the page in front of you [the reader]. Colgan fits comfortably in her style, branching out but never far enough to drop the reader’s attention. You might expect a different one, and I won’t ruin anything for you, but I appreciate Colgan giving the ending that the story deserved not the one you might necessarily want.

Alright, have I ben vague but enticing enough? You can pick up Resistance is Futile soon from your local bookseller, or online. Keep an eye out for it on shelves—oh, and maybe keep an eye out to the evening sky? Just…in case….

Before I leave you, my favorite quote from the book:

“‘Thought not. And if I go to prison, will you wait for me?’
‘No,’ said Luke.
She turned towards him with an enquiring look on her face.
‘I’d come and get you.’
She smiled.
And then they blew up the moon.” pg. 227
Profile Image for Aitziber Madinabeitia.
Author 16 books153 followers
June 12, 2016
No es precisamente una obra genial de ciencia ficción, pero si una ficción especulativa simpática sobre un primer contacto que sirve para explorar un poco la moralidad y la corrección social. Y también una bonita historia de amor y amistad.
Profile Image for Billiebumblebee.
149 reviews13 followers
August 24, 2016
I think I may have fallen victim to the judging-an-author-on-no grounds-what-so-ever thing, because whenever I've seen a Jenny Colgan book, with titles such as Meet Me at the Cupcake Café, I've just dismissed it at once as something I probably won't like. And to be fair, I'm still not sure if Jenny Colgan is for me, but Jenny T Colgan definitely is.

I had no idea that she also writes under this alternative name and considering the other books she's written under it (three Doctor Who novels) I'm thinking it's her sci-fi name. Also, just on a side note, I love that Colgan is a massive Doctor Who fan, and it's something that really shone through in this book. Because just like a DW episode, making me feel all the feels all the time, this book did exactly that. It made me laugh and cry and then laugh again. It was bittersweet and heartwarming, while still breaking my heart a little bit.

Our wonderfully nerdy heroine Connie is great. She's likable and funny and Colgan made her so vivid and easy to picture. The same goes for the secondary characters, although perhaps they were a little bit to caricature-ish. And Luke, Oh LUKE! He is so adorable and his interesting backstory (to say the least) makes for some fun scenarios.

The love between Luke and Connie is quick and I wished I had had a little bit more time with them growing to know each other, but they definitely had chemistry. Also, time wasn't on their side, with some unexpected action happening half way through, so it's forgivable.

This book made me feel so good. It's a perfect quick read packed with all the best things - space, nerds and love.
Profile Image for Saray.
488 reviews84 followers
June 22, 2016
Jenny Colgan no era ninguna desconocida cuando cogí este libro. Ya había leído anteriormente algunas de sus publicaciones en el género chick-lit y creo que es de las mejores que hay actualmente en el mercado.
Así que cuando supe que también se movía en la ciencia ficción y que había sacado un libro que mezclaba estos dos géneros, no me lo pensé dos veces, tenía que leer qué tal se desenvuelve en este nuevo, al menos para mí, terreno.

La protagonista es Connie, una de las mejores científicas en su terreno y que es seleccionada, junto con otro grupo de reputados investigadores, para formar parte de un proyecto secreto: descifrar una serie de extraños mensajes.
Lo que ninguno se imaginará es que se se verán metidos en una red de secretos, de asombrosos descubrimientos, de huidas, peligros e inesperadas sorpresas, como encontrar el amor en medio de todo ese lío.

Reseña completa: http://beingsaray.blogspot.com.es/201...
Profile Image for Pandora Black.
283 reviews29 followers
November 16, 2016
j'ai vachement aimé jusqu'à un peu avant la moitié, après j'ai décroché parce que j'ai du mal avec certaines choses (pis j'aime bien les choses bizarres mais je ne suis pas une fana des extraterrestres...). Et j'ai pas du tout aimé la fin :(
Profile Image for Charlotta.
60 reviews5 followers
May 4, 2017
It was fine as light entertainment but I didn't find it funny or romantic. Insta-love and one-dimensional characters. Not nearly enough geekery. A disappointment.
Profile Image for Julia.
257 reviews14 followers
October 12, 2017
3-leaning-on-4 stars which is exceptional for this genre!

My sister basically forced this book on me, because I'm a mathematician and I studied in Glasgow and I'm female, like the MC in this novel. I'm so glad she did!

This was a wonder to read, very entertaining and funny. I'm a bit apprehensive about mathsy books (I get that it's hard for non-mathematicians to get maths right and I have massive respect for Colgan who pulled it off!!). I was also a bit apprehensive because this book is set in quite an elite setting - at one of the best universities in the world, doing top level maths stuff. I am mentally scarred after A Discovery of Witches which was set in Oxford. IT NAME DROPPED PLACES IN OXFORD CONSTANTLY. It felt so up itself and pretentious!!!!!! Thankfully Resistance is Futile did not have that at all. I even got the feeling Colgan was vague on purpose so the reader wouldn't know if it was set in Oxford or Cambridge.

I loved how nerdy this book was. It's so easy to fall into stereotypes (think Big Bang Theory) but Colgan stayed clear of that. I recognised the nerds from this book, Evelyn the hardened wonder woman, Arthur the American, Ranjit the super enthusiastic geek, Sé who I 100% would have also slept with at a conference in Copenhagen (I FEEL U, CONNIE).

Some of my fav quotes:
Engineers for sex, she always maintained -- they knew where everything went and had a tendency towards patience -- and maths for work, and, well, maybe when she got around to the love part, she'd know what she was after. They did say you just knew.

(Not only is this very funny, it's accurate and probably a good advice to live after. The mathematician in me relished at all the engineer bashing in RiF -- see below.)

Everyone was made to sign a lot of paperwork, although how they could keep a secret among a team this large, Connie could not imagine. "It's all right," Arnold had said. "Physicists have no mates."

Dying. Arnold got all the best lines.

The things I disliked was that it did feel a bit predictable. It goes with the genre but still. And with a lot of these stand-alone "chick-flicks", it feels a bit empty when you finish them. Maybe it's because I'm so used to series of novels, but I want to know that there's more to come. I wasn't ready to let Connie + team go yet! I'd love a spin off centered around Nigel or Ranjit (or both of them together omg).

Make this your next holiday read, you won't regret it!!
176 reviews4 followers
March 5, 2019
A long time ago I remember reading some of Jenny Colgan's books and enjoying her characterisation, comedy and easy reading style so I thought I would give this a try. Resistance is Futile tries to be a sci-fi/comedy/romance but doesn't manage to be any of these. Although it started off ok it felt like the comedy was forced. Puns and funny comments were crowbarred in at inappropriate times. The characters were very cliched and not particularly likeable and the plot was ridiculously farcical.
The romance between Luke and Connie sprang from nowhere, one second she considers him weird but good looking and the next minute they are soul mates!
Yes I know the story is about aliens but so was Hitchhiker's Guide and I found that one funny and engaging, this one pointless and unengaging. at one point the Prime Minister is communicating with aliens and says "totes agree" - that's when I decided on 1 star review.
By the end I was bored and did not care what happened to any of the characters, let alone Connie and Luke. In fact if the aliens had obliterated all mankind it would have been a blessed relief and still only 1 star.
Profile Image for Vicky Ball.
263 reviews2 followers
August 16, 2017
Who doesn't love a story about when red hair mathematician girl meets geeky alien fish boy?
Profile Image for Clarabel.
3,836 reviews59 followers
January 8, 2021
Mouaip. Les débuts sont prometteurs puis l'histoire s'aventure vers une rencontre du troisième type absolument hallucinante. Ok pour la fan de X-Files qui veille en moi. Toutefois le roman est un poil trop long. Le rythme est cassé à mi-parcours et n'a plus rien à voir avec la promesse vendue. Sans doute le fruit d'un pari perdu. ​🤪​
Profile Image for Tala🦈 (mrs.skywalker.reads).
501 reviews139 followers
March 15, 2024
tu by mi nawet nie przeszkadzał romans, gdyby był dobrze napisany, no ale nie był, i ogólnie nie było to dobrze napisane, a dobrze się zaczęło i mogło być bardzo fun
Profile Image for Kelly.
956 reviews135 followers
April 26, 2020
3.5 stars. I really liked this at the start, when it was quirky and fun, but it started to lose wind towards the end. I enjoy Jenny Colgan books, and this was a departure from the cupcake style rom-coms she usually writes, but which employed the same lovable and wry tone which is her signature.

(Also, this could have used another proofread by the publishers as there were a few words missing, quotation marks missing, and other minor, distracting, grammatical errors.)
Profile Image for Inkeri.
172 reviews3 followers
May 2, 2024
I gambled with Resistance is Futile (and I lost). I'm super dissappointed with this one. The beginning was okay but all the good things vanished through the pages. For some reason, I was hoping for more - more science, more fiction, more science-fiction. I disliked the writing and the plot was a bit boring. I couldn't care for the characters, and only Luke was tolerable.

To sum up, I need to stop gambling with the books I read. It's not good for my health.

1,5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Maggie Craig.
Author 26 books87 followers
June 28, 2015
Daft. Dazzling. Original. Inventive. Funny. Moving.

I loved this book.

Her style is all her own but she goes off at times on hilarious wee tangents about characters whose paths cross those of the main characters only briefly in a way that reminds me of the late, great Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame.
Profile Image for Celia.
68 reviews7 followers
August 26, 2017
I enjoyed the first half of this book, but the second half was extremely disappointing. The love story between Luke and Connie is not credible, and there is absolutely no character development. The ending wasn't moving, and didn't really bring anything to the story.
It had potential, but it would have been way better off without the forced love story.
Profile Image for LostinDreams13.
182 reviews
October 18, 2021
The book description sounded promising, however there was no indication of this being a book about aliens, which I absolutely detest. The lack of character development, surface-level writing and unrealistic quick developments made me discontinue reading this book.
Profile Image for Novelle Novels.
1,652 reviews52 followers
June 7, 2019
5 out of 5 stars
What a surprising book!!! I have not read Jenny colgan’s books in a while so picked this up unsure how I would feel about it so had no preconceptions of it which made it more exciting and exciting sums it up perfectly. Connie is a mathematician given a job with no job title other than to figure out the numbers she is given, she meets fellow mathematicians who don’t know why they are all together. She meets Luke who seems different and they are drawn together with no idea why. When the leader of the project is killed there are loads of questions and loads of accusations. This is romance, aliens and sci fi all mixed together I’m a weird but captivating way and I couldn’t put it down. Yes it takes time to get into but it’s done in such a way that the you long to solve the questions and the characters are perfectly written up. I really love this and feel that the author has got more modern and changed with the time that she certainly has got me wanting me to read more of her books.
Profile Image for Nanou.
524 reviews26 followers
December 6, 2017
alors c'était très étrange, ya des choses auxquelles je ne m'attendais pas xD j'ai acheté le livre à la fnac, qui a été édité avec une autre couverture (donc j'avais pas capté que je l'avais mis dans ma PàL) et le résumé laissait à penser qu'une équipe de bras-cassés matheux allait vivre des aventures top secrètes loufoques... bon c'est pas tout à fait ça huhu.

j'ai pas du tout aimé la fin :(
Profile Image for Helen Hed.
79 reviews3 followers
July 24, 2017
Lite annorlunda - på ett bra sätt. Det är fiktion och handlar om en grupp matematiker som ska lösa ett problem av kodlösningstyp. Låter väl inte så spännande. Utan att avslöja något så kan jag ändå informera den intresserade om att det i gruppen av matematiker döljer sig en utomjording. Och det är inte utan att det förekommer en del romantik också. Plus ett oroande inslag av statstjänstemän som definitivt inte är forskare. Men som gärna utnyttjar forskare för sina egna syften.

Så här har vi alltså en bok av det skönlitterära slaget. Kan utan minsta tvekan sägas ha något att säga om akademin. Samtidigt måste boken - tycker jag - klassas som tillhörande genren SF.
Välskriven. Läsvärd.
Profile Image for Mariannne.
346 reviews5 followers
May 2, 2021
Déjà, je suis pas hyper fan des histoires d'extra-terrestres, mais j'ai voulu donner sa chance au livre (principalement parce que c'est un cadeau d'une personne que j'aime beaucoup). J'ai trouvé l'histoire facile, on voit arriver la moitié des révélations à 1000 km/h, les personnages sont pas hyper appréciables, les extra-terrestres sont chelou. Heureusement que Jenny Colgan écrit bien, ça rattrape le tout...
Profile Image for Heather Alderman.
1,122 reviews31 followers
March 16, 2021
DNF - I won't give anything away, but the story lost me when the love interest's fingers were described as pale and jellyfish like.
Profile Image for putri.
71 reviews32 followers
June 14, 2018
‘Everyone is an alien. And even when you are in love with someone, even when you think you know them better than you know yourself; even when you think you know everything about them and they you, and you live in each other’s souls. Even then you know nothing about them at all.’
Profile Image for Christine.
1,306 reviews
January 7, 2019
Definitely an original kind of romance! The ending was unexpected & touching
Displaying 1 - 30 of 264 reviews

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