You Had Me at Hello World, Rona Wang
You Had Me at Hello World, Rona Wang
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

You Had Me at Hello World

Author: Rona Wang

Narrator: Mirai

Unabridged: 7 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/11/2025


Synopsis

Jenny Han meets Silicon Valley in this drama-packed debut young adult novel about a Chinese American teen who navigates a high-stakes coding competition, sabotage, and first love when she’s invited to a summer hackathon at MIT.

Sixteen-year-old Charise “Char” Tang is desperate to ditch her dead-end small town. So when she’s invited to a highly selective hackathon at MIT, she seizes the opportunity to jet across the country, spend the summer building an app, and maybe even snag the top prize—a golden ticket to a new life.

When she arrives, she teams up with Khoi Astor, coding wunderkind and creator of last year’s biggest mobile game. Khoi, who has soft eyes and a gentle smile. Khoi, who can make anyone laugh. Khoi, who is easy to fall for…and already dating her camp roommate. If only Char could reprogram her heart to forget about him.

As the competition heats up, so do things between Char and her teammate. But sabotage lurks around every corner, and she soon discovers that the glitzy tech world has a dark, dangerous underbelly.

About Rona Wang

Rona Wang graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023 with degrees in mathematics and computer science. She grew up in Oregon and currently bounces between San Francisco and New York City. You Had Me at Hello World is her debut novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jai on May 18, 2024

Such a good book! One of my fav in this genre. Def recommend everyone to read it :)......more

Goodreads review by callistoscalling on November 08, 2025

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy of this book; all thoughts are my own. 📖 Book Review 📖 Charisse Tang cannot make it out of her life in Oregon fast enough. Being a Chinese American in a small town that still holds onto racism is a problem and her blended family is not the Brandy bunch. Wh......more

Goodreads review by the.paperback_princess on November 20, 2025

2.5 ⭐️ I had mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed the romance, though I found the FMC frustrating at times. However, Khoi (the MMC) was such a sweetie!! The story had some moments I liked, but overall it didn’t quite click for me. Thank you to Simon Teen, for the gifted copy! 💌......more

Goodreads review by McKenna on November 12, 2025

A heartfelt and emotional YA contemporary romance set in the world of coding, algorithms, and big dreams. I really enjoyed this one — it’s a YA romcom with a unique STEM setting that adds so much depth to the story. The mix of humor, heart, and tech made it stand out, and I loved seeing a smart, dri......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on November 25, 2025

I didn’t expect to enjoy You Had Me at Hello World as much as I did, because I do not usually read young adult fiction. One of the things I loved most was having an independent female lead whose avoidant attachment style genuinely shapes the way she moves through the world. It isn’t romanticized or......more