Book Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain

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Love on the Brain 〰️

First off, this book has its flaws (I’ll get into a few issues I had), but I still had fun reading it. Even if a book has a lot of (sometimes irritating) issues, I’ll still probably rate it pretty high because of my enjoyment level. What can I say? I pretty much enjoy everything I read, even if sometimes the MC pisses me off.

This is the third Hazelwood book I’ve read in a row and the fourth book of hers I’ve read in total. I read in some reviews before that Hazelwood’s work is pretty formulaic, and you know what? They aren’t wrong. All her books include women in STEM (love this fact; pretty sure it’s a selling point for her books, to be honest), a super tiny, almost miscue female MC, a giant, no like GIANT of a man with a six-pack for days male love interest, usually some sort of miscommunication, lots of science talk, and various spicy scenes. (Even her YA debut, Check & Mate, has all of these components, except replace science talk with chess and an off-scene sex scene, but lots of talk of sex).

Don’t get me wrong, her work may be formulaic, but why fix what’s not broken? I love reading her stories despite them all being pretty similar. Plus, she usually has some LGBTQ+ others in the MC or some side characters, and it’s always treated as normal, so I’m here for that.

Now that all being said, here are a few things that irked me about this book. I’ll be going into spoilers of sorts here, so be warned.

-Bee, our MC has this super popular Twitter account that’s popular in the science world, and she befriends another science Twitter guy. It’s so apparent that Levi is SHMAC, the guy she’s been talking to and that he’s always been into Bee. (And that he’s talking about Bee to Bee without her realizing it).

But like all Hazelwood books, it seems like no one can be proper adults and have a conversation. Or, at the very least, stop interrupting each other so the truth can come out earlier.

-She has random fainting spells, but doctors don’t understand why. My guess? For plot convenience.

-Levi keeps saying he doesn’t hate Bee or despise her, yet she still thinks he hates her guts for most of the novel.

-Hell, despite their first kiss, she still thinks Levi used and no longer is. Then they have sex (multiple times), and she still thinks he’s not into her.

-Also, like, where did the NASA cat come from? How did it get inside NASA, and how did no one besides Bee and Levi see the cat???

As I’ve said before in other Hazelwood book reviews, all of the MC's problems could be solved in a five-minute talk if they acted like adults and had a conversation and also stopped interrupting each other so they could hear the full story. Then again, we wouldn’t have a story, but still. I have issues with the miscommunication trope.

Despite all these issues, I’m still rating it four stars and recommending it because I really did enjoy my read. I had fun and learned some cool brain (and definitely lots of Madam Curies) facts I wasn’t aware of. Was it my favourite Hazelwood book? No. Love, Theoretically, still takes the cake on that one. But I still had a good time.

Book Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis

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The Love Hypothesis 〰️

This is the third book I’ve read by Hazelwood (the second being her YA debut, Check & Mate), and I really enjoyed my read. I do wonder why this book is in the third person when all (as far as I can tell) of her other books are in the first person. That’s not a complaint; I'm just wondering.

I love reading about women in STEM. Makes me feel smarter than I actually am. Although I will say I felt like Olive wasn’t as smart as she’s supposed to be sometimes. Only at the end did she use her smarts to fix all the issues. And for someone who is supposed to be uber smart (I suppose this goes for Adam, too), they both don’t think to have an adult conversation about their feelings. It’s the miscommunication trope discount cousin, lying by omission/assuming the other person doesn’t feel the same, so they don’t say anything at all. It’s very annoying. I get it; we wouldn’t have a third-act conflict if they talked sooner, but, like, it’s annoying. (Though I hate the miscommunication so much more). If these adults actually discussed the things they heard from people and talked about what was really going on, it would save everyone the heartache.

That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. I love the LGBTQ+ rep. I also find it fascinating to hear about academia since I know absolutely nothing about it. Hazelwood is the only author I know (I’m sure there are plenty of others) who writes books about women in STEM and all that science stuff. Makes me feel like I can learn a little bit while not actually trying to learn.

The romance in this book was cute. It’s been a while since I’ve read a good grumpy meets sunshine trope done so well. I didn’t find the spicy scenes super spicy, and that’s okay. It was pretty tame as far as spice goes. I think the spice in Love, Theoretically was a lot spicier. However, I have trouble believing that Adam was into Olive since the first time they met in the bathroom. Like, yeah, he could find her attractive and vibe with her, but by the end of the book, it felt like we were supposed to believe he was in love at first sight. Now, if they interacted over the years, even just running into each other for some science thing or something, then I can see him loving her by the time they start their fake dating.

Speaking of fake dating, I’ve read a lot of fake dating tropes lately. They were okay. But I feel The Love Hypothesis is the one that does it right. (Although I wish Adam wasn’t already infatuated with Olive at the start, and they both fell in love naturally as their fake dating progresses; we can’t have everything). I enjoyed how Hazelwood handled this fake dating scenario. 

I know I ranted about a few things, but they’re minor things in the long haul. I really enjoyed this book. Not as much as Love, Theoretically, but enough that I will keep reading Hazelwood’s books.

Book Review: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Love, Theoretically

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Love, Theoretically 〰️

Who knew a book about science talk could be so romantic (and spicy)? While I know nothing about science, especially the kind of science Elsie likes, I really enjoyed all the science-y talk. I felt like I was learning but in a fun way! Hazelwood made all the academic speech interesting, and now I want to learn more about these liquid crystals Elsie is so hyped about.

This was my first read of Hazelwood and it won't certainly be the last. I loved Elsie's voice throughout the novel. She made me laugh so many times. And Jack made me ponder what it means to be truly honest. It was a really well-written story with so many emotional beats and I'm here for it.

I do feel like this book was told unintentionally in two parts. Literally, 50% of the book was Elsie interviewing for the job that was mentioned in the book's blurb. After that, it becomes the spicy love story we came for. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Both halves work well together and are a great read. I'm just saying it felt like two smaller stories merging into one. (WIth overlapping storylines in both halves).

Though Jack can be a little possessive of Elsie, a fact which I would normally be against, his actions and words endear me. I actually see why he acts the way he does and says the things he says and that he means them. And honestly? I wish everyone could find their own version of Jack in whatever partner they find.

Also, I love the LGBTQ+ rep. It wasn't forced. It was as natural as a hetero couple, as it should be. So props for treating us LGBTQ+ people like people, Hazelwood.

If you're looking for an excellent enemies to lover (my favourite trope!), this is the book for you. (Even if you're not into science like I am. I mean, I like and appreciate it; I just don't understand it).