Love, Theoretically
Ratings324
Average rating4.1
My favourite so far from this author! Truly enjoy that there is even more academia in this one. It creates a deeper context for the romance part and reminds me how I used to love science!
I had fun with this one!
It's Ali Hazelwood's formula once again, and there were a few too many mentions of how big Jack was and how tiny Elsie was (but a lot less than in LotB).
However, I liked Elsie and Jack together. I also liked the angle the author used with Elsie (sometimes it's hard to show ourselves exactly how we are) and her character growth was so well done.
It was a sweet, entertaining book.
The book got very, very boring, quite fast, and I don't know... I can't force myself to read a book if I just can't find it interesting. I hate the way she writes, really, it's just not fun to see so a good deal of unnecessary information. I also don't understand some jokes, and... it's not Dramione coded at all, which was my main reason for wanting to read this book again, lol. A shame to discontinue it at 53% :(
Never read/listened to anything by Hazelwood before, and based on this I won't in the future either. The MC is so childish I want to cringe every five minutes and the scenes are way too prolonged with side notes.
I wish I could rate this book higher but unfortunately I cannot. I think chapter nineteen just was not for me - tbh I got the ick from Jack and I liked him less as the story went on from a romantic standpoint (appreciated his development academically though).
However, even though the romance part of this book was not my favorite, I did really enjoy the conversation on academic politics, especially regarding mentor/student relationships, adjunct classes, and women in STEM. I thought Ali did a really wonderful job of shedding light on these issues in accessible and impactful ways!
2⭐️
Estaba convencida de que iba a ser unl de los libros que más me iba a gustar de Ali, y no me equivoqué.
Debo admitir que al principio me costó engancharme, pero luego ya no pude parar.
A pesar de que hay muchas cosas de física que no entiendo, y siendo sincera, tampoco me interesa, lo disfruté muchísimo.
Ambos protagonistas me gustaron un montón, y pude conectar con ellos a su manera.
Creo que este es mi favorito (junto al de la hipótesis), y la única razón por la cual no le doy 5 ⭐️ es porque el final lo sentí un poco pobre, esperaba/necesitaba algo más.
after finishing this ali hazelwood trilogy, i've compiled a checklist of recurring motifs:
- HULKING HUGE broad guys
- henley shirts (black for adam, light blue for levi, green for jack)
- PAINFUL miscommunication and self-gaslighting
- no protection..???
- antagonistic and unapproachable
- green panties, green eyes, green henley, green chair, green.. (this might be her favourite colour)
specifically a 4.7 star rating only because it's a romance novel and i reserve 5 star ratings for my sci-fi books
but that doesn't mean this book wasn't amazing! i definitely loved it, and out of the other two ali hazelwood novels i have read (the love hypothesis and love on the brain) this has been my favourite from her. it could also be that i took a big break since the last time i've read one of her books (over a year ago) but this book felt very fresh and fun compared to her others. while these three books that i've read from her have all centered around women in stem and finding a handsome, sexy, and out-of-this-world perfect man in stem, this one felt better. i don't know how to explain it! i think elsie's character was a lot more relatable and had a lot more character development than the other two novels (but nonetheless, those books are still great). i'm really glad i read this book and it included a great story, characters, spice, and internal character development. this is 100% worth reading!!
i have nothing to say but the olive and adam cameos were peak and i'm an emotional wreck bye
While I think there tended to be some academic over yapping, I couldn't put this book down. It kinda felt relatable sometimes and it was nice they were slow. I even read the acknowledgements and ending stuff. I never do that...
As soon as I learned that [a:Ali Hazelwood 21098177 Ali Hazelwood https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611084228p2/21098177.jpg] was “The Queen of STEM romance,” I knew I had to read at least one of her books. Dashing through the library, it was as if [b:Love, Theoretically 61326735 Love, Theoretically Ali Hazelwood https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681476644l/61326735.SY75.jpg 96703712] jumped out at me.I love, love, love the main character, Elsie Hannaway, an overeducated physicist who settles for less, constantly. Why is this so believeable? Any woman who has ever worked in STEM (aks science, technology, engineering and mathematics) knows what a male-dominated field it is and how hard it is for a woman to get anywhere. So Elsie does what a lot of women, in or out of STEM do. She molds and remolds herself constantly to be what she thinks others want. She takes people-pleasing to the next level, to the point where she really doesn't know who she is, what she likes, or what she wants. (How many of us have been there?)What's great about this book is that when she meets the love interest, Jack Smith, he isn't the kind who says, “I love you just the way you are. You're perfect.” No, he loves who he thinks she really is. Then pushes to find out who that is. His honesty policy has Elsie peeling back the layers of personas she's used, wondering if she can ever really be just herself. Does she even know who that is? She finds she's been lying to her roommate (“Yes, I like that movie too”), her mother (“I'd be happy to straighten my brothers out for you”), and even her mentor, a nefarious scientist, who calls her “Elise” (not Elsie) and she doesn't even correct him because she believes she's lucky he even helps her.Elsie's bundle of insecurities only seem heightened when the intricacies of the plot get deeper. Will she find herself? Be herself? Rise to her full potential? Nothing is a given. I'm off to read another Ali Hazelwood book. Did I mention it was steamy in all the right ways? It was.
Also cute! Less banter in this one than in Love on the Brain, just by a hair, which I appreciated. Hazelwood also writes sensitively about living with chronic illness and both asexuality and demisexuality. And still spicy, to boot. Not sure when I'll read her 3rd STEMinisty one, but I definitely will.
Overall, this might be an enjoyable read for those who haven't read her other books. It's a quick, light-hearted read, perfect for a vacation. But if you've read The Love Hypothesis or Love on the Brain, this book might not offer much novelty.
Now, onto the details... possible spoilers below.
Is this déjà vu? The characters in Love, Theoretically, felt like slight variations of those in Ali Hazelwood's previous books. It felt like I was re-reading The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.
Both the characters and the story felt flat to me. By the end, it seemed as though 100 pages were missing. The MC felt like a template broody-but-pining character, and the sudden attachment he developed to the FC felt unbelievable as if he had a personality transplant halfway through the book.
While the spicy scenes were well-written, they seemed out of place. The intention seemed to be for the FC to slowly discover her sexuality, but isn't this a theme the author has explored in a very similar way? We start with an FC who isn't attracted to anyone and doesn't identify as a very sexual being. Then, enters a hot, tall, buff STEM guy, and shockingly she rediscovers her sexuality? It felt predictable and repetitive.
Additionally, the scene in which they first engage sexually was confusing. The MC's hesitation was unclear. At times, it felt as though we were veering into non-consensual territory. I guess I could assume the MC was trying to be selfless and deter the FC's people-pleasing tendencies, but it ended up feeling like conversations were happening in their heads and we were left to try and fill in the gaps.
I know this may be harsh, and I apologize because I recognize how hard it is to create and how vulnerable authors make themselves by sharing their ideas and work. Also, I recognize that it is supposed to be an uplifting love story. However, this book didn't bring much that was new.
I finally read an Ali Hazelwood book, and now I get why she's so popular. Mostly I enjoyed Elsie as a character and I was invested in her story. I genuinely teared up at one point (when she bumped into Jack and George outside the movie theater--if you've read it you know what I'm talking about). Jack, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea. Pretty much everything about him put me off, including all the overstepping behavior that's popular in romance but would never fly in real life. I like my guys (and relationships) more realistic. Since I've heard that Ali Hazelwood's men are all the same, I doubt I'll pick up another one, but who knows?
Er, it's okay. I liked TLH as a junk food book better. Was actually going to rate this book 1★, but Georgina and the random Latvia callout (i'm Latvian and it's my God given right to not let a Latvia reference go unnoticed) saved it.
Never in a million years would I assume that a hot guy who is clearly into me saying ‘can I take you out?' meant it as fighting me mob-style :/// girl.
3.5 rounded down.
There were parts of this book I really enjoyed but more that were just okay.
It seemed a little too focused on the academia hierarchy than I was expecting and it felt long to me.
The characters were okay. Some good banter. But I feel like I wanted more of the parts that were glossed over (like her job at Faux) and less focus on the education politics.
If you are into academia/stem this is probably a must read for you.
4/5
this is my first ali hazelwood book & i had a good time! i really like the inclusion of science because it really adds to the plot rather than it just being a romance so i'd definitely read more from her!
3.25 - The emotional roller coaster
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Jack is the greenest green flag I have ever seen. He's a little too green to the point of being almost unconvincing.
Elsie, our lovely main character, on the other hand is quite relatable. I love her story, her personality, her character development.
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Personally, it would be a better book if the author remove the spicy scene (it doesn't do much to the story?), and the way she described Jack appearance (please we all know he's giant, stop reminding us every two sentences)
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Things were looking up! Not a single cringy scene in over 250 pages! I found myself thinking “here's a cute Ali Hazelwood romance book I would actually recommend to people”. But then, we get to chapter 19. Our first spice scene enters the chat! Cringe Factor 1: the scene lasts for over 20 pages. Cringe Factor 2: the film Twilight is playing in the background of said spice scene. Cringe Factor 3: they bring up the fact that he was jealous she was fake dating his brother, maybe don't discuss siblings in a spice scene. I will now and forever think of this book as a 4 ⭐️ before chapter 19 and a 1 ⭐️ after chapter 19. The cringe factor continued throughout the remainder of the book. Also after sleeping together one time the characters are already discussing moving in together, like slow down you're only in your late 20's. To me a good romance book has hundreds of pages of yearning and banter, then in the last 10 pages they get together and that's the end. Once the couple is happy and stable I lose interest, to be honest this book could have ended 100 pages earlier. Overall, I think this was my most disappointing read from Hazelwood as I was tricked into thinking this book deviated from her usual writing style and book reviewers rate this as their favourite of the three STEM focused novels. The reason I decided to pick up Love on the Brain and Love, Theoretically this month is because I was so intrigued by her new novel Bride, but I think I'll have to give it a miss for now as I can conclusively say Ali Hazelwood's writing style isn't for me.
