Reviews

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I forgot I was reading this book — twice — so it's fair to say that I didn't find it riveting.

Content Warnings

priss's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5. Another really fun Ali Hazelwood book - I always really enjoy her characters and this is no exception. Rue is really interesting and I liked that she knew what she wanted and what she did and did not like. Eli is sweet and I thought their relationship worked really well. What I found a pity is that the relationships with people outside the two of them were not as deeply explored as I would’ve liked. We don’t see that much of Maya (Eli’s sister), nor Eli’s group of friends.

Also, and I think that may be one of the reasons why the other relationships are not explored as deeply - I felt like 50% of the book was spent with the two of them having sex. Which I don’t mind reading, but for me this was a bit excessive.

I thought the background and reasoning behind the takeover were interesting and quite satisfyingly wrapped up,

although I felt Florence got off a little toooo easily

so all in all an enjoyable read, but in my opinion not the best one yet. So, looking forward to a next one!

aidasfan's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

theboricuabookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Literally the only thing keeping this from being 5 stars were an inordinate amount of “like a teenage boy” references. However we did not get any size comparison s™️ and what a win!

kba76's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Ali Hazlewood does it again. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this, and thanks to the author for creating a cast of characters that were - with the exception of Florence and Rue’s brother - good company for the time it took to read this.
Our main character, Rue, is an engineer in a food tech company. She is accustomed to being viewed as socially awkward, but feels lucky to have a couple of good friends. She makes use of a dating app to take care of her physical needs, but trouble comes knocking on the night she matches with Eli Killgore. This is the same night her brother tries to pick a very public fight with her and Eli steps in. Unfortunately, this ruins the chances of a sexual encounter between them, and also opens Rue up to the possibility of finding someone she’s happy to be vulnerable with.
Very quickly we learn that the situation with Eli is not ideal. He’s part of a takeover bid for the company Rue works for…and the process leads her to find out some unpalatable truths about the people she’d come to depend on.
From the outset it’s pretty obvious that these two are going to end up together, somehow. Their journey involves a lot of sexual tension, even more thrills once they decide to give in to their physical desires…and the kind of ending that has you wondering how it took so long.
I can’t say I found the romance the most engaging - each of them has a bucket load of issues - and there is a limit to how many orgasmic sex scenes I can read with a straight face, but it was certainly an entertaining read.

kaitlyns_library's review against another edition

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3.0

I really really wanted to love this book. Ali Hazelwood is a mixed author for me where I have either absolutely loved her book, or just found it okay. This one falls into the okay pile. Something that I liked was the spice as I am currently that girl. Buuuut, I was switched off from this book because of the mix of first and third person, it just left me confused and I wasn’t a fan.

nazjaimercdes's review against another edition

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5.0

Ali Hazelwood’s Best work? Quite Possibly.

First shout out to you Ali who in the form of Eli Killgore brought back pathetic pinning men and im obsessed with him country accent and all. Now onto the rest, Not In Love is now one my favorite books ever. In it Rue wanted so badly for it to be just sex but Eli is so unrelenting in showing that he cares about her. They share a deep understandings about their lives, the fundamental aspects of each other, they trust each other completely. To be understood is to be loved, this is the kind of love they have. And Yes it us much more sex heavy then Ali’s previous work, but the small emotional moments, the confessions all of it. really really beautiful, and there were do many random coincidences surrounding my own life that I couldn’t help but take every aspect of this book personally. five stars.

mbookishbanter's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

onebookmore's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

I always jump at a chance to read Ali Hazelwood's books. I fell in love with her writing and super swoon-worthy love stories starting with The Love Hypothesis, and I've enjoyed every book she's written. This is as swoon-worthy as her other romances, though it wasn't my favorite. I think it's because it took me a minute to like Rue. Eli, I loved from the start. And I actually think this is one of her steamiest stories, and Eli's bedroom talk was hot!!

The story delves into some heavier topics, but there are humorous and light-hearted moments as well. These and the romantic scenes balance out the more serious topics well. And the writing, like all of Hazelwood's books, is fantastic. She has such an engaging style, and her stories always have such strong character development and growth.

If you've read other books by Hazelwood, you'll love this one. It's fun and entertaining, the characters are layered and interesting, and the romance is steamy and swoon-worthy.

hellowildflower's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

☆ workplace romance

☆ forbidden romance

☆ he falls first

This has been one of my most anticipated books of the year and it went beyond my expectations. I absolutely loved this.

I think this may be my favourite of all of Ali’s books.

I adore Rue and Eli as a couple. Their chemistry is fantastic and I love that they actually talk things through like adults.

They act their age which is something that I really need in a book.

I’m 30. I can’t enjoy something if the characters, that are around my age, are acting like they’re in high school.

Rue was extremely relatable to me. Terrible brother and likes to be alone.

Eli was kind and sweet and called people out for saying ‘girl’ instead of ‘woman’ which I LOVED!

Content Warnings

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