Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Love, Theoretically

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Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

105 reviews

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.75

this was by far my favourite ali hazelwood book that i’ve read. i loved jack with my whole entire heart. i saw a lot of myself in elsie and her struggles internally. jack’s patience and unwavering need to see the real her and learn to say how she truly feels and ask for what she wants is the what we all really want in a partner.
it brought up a lot (for me as well i’m sure it did for others too) who have been in relationships (romantic and otherwise) where they make themselves what they think others want them to be until we can’t tell who we are and what we want apart from who we pretend to be.
i hate insta love and miscommunication trope usually but jack’s unrequited love for elsie throughout the book had me in a choke hold, it didn’t feel cheesy it just felt right. the miscommunication was done well enough that it didn’t feel dumb as they usually are, there was some genuine reason behind it, that no one would have realised in that situation.
i also loved sole aroace rep, it’s the one of the most forgotten about members of the lgbtq+ community and even though there wasn’t much about it, because it wasn’t the main characters, i think it was handled really beautifully, not overly-dramatised or glossed over.

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

"I need you to pace us, because wherever it is that we’re going… I’m here. I’m already right here."

What can I say except that I'm running out of banter and funny annotation tabs? I can't help but laugh out loud.

Also, thank you, Ali, for the Adam x Olive cameo. One that is not really necessary but gave me a lot of feelings. I moss them already and would definitely reread TLH in the future.

Love, Theoretically is definitely a 5 🌟 rating. It’s been a long time since I actually LOL-ed. The comedic scenes and lines, topped up with the banters are chef’s kiss- amazing.

It also showed how bad academic politics really is. Ali really is an amazing writer because she conveyed how hard it really is to be a woman in STEM - but also showed how people like Jack who doesn’t judge them with anything but their outputs.

Elsie x Jack story is one of my favorites so far. The banter + emotional connection is on point and will make you fall in love with them both. Elsie’s mind is also amazingly written and I’m super glad that she’s in therapy.

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annareadstoo's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood books and this one is no different. This one may be one of my favorite MMC’s out of all the ones she’s written, though. Jack is smart, confident, loyal, and has Elsie’s best interest at heart from the very first time he sees her, and he NEVER wavers, even when she does. This is still true even when they are “enemies” in the first half of the book.

I found Elsie’s story relatable - difficult family dynamic, imposter syndrome, a woman in a male dominated field in which she’s constantly being underestimated, financial struggles, and not knowing her worth in romantic relationships so she overcompensates for too long and completely removes herself from any real connections. At first I thought it was somewhat illogical to have a grown woman not know herself at all in any way, but then I thought about it more and felt really sad for her for how long she had been erasing herself because that’s how she thought she wouldn’t be abandoned.

i enjoyed the characters she used to demonstrate the variety of different ways people can take advantage of you. The mom calls and guilt trips and how it started from very very young with her diabetes diagnosis, her students emailing constantly, and even with her roommate and best friend. Hazelwood did a good job of making us feel like how Elsie would feel - constantly bombarded with having to fulfill the needs of others throughout the book, except for moments when she’s with Jack.

And Greg being asexual and aromantic was definitely something I did not expect from this plot, in a good way. And it was nice to see him have such unwavering support from a family member when he came out.

I do wish that we had a little more info on how they got the Smith family to just randomly accept that Elsie went from dating one brother to the other. The way that was written seemed a little bit like a cop out but the end.

Love her books, looking forward to the next one already.

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

Not my favourite by Ali Hazelwood and that’s a shame because I was so excited to read this!

MFC, Elsie, is the dumbest smart person out of all of Ali’s novels. She doesn’t speak up for herself. Ever. With anyone. She moulds herself into whoever she thinks the person she’s speaking with wants her to be—dates, her mother, best friend, mentor, coworkers, her students, random people she’s meeting for the first time. This is her personality and I guess her idea of survival mode in academia? But it is cringy to read.

Elsie and MMC, Jack, have a major height difference which is such a common trope I’m beyond tired of it. She needs to crane her neck to look up at him. She needs to stand on her tippy toes and pull his face towards her to kiss. His pen!s pokes her in the stomach. She’s a small-average height woman and he’s a giant. We get it.

Elsie’s interactions with her mother felt forced. Phone calls with and memories of mommy dearest are added sporadically throughout the book. Mom calls and expects Elsie to break up fights between her two older brothers—who are adults. We never meet the mother or the brothers so, even though their interactions give examples of Elsie putting up with a lot of garbage from a lot of people, they felt like unnecessary characters.

Elsie and her best friend/roommate have an odd cheese obsession. This is focused on so much it is actually a character trait. Cheese is one of the few things they have in common, but they make it work.

Elsie does grow throughout the book with Jack’s help. She starts to tell people what she thinks and how she feels which made me proud. One of Elsie‘s dislikes is her best friend ’s taste in movies. But even though Elsie starts voicing her opinions by the end of the book, in the epilogue she’s sitting through yet another movie she doesn’t want to be watching. Furthermore, the person she’s watching this movie with told her earlier in the book that they would never watch her favourite movies with her ever again. So Elsie is expected to compromise for their tastes, but they won’t compromise their’s for her? Eww. No thank you

The ending was meh for me. It didn’t feel as climatic as it could have been.

Sorry. This storyline and the characters just really weren’t for me.

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chainsiren's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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beesin03's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective tense 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

4.25

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notmollie's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

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desana75's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

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hopecobbledpots's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

I should write a long review and at some point I will but right now all I can say is I loved Love, Theoretically. I never thought Ali could write something as good as The Love Hypothesis. Well, she did. Brava!

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