Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - La teoría del amor

First of all, if I had to hear ONE MORE TIME about how gigantic Jack was, I might have screamed. It was so repetitive and unnecessary — I promise that I won’t forget between page 35 and page 40 that he’s built like a refrigerator. Combined with how naïve and oblivious Elsie was, and how overbearing Jack was, I didn’t really enjoy the actual romance much. I found Jack quite creepy to be honest

(he keeps a photo of her in his bedside table when they genuinely barely know each other? He wants her to move in when they've barely been together for one weekend?? He wants to lock her in his room for two weeks??? WHAT).

He also came across as condescending most of the time to me, and like he infantilised the heroine. The sex scenes were so awkward and not in a cute way (although I liked the emphasis on consent). And what kind of Swedish surname is Turner? Then the villain seemed so flat and cartoonish, rather than a fully-fleshed out character, especially during the conflict. Also, this is very petty but I hate cheese and had to suffer through so much talk about cheese in this book. Enough about cheese already!!

On the other hand, there were some things I really liked. I loved Elsie’s character arc about learning how not to be such a people pleaser all the time, and how she ended up going to therapy at the end. I liked the setup for how the MCs meet (she’s fake dating his brother, and he begins to suspect something is off). I enjoyed the very realistic depiction of being a woman in STEM and how very science-y the whole book was. I really liked how much Jack just wanted to take care of Elsie, gave her space when she asked for it, and how he didn’t mess with her career even when he was suspicious of her (look, it's a low bar, but it’s disappointing how often that happens in romance). It was great how he completely respected her academic intellect and was so emotionally open with her as well... even if that openness is completely lost on her lol. I also liked how Elsie actually calls Jack out on how patronising he’s being by acting like she can’t make her own decisions. Plus, all of the major side characters besides the villain were well-drawn and enjoyable to read; I particularly liked Cece and Millicent.

One final thought: the STEMinist appellation promptly needs to die in a fire, thank you.

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bibliomania_express's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood follows Elsie, a chronically people-pleasing theoretical physicist with a fake-girlfriend side hustle, and Jack, an experimental physicist who sparked a field-wide feud with theoretical physicists and the brother of Elsie's current fake date.

This book was fun and remarkably touching. Like all of Hazelwood's romances, it's a science-filled romance between a nerdy science girl up-and-coming in her career and a behemothly tall man well-established in his career. But this book is really about overcoming a people-pleasing mentality, drawing healthy boundaries, recognizing abuse and control in people you trust, and calling out well-meaning people when they cross the line.

I related a lot to Elsie. It's often hard to say no to people, especially when you think saying no will make them lose respect or liking for you. Elsie has to find herself and stand up for herself - even to Jack. And I enjoyed her friendship with CeCe, particularly the touching scene between them near the end.

I loved Jack's determination to break through Elsie's people pleasing and find out what she truly likes, but I did get annoyed with him a couple of times. I'm glad Elsie called him out, especially when he went too far into the patronizing/overprotective side of things.

I do wish there had been a bit more of Jack and Greg's brother relationship since it's so important to the first half of the book. I also think there wasn't enough exploration of how everything went down with the job interview process.

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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This is my first Ali Hazelwood book yay! And I can wholeheartedly say that after listening to everyone’s reviews on it, it has definitely met my expectations. I love Elsie and Jack’s characters and all the STEM talk even though ik nothing about physics bc it was actually entertaining to listen to for the time being. Their relationship was so wholesome and I love that he always saw through her lies and recognized that she was a die hard people pleaser and knew she had to learn to be comfortable in her own skin, forfeiting the lies and “other Elsie’s”. I’m glad they were able to get their HEA bc these babies definitely deserve each other 🫶

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notamouse's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

4.0

🌶️🌶️

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meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

This was so cute, but not a love for me. I loved Jack, the development of Elise and Jack's relationship, and how he helped her open up and be more honest with people... but Elsie not even knowing who *she* is or being able to tell her best friend she doesn't like the movies they watch together frustrated me on multiple occasions. It also annoyed me that Elsie refused to believe that Jack didn't actually hate her, even when he told her this (multiple times) to her face.

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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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annabananadel'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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