Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

La teoría del amor by Ali Hazelwood

92 reviews

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Medical content, Outing, and Sexism

chainsiren's review against another edition

emotional funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Drug use, and Gaslighting

chasingpages1's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Moderate: Outing, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Acephobia/Arophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Classism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Drug use

beesin03's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, and Outing

notmollie's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

desana75's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting

hopecobblepotworld's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Death of parent

daepyonimst's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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 love me some Ali Hazelwood. This hit especially hard as a woman looking to take her PHD towards academia and teaching. This book did a great job of highlighting some of the issues in the current system. I love the whole forbidden romance of it all, and nothing is better than a good mistaken identity situation. Another hit in my book and one I will obsoletely re-read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Chronic illness and Gaslighting

I'll admit, I'm behind on reviews, so I might have missed some of the content warnings.

britwalsh16's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this book in a day! I Love Ali Hazelwood, & the world she has built with her books! I’m not a STEM girl, & honestly I hated science class in school, but this world she created is addicting, even without a love of science! I loved seeing the callbacks & Easter eggs from her other books too; especially the cameos of past characters Adam & Olive! I loved being able to see what they are up to now!
As for the characters in this book, their chemistry was off the charts, Jack & Elsie make an adorable pair, & it’s fun seeing a fake dating trope where the couple that’s faking it ISNT the ones who fall in love! Not something you see often. 
But also, this book really called me out with Elsie & her people pleasing!  I’m not as good as Elsie, I can’t read people & make myself into the version they want, but I do people please A LOT! & some of the quotes in this book really hit close to home!  Idk if that’s a good thing or not yet. Lol 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Toxic relationship