Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

46 reviews

midnightbelles's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I don’t know how to feel about this. I went into the Love Hypothesis with skewed views about its contents so I decided to read this with an open mind. 
The beginning of this was really boring and I was really confused for about 10 chapters and not even about the science stuff. I felt like the “enemies” thing didn’t really make any sense and I also felt like Bee kept trying to force her wrong opinion down my throat. However I thought that it was sweet that he fell first and I felt so bad for him that she remained convinced that he hated her despite him explicitly saying on multiple different occasions that he didn’t. Her obtuseness really frustrated me a lot while reading.
I also thought the gun thing was doing a bit too much. It really wasn’t necessary. And the ending and makeup seemed very rushed.
Despite spending most of this book confused it was a nice read. 

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lovealwaysadi's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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


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brighta's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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lealovesbooks's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

I liked the book. But I wanted to love it. Romance and neuroscience? Sign me up. But the execution was disappointing. Definitely not the authors best work. 

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hq_reads's review

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funny informative lighthearted fast-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

4.5

I finished this book in less than 24 hours. I could not stop READING! Ali Hazelwood has done it again - such an addictive, funny and perfect romantic comedy! 

Was it predictable? Yes. Was it full of overused tropes? Yes. Was it cheesy? Absolutely. But I don't care. There was something so comforting reading this book, knowing they were definitely going to get together. I still had fun reading through it - sometimes you just need a good comforting, easy read and this delivered exactly that.

I love the humour in her writing and I loved the FMC Bee. I usually don't enjoy the miscommunication trope but it worked for this story! Dr Levi Ward is definitely a contender for top 10 book boyfriends of all time - he's bypassed Dr Adam! The anticipation and slow burn of their relationship was done so well - SO WELL. 

Having gone through a postgraduate degree in STEM myself (marine biology), I found so many moments in this book (and the Love Hypothesis) extremely relatable! I love that Hazelwood draws attention to the day-to-day discrimination women in STEM face, and the examples she uses are very much real and common in many professions. She is able to articulate all the microaggressions and double standards very well, in a way that many women find it hard to communicate as these behaviours are often quite subtle and hard to prove. I feel like women reading her books who experience this will be able to better recognise when they are facing this discrimination in the workplace and feel confident to speak up. 

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littlewitch_reads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.75


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deetabz's review

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emotional funny informative lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0


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samandthebookstack's review

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funny lighthearted 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

Ali Hazelwood seems to be acutely aware of exactly which buttons to press to boost my seratonin production.

I loved The Love Hypothesis. It made my Reylo loving little heart so happy. It fixed some of the sadness that lingered in light of the way The Rise of Skywalker ended. (Ben Solo deserved better. JS.) I was hoping that Ali Hazelwood's next novel would give me the same vibes as TLH, and Love on the Brain delivered.

Our main characters, Bee (a neuroscientist) and Levi (an engineer), gave me the same vibes as Olive and Adam, and I didn't mind it one bit. You see, I have a type. He's tall, dark-haired and a tad broody but he exhibits all the cinammon roll qualities of a labrador retriever. He is smart, and heart-set on being a good person who isn't a bag of trash that refuses to face his own issues and trauma. But he's also intensely human and acts like an idiot sometimes. That is Adam's character in TLH, and it is also Levi's character in LOTB, and I loved it. I married this type of man and it's no coincidence that my husband also happens to be an engineer. As I said, I have a type. Mkay. Thank you, Ali Hazelwood, for effectively writing my husband into your novels. He's loving all the extra snuggles that result from your work.

Now...moving on...I loved Bee. I felt a deep camraderie with her character for one very specific reason: her poorly functioning autonomic nervous system. I have something called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (or POTS, for short), and it is marked by...you guessed it...passing out. All. the. friggin. time. My own illness is far more severe than what is portrayed via Bee's character, but it still tugged at something very deep in my heart for me to see a character with autonomic dysfunction in a novel for the first time. I felt seen. Aside from that, Bee is relatable, she is stubborn, and she loves her work. I am so glad to see that Ali Hazelwood continues to use her work to highlight what its like for women in STEM (the good and the bad parts). 

All in all, by the time I finished this book, I felt nostalgic. It was a comfort read and I remain dutifully obsessed with Ali's work and will continue to autobuy whatever she releases. 







 

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harmony822's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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