Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Love on the Brain

First and foremost: Ali Hazelwood knows cute and quirky to a very tall, dark and handsome T. “Love on the Brain” was science + cuteness, encapsulated. You don’t have to know anything about neuroscience or space to understand the workplace romance fleshed out amongst these pages. It’s quite endearing, if a little repetitive. As many have pointed out, the plot and characters are very similar to Ali’s first steminist romcom and one of my personal favorites of all time, “The Love Hypothesis”. Forgive me for comparing them, but it absolutely happened!! I had no control over it!!

I love Levi, and I love Adam. But Olive >>> Bee for sure. Moving on.

For a neuroscientist working on a NASA-funded project, Dr. Bee Königswasser is quite the oblivious Damsel in Distress™ when it comes to her supposed grad school nemesis, Dr. Levi Ward. She is Tiny and Clumsy and Alternative Hair. He is Massive and Closed Off and Beautiful Green Eyes. Levi avoided her in grad school at all costs because He Hated Her So Much And There Is No Other Explanation.

It’s your typical enemies-to-lovers romance, but I appreciated that the “enemies” part didn’t fester long. We all know the “enemies” trope is never that accurate considering at least one party is secretly in love the entire time. In this case, it’s glaringly obvious to everyone except our stubborn MC.

I enjoyed this novel, but it didn’t give me all of the swooning and butterflies that TLH gave me. Which, understandably, is hard to achieve. Still, I think it has long been a dream of mine to score a NASA scientist who named his cat Schrödinger.

Extra points for the extra steam in this one, though 🔥

Content Warnings

elspethmigliore's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? No

5.0

i LOVED this book. i loved how nerdy it was and how i was able to understand every reference. in every possible way, this is almost a perfect book.

also, i 🫶 levi ward

definitely reread material ✅

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mjones14's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

I absolutely loved this! The only reason it isn't 5 stars is enemies to lovers isn't my favourite trope, as well as I was a bit frustrated with one action in the end sequence that I shall not name. Nonetheless I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from hazelwood

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bookedandbusy's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

5.0

This was an incredible book!! Ali Hazelwood does not disappoint!! Loved the characters and the banter. The CATS. loved the cats.

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beckyyreadss's review

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emotional hopeful 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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I absolutely loved The Love Hypothesis – I thought it was absolutely amazing so when Ali Hazelwood announced another book, I instantly pre-ordered it.

This book is about Bee Konigswasser and she lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? So when NASA offered her the lead on a major neuro engineering project which would be her first major project after scraping by on the crumbs of academia – she knows that Marie Curie would accept it without hesitation. There is just one problem – she would have to co-lead it with Levi Ward. Levi is attractive in a tall, dark and handsome kind of way and yes he caught her in his arms like a romance novel when she accidently damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school and archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away. Now her equipment is missing, the staff are ignoring her and Bee finds her career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it’s her mind playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays and seconding her ideas. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Konigswagger do? This book is a new adult romance.

I really enjoyed this book and Ali Hazelwood has a thing of managing to suck you in from the first couple of chapters. The storyline was interesting and very much like The Love Hypothesis and you can’t help but compare Levi to Adam (expect I like Levi more) as Levi seemed like a bit of an asshole for no reason until you learned the reason. Levi and Bee really needed to communicate more and the issues could have been solve like 7 chapters before. But the romance made me giggle like a five-year-old and there was still a bit of mystery with the whole things keep moving and disappearing from places. I would have loved to see more of Bee’s sister Reike and maybe some chapters from Levi’s point of view especially with what Tim said to him and the other half of what Bee didn’t hear in Grad school.

I would buy anything that Ali Hazelwood writes – I’ve already pre-ordered Loathe to Love You and I would love to see a sequel with all the characters from this book.

Content Warnings

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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hopeful 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

4.5

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summerslittlelibrary's review

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funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

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