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wilybooklover's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
This is my first Ali Hazelwood book, and I have very mixed feelings.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Outing, Sexual assault, Classism, Cancer, and Acephobia/Arophobia
ghostly_girlfriend's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
carterk98's review
adventurous
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
cantstopwontstopreading's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is not a light hearted or fun romance as many reviews promise. This is the story of a woman who cannot get out of her own way to manage getting any happiness for herself. Yes the big idea is she’s doing it for feminist reasons but the number of times this obviously brilliant woman makes stupid decisions instead of playing the game smartly is too damn high.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
sneezy_5000's review against another edition
emotional
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Honestly really loved this. I've enjoyed all of Hazelwood's books so far, but I feel like this one went a bit deeper than the first two, which I liked.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Medical content
Minor: Sexual assault
amandaboyer's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
lujisa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Cancer, and Medical content
frenchvanillapowdercreamer's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
sbbs245's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
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
4.5
I enjoyed this book a lot and was happy to see a female character in a romance book undergo character development. I was waiting the whole time for her to yell at her mom. My only complaint was Hazelwood's continuing obsession with making every female character tiny and dainty and so so so small compared to a massive bear-like-tree-sized-giant-man-giant-hands-giant-you-know-what guy. I don't care all that much if the guy is taller or broad-er but her insistance on mentioning the size difference every third page shines light on her own proclivities
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
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