Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Chemistry of Love

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson

5 reviews

ldbaker628's review

funny lighthearted relaxing

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Great vacation read! Romance novel that stops at making out. Fake dating is always the best way to get what you want…. Right?

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tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

The Chemistry of Love was a fun read. Although, I did question at the beginning if I was going to like this story because the protagonist decides to upend her life by quitting her job over a man she isn’t even in a relationship with. However, this book had great swoony moments and the mentions of different romance tropes were so cute. Marco is a great book boyfriend with his intelligence, protective nature and his faint-inducing good looks. And to top it off, the funny moments and banter (especially coming from Anna’s best friend) more than made up for the bumpy start.

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brittany_jean's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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 literally had goosebumps at the end, which hasn’t happened in ages. I loved the mix of chemistry and learning more about cosmetic chemistry. I’d never thought about how makeup was made and now I want to learn more. At first, Anna felt painfully socially dense to me, but she grew on me and I understood her more as the book progressed.

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mhairi_reads's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Rating: ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🚫
Tropes: Fake dating, STEM
POV: Single - Anna

In case you didn’t know, the ugly duckling never had to change. She just needed to figure out that she’d been a swan all along.
- Marco😍

If you’re looking for a rom-com that gets you in your feels definitely give this a go. This was a fantastic read and one you don’t want to miss. This was so much better than I had anticipated. A fun, sweet romance with crazy good sexual tension. I was hooked. This was my first book by Wilson but I can promise it definitely won’t be my last.

I fell in love with the characters - well most of them, and Wilson’s writing was so easy to read and get lost in. I’ve gotten into romance lately but I’ve been loving the fake dating trope and this didn’t disappoint. This wasn’t spicy but God can Wilson write a good kissing scene - 🔥 !

We follow Anna, a cosmetic scientist who is secretly in love with her boss’ boss, but when he announces his engagement she gets drunk and finds herself in the bathroom feeling sorry for herself. Cue Marco - the hot CEO and ironically Craig’s brother. Not long after Anna divulging her feelings to Marco they hatch a plan to split Craig and his fiancee up by pretending to date and things just keep progressing from there. Marco was by far my favourite character in this book - a man with brains and braun, yes please😅!

There is a lot of STEM, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars references from the very start of this book, which is not something I really vibe with but it wasn’t something that bothered me at all. If anything I learned a few things, which was kind of fun if I’m being honest.

The only reason this was bumped to a 4 star was the constant he doesn’t want me self talk from the FMC - the whole way through. It wasn’t so much a miscommunication trope. She just kept making assumptions, which really frustrated me near the end. It didn’t feel believable and I honestly think if that hadn’t been the case this could have easily been a 5 star read for me.

⚠️ Content Warnings: TW for death of parents.

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chemistryreads's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

As a chemist, I wanted to like this book so much, however, the horrible science and characterizations of women in science were awful. If I picked this up at a bookstore, I would have put it down without buying it in the first few pages. The chemist drinks out of a beaker from the lab ON PURPOSE! TWICE! Even in a cosmetic chemistry environment, this would NEVER be allowed. This book perpetrates the stereotype that women in STEM fields are nerds/dorks about everything. The female main character (Anna) sums her personality up by Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Muppets. This is so irritating! Anna is so clueless when it comes to determining someone's personality. She characterizes her grandma so poorly and doesn't speak nicely of many people besides her best friend who she only has known a handful of months but talks to all the time. Marco is just a knight in shining dorky armor who she manages to realize she's in love with as they fake date. Shocker. Literally, this woman has nerd as her only personality trait and thats not what scientists are! And the science is wrong! A reaction is not endo and exothermic at the same time. Comparing the two people in relationship to baking soda and vinegar and how they don't go together. The lame "I'll have H2O too" and "adenine so I can be paired with U" jokes are added like they were the top hit on a Google search for lame science jokes. Most things are described with poor science references or nerdy references. Catalina saying she will settle for the nerdy guy who is decent looking because at least he won't cheat on her?! Seriously? This book isn't even kind to male scientists. Anna's "brilliant" makeup idea - nope, not possible. Similar things exist but they aren't based on neuroreceptors because the science is not there yet and may never be there. Additionally, making a new makeup, that contained a previously toxic substance in a bedroom? And then wearing it and making out with another biochemist while wearing it for "science"?! Heck no! That lipstick would be subject to so much testing to make sure it isn't toxic and that wouldn't be possible from a bedroom. Also, Anna is poor, but manages a lab from her bedroom?! She makes the same expensive products for cheaper in her room to give to her grandma's friends? No way! Just because you know the ingredients, does not mean you know how to make something exactly like the one you can buy on a shelf! Can you imagine this with baking? A baker tells you what's in their cake and magically you can make it so much cheaper then what its sold for? Also, for cosmetics, where ingredients come from matters so much and that can really drive up cost. As a chemist, I am furious that this book was written and essentially undermines women in science so poorly. No quality research was put into this because all chemists would be appalled from chapter 1 with drinking from lab beakers. Writing is too cheesy and lacks serious character development. 1 star, 0.5 spice (makeouts only)

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