Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Love, Theoretically

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

141 reviews

bookedandbusy's review

funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

This was delightfully cute and swoon worthy. It was slow burn, but it was done so well, and I feel like it made me love the couple more! As always, Ali Hazelwood is a romance mastermind.

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onefineelephant's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

10/10. This book was great. I devoured it and also stayed up late into the night reading it. It made me laugh, cry, and horny. My only small slight against the book is that it includes a lot of physics jargon - but not enough that the characters, plot, and romance are not entirely enjoyable. Also, as someone who hates physics (sorry physics lovers), I didn't mind the physics talk as much since the romance and writing was so good. I still love The Love Hypothesis better (no surprise) and it was so fun to have Olive and Adam cameo! Overall, I highly recommend it.

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theespressoedition's review

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3.0

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kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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

Love, Theoretically is another masterpiece by Ali Hazelwood. Elsie is looking for a new job and has to go through a few interview stages. However, on her interview committee is Jack, a nemesis of hers that tried to ruin her mentor's career. There are scholarly sabotages happening and Jack seems nicer than Elsie thought.

I am currently on a fantastic reading run. Ali Hazelwood is a mastermind. I enjoyed reading about academics and women in STEM. It's interesting that I learn something new with her books. Something that I did not fully enjoy, and I didn't like in The Love Hypothesis either, is that the female protagonists are quite insecure about sexual activities. But other than that, I loved this book.

The hatred between Elsie and Jack was a bit irrational towards the end. But I fully get why Elsie was so angry at Jack. I probably would have felt the same way (even though I know that being resentful is not the best thing to do). Their love story was rather slow-burn, but sexy and hot! I was so excited for them.

I really do love Ali Hazelwood's books. I can't wait to read more and can highly recommend them!

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captbarbosa's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.75

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jjyork's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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spellbindingtomes's review

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funny informative lighthearted relaxing 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

𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰.

This was my first Ali Hazelwood book and it did not disappoint! I could not put this book down. I went into this blind and instantly got hooked from the start. Academic rivals to lovers is becoming my new favorite trope.

I surprisingly found Elsie relatable. Her desperate need for a better job gave me so many flashbacks to my job searching days and just how soul crushing receiving job rejections could be after pouring your all into an interview. I wasn't a fan of when she was being dismissive of Jack's feelings in the beginning. She made a lot of assumptions about him and it was a bit frustrating. But given her past I totally understood where she was coming from and her character development at the end was really well done.

I absolutely LOVED Jack. He was hyperaware of Elsie, so attuned to her feelings and personality. He was caring and thoughtful. He saw the 'real' Elsie, along with her full potential and believed in her and fully supported her. But most of all, he was totally willing to watch the Twilight series with Elsie 😂

I was a little intimidated at first because of the STEM aspect but this turned out to be a very easy read and relatable. I highly recommend for a fun romance in an academia setting!

“𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.”

“𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵.”

⚛️academic rivals to lovers
⚛️women in STEM
⚛️he falls first
⚛️academia
⚛️Twilight

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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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.

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laura_wild's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

there are too many typos and the Jack is really creepy sometimes

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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

5.0

📖
I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the STEM and university settings. The characters were good, I liked the relationships between characters, the writing style was engaging, and the plot was cute.

This was the first Ali Hazelwood book I read and I eager to read more.

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