Reviews with content warning for Acephobia/Arophobia - Love, Theoretically

Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

90 reviews

gretchenplz's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

EDIT: I say this with all seriousness. Read this book before seeing Oppenheimer. I swear I *got* the science politics so much more because I read this book. Romcoms FTW!

God, I love Ali Hazelwood.

This book and these characters had me hooked from the first page, and it didn't matter to me at all that Ali's romcoms basically all follow the same formula. I love my lil insecure, pathological people-pleasing women who misread every signal and the golden retriever men-in-disguise who have been in love with them since the first time they saw them.

As a non-STEM gal myself, I so appreciated Cece and her humanities angle. The last novel was a bit STEM-preachy for me, but this one was right on the mark.

If I had any complaints, it would be that 1) she really needs to ditch the “girl with a teeny tiny vagina and guy with a monstrously large cock” trope and 2) maybe add more detail on the situation that caused the third act breakdown, since it seemed to come up very quickly.

Definitely my favorite so far, and Ali is now one of my insta-preorder authors!

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

premise:

contemporary romance set in Boston
first-person POV of Elsie
Elsie is an adjunct professor who hates teaching but her mentor (old white straight dude) insists on it
Elsie moonlights as a professional fake girlfriend for hire
When she interviews for a tenure-track position in the physics department at MIT, she runs into Jack, (otherwise known as Dr. Jonathan Smith-Taylor or the other way around hahaha) the older brother of her most recent client, Greg, and immediately panics because she had an entirely different persona on when she met Greg's family just LAST NIGHT
Elsie's ability to mask often and to perpetually people-please is what makes her fake girlfriend job perfect for her, but this is where her arc comes in
As Elsie and Jack get to know each other, they begin to become less of academic rivals (he wrote an article years ago that roasted the fuck out of her specialty: she is a theorist, he is an experimentalist (I am a romancereader-ist so I have no idea what the fuck they were talking about BUT I found a way to relate this back to my romance reader honeys. This debate reads very adjacent to what booktokers debate over when Bad Take Beckys say "romance isn't real reading!" or "romance shouldn't count towards your reading goals!" or "audiobooks aren't real reading!" lmao)
steam: 2/5 -- I appreciate the way Ali writes intimacy (especially for the demisexual bbs) because she hones in on the importance of consent step-by-step, and has the characters talk to each other to confirm that it feels okay and/or whether or not they want to continue.

thoughts:
Not too many coherent or eloquent thoughts, just vibes so thanks for reading this absolute fever-dream mess hahaha.

First of all, I do not have diabetes so I cannot speak to the diabetes representation in here. I'll leave that to people who have that lived experience, and I believe *them*! I'd love to hear from booktokers or bookstagrammers who do have diabetes to confirm this was done with care and was represented respectfully.

Standouts for me character wise besides the leads: I think Greg & Jack's grandma (I'm forgetting her name, forgive me!) was the shining MVP of this entire book; she was hilarious and had zero time nor energy for bullshit. This meant she could see right through Elsie's fake girlfriend act immediately, and I lived for that moment. The Olive & Adam cameo gave everything it needed to give. I was delighted and so happy to see our OG babies.

The romance between Elsie & Jack was fun because I love academic rivals -- it's hilarious because both people think they are just way better & smarter than the other when in reality, they're probably both great and they just need to work on their competitive issues and stop projecting? HAHA. Idk I thought their banter was goofy and the romance was sweet.

As far as Elsie's arc -- whew, this was rough for me. I am also a recovering people pleaser (hi hello, I grew up first-generation Chinese Filipino & those dynamics could be *tough*, so I'm constantly unlearning to make myself palatable/smaller/more likeable so that people can be comfortable and/or like me more) so that's why this was so triggering for me. I don't want anyone to feel like Elsie did, like once she is fully open/vulnerable/wholly herself, that it won't be good enough for the people she loves, and that she is just not worthy of love. It's just not true and I hate that I felt this deep in my core !!! It felt so realistic (so much that it hurt lmao) and I think the scary part is that sometimes, people *will* leave you and say they don't like the real you. The bravery and self-love in us needs to stand strong in accepting that reality. It can hurt, and it's valid to miss people, but if they only want a certain version of you, is it worth it? I don't think so. I'd rather have much less people in my life who fully accept me, let me be my goofy self, but also lovingly and compassionately challenge me to be better when I inevitably fuck up. I don't want dozens of people who wanted me in my "yes man" era.

I wished there were less Twilight references because the way Stephanie Meyer wrote the werewolves felt so racist / problematic to me, but I appreciate the sapphic shipping of Alice and Bella that Elsie wanted lol.

Content Warnings

katetravelsinbooks's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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deetabz'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

4.5

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny medium-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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I loved The Love Hypothesis – since then, every time Ali Hazelwood announces a new book, I instantly pre-order it and then just patiently wait.

This book follows Elsie Hannaway, she had many lives and personas. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, tolling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of one day landing tenure. At the weekend and evenings, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. It is a sweet gig – until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favourite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage, but at every step Jack is looking at her, it feels like he is looking into her soul and she doesn’t have to pretend around him. Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

I loved these characters. Elsie is so awkward and so scared of falling in love and I relate to her a tad . . . okay, a lot. Her obsession with cheese and Twilight is something I can also relate to. I love how she stood up for against her family and that she isn’t the peacekeeper, she has a lot going on and if she wants to see the family it’s probably for a break rather than the deal with petty shit that her mother has asked her to deal with. This book deals with important conversations such as healthcare in America (which is shocking), sex workers (no Elsie isn’t one, but everyone assumes that a fake girlfriend means you are entitled to sex because you paid for her), women in STEM (which we stan.) I love most of the men within Ali Hazelwood’s universe, but Jack nearly overtook Adam, it was very close. He fell first, and he was pushing for her to be her true self and wanting her to grow. This man shows that my standards are six feet under. I loved the communication he had with her during the spicy chapters, but then the communication fell off during the actual interviews and book – if he had been honest with her and said the job was never yours with some seriousness rather than acting like it was for banter – 100 pages could have been cut from this book.

As much as I love these books, they are all getting a bit the same – the guys are all “towering” over the FMC, the FMC isn’t respected so the MMC demands respect in whichever power he holds (in this book, it was by backtracking his 15-year-old article) and they all seemed to like the same sex positions or the dynamic - I want some change please. I want a strong female who wants to take control in the bedroom, or a small man and a taller woman. It just seems to be the same of tall, dark and handsome and whilst I enjoy it, I would love to see Ali write something different with different people and different dynamics.

I enjoy this book and the banter and the dad jokes and the cameo of Adam and Olive, but I just wanted something different.

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laurenvoice'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Ali Hazelwood's books are fast becoming my go-to comfort reads. They are always accessible and fun to read.

Whilst reading Love, Theoretically, I couldn't help but compare to The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain; I absolutely loved these two books; however, Love, Theoretically left me feeling disappointed.

It was quite hard to connect with Elsie and Jack; their relationship felt a tad too forced. Although saying that, I am glad the whole miscommunication trope was resolved early on; however, there was a bit more at the end, which was a little annoying.

Also, the whole Dr L situation was quite a letdown. It felt skipped over, and we didn't see any consequence for their toxic behaviour. This was the same with the issues surrounding Elsie and her mother; we never see it resolved, but in the epilogue, their issues were magically sorted. Considering both of these people were massive obstacles Elsie faced, it felt like, we should have seen the resolve for that.

Nevertheless, Love, Theoretically was a fun and lighthearted read. And the aro/ace representation was on point; I loved Greg and wished he had more scenes. Also, I loved Cece and Hedgie; quite curious to know more about the mysterious Kirk too!

Oh! And the Olive and Adam cameo was AMAZING!

Content Warnings

theonewheresamreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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

4.0

Hated Elsie at the start (Ik it’s the point and all but good lord it was annoying) but obviously came to love her 🥰 think the 3rd act break up was actually really needed and like I could see why it was done, they probably could’ve just talked but I think she needed the space so yeah 😋 Diabetes and AroAce rep (I would say main character but that’s like kind of just a head canon but yeah Greg 100% confirmed Dhdhhd)💪

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midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Love, Theoretically is the third romantic comedy in Ali Hazelwood’s STEMinist series. Elsie (a theoretical physicist) and Jack’s (a experimental physicist) romantic shenanigans were laugh out loud funny, and the character growth in each of the characters was heartwarming to read about. Ali is definitely one of my favorite rom-com writers!

Content Warnings

readwithria's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Love, Theoretically is factually amazing. I blasted through this book and had so much fun with every second of it!

Elsie’s desire for connection at any cost is SO relatable, and her struggle to ask for what she wants resonates with me so hard. As an aspiring recovered people pleaser (not quite there yet) I have felt the exact things that she experienced throughout the book, and seeing that on the page was so reassuring.

The romance in this book 🥰 don’t even get me started. Jack might be my new favorite book boyfriend. Ali Hazelwood just knows that any man who packs snacks for his girlfriend has the key to my heart 😂

If you love any of Ali Hazelwood’s other books you should definitely give this one a read! 5 stars.

Content Warnings

greylandreviews's review against another edition

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informative 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

I really liked this one. Probably one of favorite male pov from Hazelwood.

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