Reviews with content warning for Outing - Love, Theoretically

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Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

83 reviews

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

emotional 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

Where to start? Everything about this was perfect! Ali Hazelwood once again proved that she is the powerhouse of romance novel and stories. Being introduced to Elsie Hannaway and Jonathan 'Jack' Smith-Turner made myself feel giddy about them. Slowly but sure.

I love the development of their slowburn romance. And I adore Elsie so much. She is brave for stand for herself and turned to be a better person she should be. I love this book so much!

For me... Love, Theoretically is the best book I've ever read from Ali. Thank you for making STEM themed book so fun to read, Ali! Applaud!

Can't wait to read more books from you. Check & Mate next!

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jessiereads98's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood follows Elsie and Jack as they navigate a relationship which started with a lie and animosity. The romantic and comedic elements were well balanced, and I found the story to be charming overall. It isn’t a perfect book, but it is a lot of fun.

I can see why people say this is Hazelwood’s best work, as her craft has clearly improved here. Her character and relationship development do seem to flow more smoothly and realistically here. Hazelwood has also improved at communicating information to the reader more subtly through her diction, without just outright telling us the information. Unfortunately, Ali Hazelwood remains unsubtle with the size kink in her work. At least once a chapter if not more, we are reminded how big the male main character is, and how small the female main character is (she’s described as medium a couple times, but really she’s so tiny especially compared to him). Hazelwood has also cut down on the amount of cringe overall. However, if I ever have to read about a pee erection or the character who’s supposed to be an adult combining that into one word ever again, I am suing for emotional damages.

As always, I appreciated the STEM element in this book. As someone unfamiliar with physics, I did find bits a little jargon-heavy. The heavy jargon bits did not interfere with my comprehension of the plot or characters, and I was able to understand the comedic, and plot or character relevant physics puns and metaphors. I enjoyed the realism that Ali Hazelwood brought to the story from her STEM background, such as the blurb on Elsie’s dissertation topic, and using real journal titles like Nature. I also thought the discussion of the role of adjunct professors in the current academic landscape was important, and well done.

The part of the book that was most frustrating to me, was unfortunately Elsie (the female main character). Her characterization was often contradictory, and not because she’s a people pleaser. We are repeatedly told how good Elsie is at reading people, yet she is constantly having miscommunications with Jack. This felt completely out of line with what we are told about her character, and like it was just being done to further the plot. She is also repeatedly unfair to, and disrespectful of Jack. Her take on the academic journal scandal, was completely wrong, and bordering on stupid. As someone within academia, it is not

Jack’s

fault that a journal accepted a blatantly falsified article, and the journal, its editor, and possibly the field do deserve scrutiny for that. It’s also unlikely that a single falsified article could affect funding to a field as large as theoretical physics so significantly, unless there were other problems in that field. So either this plot point was unrealistic, or Elsie is just stupid despite how smart she purportedly is. When arguing with Jack, she is unfair and makes false comparisons. There is also an instance where after

Jack says no to sex, Elsie just strips in front of him

. This borders on sexual harassment in my opinion. Elsie as a character frequently left me frustrated and with a bad taste in my mouth.

On the other hand, Jack is possibly my favourite male main character of Hazelwood’s. He’s the most fleshed out of her male main characters, and takes more of an active role throughout the story. He has flaws which are addressed in the book, but overall he’s likeable. His grand gesture was also fitting and unique, and I loved it.

Similarly, the side characters in this book really shine. Most of the side characters who get time on page have full personalities, and are likeable. They can each stand on their own as characters, rather than simply propping up the plot or being convenient set dressing.

I also obviously loved the Adam and Olive cameo, and references to Bee from Love on the Brain.

Despite my complaints about Elsie’s characterization, and the blatant size kink, this was another fun Hazelwood STEM romp which in some ways does improve on her previous works.

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was amazing! Definitely my favourite Ali Hazelwood book to date. If you love STEM related romance or stories with a hint of enemies/rivals to lovers then I highly recommend checking this one out!

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tigerkind's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-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

I’ve previously been kind of “meh” about Hazelwood’s books but I feel like this might’ve been her best one yet. Likeable, relatable characters for the most part, a realistic story arc and actual real-life issues? Great stuff. Not amazing-life changing, but very solid.

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sam_malaika's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing

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

3.75

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annick's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.75

Yup. I’m giving it “almost five” stars, so rare for me. I loved so much of this.

I have two ‘near impossible to meet’ criteria for giving a perfect five stars -

1. I want to reread it almost immediately after finishing the first read.

2. nothing notable that i consider worth changing/improving

I loved this so much. The last 50 pages felt both slow and rushed. I wished we’d had more time with the FMC and MMC in relationship. What of Kirk and Cece ? I liked the realistic aspects of conversations and tensions. But this final act still lost the sparkle of the first 100pages of banter and fun tension .

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overflowingshelf's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

CW: Sexism; misogyny; chronic illness; toxic relationship; death of a parent; acephobia/arophobia; outing

Despite not liking The Love Hypothesis or Love on the Brain, I couldn’t help but be curious about Love, Theoretically. I don’t know what it is, but there is something about Ali Hazelwood’s books that makes me want to read them as I want to see what happens, and I hold out hope every single time that this book will be different, and I will end up loving it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this time around. But I did enjoy it slightly more than her first two books, so I’m calling that a win!

If you like Ali Hazelwood’s writing style and the plots of The Love Hypothesis or Love on the Brain, you will probably like this one as it features a very similar setup and characters as the other two. And if you don’t like either of those, probably best to stay away for the same reasons.

I had a lot of thoughts while reading (some good, but mostly not so good), so let’s get into it.

WRITING

Three books in, and I can 100% confirm that Ali Hazelwood’s writing style is not for me. I knew this going in, and yet I was still hoping that something I didn’t like in The Love Hypothesis or Love on the Brain would change, but nope.

The biggest thing I was hoping for was fewer randomly italicized words. However, Ali Hazelwood decided to ratchet the dial-up to nearly a thousand this time around. Seriously! This book came in around 970 randomly italicized words – 300+ more than in Love on the Brain – mainly for emphasis when speaking from every character. That is EXCESSIVE! It was the first thing I noticed when I read The Love Hypothesis, and it’s so in your face in every single one of her books that it’s hard for me to ignore. I seriously don’t know how that gets through the editing process.

Another thing that doesn’t work for me with Hazelwood’s writing style is it feels like forced quirkiness and cuteness. It annoys me to no end, as it undermines her characters as they come across as childish and way younger than they are.

The tone is also supposed to make this book feel humorous, but it misses the mark for me. I find it more cringe than anything else. I always said her tone would work better in YA than in adult romance, so I am curious if her new YA book Check & Mate would work better for me.

And for the love of god, can we never use the word “peerection” to describe a “pee erection” (WTF) ever again? Please. I am begging you. Three times was three times too many!

Now, she dialed back the use of the adjectives big and huge to describe her male main character, which I am appreciative of. Don’t get me wrong, Jack is still big and huge, and she uses them as some of his only descriptive adjectives, but it’s not a constant bombardment of those words like it was in her previous two books. I still would love to see her try to use other descriptions for her characters so we can get a picture of all of them in our heads.

BOSTON SPECIFIC STUFF

There was also some weirdly specific stuff wrong about Boston that took me out of the story (I happen to live in Boston and have been here for 10+ years).

First, how does Jack, a professor, manage to own a two-floor condo with wall-to-ceiling windows in downtown Boston? PLUS, HE HAS A CAR. IN DOWNTOWN BOSTON. I know his family has money, but he’s living in a multi-million-dollar condo on a professor’s salary, which makes no sense.

Also, why are you driving everywhere if you live in downtown Boston? Take the T! You have access to every single line right there. Even though the T is a hot mess, it’s usually more convenient than driving everywhere.

Second, they are forced to spend the night together for the first time because the buses have stopped running in a snowstorm. I’m sorry, but that’s just not what happens here. Unless there is a driving ban, you will see MBTA buses out on the road in a snowstorm. Trust me. I see them in blizzards going past my apartment. Also, see my point above about just taking the T. Also, we don’t call the T the subway, especially as half of it is above ground.

Third, I was so confused by the Boston area colleges and universities that Elsie was adjuncting at. Why is she an adjunct professor at Emerson College of all the schools in Boston? They don’t even have a science major and offer one physics course, as they’re known for the writing, arts, and theatre programs. Also, she randomly had student emails from someone at BC but never once said she was working there (only that she worked at UMass Boston, Emerson, and BU), so I was confused.

I wish she has put more effort into making Boston feel like Boston. It felt like lazy writing and took me out of the story.

CHARACTERS

When it comes to the characters in this book, I’m on two opposite sides with my emotions toward Jack and Elsie. On the one hand, I liked Jack; on the other, I did not like Elsie.

If I could base my rating on Jack, I’d give this book four stars. He’s my favorite male main character she’s written to date! I felt like he had emotional depth with an interesting and complicated backstory. His relationship with his brother was charming, and I loved seeing that. Plus, he always said what I was thinking about Elsie, and I liked that he called her out on BS and problematic behavior. That’s probably why I liked him so much, to be honest.

And while I may question his judgment about liking Elsie, he genuinely cared about her. Plus, he did a good grand gesture/grovel. I could have done with a little less of his careless attitude towards women as sexual objects in the past, but honestly, he was a breath of fresh air compared to Levi and Adam, as he never was outright rude to Elsie.

Now, Elsie, I could not STAND. She says she’s a “people pleaser,” but I found her actions very manipulative, and she came across as a pushover. She lies to EVERYONE because it’s easier to make others happy and therefore feel good about herself. Instead of voicing her opinion and standing up for herself, she also just does what other people want her to do, no questions asked. For god’s sake, she let her mentor call her the wrong name FOR YEARS because she thought it would inconvenience him if she corrected him! It was frankly disturbing, and I found her worldview very warped. This line in particular really troubled me:

“I find that people like me better if they don’t have to expand emotional energy on me.”

In typical Ali Hazelwood female main character fashion, Elsie also projects her feelings on Jack. She thinks he hates her based on assumptions she makes about him, not on anything he’s said or done. Thank god Jack called her out on this, or I would have been flipping some tables.

Also, Elsie, you are 27 and expecting a tenured professor role right out of school? I don’t know, but that felt presumptuous, especially when you don’t even enjoy teaching that much! You just finished your Ph.D. program and have your whole career ahead of you! Yes, it sucks not to make good money or have stable health insurance, but as other characters point out, there are different career paths that she’d be better suited and enjoy more in academia that would give her a steady income and insurance.

And while I liked that Elsie had a chronic illness (she has diabetes), how it was handled was not great. She would rather pass out than tell someone she needs to take a second to check her blood sugar. And the fact she thought her having diabetes burdened her family really rubbed me the wrong way. It made it seem like diabetes was something to be ashamed of when type 1 diabetes is something you cannot control as it’s an autoimmune disease, further stigmatizing it. (For more on this, check out this great review on Goodreads).

I wish these books weren’t told from the female main character’s point of view, as in every Ali Hazelwood book, I end up hating the female main character. Being stuck in their head’s the whole time hampers my enjoyment of the story, and I wish we could get Jack’s POV.

ROMANCE

I still don’t know I feel about the romance in this book. It didn’t feel like much of a romance novel?

I didn’t see any chemistry between Jack and Elsie, and most of the emotions seemed way more one-sided coming from Jack. There was a swoon-worthy line or two from Jack here or there, but there weren’t a ton of emotions in general in the relationship between Jack and Elsie – at least not that I could see. It felt like it was more physical than anything deeper than that.

Their relationship also went from 0 to 100 incredibly fast. Like they started hooking up, and two days later, he’s talking about her moving in and then saying things about marriage. That’s FAST.

And for a book marketed as a romance, the main characters never say “I love you” to each other, so there is that. The “I love yous” are a hallmark, a defining moment of any romance novel. Yet, we don’t get them ever saying it or even thinking it (like in Love on the Brain)! That frustrated me as I want emotional payoff in my books.

Once again, I don’t find the sex scenes in this book all that sexy. I don’t know what it is about all of Ali Hazelwood’s sex scenes, but I find the writing to be so CRINGE (remember the “entire breast” moment from The Love Hypothesis?). There are a handful of sex scenes in this, but I was cringing through them the whole time as the words used to describe them felt so off. Like I don’t want to hear about anyone’s bodily fluids pooling in anyone’s belly button, please and thank you.

Also, let’s talk about the big conflict in their relationship. Elsie seriously tried to end things with him over a scientific paper he published in a journal when he was 17! That was OVER 15 YEARS AGO. She’s held on to this grudge against the author for over a decade because of the beef it started between theoretical and experimental physicists. She cannot let the resentment go even after she learns the circumstances that led Jack to write that article. It was a freaking article, and she’s acting like it killed people! I understand why she’s annoyed he hasn’t spoken out about the tension between theoretical and experimental physicists now that he’s older, but to sabotage a relationship over that and continue to hold the article over his head? Please.

At least Jack does make a nice grand gesture as part of the grovel process, but Elsie never really apologized to him for her actions. Instead, she called him a liar when she didn’t want to hear the truth. I felt she also needed to apologize, but we never got that from her.

PLOT

Part of why this didn’t feel like a romance to me is because of the plot. The book’s first half was basically Elsie interviewing for a job at MIT and focused very heavily on academia. Honestly, I found this half dull.

The second half of this book was all over the place in terms of the plot, with Jack and Elsie getting together, her getting upset with him over the scientific paper he wrote when he was 17, and her realizing her mentor is a dick.

The book’s ending started to annoy me with the whole fixation on the paper Jack wrote when he was younger and Elsie’s insistence on needing her mentor’s approval to accept a job.

First off, her mentor is a giant walking red flag. Second, the fact that she thought she needed someone else authorization to do something she wanted screams a toxic relationship to me. When Jack and others try to tell her that her mentor is manipulative and controlling, she refuses to believe it (and calls Jack a liar for not telling her even though she doesn’t believe him???) until it hits her upside the head.

At least Dr. L was set up as a villain-esque type character a bit early on, unlike in Love on the Brain, so his actions felt believable, but boy, was I so frustrated by the time we got to the end of the book.

CONCLUSION

I hope this review doesn’t come off too harsh, as I did go into this hoping for the best. I do, weirdly, want to like Ali Hazelwood’s books as I can SEE the potential in her stories! I just wish her writing and execution were better, as they really frustrate me and take me away from the story.

As much as there were a lot of things that annoyed me, I didn’t end up entirely hating this book somehow? I still got some enjoyment out of it, even if I had literal verbal outbursts towards the end. I think this is my favorite Ali Hazelwood book (the bar is low, though), and each one is slowly ticking up a little bit on the rating scale, so who knows, maybe one of them will work for me in the future!

I am curious about her next adult novel, Bride, as it’s a very different genre since she’s venturing into werewolves and vampires. That could be great as it’s something new and different or it could be terrible. But at least it will be something unexpected and fresh from her, which I appreciate. Despite not vibing with her writing, I am curious enough about that book to pick it up when it releases.

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rickireadss's review against another edition

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4.5

wowza, this was a fun time!! i loved the plot. i liked all the science-y stuff (even though i understood none of it lol). JACK IS THAT MAN!!! i loved him and elsie so much. i related a little ~too~ much to elsie but 🤷🏽‍♀️ also the adam&olive cameo was amazing :)

disability rep: type-1 diabetes (fmc)

⚠️: chronic illness, sexism, death of parent, misogyny, emotional abuse, acephobia/arophobia, outing

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antidietleah's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

4.0

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backitupmoony's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

4.5

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