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A review by noellegrace8
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.5
This is a great, fun romance read that says a ton about character and careers. I love when romances are also plot-driven, and with the excess (in a good way!) amount of physics concepts, university politics, and familial issues, this absolutely fits the bill. The main characters have electric chemistry, and the side characters are also all fully fleshed out and interesting. I liked the date-for-hire idea for a struggling student who's supposed to be above all of that as an academic. And the brother storyline! Good representation. The fact that they stayed friends was so nice. And I actually teared up two or three times while reading this, even though it's not that dramatic of a plot, because I could just feel the emotion of the characters/ where they were coming from so much. I feel like I could relate to and learn a lot from Elsie.
A few low points for me personally were some of the wording that won't age well & cheesy moments that seemed to lean a bit too much into the classic tropes of the genre instead of modern takes, which is typicsl of Hazelwood, and the epilogue. I'm not really into the trope of adding prologues and epilogues to romance novels, I'm not really sure where that came from and why it's so popular. But this prologue didn't add anything to the plot, and the epilogue was mildly confusing. I felt like maybe it was a callback to something within the book, but if it was, I had completely forgotten about the reference by the time I reached the epilogue. Also, what happened to Kyle?? And, I got annoyed by the idea that Elsie's brothers were fully grown adults acting like children, and the mother is okay with that, AND Elsie entertains it? Moments talking about her brothers fighting over some chick were just not convincing to me at all.
I don't factor audiobook performance into my overall review of a book, but I would give Thérèse Plummer 4/5⭐️. She did a fine performance, although her male voices came across as a bit odd, unlike some other female narrators I've heard.
A few low points for me personally were some of the wording that won't age well & cheesy moments that seemed to lean a bit too much into the classic tropes of the genre instead of modern takes, which is typicsl of Hazelwood, and the epilogue. I'm not really into the trope of adding prologues and epilogues to romance novels, I'm not really sure where that came from and why it's so popular. But this prologue didn't add anything to the plot, and the epilogue was mildly confusing. I felt like maybe it was a callback to something within the book, but if it was, I had completely forgotten about the reference by the time I reached the epilogue. Also, what happened to Kyle?? And, I got annoyed by the idea that Elsie's brothers were fully grown adults acting like children, and the mother is okay with that, AND Elsie entertains it? Moments talking about her brothers fighting over some chick were just not convincing to me at all.
I don't factor audiobook performance into my overall review of a book, but I would give Thérèse Plummer 4/5⭐️. She did a fine performance, although her male voices came across as a bit odd, unlike some other female narrators I've heard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Gaslighting