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A review by mgdoherty
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
As it turns out, Ali Hazelwood’s style really works for me. I love her take on demi rep, and that’s consistently one of the strongest parts of her work to me.
The dynamic between Elsie and Jack is perfection. I’m especially in love with the friendship between Cece and Elsie — love it when girls are weird.
Smaller thing that fell flat for me: Elsie’s traumatic backstory re: her ex. In both The Love Hypothesis and Love, Theorectically, Olive and Elsie’s big life-altering traumas are SO CONSPICUOUSLY HIDDEN from the reader, and then by the time they’re revealed, whatever I’ve dreamed up is so much juicier than whatever the real backstory is. …this might be a “me” problem, actually.
The final act feels a bit rushed, which iirc, is the same way I felt about The Love Hypothesis. It’s not that I want the third act breakup to last longer, but in both books, all the external conflicts felt SO BIG that it feels jarring when they’re wrapped up so quickly and SO EASILY.
The dynamic between Elsie and Jack is perfection. I’m especially in love with the friendship between Cece and Elsie — love it when girls are weird.
Smaller thing that fell flat for me: Elsie’s traumatic backstory re: her ex. In both The Love Hypothesis and Love, Theorectically, Olive and Elsie’s big life-altering traumas are SO CONSPICUOUSLY HIDDEN from the reader, and then by the time they’re revealed, whatever I’ve dreamed up is so much juicier than whatever the real backstory is. …this might be a “me” problem, actually.
The final act feels a bit rushed, which iirc, is the same way I felt about The Love Hypothesis. It’s not that I want the third act breakup to last longer, but in both books, all the external conflicts felt SO BIG that it feels jarring when they’re wrapped up so quickly and SO EASILY.