A review by dairyfreemozzarella
Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

18+ warning !!!

under one roof -

jesus christ I literally fell in love with these characters. perfect perfect short story. two critiques — there are a few pop culture/slang terms that are kind of millenial cringy to me & the friends being interwoven kind of fell flat for me.. they didnt really feel like their own characters, i couldnt really picture them as people. they were kind of like the voices in maras head to me. HOWEVER. the romantic tension was SIZLING and i love that the enemies/rivals part was short but the bantar stayed throughout, even in the epilogue when the couple was solidly together. 

Stuck with you -

Not as good as under one roof but very very solid. The one day romance is one of my least favorite tropes but it’s done very very well here!! Yet again, romantic tension = burning.

Below zero - 

I saw a lot of reviews saying that this one was their least favorite but honestly this was very solid. Finally the friends felt like separate entities to me! And wow, Ali hazelwood fmc who’s not paler than pale? Surprising and good. I loved that their romance had time to simmer, and felt like this one could’ve honestly been a full length novel!

Bonus chapter

A sweet little tie together. I’m wondering if Ali hazelwood will include any male pov in her future books… it was a pretty solid voice and tone for each of the three characters.

Overall

If you want smut that has tons of worship and the guy putting the girl first, this is the perfect book for you.
If you want couples that are imperfect but that you can root for anyway, this is the perfect book for you.
If you want cute nerdy references and fmcs that are more quirky than your average Jill, this is the perfect book for you.

HOWEVER.
All Hazelwood has her formula down pat, but when even the physical descriptions of the characters are the same in every book, it’s hard to tell them apart and seperate them in my mind. So far, all the men are huge (not just huge but, oak trees, Vikings, deities, walls, etc) all the women are EXTREMELY petite. The shades of hair range from blonde to dark brown. The eye colors are from hazel to bright blue. The skin is from pale to…very pale (with the single exception of Hannah in this novella). The girls boobs are always tiny, the guys dicks are always enormous (not just enormous, but double take, gasp, is this real life? Big). And this has all been the case in the 5 books I’ve read from her so far. It’s okay for her to have a niche, I’d just like a little more diversity in future.