A review by readundancies
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

emotional hopeful 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

3.0

Love on the Brain is Ali Hazelwood’s sophomore contemporary romance and I hate to say it, but it feels very sophomorey. As in, by no means is it a poor sophomore novel, it just didn’t have the same magic as her debut. 

There were a lot of plot choices that just didn’t work for me in combination when it came to Levi’s backstory. It was very drama heavy and unbelievable in a way I struggled to appreciate. I also found the friendships to be lacking emotional depth in this one compared to debut. Even the sisterhood presented had a lot left to be desired for me, it just wasn’t giving me enough. And everything about Levi’s family was garbage, and I was not a fan of how it was dismissed rather nonchalantly once all his family members were introduced. 

The banter was cute, but then Hazelwood does great things with dialogue. It’s just the plot and characters didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside which is what I wanted because I wanted the romance to capture me the way The Love Hypothesis did. 

And then the ending happened. Which did not do the story any favours from my viewpoint because oh how tired am I of reading about gun violence as plot points in contemporary romance. 

So yeah, the story wasn’t anything to write home about but it wasn’t a bad one either. I think I just had expectations that were never going to be met. 
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