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A review by bibliorey
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
3.0
i had high hopes for love on the brain and i even anticipated the release of the book since i thoroughly enjoyed the love hypothesis and 1.5/3 of the STEMinist novellas but unfortunately, love on the brain did not give what it was supposed to be giving for me.
i don’t know if it’s the personal reading momentum that has been deteriorating ever since i decided to take a break from my bookish platforms subsequently affecting my experience of reading this book. but if it is, then i guess it’s entirely a me issue and not the book (am i even allowed to say this? is this valid? it sounds so ridiculous!)
first and foremost, may i just say how much i see a great deal of myself in our main character bee. she is just as insufferable as i am both in life and academically and for that she right away made herself a spot in my list of women i relate to and love. her obsession with marie curie reminded me of myself when i was in high school when i thought of science—chemistry more specifically—as one of the most fascinating subjects one could ever obsess over. i still do. but perhaps i’ve made a life around it too much now that i don’t see myself obsessing over it as much as i used to anymore—or as bee are now even in her days working for nasa. she’s a woman who knows what she wants, who would stand for her grounds and are not scared to shine in a field that is surrounded by the opposite gender and for that i applaud her.
dr. levi ward, you just... exist. and that’s my personal opinion. i love the idea of his character but with the draggy plot, he somewhat feels flushed out from the story to me that he doesn’t give off any “wow” factor to me as dr. adam carlsen did in the love hypothesis. like i said, he just... exists. i would love to see his character be more... developed... if you will, as opposed to what i just read. it feels as if we got more of bee and the rest of the labmates more so than the central characters themselves a.k.a bee and levi. it doesn’t feel enough, i need more. and by more i mean enough to make me feel that spark of chemistry between the two which i didn’t get at all and was somewhat disappointed by it.
ali hazelwood has amazing writing skills no doubt and i have been charmed by her debut as well as her novellas. the plot in love on the brain is somewhat a mix between the love hypothesis and below zero in my opinion but it failed to deliver the feelings that it delivered in the two mentioned. i’m not saying i dislike this book completely whatsoever, it was quite an enjoyable read despite its flaws but i’m not saying i like it that much either. you know what i mean. it’s somewhere in between hence the rating of 3 stars.
despite my personal opinions, i do think lovers of ali hazelwood’s writing will devour and enjoy this book as much as they did with the debut. one thing about hazelwood is that she never fails to work the STEM element into her story and with this one—as she did with others—it is simply brilliantly mashed together with the fiction she has created and i think you will definitely enjoy that if you’re a devoted STEM girlie as i do
i don’t know if it’s the personal reading momentum that has been deteriorating ever since i decided to take a break from my bookish platforms subsequently affecting my experience of reading this book. but if it is, then i guess it’s entirely a me issue and not the book (am i even allowed to say this? is this valid? it sounds so ridiculous!)
first and foremost, may i just say how much i see a great deal of myself in our main character bee. she is just as insufferable as i am both in life and academically and for that she right away made herself a spot in my list of women i relate to and love. her obsession with marie curie reminded me of myself when i was in high school when i thought of science—chemistry more specifically—as one of the most fascinating subjects one could ever obsess over. i still do. but perhaps i’ve made a life around it too much now that i don’t see myself obsessing over it as much as i used to anymore—or as bee are now even in her days working for nasa. she’s a woman who knows what she wants, who would stand for her grounds and are not scared to shine in a field that is surrounded by the opposite gender and for that i applaud her.
dr. levi ward, you just... exist. and that’s my personal opinion. i love the idea of his character but with the draggy plot, he somewhat feels flushed out from the story to me that he doesn’t give off any “wow” factor to me as dr. adam carlsen did in the love hypothesis. like i said, he just... exists. i would love to see his character be more... developed... if you will, as opposed to what i just read. it feels as if we got more of bee and the rest of the labmates more so than the central characters themselves a.k.a bee and levi. it doesn’t feel enough, i need more. and by more i mean enough to make me feel that spark of chemistry between the two which i didn’t get at all and was somewhat disappointed by it.
ali hazelwood has amazing writing skills no doubt and i have been charmed by her debut as well as her novellas. the plot in love on the brain is somewhat a mix between the love hypothesis and below zero in my opinion but it failed to deliver the feelings that it delivered in the two mentioned. i’m not saying i dislike this book completely whatsoever, it was quite an enjoyable read despite its flaws but i’m not saying i like it that much either. you know what i mean. it’s somewhere in between hence the rating of 3 stars.
despite my personal opinions, i do think lovers of ali hazelwood’s writing will devour and enjoy this book as much as they did with the debut. one thing about hazelwood is that she never fails to work the STEM element into her story and with this one—as she did with others—it is simply brilliantly mashed together with the fiction she has created and i think you will definitely enjoy that if you’re a devoted STEM girlie as i do