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 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, some cheesy moments that seemed to lean a bit too much into the classic tropes of the genre instead of modern takes, 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.

I actually cried at the end, this is such a sweet book. It deals with real  world issues in such a skillful way. Bringing politics, mental health, and physical health all together to for an absolutely amazing book. The writing felt alive and you could really connect with the characters. I absolutely adore this book and I would recommend it to ANYONE!

Boring 

At first glance you will think that it’s just another Ali hazelwood stem romcom, but it actually is her best book ever and the only other book I have read from her is the love hypothesis. But if you are a people pleasing girly who puts the needs of others before yours this book definitely is for YOU. like I cried, I never cry reading romcoms. Like listen to these quotes from Jack smith 

Like he is THE boyfriend. No one compares to him. If you want to read a silly little rom-com  book then let it be this one

8 months later
This book is a masterpiece, I have never read a romance novel as good as this one and honestly, it has ruined romance novels for me, because none of the others can compare. There is no week in which I don’t think about Jack smith, I love him even though he is blond. And Elsie just has a special place in my heart, the way I see myself in her in the way she doesn’t feel like she is enough or that her raw self could be truly loved. And jack showing her that he wants her, loves her the way she is. Just *chefs kiss *. AND she likes twilight and makes him watch the movies and he doesn’t complain, she doesn’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed about her interests with him. Oh god I’m already crying ok, so, yeah, it’s a great book, you should read it.

What can I say except that I'm running out of banter and funny annotation tabs? I can't help but laugh out loud. 

Also, thank you, Ali, for the Adam x Olive cameo. One that is not really necessary but gave me a lot of feelings. I moss them already and would definitely reread TLH in the future. 

Love, Theoretically is definitely a 5 🌟 rating. It’s been a long time since I actually LOL-ed. The comedic scenes and lines, topped up with the banters are chef’s kiss- amazing. 

It also showed how bad academic politics really is. Ali really is an amazing writer because she conveyed how hard it really is to be a woman in STEM - but also showed how people like Jack who doesn’t judge them with anything but their outputs. 

Elsie x Jack story is one of my favorites so far. The banter + emotional connection is on point and will make you fall in love with them both. Elsie’s mind is also amazingly written and I’m super glad that she’s in therapy.