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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not my favourite by Ali Hazelwood and that’s a shame because I was so excited to read this!
MFC, Elsie, is the dumbest smart person out of all of Ali’s novels. She doesn’t speak up for herself. Ever. With anyone. She moulds herself into whoever she thinks the person she’s speaking with wants her to be—dates, her mother, best friend, mentor, coworkers, her students, random people she’s meeting for the first time. This is her personality and I guess her idea of survival mode in academia? But it is cringy to read.
Elsie and MMC, Jack, have a major height difference which is such a common trope I’m beyond tired of it. She needs to crane her neck to look up at him. She needs to stand on her tippy toes and pull his face towards her to kiss. His pen!s pokes her in the stomach. She’s a small-average height woman and he’s a giant. We get it.
Elsie and MMC, Jack, have a major height difference which is such a common trope I’m beyond tired of it. She needs to crane her neck to look up at him. She needs to stand on her tippy toes and pull his face towards her to kiss. His pen!s pokes her in the stomach. She’s a small-average height woman and he’s a giant. We get it.
Elsie’s interactions with her mother felt forced. Phone calls with and memories of mommy dearest are added sporadically throughout the book. Mom calls and expects Elsie to break up fights between her two older brothers—who are adults. We never meet the mother or the brothers so, even though their interactions give examples of Elsie putting up with a lot of garbage from a lot of people, they felt like unnecessary characters.
Elsie and her best friend/roommate have an odd cheese obsession. This is focused on so much it is actually a character trait. Cheese is one of the few things they have in common, but they make it work.
Elsie does grow throughout the book with Jack’s help. She starts to tell people what she thinks and how she feels which made me proud. One of Elsie‘s dislikes is her best friend ’s taste in movies. But even though Elsie starts voicing her opinions by the end of the book, in the epilogue she’s sitting through yet another movie she doesn’t want to be watching. Furthermore, the person she’s watching this movie with told her earlier in the book that they would never watch her favourite movies with her ever again. So Elsie is expected to compromise for their tastes, but they won’t compromise their’s for her? Eww. No thank you
The ending was meh for me. It didn’t feel as climatic as it could have been.
Sorry. This storyline and the characters just really weren’t for me.
Sorry. This storyline and the characters just really weren’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, and Abandonment
chainsiren's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
notmollie's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
lermaline's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wanted a fun, easy to read inspiring romance with a lot of tropes, character development and smut. It was all that and more. Elsie is my favorite heroine yet in an Ali Hazelwood novel :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
chekwube's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was definitely very interesting and was a good follow-up to the book I read previously. The dynamic between Jack and Elsie was very rich and I loved to see the pace they went by. The only thing that was sort of concerning to me was when i was forced to wonder whether she was just a project to him. I don’t know, something about the way he was very much about her and none about him seemed kind of odd to me.
When I think about the book in its entirety, I realize we learn a lot about her (Elsie). We learn about why she does the things she does and we learn about her struggles and we see how Jack is able to get past the defenses she puts up with everyone else (which is cute to say the least). But we don’t really learn a lot about Jack and thats what Elsie complains about and when he responds, he just talks about being obsessed with her.
I guess, as much as I was learning about her quirks, I wanted to learn about his and what quirks of his attracted her to him beyond the chemistry unexplainable-type romance. I wanted to know more about how his childhood affected him beyond just leading him to write an article at 17. I don’t know, I feel like the book was very Elsie and academia centered which honestly I didn’t hate. It was just an observation that we eventually didn’t learn more about Jack and his history. Like his exes (what was that whole thing with Andrea about? And why was it never resolved?
But those are just my curiosities. Beyond that, I’m a romantic at heart and Jack being an acts of service guy just made me sooooo happy because it so beautifully complemented Elsie’s need for someone who would take care of her as well.
It was also so interesting to learn about the world of academia and mentorship and job searches post graduation. That’s one thing I love about Ali Hazelwood’s books. She’s so perfect in articulating academia in an intriguing and non-boring way. It’s never like I want to gorge my eyes out. It’s always like “wow this is really cool” and even with how she puts in characters who don’t know anything about it that make the mistakes ordinary non-science people would make to sort of put us back on track. For instance, Elsie’s best-friend Cece would call the crystals ‘sparkles’ which is a mistake I’d also make if someone had asked me what the book was about. But after Cece does that, Elise corrects her which also in a way corrects me and constantly reminds me what’s being talked about.
Great book overall though!
And I definitely noticed the reference to ‘What Would Marie Do’ from Hazelwood’s second book I believe it was!
When I think about the book in its entirety, I realize we learn a lot about her (Elsie). We learn about why she does the things she does and we learn about her struggles and we see how Jack is able to get past the defenses she puts up with everyone else (which is cute to say the least). But we don’t really learn a lot about Jack and thats what Elsie complains about and when he responds, he just talks about being obsessed with her.
I guess, as much as I was learning about her quirks, I wanted to learn about his and what quirks of his attracted her to him beyond the chemistry unexplainable-type romance. I wanted to know more about how his childhood affected him beyond just leading him to write an article at 17. I don’t know, I feel like the book was very Elsie and academia centered which honestly I didn’t hate. It was just an observation that we eventually didn’t learn more about Jack and his history. Like his exes (what was that whole thing with Andrea about? And why was it never resolved?
But those are just my curiosities. Beyond that, I’m a romantic at heart and Jack being an acts of service guy just made me sooooo happy because it so beautifully complemented Elsie’s need for someone who would take care of her as well.
It was also so interesting to learn about the world of academia and mentorship and job searches post graduation. That’s one thing I love about Ali Hazelwood’s books. She’s so perfect in articulating academia in an intriguing and non-boring way. It’s never like I want to gorge my eyes out. It’s always like “wow this is really cool” and even with how she puts in characters who don’t know anything about it that make the mistakes ordinary non-science people would make to sort of put us back on track. For instance, Elsie’s best-friend Cece would call the crystals ‘sparkles’ which is a mistake I’d also make if someone had asked me what the book was about. But after Cece does that, Elise corrects her which also in a way corrects me and constantly reminds me what’s being talked about.
Great book overall though!
And I definitely noticed the reference to ‘What Would Marie Do’ from Hazelwood’s second book I believe it was!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
cibani's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
av0universe's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Musically, I should hire a tuba to follow me around.
Elsie is so effortlessly hilarious, I love her. Also loved the Olive and Adam's cameo. Don't tell them that possibly I love this book more than I did theirs oops-
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Mental illness, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
itschelseaw's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This one may be my least favorite by Ali Hazlewood thus far. I appreciate that there wasn't 1/2 of the book used on the whole "he's brooding around me, therefore he hates me" trope that typically features heavily in Hazlewood's books, but even with Jack very clearly communicating with Elsie that he's into her, she refuses to believe it which was so fucking annoying.
The trope of "big, strong tall man" and "tiny woman he can fit in his pocket" remains strong with her writing, but this time it included calling Jack's hands "paws" which is an immediate ick for me (see my dislike of "Bittersweet" by Sarina Bowen for more). Knocked down 1/2 a star just for that tbh.
I think the premise was interesting, but all of the characters felt so 1-2d that it fell flat in a major way. I wanted to know more about Cece and her life, and treat her as an actual 3d character but I didn't even learn she majored in humanities until the very end of the book.
I'm glad Elsie eventually stuck up for herself, but MAN it was grueling getting there at times. Girl needs therapy!!!
Jack's whole personality is: brooding, secretly feminist, desperately in love with Elsie, a woman he thought was dating his brother and he only knew lies about up until she was interviewing for the position at MIT (but he was already basically in love with her at that point AND IT WAS ALL A LIE????? I'm honestly just?????). Jack feels like he SHOULD be a dream, but all I got was red flag after red flag with him.
Listen, Hazlewood got her start writing fanfic, and good for her! It's just obvious that she's still essentially writing fanfic with the same tropes that she used before, and after 3 books it's repetitive and boring. Do I love fanfics? Absolutely! But there's a difference (for me) between fanfic, where you're using fandom inspired and related tropes (Rylo tropes included), but once you switch to published fiction it's really difficult to use the same tropes and make it feel fresh. The tropes in this one felt on the verge of expired. I don't think I'll be checking out her future books because I don't trust that she'll move away from the tropes she's been using for the past 3.
The trope of "big, strong tall man" and "tiny woman he can fit in his pocket" remains strong with her writing, but this time it included calling Jack's hands "paws" which is an immediate ick for me (see my dislike of "Bittersweet" by Sarina Bowen for more). Knocked down 1/2 a star just for that tbh.
I think the premise was interesting, but all of the characters felt so 1-2d that it fell flat in a major way. I wanted to know more about Cece and her life, and treat her as an actual 3d character but I didn't even learn she majored in humanities until the very end of the book.
I'm glad Elsie eventually stuck up for herself, but MAN it was grueling getting there at times. Girl needs therapy!!!
Jack's whole personality is: brooding, secretly feminist, desperately in love with Elsie, a woman he thought was dating his brother and he only knew lies about up until she was interviewing for the position at MIT (but he was already basically in love with her at that point AND IT WAS ALL A LIE????? I'm honestly just?????). Jack feels like he SHOULD be a dream, but all I got was red flag after red flag with him.
Listen, Hazlewood got her start writing fanfic, and good for her! It's just obvious that she's still essentially writing fanfic with the same tropes that she used before, and after 3 books it's repetitive and boring. Do I love fanfics? Absolutely! But there's a difference (for me) between fanfic, where you're using fandom inspired and related tropes (Rylo tropes included), but once you switch to published fiction it's really difficult to use the same tropes and make it feel fresh. The tropes in this one felt on the verge of expired. I don't think I'll be checking out her future books because I don't trust that she'll move away from the tropes she's been using for the past 3.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
a_libra_library's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
tigertheory's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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
4.0
I’ve previously been kind of “meh” about Hazelwood’s books but I feel like this might’ve been her best one yet. Likeable, relatable characters for the most part, a realistic story arc and actual real-life issues? Great stuff. Not amazing-life changing, but very solid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Outing