| Title | : | Love on the Brain |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 |
| Publication | : | First published August 23, 2022 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Romance (2022) |
Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.
But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?
Love on the Brain Reviews
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Before we get into Love On the Brain, I would like to take a second and remind everyone that I gave The Love Hypothesis 5 whole stars LESS THAN A YEAR AGO. I bring that up because my thoughts here are going to be undeniably ranty and I want to re-establish the fact that I have not been, like, hate-reading Ali Hazelwood from the start. I wanted to love her sophomore novel, but this was one of the most mind-numbing/soul-crushing/coochie-drying experiences of my life and I have to speak my truth.
Here’s the short version: Everything TLH is, LOTB is, but more. If you liked the former, maybe consider giving this one a try. Just know you will be reading the same thing twice (five times if we count the novellas). At this point, it’s clear that Hazelwood is not going to take the initiative to break her own mold. Is she unwilling or incapable? Couldn’t say, but I can tell you her books are suffering as a result. So, if you don’t want to feel like you’re on a never-ending merry-go-round of science puns and quirk, pick one of her titles and go with it, then get off the ride while you still can.
Now, onto a more substantial review.
Bee might have purple hair and her own version of a PSL-obsession (Marie Curie, anyone?? Haven’t heard of her? Well, you’re about to), but she is Olive. Levi may have a slightly altered past trauma that causes him to come across as cold and unyielding, but he is Adam. She’s petite, so very teensy, just an itty bitty little dust speck. He’s tall tall tall, with Big Boy muscles and the penis of a goddamn stallion. She’s funky! Loves science! He is strong and silent, but also <3 <3 <3 science!!! It’s tedious. If I wanted to reread The Love Hypothesis, I’d simply do it and save myself the headache that comes along with this level of deja vu.
The first time I read Ali Hazelwood’s rendition of “enemies” to lovers, I thought it was cute. Now I’m fed up. You’re telling me that an adult man, who leads teams of people and is smart enough to launch rockets (or some other equally impressive space shit), cannot physically STAND to be in the same room as the girl he thinks is pretty? Say what you will about Joshua Templeman, but that man toiled feet away from the woman he fake-hated for months on end without issue. Levi, on the other hand, acts repulsed by Bee’s existence and cowers from her touch, then has the audacity to be shocked when his feelings toward her are questioned. Get a grip and grow the fuck up, my guy. She may be a neuroscientist, but she cannot read your mind. And as much as I love shit-talking fictional men, we can’t exclude Bee from the blame. Miscommunication is one thing, but there’s something so juvenile about the brand of confusion struck up between the couples in this universe. If I had a nickel for every time one of Ali’s protagonists decided to operate based solely on presumed slights and imagined beef, I’d have 25 cents—which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it has happened five times.
Despite not being a Science Bitch (after almost flunking chemistry in high school I never looked back), I am all for writing about women in STEM. I can appreciate Hazelwood’s passion for the topics she includes in her books and the importance of writing characters who are equally excited about them. I also respect her highlighting of issues that plague the field. However, if major twists in your book can be clocked by a dumbass like me at 4%, because you’ve used them before, that's maybe a sign to re-evaluate your process. And, while we’re talking STEM rep—I’m no expert, but every time a female MC experiences sexism in the workplace, is it really the ‘STEMinist’ move to have her man be the one to swoop in and immediately fix everything for her?
The sex. God, it pains me to say this. Up until now, I have been relatively impressed with how Hazelwood writes intimacy. Even the novellas, which were disappointing in almost every way, brought some smut to the table that I thought was worth reading. Someone involved is usually less experienced, but it’s not always the woman and it’s never a big deal. There’s mentions of awkwardness and anxiety, shit that may not be HOT, but are realistic in vulnerable moments. Alas, all that flies out the window with LOTB. As if the book gods knew I was going to be scrounging for crumbs to praise here and wanted one last laugh, but I digress. I’m not ashamed to say, I was jazzed when I heard this story had three sex scenes to TLH’s one. Now I know better. Ali, m’am, I’ve done nothing but love you, yet you subject me to “he traces the bulge of his cock through the skin of my cheek…” FOR WHAT. I had to read about how Bee is “...some kind of fantasy…built to do this…built for [Levi].” At 28 y/o, she sleeps in a twin bed and is able to fit into clothes from middle school. Her vagina is so small & tight (and hairless! she has gotten her “...chuncha fully waxed every month for years…”) that she nearly blacks out trying to fit Levi’s monster dick inside for the first time. I won’t pretend that these characteristics are unique to Hazelwood’s romances, nor were they entirely exempt from her previous works. But, like I said at the start of this review: LOTB ratchets everything up about a million notches. The objectification and infantilization of Bee made me, quite frankly, uncomfortable. It's shoved down the reader's throat in a way that can't be escaped. Maybe TLH wasn’t the sexiest thing in the world, but Chapter 16 would never hurt me like this book did, that I know for sure.
That ending. Not sure who gave it the green light, but what NONSENSE. To be fair, the last 15% of the plot poses the least cause for concern within this whole mess. I just thought I’d mention it’s very “I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” and that far too much rides on the existence of a believed-to-be-nonexistent cat. I could also bring up how quickly and conveniently everything was resolved, but I’m too busy reveling in my reaching of the final page to care atm, so I’ll let it go.
Let’s end things with the one silver lining I can think of: I read an ARC. An ARC, which I’ve had since January, I think? Meaning, Love On the Brain will have definitely undergone editing between the version I’m talking about and what is released at the end of August, or at least it should’ve (Berkeley, if you’re reading this, you’ve got some typos to fix). Anyway, it'll be different in its final form. Maybe even better? Unfortunately, I’ll never know. I’d rather express Schrödinger's anal glands by hand than have to re-experience this book, albeit in a final copy, but I really hope it is…for all of your sakes. -
At my core, I am a hater.
There are many things that seem to fly in the face of this fact (alliteration): My penchant for alliteration and physical inability to not call it out, for one. My deep and profound love of sweet treats and baked goods, which seems characteristic of, like, a small child, or maybe Santa, two figures on the nice end of the optimism scale. My tendency to list vaguely positive things about me.
But in truth, I have a hard heart and a mean spirit.
I don't WANT to be this way. I love loving things! I reread all the time! I've seen About Time more times than I can count, or is reasonably healthy for me based on a variety of surveys and mental health checklists!
And so I beat on, a boat against the current, borne back ceaselessly as I try nonstop to find a new favorite romance novel or discover an auto-buy author.
Which is why I was so damn excited by
The Love Hypothesis. A book that made me...feel things??? Things that weren't rage and masochistic tendencies and a desire to throw a book-shaped object at a wall???
A miracle.
But, sadly, folks...it appears this miracle is of the fool's gold variety. Or that very annoying musical that my high school did my junior year about fake water coming from a fake rock. (Or maybe both were real but the phenomenon was fake? I don't know. I tuned it out. My brain is too perfect for musical theater. It'd be like a grain of sand in a microchip to let that sh*t in there.)
Anyway.
I thought Ali Hazelwood was a new auto-buy author for me. But it appears she may be...the opposite. Whatever that is.
This just wasn't it, chief!
When an author writes a debut novel, you're like. Fun! New! Surely not everything will be like this forever, and in fact this is a nice dose of fresh content, and not an eternal curse or plague of some kind, following me forever and dooming me to a life of making my wrists hurt via the cosmic punishment of typing out a rant review!
But alas. Twas not to be with The Love Hypothesis.
Because now every
goddamn
romance
novel
is The Love Hypothesis.
Folks, we have been banished to a small eternity in the hellscape that is Huge Man, Tiny Woman.
I hate the "man so huge he take up big chair he make normal thing look little in massive hand he large and strong" trope almost as much as I hate "I am so tiny and cute like a little child <3"
Ali Hazelwood books cannot function for more than two consecutive paragraphs without inserting both. Add a sh*t-eating determination to make every love interest Dark And Broody And Boring And In Love Quietly For Years with their quirky, colorful-haired, deeply immature and at best adolescent (but really toddler-esque) counterparts...
Well, call the reality TV smash hit and hotel rerun darling Shark Tank, because I am out!
There is something that is to me very disturbing about this dynamic. It's giving: father/daughter. It's giving: gross-out. It's giving: I'm going to be sick.
I am a tall woman, and I don't like dating super-tall and extremely toned men, and so there is no room for me here! I am also a woman with a normal personality, a Roth IRA, and a general ability to take care of my f*cking self, so a weird huge tree man looming in the corner creeping on me for years in order to protect my quirky and so random manic pixie dream girl personality...sounds like a real impediment to my life.
Add to this fact that we have to spend the end of this book allowing the author to delude herself into thinking that she can write action sequences, and also that that is in any way what we are here for...
It's a true NOPE from me.
I did not realize I had this much hate in me. Probably at one point I didn't. When I first read this, I could see the fun in a man being obsessed with an unknowing woman from afar until she notices him after several years of pining, or appreciate the silliness and idealization and romanticization, and look past how dumb our protagonist is, and ignore that the only character I really liked was a flat background extra whose only personality is being scary and mean (much like myself), and pretend that ENDING never HAPPENED...
But then five months passed as I awaited the release date.
And I read three godawful novellas in that time.
And I didn't forget a single thing about this book.
And not in the good way, either.
Bottom line: A life of hatred it is!
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currently-reading updates
I GOT AN E-ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am never going to shut up about this ever again.
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tbr review
ali hazelwood wrote one book and in exchange received my undying loyalty -
Happy pub day 🥳
I start my review by giving a big applause for the brilliant person who created this amazing cover! And second one comes for brilliant brain cells of the author!
This is absolutely sweetest, quirkiest, smartest, geekiest, sexiest and STEMinest romance I’ve ever read!
Marie Curie fan girl, devoted Jedi, purple haired, ultra smart Bee Königswasser and her nemeses, brooding, know-it-all, reserved Levi Ward who has greenest hypnotizing eyes and their fiery, explosive chemistry hook me up! I loved them so much!
Enemies to lovers and friends to lovers themes meet “You’ve got mail” blended in second chances with so much brainy, nerdy references made me giggle at least hundred times!
Heartbroken Bee, who was raised by different relatives, bounced from one extended family member to another, lived in a dozen countries! It’s so normal for her to want a secure, stable life that she can put down roots. She’s opposite of her sister Reike who travels around the world, experiencing different lifestyles.
And Bee thought she’s finally found the love of her life: Tim might be the ONE she can live happily ever after with but she finds out he’s having an affair with her best friend.
But now she got a dreamy job offer: she will work at freaking NASA to lead neuroengineering project : she’s going to work on astronaut helmets! Yes! But when she realizes she’s going to work with grad school arch-nemesis Levi Ward: tall, dark haired, piercing green eyes, a brainy Adonis, she curses her luck!
And as soon as she arrives at her work space: she finds out she doesn’t have one: because there’s shipment problem about her equipments and clock is ticking, her superiors force her to show them some scientific results about her project, the very same project she cannot start. And Levi still gives her cold shoulder, never returning to her emails, criticizing her fashion style!
She has to confront that man who turns her life into hell by telling him how he makes her feel for years!
But what if Levi is not the villain of this story and only thing he wants to do this accomplish their mission by working as equal colleagues. What if Levi’s awkward manners around her doesn’t mean he despises her!
Well: I loved the big espionage/ action packed mystery part of the story. Both Levi and Bee were so lovable characters. They keep savoring their happy ending by miscommunication but I loved how their characters evolved!
There are some similarities with Adam and Olive’s story ( Love Hypothesis) : how both couple misunderstands each other, how the hero saves the day and hotel room romance parts! But I liked this formula a lot and this book really burned my brain cells with the smartest references: it’s truly so much fun to live inside Bee’s brain and read her whirlwind thoughts, admire her extra nerdy perspective, her vivid, sarcastic tone!
So I’m rounding up 4.5 stars to nerdy, spacey, cat lover, funny, quirky, adorable main characters stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing, one of the most anticipated books’ arc copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
Looking forward to read upcoming geeky romance stories of Ali Hazelwood. -
i might have accidentally read this entire book in one sitting
(thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the eARC!)
I can't express how much I adore this book.
Love on the Brain is an addictive, adorable, and swoon-worthy read. It took everything I loved in The Love Hypothesis (nerdy and relatable characters, a STEM setting, cute romance, and great banter) and added even more.
We follow Bee, a neuroscientist who will be working with NASA on a new project: BLINK. I have to admit, I really loved all of the scientific aspects of this book even more than usual, because BLINK deals with transcranial magnetic stimulation, something I've undergone myself and have never really seen mentioned anywhere else. I might have sent many very excited texts whenever it came up.
Okay, but onto what everyone probably wants to hear about the most: the romance.
It was so perfect!! Levi is an incredible love interest, and by that I mean I am absolutely in love with him. He and Bee went to the same grad school, where his hatred of Bee was known by everyone, for reasons she never quite understood. So when they're forced to co-lead BLINK, Bee must put aside the past to work towards her future. But of course, not everything is what it seems.
Their dynamic was so fun to read, and I just really loved them as a couple. But they aren't the only characters in the book. One character that stole every scene she was in was Rocio, Bee's RA. She was such an entertaining character, I genuinely don't know how to describe her other than the fact that she's iconic.
In the end, this book was even better than I could have ever hoped. I can't stop thinking about it, and I can't wait to see what Ali Hazelwood writes next. -
4.5 ⭐️ it was giving very much girlboss & male wife energy. i fully believe that ali hazelwood is writing about the same quirky, weird, and loveable female main character and grumpy, buff, and tall af male main character in all of her books. it’s the same shit but different font and you’d think i’d be sick of this shit at this point but i completely devoured this book.
both Bee and Levi were enjoyable characters to read about. Bee was funny asf and Levi just made my heart melt in ways i thought were impossible 🫠 his long ass monologues would be something i’d print and frame. the way he was obsessed with Bee made me crumble i fear 😩
there were a lot of girlboss moments that i was living for. this book it way more sexier than The Love Hypothesis and i wasn’t fully expecting that and i’m not fucking complaining. i desperately need y’all to listen to me when i say there was something poetic in the way these characters did the devils tango…
anyways..hazelwood created lovable characters and a plot i was somewhat invested in. was it kinda predictable? yeah, absolutely. but it was comfortable and warm and fuzzy.
the few reasons this book isn’t getting a full 5 stars is because some of the writing did make my eye twitch but i’m not ready to unpack that. o_0
thanks to berkeley romance for the ARC -
Creo que son 4 estrellas, pero podrían ser 3.5 estrellas.
Me gustó mucho Love on the Brain, mi problema fue que sentí que estaba leyendo The Love Hypothesis otra vez, ¡porque es EXACTAMENTE LO MISMO! Hasta los protagonistas son una calca de Adam y Olive (los de TLH), pero dicho esto, una vez que lo entendí y decidí dejarlo pasar, lo disfruté mucho. Supongo que esa es la fórmula de Ali y por ahora me gusta, aunque espero que en futuros libros le cambie un poco. Y no me malentiendan, amo leer a mujeres en STEM, pero hay muchas formas de variar la historia, con el simple hecho de cambiar los tropes ya sería refrescante :).
Lo que más amé: A Levi, que me hizo llorar varias veces porque en la vida real no existen hombres así, jajajaja.
Lo que menos me gustó: El último 20% del libro. Siento que salió un "villano" de la nada y de repente todo se puso MUY FUERTE AND FOR WHAT? Nada que ver con el tono del libro y me sacó de la historia. (Ojo, sí sospechaba del "villano", lo que me sacó de onda fue LO QUE LE QUERÍA HACER A BEE, se me hizo muy forzado, como que muy fuera de las vibras del libro). -
i burn i pine i QUITE LITERALLY FUCKING PERISH for a man who can write sexually charged love letter DMs and who wields not only a healthy emotional intelligence but also a massive horse cock <3
-
i would read a chicken noodle soup recipe if ali hazelwood wrote it
update: what’s funny about this review is that i’ve had this arc for three months now, and haven’t even started it lol -
Y'all are not ready for Levi, the cinnamonest roll of all cinnamon rolls.
-
I mean, are we surprised?
I truly did think this would have potential. But, I could tell you that I was 4% in, and that was when I started ranting to one of my roommates, and a friend I (apparently) got back into reading. I read this in less than 24 hours (not for a good reason), and my roommate told me it felt like I ranted to her for four days. I think that says enough.
Love on the Brain follows Bee, a neuroscientist who lives through asking “What would Marie Curie Do,” has just gotten the opportunity to work on a new collaborative project with NASA, a literal dream. But when she opens up to realize she is co-leading it, she didn’t expect to be co-leading it with Levi Ward, her grad school nemesis. But Levi being in the same building as her is one of her most minor problems. Not only did Levi save her on her first day in the lab, but the equipment she needed to conduct her project is also missing. To make matters worse, the staff isn’t paying attention to her, Levi is somehow becoming an ally, and she finds herself exploring these new feelings about Levi’s new alliance that has her questioning herself.
I’ll start with the good.
Unlike The Love Hypothesis, I felt like Bee’s support system did not feel forced, annoying, or frustrating. Her RA was a gen-z hoping to get into John Hopkins and continue pursuing her education. While some of her dialogue sometimes felt forced (as if she had to act like someone her age), she still had a lot of moments where she was realistic, funny, and a supportive friend. There’s also Bee’s twin sister, who, although we don’t know much, we can tell they have a strong sibling bond. Most of their interactions are through the phone, but they’re enough to give us an idea of who her sister is. Here, the exchanges themselves didn’t feel forced, and there were no situations where Bee’s inner circle forced her to do anything. Ahn could learn a thing or two from them.
And second, I was glad to see this actually take place in a STEM-related location, specifically a lab to conduct the NASA project. Along with science terms used in every chapter’s title, Levi and Bee’s interactions are primarily in the lab. There are also other scientists, whether working on the same projects as Levi and Bee or not, and a clear representation of who is who. There is a lot of political dialogue hidden through romance and comedy (or an attempt, I guess). We see the gender gap between men and women in STEM, the easiness for men, how women are treated, and the general implications of how much more difficult it is for women.
Still, I didn’t necessarily like this. More like, appreciated.
And now the bad.
The writing of Love on the Brain isn’t any better than The Love Hypothesis. In fact, it felt worse. I don’t pay close attention to perspectives, and I’m not the type of person to not read a book because of it, but this is why the first person is tricky. Granted, if you don’t care much about Bee from the beginning, I think this will be a problem throughout the story because Bee’s voice felt sloppy, childish, and immature, as if Bee were talking to us. Sometimes it felt like I was reading multiple diary entries Bee wrote, which felt very in character because of her few immature tendencies. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t a fan of her from the beginning, so I was dragging myself as I was reading more than 300 pages of boring characters.
Like The Love Hypothesis, this lacked a lot of depth. There are a lot of plot devices the author inserts into the book but does not elaborate on them. Since we’re pretty much told everything and shown almost nothing, there are many things the reader is told that add nothing to the story due to zero detail provided to make a theory, add a thought, or understand a point. There’s the example of Levi, who has been going to therapy for years because he grew up in a pretty uncommunicative and not necessarily healthy family environment. He’s now a 32-year-old engineer conducting a massive project at NASA. Yet, there is no further detail on this aspect, which is very unfortunate because the author had the opportunity to provide some sort of awareness for an issue that is pretty big around the world. In other words, the addition of a man who goes to therapy can be a crucial point in a STEM book released in 2022. Yet, it’s weak when you only do it to add a personality or character trait for a character already missing unique characteristics about him. He still lets his parents speak over him, dictating what he should be doing instead of wasting his time or whatnot. I mean, the fact that Bee stood up for him felt rather comical than uplifting. Unwilling to stand up for himself, the scene with his family felt entirely irrelevant to the story. I believe replacing it with a scene about Levi opening up more or talking about himself more to understand better where he comes from could have provided a solid addition to get a different interpretation of him. With the lack of backstory, it can be difficult to understand his actions and interpretations of the world, including his closed feelings for Bee that he hides with a cold glance and supposed hate towards her because he can’t communicate his emotions well. Furthermore, Bee is the kind of character who makes herself the victim. When Levi is opening up himself a little to Bee, telling her more about how his family is and how uncommunicative they are, Bee’s thoughts drift to her saying he at least has a family to hold on to, meaning at least he has someone and that he should be thankful because she doesn’t. This wasn’t the first time Bee came off as selfish and rude, as if she’s the only one struggling.
I’m not asking for an entire backstory on both characters. Still, there is so little personality on both of them that it feels like I don’t know either character well enough to form an opinion. I still think the author copied and pasted a lot from her debut novel to this, such as how Levi feels like Adam, and Bee feels like Olive. There wasn’t anything new presented for either character, and it felt like I was reading a cardboard copy of both of them. There is also the the amount of inner monologue Bee spends commenting on how big, broody, and hot Levi is (I even tried highlighting all the scenes, but I probably missed some), which is also what Olive did in TLH all the time. One or two times is enough, but commenting on it all the fucking time on every occasion that Bee sees Levi is entirely unnecessary, annoying as fuck, and even astonishing. Do you notice someone’s physique and general physical features THAT much? The sex scenes, while there are three instead of one, were still horrendous, giving second-hand embarrassment, and similar in terms of semantics and getting them there. Bee also said Levi is big, to which he responds, “You’ll get used to it.” The author really said COPY AND PASTE! There’s also how this is described as enemies to lovers or nemeses to lovers, and Levi is described as grumpy, yet those two are not the case. At all. I’m not even going to bother going into detail about how this was NOT enemies to lovers at all or I will drain myself from my constant disappointment.
And now, this is where it gets tricky for me. Levi’s pining that we don’t see from his perspective but are still aware of can be considered of the best parts about this. Clear visuals were evident in how Bee described him, whether through his reactions, inwardly and outwardly, or messages with Bee (who both don’t know who they are). Oblivious to the fact that he likes her, Bee’s inner monologue is formed of intrusive thoughts towards Levi, unknown that Levi is acting the way he is not because she’s unpleasant to him but because he doesn’t know how to be around her. I repeat: CAN be considered the best part. However, maybe it’s just me, but I’m tired of the whole “he likes her, so he’s going to act cold around her and pretend he hates her.” I found it immature and childish, and Levi came off as a middle schooler. As for the “hate,” it was never there. It was gone with a blink of an eye. Between 20-30%, the two were suddenly allies and became friends. This had potential, especially since they were in the same workplace. The opportunity of them actually working together and hating it, yet little by little, they start seeing more about each other, was wasted. Initially, I had thought it would be that way, where the two worked together, with the same equipment and whatnot, and they would slowly but surely start seeing each other in a brighter light. Instead, Bee complains to Levi again, Levi complains about what she complained about, and then he tells her he never actually hated her. Tension? Gone. (Actually, it was never there in the first place).
Admittedly, I liked the friendship, and I thought they had a good platonic relationship, but this leads me to my next point. I wasn’t a fan of the romance at all. If the romance had more tension, I could have easily enjoyed this much more. I’m generally a character > plot type of person (Besides, who reads romance for the plot? Romance is the plot). But considering I didn’t really like both main characters here, grew heavily annoyed with the constant and repetitive commentary on the hero’s stance, and felt quite frustrated with the amount of depth missing, it was difficult to root for the romance as well. Personally, the relationship felt much more platonic than romantic. See, despite how romance is the genre I read the most, there are a lot of specific points I look for in almost every romance novel I read. Whether the story has the forbidden trope or not, I’m always looking for those tense moments that add to the chemistry: stolen glances, fingers brushing, hands touching. And if those aren’t included, I appreciate it when the author shows and tells how both characters feel (or, in this case, how Bee was feeling), so the reader can see how they felt. With this not added, it’s hard for me to know where the character is coming from because I don’t even know where they are coming from. There were hardly any scenes where Bee’s feelings were explicitly stated. Even their sex scenes felt like a friends with benefits situation. Their relationship is slow-burn, which I love, but it felt like they were still in their platonic phase because of how slow it was.
This will all come down to interpretation and your form of analysis on how you see the relationship, as it always is with books. It’s a subjective manner. While it’s great that their build-up was slow, that slowness felt like it was still rooted in the friend zone, and therefore the attraction the two were developing towards each other felt like it came out of nowhere. Even though Levi already had a crush on Bee, Bee’s feelings towards him could have used further exploration. There are a couple of scenes where they go out, which is great because I’m always a fan of the two main characters spending time together to get to know each other, but again, there is hardly anything new we learn about them. And when we do, we’re left blankly.
As for the ending, there’s a lot to unpack (but not in a good way). First, there’s another copy and paste situation, where a random action was thrown in the last 10% of the book as a very predictable situation turns itself in. Not only that, but before that, there was your traditional miscommunication trope added just to create unnecessary emotion and conflict in the story that could have easily been solved if Bee allowed Levi to show her he was serious. Then, suddenly, after the conflict, there’s the epilogue, which in all honesty, I already forgot. If I weren’t lazy right now, I would open the book and take a peek, but that’s unimportant. It’s irrelevant, just like this book.
It may seem like I enjoyed this more than TLH, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy anything here. Personally, enjoyment and appreciation or like are different. While I appreciated and liked some things, I wasn’t enjoying anything. I recall pouring my frustration towards people in my social circle more than in this book. In conclusion, Love on the Brain will most likely be another Booktok hit that breaks the internet, and people will shower these mid-20-year-olds and early 30-year-olds with praise that shows how low the standards genuinely are.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -
OK here is a rundown of what you guys need to know:
• 6'4, brooding, "tall mountain of a man"? adam driver is back. make of that what you will.
• the humor also feels so much more millennial? there were some parts that were so so cringey and it felt like the main character was trying a bit too hard to be quirky.
• third act conflict was so unnecessary i...laughed.
thank you so much to berkley publishing & netgalley for this arc!! <3
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GOT AN ARC GOT AN ARC GOT AN ARC!!!!! -
By now, I'm sure you guys already know these tidbits about me—I'm a hopeless, sappy, mushy romantic and I'm a girl in STEM. So of course I adored Love on the Brain.
Bee has a PhD in neuroscience, but she's struggling to find recognition and funding for her projects. So when she gets the call from NASA to work on one of their helmet prototypes, it sounds like a dream come true. The only catch: she has to work alongside Levi, her archnemesis from grad school. But as she spends more time with him, she starts to realize that maybe they don't really hate each other after all and it's actually something else altogether.
If I had to pick the one thing I enjoyed the most about this book, it isn't the romance. Shocking, I know. Rather, it's the writing. There's something about Ali Hazelwood's style, with its blend of snark and humor, that just completely has me in its thralls. Often I would find myself grinning from cheek to cheek, chuckling to myself while Bee held some amusing and sarcastic conversation or inner dialogue. I think it's because she says all the things I want to say, if only I were quick and clever enough to come up with it.
And there were so many puns! Science puns, cat puns, Marie Curie puns. I love me a good pun (or a bad one, I'm not that discerning), so I was in pun-heaven.
I have to mention the science in here. I don't know anything about neuroscience, but reading this book made me wish I did. I wanted so badly for the technology in here to be real, so that I could marvel at how cool it is and totally nerd out learning more about it. Add in the NASA/astronaut angle, and your resident space-science fangirl here was swooning.
In terms of the romance itself, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite thing about this book. I found the transition from we're-frenemies to we're-getting-it-on to be a bit sudden. It seemed like they were solidly in the former category, and then all of a sudden, they were in the latter category. I guess I wanted more of a slow progression and steamy anticipation than what I got.
Still, the coupling of Bee and Levi was a fun one. Of course due to their previous interactions, Bee would assume that Levi hates her. And of course she'd be slow to figure it out, resulting in rather funny misunderstandings between them. However, I can totally see the pitchforks coming out for this couple—how it's completely unrealistic, how there's no way it would take her this long to come to her senses. I mean, sure, it's unrealistic, but that feels like the entire romance genre to me. It always necessitates a certain suspension of disbelief to enjoy, which totally worked for me here. Your mileage may vary.
As an aside, I was checking out some articles about the author (I was super curious about her scientific research), and found out Ali Hazelwood is a pen name. Apparently, in her real life, none of her colleagues or students have mentioned her books to her, so she thinks no one has made the connection yet. Ha, imagine that!
At this point, I can safely add Ali Hazelwood to my list of must-read authors. I've loved both of her full-length novels (I'm a little iffier on her novellas, but I'm generally not a fan of novellas). I find her writing style to be supremely entertaining and her focus on science and women in STEM to be refreshing. It's always a joy to dig into one of her stories, and I can't wait for more.
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See also, my thoughts on:
The Love Hypothesis
The STEMinist Novellas
Under One Roof
Stuck with You
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This was a pick for my Book of the Month box. Get your first book for $5
here. -
if the galaxy leggings aren’t proof that this was shit then I don’t know what is
-
Wow, what a wild ride. It had its moments, ups and downs, but mostly it was The Love Hypothesis, Adam and Olive but call them Levi and Bee.
Get ready for a lengthy review cause it's about to get wild af!
The book starts off pretty well. The pacing is consistent and of course Ali Hazelwood is a talented writer. She can write a book which you'll find yourself easy to get lost in. The concept is pretty good- guy falls for her first, they're pen pals, based in STEM, etc etc. But while she is talented, she is also lazy- because instead of recycling garbage she recycled the adored script of The Love Hypothesis.
I went into this book with an open mind. Had no intentions of comparing it to The Love Hypothesis, but as I started making progress it became quite clear that it is the EXACT same formula as The Love Hypothesis.
There's just no denying that. It became harder to not compare the two, so do bear with me. Adam and Olive were so easy to like, their angst came so naturally. The side characters were so full of personality.
Love on the Brain, on the other hand discards all that. We get Bee, who is supposedly super smart and one of the best. Tell me why does she have to be so dumb in the emotional sense?! It was irritating for me to constantly read how Levi hates her, when the guy could not be more clear in his feelings. He actually even said it!! Also, the fact that she kept interrupting/rambling every time the other person talks to her?? What's that about?! I also did not appreciate her inner monologues. It was overly done and felt like a filler. One more thing, why did she need to wear her grandmother's wedding band on her ring finger? That's just weird.
If Hazelwood is like that in reality, I would not get along with her at all. Like her character Bee, she continued to ramble on in the last 100 pages. I'm not even kidding 🥲
Coming towards Levi, I admit I hated him at first, his attitude was quite arrogant which I was not a fan of. But once I got to know him, I liked him, more than Bee. Much more.
The two have good chemistry and they're cute together BUT sadly, they could not create the magic that Adam and Olive created.
I appreciated the occasional humour in the book, I think Hazelwood writes that quite well. I loved the dm exchange on twitter, it brought the book more depth.
My other problem was the fact that Hazelwood made it uncomfortable by forcing, yes forcing, situations which became misogynistic when there's absolutely no requirement to do so. For instance- Levi's playlist. Let the man listen to what he wants without creating an issue Bee. He has already displayed numerous times he's not a misogynist. I get it that there are men who are misogynists, and it is a sad harsh reality but you don't need to bring down men unnecessarily. Don't forget the fact that I am a woman myself. I know what my rights are. I know what I deserve. I know how to make a stand for myself. I know what the reality is. I know how us women struggle. But I also know, I don't have to bring down anyone or any man, especially when the person is doing nothing wrong. I also know not to hate on men without any reason. It's just unnecessary and uncalled for.
I hope in the future, Hazelwood writes books with a new hypothesis. The same formula can't work every time when it comes to writing. Love Theoretically is already a let down in my eyes, but I'll give it a go for the cover, which I'm sure will look cute on my bookshelf (I'm weird that way) and that will be it for my experience with the author. While I appreciate that she writes about STEM and especially women in STEM- does she not have any other ideas? Does she not want to put in effort to explore and write something newer? Can she not write anything without the miscommunication trope?
If you do want to give this a read, please do so. I hope you love it more than me. -
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars
I am still struggling on whether or not to round up or down, so if my star rating changes just know that's me being indecisive af.
Even though I didn't LOVEEE The Love Hypothesis I did enjoy it overall even though there were some aspects I didn't like (the over-the-top SA storyline for one) and I especially liked how fun it was to read.
The same is the case for Love on the Brain. Overall I enjoyed many parts of this book and it was fun to read! That being said, there were quite a few things that I did not enjoy and honestly, they were a little bit more unbearable in this book than in TLH because at this point I have read FIVE published works from this author (yes I am counting the novellas as published works since it is technically true despite not being full size novels!)
👎 WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: 👎
* The straight up stupidity of the heroine - and sadly, this isn't an anomaly! This seems to be Ali Hazelwood's signature! Which I greatly do not enjoy! I love that her heroines work in STEM, but honestly is she giving STEM a good name if ALL of her heroines are incredibly dumb and not emotionally intelligent?!?!?! Decide for yourself because I've already decided and the answer is I FUCKING HATE IT ALL. I truly cannot fathom how her heroines (and sadly Bee is included) are soooo smart when it comes to academia, but not real life. UGH. I truly understand that not everyone is going to see that someone actually likes them when there are so many instances where it looks like they don't. But I swear, 4 or 5 mentions PER FUCKING PAGE about how much Levi OBVIOUSLY hated Bee was just soooo fucking over the top and unnecessary.
* The ridiculous villains - I hated the SA side plot in TLH (mostly because I am very selective about SA plotlines), but I also did not like the villain side plot in LotB. I won't spoil who it is or what happened, but when it was "revealed" I literally said "This is so fucking stupid!" out loud. Because why? It's so fucking stupid. I just don't think her books need these ridiculous and over-the-top side plots.
* Most of the side characters - Sorry not sorry, but Rocio is annoying as fuck. She's incredibly unprofessional and cringey. I didn't enjoy any scene that she was in. I also wasn't too hip on Bee's sister whose name I have already forgotten. So many of their conversations were cringe.
👍 SO WHAT DID I ENJOY? 👍
* This book read very quickly - almost 400 pages and yet I didn't want to stop reading. I was enjoying the ride even though it was quite ridiculous at times.
* The tease of Levi redeeming himself - we know it's coming!! And I couldn't wait for it to happen! And I was satisfied!
* The sex scenes! - everyone will have a different opinion, but the sex scenes worked for me although I think they had PIV too early. I would have preferred one more scene where they did some touching/grinding before PIV, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.
* The twitter messages! - possibly spoilers so hiding it here.
🤙 WHAT I DON'T CARE ABOUT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER 🤙
* Big guy/small girl - honestly I consider this to fall under the category of "don't yuck someone's yum". Even though it's not my FAVORITE trope I don't think this feature of Hazelwood's books/novellas warrants all the vitriol it receives. Like it or not, she's not doing something "wrong" by featuring this in her books. (Fight me!)
👏 IN CONCLUSION 👏
This book is going to get FUCKING ROASTED and I'm honestly here for it lmao. All criticisms are valid, especially all criticisms of this fucking book.
Despite all of that I did enjoy this book...even if I was constantly irritated lmao. I'll continue to read books and novellas by this author, but I seriously SERIOUSLY hope she tries something new with her heroines.
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pre-ordered kindle version 1/20/22
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THIS COVER IS THE FUCKING CUTEST!!!!! I NEED A POSTER OF IT ON MY WALL. 😍💗
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Based on the single chapter preview at the end of The Love Hypothesis, this book is going to be a favorite. I already know. There is no information about this book anywhere online yet, but what I gather from the first chapter is STEM + You've Got Mail trope. Sign me the frick up!! -
hi hi HELLO, just wanted you guys to know that there is a list of content notes/trigger warnings for the book on my website ❤️
https://alihazelwood.com/lotb-cw/ -
I don't want to talk about it.
-
– 2.5 stars
i’m sad to say this, but i think my bestie Ali Hazelwood might be a one hit wonder. She wrote imo one of the best debut romance novel and it blew up and because of that she’s just running with the same characters, the same tropes, the same settings, but different names and it failed. Olive & Adam had a certain charm that Bee & Levi are completely lacking.
Tropes:
🚀 ‘enemies’-to-lovers
🚀 a neuroscientist (h) + an engineer (H)
🚀 women in STEM & sexist men in that same field
🚀 secret pen pals
🚀 smol girl - ginormous guy
🚀 quirky heroine – grumpy Hero
🚀 Hero is a fucking simp, but shows it in the dumbest way possible
🚀 ✨ miscommunication ✨
🚀 monster dick
🚀 praise kink
🚀 cats
let’s jump straight to the character talk, cause I cannot summarize the plot of this book even if my life depends on it:
– Bee Königswasser (h) –
first of all, why is this female character last name named after a chemical compound of acids aka aqua regia and second of all did you know that if you translate Königswasser literally it means ‘royal water’ uhm.. why? i know Bee wants to be Marie Curie so badly, but okay that’s one way to shove science down our throat at every chance.
besides Bee’s obsession with Marie Curie, she’s also highkey in love with cats. everytime she was making a cat pun, thinking it’s the purr-fect response a human has ever given, a part of my soul shrivels. don’t come for me, i’m just trying to match her energy. 🤚
To be fair, there isn’t much to think about. I only remember up until the moment I fainted. Yes, I swooned in His Wardness’s manly arms like a twentieth-century hysteric with penis envy.
if you think WHAT, yeah same. that’s how it was like to be in Miss Royal Water’s head. exhausting.
– Levi Ward (H) –
facts i know with 100% certainty about Levi:
1. he’s tall
2. he has green eyes
3. he’s TALL (the caps are necessary, how else do i highlight his tallness)
4. his eyes are really really green
5. he is over 6’2 ft and you’ll get his eyes color if you mix blue and yellow together (look at me bringing kindergarden science into my review, Ali are you proud????)
6. he despises Elon Musk
7. he’s 6’4 ft tall to be exact
8. Levi Green™ eyes
i understand that Levi comes from a highly dysfunctional family, has never learned to communicate and it really shows. but boy did he give me and Bee nothing to work with at the beginning with his zero communication skills. we are talking about a man who refused to sit next to his crush bc in his word ‘it was hard to think when you were close’. is it cute that he was so tongue-tied around Bee? sure yeah kinda, but it’s more embarrassing, cause they are ADULTS and not 8.
what else is on my notes for Levi: while i don’t really remember that much about Levi as you can tell by that list above, i love how Ali writes her Heroes and how they are pining so hard for the heroine for years. he was simping so hard and we’re all here to see it 💅
– romance –
Levi and Bee romance pretty much gave me Edward and Bella twilight biology class vibes
Bee wearing her special dress and Levi acting all too disgusted, but is actually simping hardcore on the inside is the same twilight scene but in different fonts.
the first half of this book didn’t really catch my interest that much and it was more in the 2 stars area, bc how much these characters were avoiding each other and couldn’t communicate. but once Levi confessed his obsession with Bee over their anonymous twitter chat it got more better. background info: Bee and Levi both have secret twitter accounts namely @whatwouldmariedo and @shmac where they tweet about hindrances working in STEM and where they talk to each other. they are chatting and Levi as shmac has no problem confessing his unrequired love for Bee to Bee.
SHMAC: I know what she smells like. This little freckle on her neck when she pulls up her hair. Her upper lip is a little plumper than the lower. The curve of her wrist, when she holds a pen. It’s wrong, really wrong, but I know the shape of her. I go to sleep thinking about it, and then I wake up, go to work, and she is there, and it’s impossible. I tell her stuff I know she’ll agree to, just to hear her hum back at me. It’s like hot water down my fucking spine. She’s married. She’s brilliant. She trusts me, and all I think about is taking her to my office, stripping her, doing unspeakable things to her. And I want to tell her. I want to tell her that she’s luminous, she’s so bright in my mind, sometimes I can’t focus. Sometimes I forget why I came into the room. I’m distracted. I want to push her against a wall, and I want her to push back. I want to go back in time and punch her stupid husband on the day I met him and then travel back to the future and punch him again. I want to buy her flowers, food, books. I want to hold her hand, and I want to lock her in my bedroom. She’s everything I ever wanted and I want to inject her into my veins and also to never see her again. There’s nothing like her and these feelings, they are fucking intolerable. They were half-asleep while she was gone, but now she’s here and my body thinks it’s a fucking teenager and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. There is nothing I can do, so I’ll just . . . not.
man was pouring his heart out and how can you not feel for him and smell his desperation? he thought she was married ffs but was still so obsessed with Bee 💀 when is it my turn where a guy wants to inject me into his veins??? 😔
– side characters –
where is the petition to see a bonus chapter of Rocia (Bee’s assistant) and Kaylee (Levi’s assistant) having intercourse on Bee’s office desk infront of a camera. I was more invested in the side character and what they were up to compared to the main characters. Ali Hazelwood always manages to write the most hilarious secondary characters and they may be over the top with their personalities, but that’s right up my alley.
Rocío’s boots hit the floor. Hard. “I love her,” she declares. “She’s perfect. I want her to be my beautiful California Bride with pink ribbons in her hair. I want to give her bubble baths that smell like cotton candy. I want to buy her fruity cocktails with little umbrellas in them.” She leans forward, pinning me with her gaze. “I will wear glitter for her, Bee. Black glitter.”
– same old, same old –
we talked about the characters that are the mini version of Olive and Adam, but with even worse communication skills. very similar tropes and vibes to The Love Hypothesis. those are all things that are unexciting, but things that can be overlooked, but recycling scenes again is just lazy writing at this point.
i’m talking about the same sex scene whereAdamLevi tellsOliveBee that he wants to fuck her and follows with the question “Can I fuck you?” now, listen besties, i love a consensual king as much as the next person, but i can’t believe we are getting the same dialogue twice. let’s not forget that Levi’s monster cock is so huge that it’s tearing Bee’s vag in half .. does that sound familiar? no? okay hint go read chapter 16 of The Love Hypothesis.
moreover, i can’t believe we didn’t get a proper love confession in Love on the Brain either.. that was such a minus point in TLH for me and Ali is repeating the same mistake again that Levi is confessing his love for Bee, but Bee is only thinking it when she says she loves Levi in the epilogue.. did i miss something?? it was so unsatisfying.
”I can give you nice. I can give you better than nice. I can give you everything.” He smiles at me, full of hope. “You don’t even have to admit to yourself that you love me, Bee. God knows I love you enough for the both of us. But I need you to stay. I need you to stick around.”
that conflict at the end of the book was so fucking dramatic and for what 🤣😭 it was so predictable that some white mediocre dude who was good for nothing was going to be the problem for the heroine, but i didn’t see it coming that Guy (that’s the villain’s name i’m not kidding) was literally pointing a gun at Bee and Levi like the Hulk had to wrestle him to the ground
｡･ﾟﾟ･ Conclusion ･ﾟﾟ･｡
was this book a disappointment to read after how much i loved The Love Hypothesis? yup. did i expect anything different? nope. after reading two out of three novellas i knew what i would get myself into cause Ali just loves her miscommunication & tiny quirky girl and huge grumpy guy trope. while this is a formula that works out pretty well for now, i hope that Ali will change it up in future novels, cause she has the potential to be better, otherwise she’s just going to be another Sally Thorne, which is not necessary the worst fate for an romance author, but i made my point. -
edit a friend just brought to my attention that when Ali said galaxy leggings she was actually referring to black holes and so it’s just black leggings 🤷♀️ and that is now canon to me.
At this very moment i wish i was one of those sophisticated reviewers that had fair but true critiques of this book, and don't get me wrong there are very many.
but this book gives me all the fuzzy feelings as a women in stem so i am willing to ignore all of them.
i will ignore the contstant pop culture referances, the galaxy leggins( i cant even 💀), the very infuriating misscomunication, the constant stream of facts about marie curie (yes she is amazing but chill).
i will ignore them because i WANT to like this book and i do i love the premise, women in stem the reality of what its like for them in the workplace, and the online friends (i fucking love that trope so much i dont know why, maybe the talking about the girl with no filter ugh i love it) and of course Levi we love a man in stem that recognises that he is the minority and that we need to bring in other people for different perspectives.
i could go on and on about women in stem but i won't, i dont have the right audiance here so ill leave you with this:
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood" - Marie Curie (as according to google)
{previous review}
Currently running off 4 hours of sleep, i know i will probably never write a proper review for this so here is my half ass try rn.
-I loved this book I really did, It made me happy. No it was not a literary masterpiece but I don't care at all, I was kicking my feet and giggling as I read Bees and Levis scenes.
-I feel like Ali made herself Bee. They both love cats, star wars - Ali wrote a bestselling Reylo fanfic ffs, and dying there hair i think? (is Ali's hair dyed, idk) and they both love neuroscience. I feel like she daydreamed her romance (lets be real we all do) but then didn't change herself as the main character and wrote and published it.
-Yes, this was a repeat of TLH but in my humble opinion, better, smuttier, and more sciencey (yayyyy stem!!!) and it had engineers sorry i love engineering. But if Ali doesnt break that mold its gonna become real old real fast.
-Bees character really annoyed me. Levi had to tell miss gurl he didn't hate her like 16 times. Girl c'mon hes loved you since grad school stfu. I would kill to have a Levi and your like this, bish. And she would not shut up about Marie, i dont even know what her last name was because I skipped over whenever she would talk about her. I mean i get it your twitters based off it but woah that got old quick.
- There was a scene where Bee said "okay daddy" and i physically couldn't do it. I slammed down my kindle and walked around my room because ew, that was disgusting.
-AND GUESS WHAT MY FRIENDS WE GOT LESBIANS IN A STEM NOVEL WITH GRUMPY SUNSHINE 'ENEMIES TO LOVERS' AND GUY OBSESSED WITH GIRL WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO WANT???
-Also wanna say that as an aspiring engineer, it was so cool to see where and how everyone worked together and when they worked stuff out to further the project my heart was full of pride. for people on paper. god im pathetic lmao.
-And guess what, we got a 'Good girl" scene. Good god that was hot. I love Levi with all my heart you know what i cant even tell you how much because I love him too much. Him with children and on her side the entire time and that text message that was like a page long (ifykyk) made my heart ache. We need more Levis in the world. But sadly, we have Tims and Guys I hate Tims and Guys. Fuck them.
-also guess what i guessed everything that was going to happen at 5% not to brag or anything. lmao. but i still enjoyed it thoroughly
- Also I wanna bring up a point I saw on another review on this book by Kat I think her name was. She brought up that in these books its all about women being independent and being a women in stem and not needing a man. And yeah I agree with that. But then the man is always there to get her out of a bad case of sexual harassment, which yup, i know its a romance novel and there's gonna be some saving but like, why cant she save herself. Or she could be going well and the guy comes in to 'assist' not to 'save her' per se. You know? I just think that that defeats the whole purpose of the novel.
✨women in stem✨ (if you have any rec like this plz drop down below)
I know Ali will never see this but if you do please consider my advice
peace out friends, i'm off to get some much needed sleep.
{previous review}
I am so pissed that I liked this, i had the most amazing review planned out for when i hated it
news flash i didnt, i loved it
i just had 4 hours of sleep because i stayed up reading this.......and i have a full day of school
but you know what i dont care this book made me warm and fuzzy inside
is it like the TLH? Yeah, but is it was still good
it could have been a lot better, its no literary masterpiece but woah did i have the time of my life yesterday(this morning?) anyways i have to go to school now
ill write a real review later
notes for that-
loved it but/........empowering women (a man saved her?? always relying on him like mentioned in other review?)
i feel like ali made herself Bee with her and bees love of Star wars, cats and the fact that they both love star wars, - Ali wrote a fucking Reylo fanfic and published it ffs
love it buttt ali needs to break out of the mold
stupid bitch he told her he didnt hater her like 5 times
the okay daddy no
WE GOT LESBIANS MY LIFE IS COMPLETE
I loved seeing there workplace as I wanna be an engineer, it all sounded so cool.
I know this is not a literarry masterpiece but i love it
{previous review}
This comes out later tonight (where i am at least) i am hoping with all my might that this is different from TLH -
2 stars 🧠
i’m gonna keep this review short and sweet, but there were quite a lot of things i disliked about this book.
miscommunication
this is essentially the foundation of this book. i mean, levi (H) ignoring bee (h) for years and basically running out of the room because he thought bee was married isn’t justifiable and is downright cruel.
he practically tried to sabotage her career at every turn. when he wasn’t actively sabotaging it, he was making her think he was
to make matters worse, bee furthered this confusion by wearing her grandmother’s wedding ring…on her ring finger. mind you she didn’t realize he thought she was married, well until she LIED TO HIM ABOUT BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP (multiple times and to other people)
like when a guy asks her out on a date and levi replies for her, “oh she’s married”. to which the guy apologizes ‘in case he made her uncomfortable’—“Oh, it’s fine. I’m not . . .” Married, I want to say, but it would be a waste of the amazing out Levi gave me. I cough. “I’m not bothered.”
what did this solve? i believe levi finds out at around 50% that she’s not married
the crazy part was, i kinda missed the miscommunication as i progressed past the 50% mark 😭 the story just felt very lackluster after
endless cringe
bee is about as cringey as her name. idk why it didn’t click in my head till 25% that she was named after an insect.
i kinda lost it when she started throwing out cat puns when baby talking a kitty—“Aren’t you the most purr-fect little baby? I feel so fur-tunate to have met you.”
according to bee, non vegans are banned from eating vegan foods! how dare anyone even attempt to!!!“And one more thing,” I snarl into his stony face. “Vegan donuts are for vegans, you absolute walnut.”
i can’t forget the scene where bee scolds levi because he has no female artists on his playlist.“Right. That’s why you have exactly . . .” I scroll down for a few seconds. More seconds. A minute. “. . . a grand total of zero female-performed songs on your phone.”
bestie, maybe if you scrolled for a minute and 1 second you would have found some 🥸
this may be surprising for her to learn but some people enjoy genres of music where women didn’t/don’t make big strides in or are hard to find
smut
most lackluster and lazy smut i’ve read by her. you can’t have levi say one “good girl” and expect me to swoon 😒
levi
i’m still looking for his personality 🤨
large, colossal, gargantuan, cumbersome
if you took a shot everyone time bee mentioned levi’s size, you would be dead from alcohol poisoning.A face attached to a large, solid body—a body that is pinning me to the wall, a body made of a broad chest and two thighs that could moonlight as redwoods.
i can’t really think of a solid reason why i’m giving this 2 stars instead of 1, but i guess it was tolerable enough for me to finish in a few hours
i swear i've read this book before...oh yeah, it’s called the love hypothesis 😴 -
this was good but not as good as the first book, i wasn’t that interested in the plot of this book. i did like the romance more but at times i found myself bored also it was really annoying how the characters in this book talked. and this book focuses so much on the science and i’m not gonna lie i didn’t care about that shit. it was fine in the love hypothesis but in this book it was like excessive it took me out of the story. i love that the author focuses on women in stem but she should work on a balance on how she writes her science cus girl i’m not trying to read about that, it was i would go read a sci-fi book, im trying read some characters F*CK okay?
-
Fun and steamy and even more enjoyable than The Love Hypothesis! I am a simple woman who wants a big sturdy man to pine for me for doing absolutely nothing! I support Ali Hazelwood for writing all my favorite tropes!
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Happy Release Day to Love on the Brain!
I received an Advanced Reader Copy for this book in exchange for an honest reviewI don't give five stars often...
If you liked the love hypothesis, this book is here to break it's neck, spit on it and bury it under every white cis male who has ever taken credit for a woman's groundbreaking discovery in the history of human kind.
I read this is one sitting and I am so pleasantly surprised.
Ali has taken her writing to another level, the feminist way she approaches women is STEM is adorably funny. This book is brainy and grindy and I that is why I love it so much. It is SO MUCH more than just a quirky FMC with a brooding male main character, it's a women's science history book. It's a call out to sexist work environments, it's a call out to standardized tests, it's a SAFE PLACE.
I have always been a nerdy kid, liking and wanting to be places women were not supposed to be a part of, video games, sports, dinosaur/archeology/science camps...It is so refreshing to see that someone out there is doing MORE with their romcoms than sticking to the cookie cutter recipe.
I am sick and tired of reading the same stories behind different cartoon covers. Ali DELIVERED.
There are so many reasons I loved this so much but I have to remain spoiler free, but I will say: this is the first time Ali writes a female main character whose voice and personality I absolutely adore.
The side characters in this? Unbelievable.
The amount of times she made me laugh out loud? Uncountable.
How hard I swooned? Way too hard.
Am I desperately in love with this book and Levi? Undoubtedly.
A masterpiece.
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: The same way I knew People We Meet on Vacation was going to win (and I was right) This book is the new winner of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards in the romance category.
I have no words to describe how much I enjoyed every single page of this book. I'll dare say this is possibly one of my favorite books of 2022 so far.
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4.5 stars!! I read this book in less than 24 hours because I loved it that much. Ali Hazelwood writes such fun quirky characters and I love the science/academic world this book takes place in. I've heard a lot of people say this book is very similar to The Love Hypothesis, and although I agree, I loved it SO much. I actually laughed out loud at several parts which is rare for me.
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Special thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for an honest review.
HAPPY RELEASE DAY, LOVE ON THE BRAIN!!! 💕
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I honestly can’t believe I was lucky enough to get to read this book early!!!! What an absolute dream!!!!
Love on the Brain was everything I could ever want from a new Ali Hazelwood and more! It was hilarious and angsty and heart-warming and it read like a warm hug feels.
The story is told from the perspective of the heroine, neuroscientist and Marie-Curie-obsessed Bee Königswasser (watch me spell that right on the first try!!). Bee has a thing about not getting pets or forming meaningful romantic relationships because all these bonds will end up breaking her heart one way or another. Pets die, people leave, you get it. I feel like some people will find this part of her a little frustrating, but I… completely related? Lol, I can be the exact same way sometimes, which made this book’s message so personal and beautiful to me.
Anyway. We also have the man, the myth, the legend, Levi Ward!!! He’s a grumpy engineer who’s hated Bee since grad school for unknown reasons (OR HAS HE???). He likes hummingbirds and Star Wars and a certain Target dress in a certain neuroscientist and THAT’S ALL I’LL SAY ABOUT IT DON’T ASK ME TO ELABORATE!!!!
Bee and Levi are paired up to co-lead a project at NASA, which starts out with Levi saving Bee from a fallen piece of machinery and saving her life. But don’t worry, this changes nothing, they still hate each other, so what if he smells like all her deepest fantasies???
Watching Bee fall in love with Levi was so beautiful; you can only pretend someone is not your best friend for so long.
I guess my one thing with this book would be that there was a certain plot point that felt a little recycled from The Love Hypothesis, which you can pretty much tell right away. But am I complaining? I would NEVER.
I truly cannot wait for everyone to read this book and freak out with me. It was SO SO GOOD!!!!!!!
Also, final remark: watch out for 47%. Bring all the tissues. 😫❤️ 🥰 -
“You were always in my head. And I could never get you out.”
"I can give you nice. I can give you better than nice. I can give you everything.” He smiles at me, full of hope “You don’t even have to admit to yourself that you love me, Bee. God knows I love you enough for the both of us."
I was kinda scared when people were writing in their reviews that it will be similar to The Love Hypothesis, because 3 novels from this author have really similar vibes to TLH and I really wanted this book to be slightly different. Also it was one of my most anticipated books of the year.
Let’s star from the positive things in this book, our main characters Bee and Levi, well I LOVE them. Smut scenes are soo good and I’m so happy there was more than one scene like in TLH. Subplot from Rocío and Kaylee was really cute and Rocío is probably my second favorite character from this book. Most importantly, even though Levi was kinda getting on my nerves at first, from the things he was doing to Bee, I feel in love with him. I mean, he owns A CAT, that’s the biggest green flag😌. Plus this man was crazy about our main character, so it’s really hard not to fall for him.
Now from the annoying things, firstly Levi is basically Adam. I love that in her novellas characters were let’s say slightly more diverse, even though all her characters all white people in ✨STEM✨. Maybe small spoiler ( skip if you want ), but the miscommunication about her marriage was really annoying me (and I was damn relieved when he found out about it in 50% of the book🥲👍). Also I find it really weird that they shared A LOT favorite things, like I get it two people can share favorite stuff, but suddenly Levi likes everything she likes, idk maybe it’s only weird for me.
If you like books about women in STEM with great plot and writing, you should definitely read it. I can’t wait for more books from Ali Hazelwood!😩 -
“My career gasped for air like a hippo with sleep apnea.”
so did mine, Bee. In fact, my hands were shaking just typing this up.
You might’ve noticed the one star. Let’s get into a nice, long, multiple-page rant review, shall we? 🥰
THE SYNOPSIS.
Neuroscientist Girl (aka Bee) is hired at NASA for a special project and realizes she has to co-lead a project with grad-school archnemesis Engineer Boy (aka Levi). Drama ensues.
THE CHARACTERS.
Bee Königswasser.
Bee. Oh, Bee. Before I really rip into Miss Bumblebee, let me provide a mere ✨sample✨ of the thoughts and questions from my head as I read this book:
13%: Why is Bee wearing her grandmother’s wedding ring when she isn’t married? That’s weird. No one wears wedding rings for luck. That definitely won’t cause misunderstandings later.
16%: Why is it such a problem that she and Levi share the same movie taste? More than one person can like the Empire Strikes Back. This isn’t kindergarten.
34%: I’m bored. These two idiots don’t know how to talk to each other.
55%: FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT. Why has it taken until FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT FOR THEM TO START COMMUNICATING FINALLY.
70%: Did Bee just have a personality transplant? Why does she like Levi so much all of a sudden?
75%: WOAH HOLD UP, did we really feel the need to go from 0 to 69?? WHERE WAS THE CONTEXT FOR THIS??
76%: Just found out Bee is literally named after a poem about bees. It’s not just a nickname. I can’t with this book.
88%: THAT’S THE THIRD ACT CONFLICT? MISS BUMBLEBEE YOU IDIOT—
That’s enough of that.
Bee, in case you couldn’t infer it already, is a grad school educated idiot. A professional doofus. Why can this girl quickly realize when Mr. Not-Main-Love-Interest asks her out BUT SHE OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T SEE EVEN ONE OF THE VAST NUMBER OF BLUSHES AND FLUSHES AND SWALLOWS AND PANIC MOMENTS THAT LEVI HAS IN HER PRESENCE NO SHE DOES NOT.
In addition to her boneheadedness and the fact that she cries at roadkill, trips quirkily, and faints all the time, Bee also has anger management issues.
In fact, now that I think about it, all of Ali Hazelwood’s heroines seem to love fantasizing about violently murdering people. Particularly their love interests.
With regards to Bee, she thought about poisoning, stabbing, drowning, impaling, and biting Levi at various points. That’s not even counting what she wanted to do to all the side characters.
Clearly, a very stable lady.
However, the worst thing Bee ever says is the following, (taken from one of her complaints about the lack of females in STEM teams):
“The well-known Meatwave. A Dickspolsion in the Testosteroven. The good old Brodeo.”
*ahem* now, Bee, I understand you think life is a war against men, and men have done nothing good in the entirety of human history, but—WHERE IS THE BLEACH. I NEED TO THOROUGHLY SCRUB MY BRAIN PLEASE NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN I BEG YOU
Levi Ward.
Nothing to say here. This man was the Ideal Science Gentleman, which means he was Bee’s ideal of what the perfect man should be and the only one who had a reason for his horrible communication skills.
THE ROMANCE.
Oh, that romance. If one could even call it that. LITERALLY ALL OF THE TENSION WAS A SERIES OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
THAT IS NOT ✨TENSION✨
THAT’S BEING PROUD OF THE COMMUNICATION ISSUES OF A FOUR-YEAR-OLD.
For the first half of the book, the only tangible reason Bee is civil to Levi is because of his big, huge, enormous body and those hulking, massive biceps and his huge warm chest and no I’m not being excessive because BEE CANNOT SHUT UP ABOUT HIS BODY.
Like ma’am, please be more creative. Lust for huge enormous manly bodies is overdone and not at all connected to actual love.
Take these mere snippets:
“Is Levi actually handsome? Or is he just six four and built like the Colossus of Rhodes?”
“‘Can’t be taller than six two, or shorter than five one.’
I briefly contemplate the notion that neither Levi nor I fall within astronaut height requirements, but for dramatically different reasons.”
“I stare at this man who’s six four and two hundred pounds of muscle.”
“He manages to sound sincere, as though he’s not a six four, two-hundred-pound brickhouse.”
“The walls are too high for me to climb—because I’m five feet tall and everything is too high for me to climb.”
wow Bee you’re so small and Levi’s so big and you’re so teeny teeny tiny and he’s such a hulking beast and you’re just a dust particle and he’s a dinosaur CAN YOU PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT HIS BODY
And then after the halfway mark, suddenly she adores him and they’ve had all these cute and not totally contrived moments together and they’re 69’ing three bloody times. (side note to those curious: they’re skippable, but don’t read this book anyway not worth it)
THE PLOT.
Most of the book was talking about this BLINK project they have for NASA. It was actually a pretty cool project, but I'm here to rant so you may read about it elsewhere.
First off, why was EVERY SINGLE male character in this book a woman-objectifying trashy dude? (except, rather conveniently, our main man 🙄) Yes, many men steal research ideas and make disgusting comments about women’s bodies. Yes, science is a historically male- and white- dominated field with a great deal of sexism. But this particular subset of male scientists does not represent EVERY SINGLE man on the planet. I don't want to be lectured about gender stereotypes and oppression and misogyny while reading a romance novel. Those things have their place, but NOT ON EVERY OTHER PAGE PLEASE. I’M TRYING TO WATCH PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE.
And another thing: women are not all perfect gorgeous angels. In this book, practically everything a female character does is brave, kind, and accommodating, while everything a male character does is aggressive, bigoted, and hateful. I’m more than happy to call out sexism when deserved, but it's hypocritical to call out sexism against women when, if the roles were reversed, you’d be guilty of the exact same thing. Case in point:
“I was initially a bit distrustful of him – his bio says “he/him,” and we all know how men on the internet can be.”
Well gee Bee, if you'd said—
“I was initially a bit distrustful of her – her bio says “she/her,” and we all know how women on the internet can be.”
—you’d be called out as a raging misogynist. But because it was about a man, you’re a feminist empowerment queen and 100% in the right.
As a woman myself, I’m calling bs 🤦♀️
*sigh* Anyways, that's it. I know I was a little melodramatic, but I’ve been stuck in this girl's head for 368 pages and need a significant amount of therapy. And venting. So that’s what I did here for over four pages.
Thanks for listening, y'all, I appreciate it ❤️
Ratings:
Star Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: R
Recommendations That Are Better Than This Book:
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Finding Cinderella by Kia Amazona -
**4.5-stars rounded up**
The Queen of Steamy-STEM is back and she's done it again!!
Without putting too fine a point on it, I'll just say that Hazelwood's stories are the romances of my dreams. I loved this one even more than
The Love Hypothesis.
In Love on the Brain the Reader is introduced to Bee Königswasser, a neuroscientist, who has just been offered the opportunity to work on the project of her dreams for none other than NASA.
Moving to Houston, Bee gets to bring along her dark-ray of moonshine assistant, Rocío, who contributes her own brand of humor to the story. The project is set to run for 3-months, which could turn out to be the greatest 3-months of Bee's career thus far. She's pumped to get started.
Then Bee discovers her co-lead on the project is Levi Ward. Ughhhh, way to ruin an entire vibe. Levi is a huge jerk who spurned her at every turn in grad school.
Bee never really understood what his deal was with her, but she knows she doesn't want to repeat any of it at this point in her life.
Unsurprisingly, as Bee and Rocío attempt to settle in at their new office and get to work, it seems that someone is sabotaging them. Honestly, it's like Levi isn't even trying to hide it, but the longer they're around each other, Bee begins to see a different side to him.
Is Levi softening towards her, or was she possibly misreading him all along? Also, if it isn't Levi sabotaging her, who is it?
Y'all, I adored this story. From the very first moments in Bee's perspective, I knew I was going to become so connected to her. I adored the way her brain worked, her passions, her backstory, her insecurities, it was all so solidly developed.
Then there is Levi, the epitome of a leading man. He's handsome, smart, industrious, athletic, motivated, charming, sweet and a Star Wars fan. I mean, sign me up.
I love an Enemies-to-Lovers trope, so I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed this plot. One thing I really appreciated was that most of the miscommunication between the couple is cleared up earlier in the book than is generally the case.
This allowed a better building of their relationship in my opinion. Usually you spend so much time just trying to have characters actually communicate with one another, it can get frustrating. I didn't really feel that here. It felt like just the right amount to build tension without causing annoyance.
I also really loved the side characters, particularly Rocío, Bee's assistant, and Levi's cat, Schrodinger, because who doesn't love the cats who star in romance stories!?
I will say towards the end, there was some silly drama that felt very eye-rolly for me, hence the 4.5-stars rounded up, versus a full-5. With that being said though, that's a pretty minor thing and it was the only time where I was sort of shaken out of the hypnotic trance this story put me in.
I have read all of Hazelwood's currently published works and I have enjoyed them all. I love that she is shining a spotlight on women in STEM and that her characters are all so robust and likable.
As with many Romance stories, there is a formula to them, but hey, they work. You know what you are getting into when you pick up a Hazelwood book and I'm here for it all the way.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
This is my favorite Hazelwood yet and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next!! -
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Love on the Brain is a workplace romance between two rivals who are now co-leading a project together at NASA...with a You've Got Mail twist 😉
Ali Hazelwood is really good at setting up her story and characters in a way that builds your anticipation from the very first chapter. Once again, I was hooked from the very beginning, simply dying for Levi and Bee to reunite. I don't want to compare this book too much to The Love Hypothesis, but there are some parallels here and there because both stories are set in the STEM world.
There's also some delicious unrequited love on Levi's side which makes his interactions with Bee that much more exciting to read. Of course, Bee is completely unaware that Levi is in love with her. I don't know about you, but I just love the fresh scent of a pining hero 😏 If you loved Adam, then you are most likely going to love Levi as well. In fact, Levi is a lot more talkative than Adam, so I feel like I know him as well as I know our narrator, Bee.
There's a solid set of supporting characters, but oh my goodness, Bee's research assistant is supremely annoying. Her humour was just not for me. I kept rolling my eyes whenever she showed up. The hero and heroine were both great, but I couldn't bring myself to be interested in the supporting characters.
I really enjoyed Levi and Bee and I loved their development from so-called nemeses to friends to lovers. The plot is interesting, even though the science and engineering stuff went right over my head. But it's okay, I just know that their work is super important for astronauts 😂 The final conflict was majorly stressful, so major points to the author for actually making me question how the heck everything would be resolved. The climax was a bit too dramatic for me, but the epilogue was perfect!
I will honestly read anything Ali Hazelwood publishes. I love her brand of romantic comedy and I can't wait for her next book! -
4.25/5 ⭐
1/5 🌶️
Another absolutely delightful romance from Ali Hazelwood. Love on the brain you get enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and work-place romance. Her humor, most of all the wit and banter between the characters fills me with joy and makes me smile throughout the book.
Quotes:
"I can give you nice. I can give you better than nice. I can give you everything.” He smiles at me, full of hope “You don’t even have to admit to yourself that you love me, Bee. God knows I love you enough for the both of us."
“The real villain is love: an unstable isotope, constantly undergoing spontaneous nuclear decay. And it will forever go unpunished.”
