It’s finally time for my Love on the Brain review! I have been sitting on this for a while, but now that Love on the Brain is out, I can finally publish it. This book was wild (especially the ending), but I did enjoy it. Let’s hop in!
Quick Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.
About Love on the Brain
Title: Love on the Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Rating: 4 Stars
Genre: Adult Romance
Format: ARC
Publisher: Sphere
Date Published: 23 August 2022
Goodreads Description: 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?
I received a review copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
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Love on the Brain Review
At this point, it’s fair to say that I really love Ali Hazelwood’s writing. Unfortunately, out of all her books, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. The HP reference in the first chapter was not it. At times I felt like Bee (our MC) was trying too hard to be quirkyTM, and there were some cringe moments. My main gripe with this book is the miscommunication trope. I understand that humans are not good communicators, but damn. The miscommunication in this book reaches comical levels at one point.
That being said, I did enjoy the romance and I read this book in two days. I loved the banter between the characters, and I loved the supporting characters. Hazelwood writes interesting characters and gives them a chance to grow. Levi (our LI) was fine, I liked that he could recognise where he went wrong, and that he actually went to therapy for his communication issues (we love a man with character growth).
“He’s at NASA then? Dare I hope he’ll be sent to Mars to retrieve Curiosity?”
Ali Hazelwood, Love on the Brain
Once again, the whole Bee is so tiny weenie tiny compared to the giant hulk of a man Levi thing really annoyed me. I get that Hazelwood is going for that aesthetic, but as a plus-size person reading it just put me off. There’s this hint of infantilisation going on and I don’t like it.
I know I’m complaining a lot about a book I gave four stars, but bear with me. Another thing I don’t like: the comparison of the smut scenes in this book to the smut in The Love Hypothesis.
I could write essays on the demisexual/asexual rep in The Love Hypothesis, but I don’t want to do all that emotional labour. Here’s the thing: the characters in Love on the Brain are allo, the characters in The Love Hypothesis are a-spec. DO NOT COMPARE THE TWO. Not every romcom needs erotica levels of spice, let other people enjoy things.
I could probably say more, but I don’t think I have the vocabulary to do that. Should you read Love on the Brain? Yes. It’s fun, heartwarming, and a good time.
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Sorry this one didn’t quite work for you, I think this book would drive me bonkers because I hate nothing more than the miscommunication trope. GET IT OUT OF HERE