Reviews with content warning for Outing - Love, Theoretically

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

77 reviews

lmcarr0314's review

lighthearted tense 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 loved this book. I enjoy STEM romances and Ali Hazlewood as an author. This book is cute. While being contemporary romance it talks about struggles of women in stem. These books bring me joy.

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isfantasi's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-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

3.75

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graciegru's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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marygg3's review against another edition

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funny informative 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

4.0

I liked it, but not as much as Ali's other books. I did feel almost like I was reading the same story with a different setting. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but on this occasion it did feel like another repetition of Ali's formula for her books.
However, I thoroughly enjoyed it either way. The characters were really funny and lovable, which you can always count on Ali to deliver.

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letiross's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-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

4.5

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alexxmichelle's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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

4.75

I really loved this book i read it in under 48 hours. Love story was very sweet and the characters were fun realistic and charming. I loved seeing aro-ace representation and as a diabetic seeing my own experiences in print was cool! The only reason it lost .25 stars is because there were a couple moments that felt a little awkward because of the word choices, although that could easily fall to personal preference. The science stuff went over my head but it was still an easy read even if you don’t understand particle crystallization. Overall a great read that I really enjoyed, this author is super fun and I cant suggest her enough!

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madtheimpaler's review

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funny lighthearted 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? No

4.0

I enjoyed this Hazelwood book, and it may be my favorite of the three that I have red, because I thought that these are her best written characters to date. I found both Elsie and Jack likable, and I was interested in the cast of characters around them as well. I especially liked that not all characters were necessarily "good" or "bad". In fact, many of the side characters are good people that happen to do frustrating things at one point or another, and Hazelwood writes that in a way that is true to life; normal people can do selfish things, and we can find a way to move on. That's something rare in most lighthearted rom-com books.

What I love most about her books, is the academic setting and the workplace drama that ensues around it. I found the plot of this book in particular entertaining, because it brought me into a world that I am unfamiliar with and introduced me issues to which I would otherwise be blind. I often found myself thinking over my adjunct professors in college, and how I may have interacted with them. Hazelwood has done an excellent job drawing me into a world I know nothing about, and pulling at anger and frustration in the reader as Elsie is feeling them too.

However, this leads me to my only two problems I found in this book.

Love, Theoretically, as many of Hazelwood's book is full of lessons on how women are treated in STEM, academic, and other professional settings, but sometimes I get the feeling through Hazelwoods writing that her version of feminism doesn't always extend to non-academic women; it doesn't always feel like Hazelwood thinks very highly of women who have not completed post-graduate work, women who work at everyday desk jobs, or women who choose to get married and become mothers. I find it admirable that she wants to encourage women to pursue STEM, a field that is the opposite of welcoming toward women. That being said, I also feel she attaches self-worth to the level of degree one as completed through certain quips her characters make that are ultimately meant to be funny. To a women who chose lower level teaching and motherhood, that sort of humor comes off as elitist. Admittedly, these statements are sparse and scattered throughout the book, so it's not a constant bother, but still off-putting whenever it comes up.

My only other problem comes from the pacing of the book.

The characters united a bit early for me, and the "honeymoon phase" was a bit too needlessly drawn out for my taste. Jack's sticking point about not having sex because it might not be good felt unnecessary and anti-climatic.

Mainly it felt like a way to add to the word count.

Lastly, I just wanted to add that Elsie gets bonus points for

her unironic love of Twilight. I too have written about the prose of Stephenie Meyer as a net positive in an academic setting and there is nothing more fun (and shocking to professors).

I could not stop smiling whenever it was brought up in the book.

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