A Lazy Reader's Review of "Love on the Brain" by Ali Hazelwood
Synopsis
Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA had offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project – a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia – 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. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school – archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career is somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas . . . devouring her with those eyes. And 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?
Review
At the time that I picked this book up, I was desperate for a good romance book. I was heavy into my fantasy books and I wanted something different. After being sorely disappointed by Punk 57, I decided to pick up an Ali Hazelwood book. I had heard really good things about her books and was excited to read one which dealt with the topic of women in STEM related professions, something hat I am not involved in having earned a degree in History. I think at the time that I read this book, the whole 'recommending books based on tropes' trend was starting to kick off. This book was said to be an 'Enemies to Lovers' romance novel and let me tell you, it was all lies.
Let's talk about the romance aspect of this book. As I mentioned previously, this book was marketed as being 'Enemies to Lovers'. What a stretch that description is. I wouldn't categorize this as being enemies to lovers, hell, I would even say that this book was even academic rivals to lovers. The entire conflict was entirely one-sided on Bee's part since she only thought that Levi hated her and she, in turn, hated him back. For no reason. I really hate the miscommunication trope. Like, loathe it. And that was essentially the basis for the two main characters' relationship, pure miscommunication. The book followed the typical romance plot for enemies to lovers. The two characters have an unliking for each other, they end up being put in a position where they will be seeing and interacting with each other on a regular basis, these interactions would ultimately lead them to realizing that they actually don't hate each other, and, after many chapters of repressing and denying their feelings, they begin to form a romantic and then physical relationship. This all culminates in a third-act break up which ultimately leads to them getting back together somehow. Did I get that right? Does that pretty much sum up the entire trope? This book did nothing to push the trope, and about 50 pages in, I was okay with that. I knew then, that I wasn't going to be getting anything groundbreaking from this book, and a part of me was sort of relieved, and I say that very tentatively.
Now, Hazelwood has an entire series of 'STEMinist' romance books where the main characters are involved in the sciences in some way. For example, her breakout novel The Love Hypothesis, which was actually based off a Kylo Ren and Rey fanfiction she wrote, involves a PH.D. candidate getting into a fake relationship with a young professor at her university. Love on the Brain was just one of those books. And this aspect, which is such a large part of her marketing, was so disappointing to me. I honestly do no think that the book went far enough on the topic of what it is actaully like to be a woman in a field that is heavily dominated by men. In this case, neuroscience. So many of the instance where Bee faced obstacles or struggles with being a woman in STEM were all solved by a man. Like, come on! I thought these books were supposed to show women carving a space for themselves in these fields, but each and everytime Bee finds her self being overlooked, ignored, or not taken seriously, here comes Levi to the rescue. What a lame gimmick. I would also like to point out that almost all of her 'STEMinist' books center white women. And, I'm not about to come on here and demand that Hazelwood write down the experiences of women of color in STEM spaces because, let's be real, not only would she have to discuss being a woman, which she already doesn't do well, she would also have to tackle the topic of race. Which is not something that I think she should be doing. But, it's just something that I observed after looking through her other works.
Now, let's get into Bee as a character. I can definitely see that Bee is meant to be a very quirky character, which is evident through the fact that homegirl is out here wearing galaxy leggings! Galaxy leggings. This book was published in 2022, and she's wearing galaxy leggings like it's 2014. Gag me with a spoon. I think I'm past the point where I enjoy 'quirky' characters. But, this doesn't mean that I hated Bee as a character. But, I have to ask: why was this grown woman fainting all the time? She fainted after seeing a stuffed tarantula toy. Are we serious? Does she have undiagnosed POTS? Just wrap it up at this points. I'll leave it here. As a romance book, it's mid. As a book about women in STEM, it's less than mid. Overall, very mid.
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