Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Love, theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

5 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-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

4.5

This is a great, fun romance read that says a ton about character and careers. I love when romances are also plot-driven, and with the excess (in a good way!) amount of physics concepts, university politics, and familial issues, this absolutely fits the bill. The main characters have electric chemistry, and the side characters are also all fully fleshed out and interesting. I liked the date-for-hire idea for a struggling student who's supposed to be above all of that as an academic. And the brother storyline! Good representation. The fact that they stayed friends was so nice. And I actually teared up two or three times while reading this, even though it's not that dramatic of a plot, because I could just feel the emotion of the characters/ where they were coming from so much. I feel like I could relate to and learn a lot from Elsie.

A few low points for me personally were some of the wording that won't age well & cheesy moments that seemed to lean a bit too much into the classic tropes of the genre instead of modern takes, which is typicsl of Hazelwood, and the epilogue. I'm not really into the trope of adding prologues and epilogues to romance novels, I'm not really sure where that came from and why it's so popular. But this prologue didn't add anything to the plot, and the epilogue was mildly confusing. I felt like maybe it was a callback to something within the book, but if it was, I had completely forgotten about the reference by the time I reached the epilogue. Also, what happened to Kyle?? And, I got annoyed by the idea that Elsie's brothers were fully grown adults acting like children, and the mother is okay with that, AND Elsie entertains it? Moments talking about her brothers fighting over some chick were just not convincing to me at all.

I don't factor audiobook performance into my overall review of a book, but I would give Thérèse Plummer 4/5⭐️. She did a fine performance, although her male voices came across as a bit odd, unlike some other female narrators I've heard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Gaslighting

funshine3's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Quick and easy read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Outing

notmollie's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

fatymahsy's review against another edition

funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I debated a while whether to rate this a 5 stars or not, in the end I didn't, but it was a near one.
while it's exactly what you'd expect of an ali hazelwood, it's definitely one of the best ali hazelwood books, if not just one of the best romcoms published in recent years ever.
warm and tender and sweet, the dynamic between Jack and Elsie is one that's beautiful. this is kind of romance that makes you kick your feet in happiness and giggle and blush in glee and euphoria. its charming it's witty but also its grounded, its not a fairytale but its better.
also shout out to the friendship between cece and Elsie truly truly a highlights of the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Medical content

Minor: Ableism and Body shaming

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another great novel by Ali Hazelwood.  In the author's own words, this is "a love story set against the backdrop of academic politics."  It also talks clearly about the misery of a person with a Ph.D. trying to get a decent-paying job with benefits.

Once again, her books follow the standard romantic trope, but that is not what most of the book is about.  It's what makes her romance books stand out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent