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A review by labello
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ali's first mainly plot-driven book that is still plenty horny.
I still stand by Ali writing her best books when she decides to write Novellas like Under One Roof and Below Zero, though I think Under One Roof blows Below Zero out of the water, is called since she very clearly enjoys the writing of romantic dynamics the most. Well,,, one very specific romantic dynamic that she continues to use for every single one of her books from what I have seen.
That is to say, if you enjoy one Ali Hazelwood book, you probably enjoy them all because, in essence, they are all the same with slightly different set dressings.
This book, however, Is different from Ali's other books because in this one she does put the plot first and the romantic relationship second.
The romantic relationship still follows all the same beats
I still stand by Ali writing her best books when she decides to write Novellas like Under One Roof and Below Zero, though I think Under One Roof blows Below Zero out of the water, is called since she very clearly enjoys the writing of romantic dynamics the most. Well,,, one very specific romantic dynamic that she continues to use for every single one of her books from what I have seen.
That is to say, if you enjoy one Ali Hazelwood book, you probably enjoy them all because, in essence, they are all the same with slightly different set dressings.
This book, however, Is different from Ali's other books because in this one she does put the plot first and the romantic relationship second.
The romantic relationship still follows all the same beats
- the man falls first and, Christ alive, does he fall hard
- the woman is very inexperienced in one or both romantic relationships or sex (in this case both)
- they hit it off in an Insanely short time frame
- the woman is still hypercompetent in her chosen field but utterly inept when it comes to social cues and reading the emotions of anyone, but especially those of the male lead
- while the man and the woman are both very much feminists and are very clear on their held beliefs that men and women are equals they still fill the traditional gender roles to a t. The man is physically imposing even if Ali has stopped describing all her female leads as teeny tiny women with BIG HUGE HUMONGOUS men the men are still bigger, broader and again physically imposing while the women are Soft and relish in giving up control and enjoy fulfilling a very traditional position in the relationship. which is fine. feminism that doesn't support women's choice to choose a traditional lifestyle is no feminism at all but I sure wish that Ali was capable of One Singular other dynamic.
- their first sexual experience with one another is World Changing Insanely Good And The Best Sex Anyone Has Ever Had
- both characters have tragic/sad background stories, god forbid anyone grows up in a loving home in an Ali Hazelwood book
- etc etc
Now to get to the point that is different from Ali's other books: this one is plot-driven and displays Ali's ability to think of and write out an entire coherent, not shoved in at the last second, plot which makes it a way more rewarding read. I firmly stand by my opinion that frankly, Ali's books are way too long for what they are. I think that Ali's best book (from those I read) is Under One Roof which is a short novella, with very little set dressing and an actually somewhat longer and not All At Once build up to a relationship and developing feelings compared to Ali's usual pairings.
Meanwhile, this book still adheres to Ali's usual framework on relationships but flips the script when it comes to the actual story.
I enjoyed that Ali had what finally felt like a thought out, not too much of a come-up-with-on-the-fly, story she wanted to tell that was more than two people being incredibly horny for one another (though there was also plenty of that).
This book still struggles with all of Ali's characters bleeding into one another and not having enough of a unique voice to themselves to be distinct or interesting at all after you read more than one of Ali's books. Ali writes and publishes books at a very fast rate, like 3 books a year I think??, and I wish she would take a step back, and take more time for the editing And the writing process. Figure out what parts are important and who these characters are because they since currently between books they all just blend together.
After having read the infamous interview in which Ali admits to her books basically being a collection of tropes her manager suggests bundled up in a trenchcoat pretending to be a coherent plot, it's usually easy to tell which tropes were suggested and how Ali just kind of threw them together. This felt less the case in this one, it was still very transparent that she wanted to write something omega verse adjacent which included some very familiar tropes Ali enjoys and relies on, like dead parents, neglectful families and piss poor communication. But still, this book felt less like a collection of scenes and more like a somewhat thought-out plot where some effort was put into how to get from plot point A to plot point B. Ali does very often take the shortcuts provided by the miscommunication trope, the instant attraction, and the female lead not being told much at all to skip having to write things that aren't her strong suit which I think is fine and works well enough.
It's still heavy with the tropes, it very much still follows Ali's old reliable character dynamics, at times it drags on a little bit, but I do think that this is one of my favourite Ali books, which doesn't say too much because I don't really care for her usual books, simply because there is finally a plot that isn't pushed aside for 300 pages of being incredibly horny just to be resolved in like 10 pages tops. This book actually follows a clear climb to an earned climax of both the story and the relationship of the main characters. Hopefully, Ali will continue to experiment more with stories in which she actually lets the plot help build the characters' relationships instead of having their romantic relationships form out of pure sexual chemistry.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder