A review by reghanpugh7
Love on the Brain, by Ali Hazelwood
4.0
*4.5⭐️*
So close to being a 5 star read, there were just two things that I remember that made me annoyed. Don't worry they were small things but it had me rolling my eyes and I am trying to rate books fairly instead of giving every book a five star just because it made me happy and I enjoyed most of the book.
Anyway on with the actual review...I really enjoyed this book and adored both Levi and Bee, but not only did I adore them, but I also adored Rocio, Kaylee, and MOST of all the cats, Felicette and Schrodinger!!!!!!!!!! As a hardcore cat lover, I of course enjoyed the love and appreciation both of the characters had for cats. How could I not appreciate that aspect of this book?
In all honesty, I think I enjoyed Levi and Bee's story more than I enjoyed Adam and Olives. That's a little hard for me to say, but this one just hit differently and felt so much more realistic. Of course, Adam and Olive are the OGs and their story holds a special place in my heart. (their book also has a five-star rating that I will NEVER ever ever change) I honestly just enjoyed and appreciated this dynamic more, an engineer and a neuroscientist who went to school together and end up getting partnered up on a super cool project years later. I also loved that BLINK had a part in the story and a reason why it was so important to Levi.
Levi Ward absolutely has my heart and makes me want to fall in love with my engineering lab partner from chem class. Haha yes, I am a woman in STEM so, of course, these books SPEAK to me on another level. Seriously though, Levi is the cutest and most thoughtful man and I love how much he loves Bee. How he is always there for her, stands by her, and supports her always. It was so fun learning a little bit about the neuroscience aspect associated with the BLINK project and I was very intrigued...maybe ill become a neuroscientist...hmm we will see.
This is getting long, but I could seriously go on and on about how much I loved this book and Levi Ward duh. I will give one of the things that got annoying because I just have to say it. I was getting annoyed with Bee's constant need to reassure us that she and Levi were still nemeses and hated each other and always will. Now it was more annoying because it was every chapter and it was like a paragraph-long explanation of things we already knew and did not need to be told EVERY SINGLE chapter. However, this only happens for like the first half of the book maybe slightly less. So maybe it won't bother you, but if it does I promise once you get past it you will LOVE the book so much more because it just gets better and better.
**UPDATE**
after finding out that others who are also in STEM felt this way i must add my other reason for not giving this book a five star. I felt like this book was pro all men in STEM suck and bashing men is cool. yeah as a women in STEM i’ve never had an issue with men being condescending or thinking women aren’t capable of being in STEM. in fact a lot of the men i’ve worked with whether professors or classmates have been super kind and supportive to everyone, women included (just want that to be clear). this book at a certain point it just felt like we were bashing men for simply existing. in my STEM field i’ve never had an issue and maybe that’s not true for others but for myself personally, i found it annoying and repetitive the amount of shade being thrown at men in STEM. for you men in STEM who are nothing but kind and supportive i promise we don’t all think you’re horrible. anywho i just think this book was overdoing it on bashing men in STEM or simply even men in general.
So close to being a 5 star read, there were just two things that I remember that made me annoyed. Don't worry they were small things but it had me rolling my eyes and I am trying to rate books fairly instead of giving every book a five star just because it made me happy and I enjoyed most of the book.
Anyway on with the actual review...I really enjoyed this book and adored both Levi and Bee, but not only did I adore them, but I also adored Rocio, Kaylee, and MOST of all the cats, Felicette and Schrodinger!!!!!!!!!! As a hardcore cat lover, I of course enjoyed the love and appreciation both of the characters had for cats. How could I not appreciate that aspect of this book?
In all honesty, I think I enjoyed Levi and Bee's story more than I enjoyed Adam and Olives. That's a little hard for me to say, but this one just hit differently and felt so much more realistic. Of course, Adam and Olive are the OGs and their story holds a special place in my heart. (their book also has a five-star rating that I will NEVER ever ever change) I honestly just enjoyed and appreciated this dynamic more, an engineer and a neuroscientist who went to school together and end up getting partnered up on a super cool project years later. I also loved that BLINK had a part in the story and a reason why it was so important to Levi.
Levi Ward absolutely has my heart and makes me want to fall in love with my engineering lab partner from chem class. Haha yes, I am a woman in STEM so, of course, these books SPEAK to me on another level. Seriously though, Levi is the cutest and most thoughtful man and I love how much he loves Bee. How he is always there for her, stands by her, and supports her always. It was so fun learning a little bit about the neuroscience aspect associated with the BLINK project and I was very intrigued...maybe ill become a neuroscientist...hmm we will see.
This is getting long, but I could seriously go on and on about how much I loved this book and Levi Ward duh. I will give one of the things that got annoying because I just have to say it. I was getting annoyed with Bee's constant need to reassure us that she and Levi were still nemeses and hated each other and always will. Now it was more annoying because it was every chapter and it was like a paragraph-long explanation of things we already knew and did not need to be told EVERY SINGLE chapter. However, this only happens for like the first half of the book maybe slightly less. So maybe it won't bother you, but if it does I promise once you get past it you will LOVE the book so much more because it just gets better and better.
**UPDATE**
after finding out that others who are also in STEM felt this way i must add my other reason for not giving this book a five star. I felt like this book was pro all men in STEM suck and bashing men is cool. yeah as a women in STEM i’ve never had an issue with men being condescending or thinking women aren’t capable of being in STEM. in fact a lot of the men i’ve worked with whether professors or classmates have been super kind and supportive to everyone, women included (just want that to be clear). this book at a certain point it just felt like we were bashing men for simply existing. in my STEM field i’ve never had an issue and maybe that’s not true for others but for myself personally, i found it annoying and repetitive the amount of shade being thrown at men in STEM. for you men in STEM who are nothing but kind and supportive i promise we don’t all think you’re horrible. anywho i just think this book was overdoing it on bashing men in STEM or simply even men in general.