Love, TheoreticallY Review

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*4.5
Out of the four books I've read so far from Hazelwood, this is the one I definitely enjoyed the most. The enemies-to-lovers was pretty realistic given the setup, and I really enjoyed the way their romance progressed after we got past the armchair psychoanalyzing, which I would usually find irritating. The way Jack, the male lead, did it was restrained enough not to be so patronizing and actually help Elise, the heroine, come to grips with her pathological people-pleasing, learn to stand up for herself, and prioritize her wants and needs instead of always putting herself last.

I like how the author set up Elise' s graduate school advisor to be the ultimate antagonist of the story. All too often, the people who are supposed to be our mentors and confidants are the ones who sabotage opportunities and plant and tend seeds of doubt that undermine confidence, stoke co-dependency, and stagnate careers.

Seeing how both the leads' character arcs intertwined to develop emotionally stronger was satisfying. Jack publishing an article in which he lays bare why he went after the advisor and then editor-in-chief makes his past justification plain, and simultaneously exposes more clearly the sexism and toxicity of good-ol'-boys-club academia, while demonstrating growth in the his emotional maturity by defending the field of theoretical physics that was previously discredited due in part to his single-minded actions and the hubris of a man who couldn't be bothered to do his academic, peer-reviewing due diligence. It takes courage of character to admit mistakes and to so publicly rectify them.

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