The Miscommunications of an Intelligent Neuroscientist and the Brooding Engineer: A Review

This review was initially shared on Sep 12, 2023, on a former platform. In my quest to maintain harmony and unity, I've decided to repost this review, preserving its essence and integrity.

Book: Love on the Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood 
Genre: Romance
Started: Sept 6, 2023 
Finished: Sept 8, 2023
Rating:
⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 
🙄



If I told you that this was a great book...I'd be lying to you. At best, it's alright. 

While the plot of this one is a "you can copy my homework, just change it a little bit" of Love, Hypothetically it's kinda.....worse than LH. 

Now, I am a girl who loves cheesy, sappy, feel good, Hallmark type films and books - this one really hit the nail on the head but refused to stop hitting, just creating a never ending crater sized hole of emptiness and longing of something new in my head. 

This book equated to a D budget film that you would find at the end of the Romance search on Prime Video or in the bargain bins at Big Lots or the Dollar Tree. ifykyk

Moving on. 

While the story revolves around Marie Curie stan, Neurologist,  Dr. Bee Kèonigswasser, and her once in a lifetime job opportunity at NASA. I found myself more drawn to her goth, dark humored, RA sidekick, Rocio. Rocio was so much more entertaining and interesting. She had way more depth to her in the form of random morbid facts, her Gen Z tendencies to not give a fuh, and to be honest, I found her to be less droning when it came to her strange love of Mexican vengeful ghost, La Llorona, than I did every single time Bee went on about Curie. However, in true Hazelwood fashion, it seems that at least on character has to be part of the LBTQIA+. 

The way Hazelwood brought together Rocio and Levi's program coordinator Kaylee, felt so in-organic and forced. It's like she drew inspiration from Netflix's Wednesday (a reimagining of the Addams Family) and was like "YES! THIS IS HOW I GET MY GAY CHARCTER INTO THIS STORY!" If this doesn't make sense to you, Wednesday is our dark goth queen and her roommate is all pink and glitter. That's exactly what Rocio and Kaylee are. Now of course, this book came out in August, three months prior to the release of Wednesday but golly me...would I have thought otherwise. 

When it comes to Levi Ward(ass), Hazelwood has such a wonderful way of making these tall dark and handsome men, sound more like Wreck-it Ralph. Had it not been for the beautifully drawn image on the cover of the book, I wouldn't have been able to properly drool over green-eyed Levi, engineer extraordinaire, former classmate and number one hater of Bee. No amount of gaslighting or physical torture would have had me picturing a normal(ish) human being any other way. 

"His broad shoulders and mountain like stature filled this small space leaving no room to escape, even if I wanted to. His hands so giant, he only needed one to scoop me up in one fell swoop, while the other he used to grip the side of the building."  No, this wasn't a direct line from the book, but I promise, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Levi could have been a much better character, if Hazelwood tried a little bit harder. We got a scene with Levi's parents that was kind of forced into the plot. He was also just so emotionally awkward... it kept making me think he was more Ginny Weasley when she first meets Harry in Chamber of Secrets (movie) or even Edward Cullen when Bella first shows up in class (again movie). The dialogue he was also given sounded more like the dialogue of a soft-core porn, not the intelligence of an Engineer who works at mother-trucking NASA. Continuing on with the soft-core porn, what is Hazelwood's obsession with the men being so large that the he's splitting this petite girl in half with his giant schlong?

Now for Bee....oh sweet little petite, tiny, Bee. Vegan and Marie Curie is my whole personality, Bee. 

She is so whiny and probably the least likeable character of the whole book, yet, we are forced to live her POV. The most entertaining part of Bee, is her twin sister, which we spend very little time with (probably because she's so much cooler) aside from tiny texts and calls here and there. Her dick riding for Marie Curie really made hate Madame Curie. I probably would have enjoyed this so much more if it was just a fan-fic of Curie and single beaker. (wink wink). 

Bee is supposed to be this incredible Neuroscientist who is the best in the world. Sure she lacks the respect of some of her male counterparts, (that's science for you!) but she spends more time fainting at the smallest things, explaining to Levi how much he hates her, despite his continued protests that he doesn't. Even after the first time they do the Mambo No 5 in bed, she's still all "omg can he really like me?".  Honestly, I can't say anything more because it's not nice. Frankly, Hazelwood wrote the weakest character with Bee, and spent more time gassing up side characters like the asstronaut Guy, sweet little girl Penny, and Schrodinger the old not-so-grumpy cat.


There is an ongoing reoccurring theme, that honestly terrifies me to pick up another Hazelwood book. 

What is that theme, you may ask? The constant shove down your throat of how difficult Academia life is if you're not a man (yes, I get it!) and the woe-is-me "This man hates me. He's hated me for years. I haven't spoken or seen him in 6 years, but there's no way he's changed his mind, he hates me!!!!!" sob-fest. 

This was cute the first time. Not so much this second time. 

I love predictability. However, when the story lives off of the same recycled plot, every turn of the page, every chapter, every book. Please. No. No more!