I READ LOVE ON THE BRAIN...AND ALI HAZELWOOD'S GOODREADS INTERVIEW...I HAVE THOUGHTS [CC]

[@angryotter9129]

She said “he’s built like a Victorian mansion” and my soul left my body and I became a Victorian ghost.

[@telltalenarrator4070]

I'm torn between admiring Ali Hazelwood for being transparent about her shortcomings, and being frustrated that one of the most successful breakout debut authors out there has openly admitted that she DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE HER OWN BOOKS?? Like, I'm glad she's not pretending to be a self-made genius (as plenty of people would), but also... good lord.

[@anacecilia1387]

There are so many tree references in this book, I'm kinda surprised Hazelwood never tried to write Groot fanfiction.

[@anacecilia1387]

I mean, no shame, there are stranger kinks in the fanfic world. It's just that Mariana Zapata also focus a lot on heigh difference in her romance books, and yet it just comes across as her protagonists having a raging size difference kink. The tree analogies are very especific to Hazelwood.

[@bookworminchrist1987]

Her name is literally Hazelwood after all 🤭🤭🤭

[@junebugjo444]

it really sounds like she doesnt even want to write professionally like she would have been fine just writing fanfiction the rest of her life.

[@greeneyesgirl467]

I'm sure she's not complaining about the money coming in tho lol

[@Evansvillebelle]

To be fair, at a recent event of hers that I attended, she talked about some of the new science work she’s doing and I think she’s still very committed to being a full-time scientist.

[@lavendermarshmallowplant3229]

@@Evansvillebelle oh, haven't watched the video yet so I don't know if that will get mentioned at some point, but is she a STEM student or graduate? And if so, which field? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I read a lot of fanfics and it's not super rare for the fanfic author to reveal that the settings of their stories are actually based off of what their job is or what they're studying.

[@angelxxsin]

Ali Hazelwood got extremely lucky considering her publishing journey has virtually nothing in common with most writers'. Her agent used to be a reylo shipper and literally contacted her after reading her fanfic on AO3 to offer representation. I do think there's a lot to be said about privilege, but she basically had so much fortune in how things happened to her, she never even had to query and because she already had a platform as a reylo fanfic writer, capitalism gets to work. It's all about the dollaz. I won't go as far as saying someone ghost-wrote this book for her, because that's probably too extreme, but from what she's saying it does sound like it was more of a whole group of people at her publishing house who ended up putting it together because she was thoroughly clueless.

[@lauraburnham7461]

Saying someone ghost wrote this book actually isn't that far off. Ali Hazelwood admitted that her editor just tells her what tropes are popular and what should be written, and Ali just. Does that. She is the definition of mediocre when it comes to writing, she can't even come up with even a little bit of her own stuff. She's hand-held through the writing process.

[@sakinaalia1067]

@@lauraburnham7461 well to be fair that seems pretty standard. Most books use a couple of the most popular tropes. Difference is execution. I don’t know I didn’t like the love hypothesis so I’m not checking this out but the tropes thing doesn’t seem uncommon.

[@lauraburnham7461]

@@sakinaalia1067 what? Most books are not basing everything on a couple of tropes. There is usually a story in there, themes the author wants to explore. Making the trope of hight difference a huge part of the book is weird and not at all normal. Hazelwood though, seems to think it is. She straight up can't write.

[@sakinaalia1067]

@@lauraburnham7461 I mean around the same tropes, like as much as fake dating books have other details that drives much of the story. Working off tropes that are popular makes sense. Idk I don’t read romance much as a genre, I usually like it as a subplot so they don’t add a stupid miscommunication in the third act to keep it interesting, but even the ones I’ve loved have a trope driving the story, and I hated the love hypothesis.

[@lauraburnham7461]

@Trinity M lol

[@jkpiowa]

She's written the same story with the same characters 5 times now. There are genuinely amazing writers out there who don't need to be tutored how to write, who can't get traditionally published. It's so frustrating and unfair that Hazelwood has blown up so much when she has straight admitted that she doesn't know how to write well.

[@greeneyesgirl467]

The disappointment I got when I had The Love Hypothesis on hold in the library for MONTHS only to read it ..and not even able to finish it. Even the sex scene was so poorly written. I don't understand why people liked it so much 😕 last time I listen to popular hyped books on tiktok.

[@LimitlessMegan]

I don't begrudge her the lucky break, but also yes... the fact that she's blown up and everything she's writing is getting read when she's OK at best is exactly why I haven't read any of her things.

[@kanoelani3425]

i’ve read wattpad fics that were masterpieces in comparison the love hypothesis lmao

[@dekxu6673]

i get that but also it's not her fault that her books blown up and theirs didn't lol. if you want book success make a cheesy romance marketed as YA like all the other famous authors lol

[@victoriab98]

she written the same story and i’ll read it every time 😝 like take my moneyyy

[@clairechcohen]

Sending your work out for feedback is an extremely normal and important part of growing as a writer, no matter how much experience you have. That said, getting this much help from the agent/publisher specifically is as much evidence as we'll ever need that they are happy to prop up a name that already has a social media following; it has nothing to do with nurturing talent.

[@nevskislake]

-This! Well said!

[@moustik31]

Right? Meanwhile, everybody else is asked to submit finished manuscripts (beta read, edited and formated). 😒

[@MJSpice]

Exactly.

[@hourstooshort1447]

ALI Hazelwood is a step closer to A.I writing romance around tropes

[@Duhgel]

This made me snort lmao

[@NapaCat]

Brodi Ashton/Everneath is closer than even LH/Ali Hazelwood

[@VervainVanity]

i dont think i could read a book where the lady describes her love interest as a huge tree man so many times without picturing him as a lord of the rings ent.

[@BlissfulAriana]

I don't think you could read a book period if similes and metaphors are too complex for you.

[@VervainVanity]

@@BlissfulAriana hey now, I won’t judge if you like your men especially wooden 😉

[@syd5680]

about the "tropification" of romance: in my opinion, it's about how literature is now being advertised specifically in romance and young adult genres. like tropes, cliches, archetypes exist and are found in all books, but the issue is when you advertise based solely on those things. like with ali hazelwood's advertisement about "love on the brain," it doesn't tell me ANYTHING about what the book is about. i just think it's really stupid to just read something based on what tropes a book has rather than what the book is actually about. and so many authors are also just writing tropes now instead of actual stories. "enemies to lovers," "there was only one bed," "morally gray villain" - disregarding the quality of a lot of books that are advertised like this (especially on booktok), not only does it not tell you anything, it also has nothing to do with the narrative if that even exists. they're just writing about things happening with no meaning. and let's not forget the weird performative aspect of using lgbtq+ and characters of color in the book to market said books too

[@ekinsaglam9260]

YES! I think “tropification” is one of the biggest reasons why a lot of people find booktok unreliable. Because of the short video format, videos tend to be based on the tropes of the books whereas for example in booktube the average length is much more than tick tok and people go in depth about their opinions of the books. I really like the enemies to lovers trope but what would make me buy a book is not that tropes existence but the general opinions about the characters,plot,wordbuilding, writing, pacing etc. For those reasons I think reviews and videos are much more beneficial for me-and I think a lot of people. Seeing a book on booktok and deciding to read it just based on its tropes or aesthetic has a higher chance of disappointment. ( But obviously impulsive decisions on reading can turn out very rewarding too, I am just saying it is more risky) Long story short this contributes to people’s bad experlences with booktok recommendations.

[@FriedFreezer]

It’s a product of the bleed through from fanfic I think. Fanfic websites have clickable tags of everything in them. Fandom, characters, dynamics, tropes, triggers, the more tags you put the more avenues the audience has to get to your work.

[@tammietriestoread]

listen i think the most egregious thing about that interview was her saying she wanted fanfic for the atrocity that was netflix's persuasion 😭 like what she's telling me is that i cannot trust her taste at ALL

[@danaslitlist1]

same😂 I was like “….for THAT version, Ali?!”

[@Darkslide99]

Yes that’s horrible! I’m pretty relaxed about adaptations even one’s that flip the switch with respect to taking liberties with modern language buuuut the new Persuasion is pure comic relief! Zero chemistry, Zero angst, gave the audience zero credit or “read between” just a lot of “very well executed lines” delivered like expensive caviar being spread on stale bread.

[@moustik31]

WHAT? Unless she means, to give us a fanfiction where Henry Golding should is casted as Captain Wentworth and Dakota Johnson isnt castes as Anne, I dont want to hear about it.

[@cakt1991]

I’m in the minority who doesn’t hate that version (granted, I went in with lower expectations), but she does know that it’s an adaptation of a book, right? A very loose adaptation, which is in the same lane as fanfic? 🤔

[@MJSpice]

LOL now she's being messy on purpose.

[@fernandafuentes6858]

I have a bachelor's and a master's degree in Literature and Creative writing and the number 1 rule all of my teachers gave me (besides write as much as you can) was: read, read, read, read everything you can and think critically about it, think as a writer while you are reading so it can improve your writing. Read everything from classics, genre fiction and non-fiction to terrible books so you learn what works and what doesn't work and you can apply that to your own writing. And I mention this to say that I think a big issue with writers like her who come from ao3, wattpad, etc. is that they are not reading anything but fanfic and maybe the occasional YA or adult romance and that would be great if they were a regular reader not a traditionally published author. I feel like these writers don't do their research and reading and they all end up sounding the same with the same style, syntax, metaphors, tropes and characters. And this has been happening since the twilight craze when publishers suddenly started buying every twilight fanfic they could get and it only has gotten worse since the tiktokification of the publishing industry. All of this just makes me sad as a writer who has done the job and probably won't ever be published because my country censors lgbt stories, doesn't publish my genre and it's basically impossible to publish in the U.S if you don't live there... Regarding her interview I think it's very different getting feedback on a story you came up with and spoon feeding a plot to someone who can't come up with one. Sorry if I don't make sense, english is not my first language

[@ManEatingTeddyBear]

Look, I'm someone that likes the size difference trope, but god Ali Hazelwood just takes it and goes Too Far. Like, unless you're writing monster romance, that's just ridiculous.

[@Darkslide99]

OMG have you read The Wall of Winnepeg? you will laugh hysterically bc every other line is like he was huge, massive, mountainous, enormous, behemoth, gigantic!! you’ll die😂 now it’s like a hobby for me finding this in books. totally agree with you

[@MJSpice]

Maybe slip this to Ali and she might actually do better in that genre looooooool.

[@ManEatingTeddyBear]

@@Darkslide99 lmao I actually tried to read it and DNF'd...

[@fishbowlwoman]

I wish it wasn't all about "look for what will sell" and more "look at this amazing writing/style/concept." Too much of the corporate world thinks about the sales first before even having the product to sell. Also the interspersed quotes were p e r f e c t.

[@bethanyreed1146]

I hated that it was so strongly advertised as enemies to lovers and within the first chapter you could tell it was just miscommunication 🙄

[@Darkslide99]

right?! my comment above was same like i feel she could’ve given them a better story! that was just lazy writing. He avoided her deliberately like the plague and then it was all just “nah i didn’t hate you” 😒 bruh c’mon!

[@Abstract.Serenity]

Agreed! Sally Thorn's The Hating Game is the only contemporary enemies-to-lovers that didn't make me cringe. Composed 100% better than anything Ali has written.

[@yohanedescends4683]

writers and fans nowadays just use enemies-to-lovers for anything because its a popular trope and it'll get people interested. too many EtL are just miscommunication or one-sided with the guy already having feelings for the girl.

[@yohanedescends4683]

writers and fans nowadays just use enemies-to-lovers for anything because its a popular trope and it'll get people interested. too many EtL are just miscommunication or one-sided with the guy already having feelings for the girl.

[@miledytrujillo9967]

Exactly 😭😭 it was good the first 10 chapters and then it went downhill

[@o_o-lj1ym]

I’m dying at the ridiculous quotes from the book being interspersed through the video 😂😂

[@SM-fy4ij]

I despised TLH but I gave one of her novellas a try just to be sure and I disliked that just as much. Here are my two main gripes with Ali Hazelwood. #1 is that people who don’t like the book for one reason or another blame it being based off of fan fiction which I think is such a disservice. Yes I understand that fanfiction is it’s own specific category and it’s not for everyone, but let’s not discredit some seriously talented people because Ali Hazelwood doesn’t know how to craft a story. TLH being bad, imo, has nothing to do with it being based off of a Reylo fanfic. #2 Is that I’m afraid she has no dimension. They say to “write what you know” and you can definitely see that all authors have their preferred and specific writing style but that doesn’t mean their books are flat or repetitive. Thus far, Ali Hazelwood has shown that she knows a lot about science and likes really really tall men. But without any variance in her plots or characters, her books just seem like different variations of TLH.

[@MJSpice]

All of this

[@LimitlessMegan]

*And very short women... or all he books need to feel like they are happening to her (I haven't checked but assume she is short).

[@petra8445]

thiss

[@Anna-zy5su]

@@LimitlessMegan The weird thing is Olive from TLH was supposed to be tall (5'8) but they made her seem TINY in comparison to the love interest which made no sense

[@LimitlessMegan]

@@Anna-zy5su What? I'm 5'9/5'10 and I'd never be "short" next to anyone (even my 6'4 BIL). So weird...

[@clarabrandaog]

As an indie writer, I can't explain how livid TLH made me feel. Call me jealous and I'll be the first to say OF COURSE I am, I can't believe something so amateur like that could be published and become such a hit just because it blew up on TikTok.

[@879SCSP]

The biggest thing that will always anger me is the fact that a good portion of the reylos in the early days of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy fandom basically were racist as hell to anyone who basically saw Finn as a potential love interest to Rey, basically either infantilizing him or villainizing him, but somehow they're the ones left to control the narrative and get book deals like none of that ever happened.

[@ivysylvan]

I have an MFA in creative writing and am currently working towards getting an agent and being traditionally published. In an ideal world, every agent would provide this much help for their clients. They're supposed to help you bounce ideas, workshop next projects, define a career trajectory--the good ones certainly do! Also, a lot of authors, especially new ones, do feel like they're flailing in the dark without direction or need a lot of assistance honing ideas. That's normal; that's part of the process. As someone who goes through those same flails when working on a new project, it's actually comforting to me to see an author say the quiet part out loud: none of us know what we're doing. All that being said. There's definitely a divide in who GETS that help and how much of it. Who gets a second chance. Who the agent or editor decides to champion. As a white author, I know I would get advantages just because of how I look and the resources that were available to me just to make it as far as I have. As a queer author, I know I would have disadvantages because of what would be in said story. Neither of which is right.

[@tellyisdreaming]

I gotta say, I looooove the art of the cover of those books. It is pretty, and has a kind of simplistic, dreamy feeling to it. Idk, I just like it.

[@younglingmaid2526]

Right? It’s so simple but powerful at the same time while being whimsical!

[@msthornback7935]

How Ali Hazelwood described the writing of this book sounded like paint by numbers and she got that type of support because she got big on Tik Tok. Feels like publishing is just giving away book deals to anyone who has a Tik Tok/social media following because they will have to do the barest minimum to promote it. Which seems to be leading to social media prowess=expertise which is shit for non-fiction. As a reader the whole thing is uncomfortable.

[@ZeinaIan]

As a woman who is 4'11, her descriptions of really small women and really big men makes me uncomfortable. I don't know why, maybe because it feels borderline fetishy. 🤷‍♀️

[@peggyoneil2123]

I love when small, not curvy women are the heroines because I'm just as short as you and I was also uncomfortable with the physical descriptions of Bee. I know super short and with really tall pairing happen but Bee was also fitting MIDDLE SCHOOL clothing and fainting all the time. . .

[@malaikitamin]

yes!!! fetishy! that is exactly the feels I got and it made me soo uncomfortable.. also that every guy is super tall AND (MUST HAVE) a big penis... its offensive and ridiculous

[@Angelica_Rodriguez39]

This has kind of cemented my decision never to read anything of hers. Not to begrudge someone getting their bag, but there are plenty of people out there who don't have half the support she does and have 10 times the talent. It's so frustrating.

[@Ashley-gq9xy]

"He's built like a Victorian mansion" WHAT IS THAT 💀💀I was dying at the insert of all these quotes describing how LARGE the love interest is. For what it's worth, the tweet you mentioned got blown wayyy out of proportion. You can't say a single negative thing or critique without people saying you're a terrible human being and destroying careers. Sorry but I think Ali's career is just fine, people will continue to buy her books lol.

[@Ashley-gq9xy]

Also the trope thing is only annoying to me because it's not only with romance. Feels like every book gets hyped up based just on the tropes, or that the tropes are forced into the book in a way that doesn't make sense.

[@rubyyro]

From what I've heard, every single male love interest in Ali Hazelwood's books are described like that and I'm- girl. Not every man out there is 6'4 and BROAD. She's just making it real obvious to everyone that her dream man is literally... Adam Driver. As if that's not evidenced enough by TLH.

[@kittyflumpin]

"He's built like a Victorian mansion... drafty and full of spiders" At least that sounds more interesting, ngl

[@yohanedescends4683]

@@Ashley-gq9xy i agree. a lot of writers don't actually care about writing a STORY/PLOT anymore, they just want to shoehorn a lot of tropes to get readers interested. like the one bed trope as advertising is bizarre because it's literally just one scene!

[@LifeasMonae]

I think I’ll pass right over this like I did love hypothesis

[@moustik31]

Same. These books are not for me: been there, done that.

[@blackhalo317]

It really reminds me of when people put out a fanfic prompt with tropes in mind and then someone writes it.

[@lisettefernandez1838]

I think my biggest gripe is like. Ali Hazelwood didn't even have to be good to be published. Like don't get me wrong I can deffo appreciate the creative journey but the fact that someone who apparently can't follow the most BASIC foundations of writing published two wildly successful books and got internet fame? Yeah usually publishers would spit on even the completed version of the love hypothesis but the fact that she was able to get a chance despite being completely clueless? Yeah that definitely stinks of privilege

[@lisettefernandez1838]

No hate to author herself- it tales balls to be transparent about your weaknesses and all that, it's moreso like. The fact that she was given a chance and such leniancy in an otherwise brutal field really rubs me the wrong way

[@raven_moonshine39]

@@lisettefernandez1838 "The fact that she was given a chance and such leniancy in an otherwise brutal field really rubs me the wrong way" YES YES YES!!! Exactly! That's what it is! It's that she's getting all these passes when I have met so many unpublished authors with such interesting stories and such good writing who can't get a single agent to even request a partial manuscript and yet here's a woman who still needs her hand held through the entire process of writing one book (that admittedly sounds like it's essentially a copy/paste of her previous book) getting multiple book deals. It's just baffling and frustrating.

[@zibbernautinbookspace]

HILARIOUS how you split the video up with tree/size kink quotes. had me trying not to laugh every time 🤣

[@tabitash6394]

I'm reading this book now (I have about 50 or so pages left) and I feel like maybe she uses the quirky stuff to make the characters more relatable for people who aren't into the science-y stuff 🤷‍♀️ my biggest issue with her books, which you definitely highlighted in your video is the way she describes her male love interests. Levi has a laundry list of reasons why he is into Bee. Yeah he is attracted to her obviously but he not only tells her how much he likes her but why he likes her and describes in detail past interactions they've had and how he felt during them. Bee constantly describes how attractive and big he is, and I say this as someone who is married to a man who is 6'4"! Don't get me wrong, I am very attracted to my husband and I like that he is tall and has long legs and big hands, etc but it's not why I love him. How big he is isn't even in the top 5. I think it would be ok to describe how big he is when introducing the character and maybe a little during the sex scenes if it's part of why she is turned on but unless his height or bigness has something to do with the plot (like how the height of astronauts matters mechanically) ok I can get behind that because it's important but you be CONSTANTLY going on about his size just annoys me. I'm plus sized and I hate when male authors constantly go on about small tiny petite women and focus so heavily on our size (which Ali Hazelwood does that too) and I also don't think it's ok to reduce a male character's attractiveness to his size.

[@greeneyesgirl467]

She has a size kink...and it shows lol

[@tyvn2283]

I think the trope-ificatation thing has to do with how books sometimes get marketed or recommended by fans by only using the tropes that are in the book. With there being less prominence being put in the actual plot of the book. Like there isn’t anything wrong with liking a certain trope and wanting to read a book that has it but not every story is going to write the trope in the same way or sometimes that trope isn’t really accurate for what actually happens. Personally if someone describes a book only through its tropes, even if they are ones I like, I don’t in anyway feel inclined to actually look into it because that doesn’t really sell me on the book at all. It, to me, very much gives the same kind of vibe as someone saying to read/watch something because it’s gay and that’s all the say about it.

[@caytmiashell]

So agree. I feel like relying solely on tropes to promote a book takes away from the experience of reading the book? Not sure if that makes sense or not 😭 I just don’t want to know every box a book checks off before going into it

[@VickiWeavil]

@@caytmiashell Absolutely makes sense. As an author I want people to READ my books, and sometimes be surprised by things. The discovery process is very much a part of reading, IMHO.

[@SloanePaoPow]

Am I the only person who got KZbin ads for the Love Hypothesis, wherein a mom talks to her daughter over the phone about how she just read this great book she thinks her overworked daughter will just love? Just me? I found it so strange! Never have I had a book advertised to me in such a way.

[@shalanaf994]

Yes!!!! The ad was a Book of Month for the book. They really pushed that book.

[@mariam19554]

(This is going to be a long comment LMAO sorry in advance! Great video!!!!) You can definitely see from the marketing that they're leaning more into the way fanfiction is "marketed". I personally think the difference between fanfiction and published fiction is what/if you're trying to get anything out of it. Like, if I'm going to read some fanfiction, as Ali said in the interview, I want to stay in this "world" with these characters. It's like you're going trough a store and everything is neatly packaged into familiar tropes, like "enemies-to-lovers", "fake dating" etc. But when I'm looking to read books, I'm letting this book take me on a journey, letting it tell me a story and letting me meet the characters on its own terms. You basically get to pick a genre at most and then trust the description at the back but that's it. So I feel like some books that have been published recently are really trying to make it a "fanfiction-like" experience trough the marketing and, in Ali Hazelwood's case, trough the contents of the book itself. And it's getting a lot of people into reading, who are "scared" of reading because of classics they had to read in the English class.

[@brittanyhoward1741]

The worst aspect of Ali Hazlewood really is the fact that she doesn't try anything new. All of her books and novellas are just either enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers. there is no in-between and I'm afraid that Ali Hazlewood will never learn from this.

[@e-nev]

Bee's cluelessness in the book drove me nuts. Especially because it's written in first person. Like you said, Levi showed he was into her in SO many ways. And the fact that she includes all these things in a narrative that's from her perspective means that she noticed these things too! Yet she was still convinced he hated her? Girl. How? How!?

[@danaslitlist1]

Ali Hazelwood…..one of the most hyped authors who absolutely give us NOTHING. I made it 4 chapters into Love Hypothesis and I just don’t get the hype over the characters or writing, I’ve read better unpublished fanfiction Idk her characters seems like “I’m just not like other girls” even when they’re not. That’s the vibe I get from the books lmao As for the little graphic; I will make graphics similarly (but more detailed lol) accompanied by my review for books I read digitally or on audiobook. I’ll put some tropes but focus more on aspects I liked plot wise. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that style but at least make an effort to get the graphic to look nice!

[@eobrien1]

I think maybe what people meant by the tropeification of Romance is more that this seems to be the *only way* writers and publishers are marketing books anymore. You’re absolutely right that tropes have always been a big part of the genre, but imo it has never been like this. I am a longtime romance reader (it’s basically all I read except for thrillers lol) & you used to just hear the synopsis with a trope (occasionally maybe two) mentioned. Now, it’s actually kinda crazy to me, since they seem to iust go “Omg Omg you guyyysss *blurts out the names of 5 tropes*” and that’s the pitch. No actual explanation of what happens in the book that starts the normal way of, “It’s about a girl who moves back to her hometown…” etc. I could be wrong, but that’s my take.

[@raven_moonshine39]

More and more I'll get book recommendations that are just "It's enemies to lovers" or "It's fake dating" or "There's a love triangle" and I'm just like....and? What else? What actually happens? I'm admittedly not much of a romance reader, I prefer my romances as a side dish rather than a main course, but it's become the same way with genre I feel like. "It's dark academia." That tells me absolutely nothing except that it's set in a school and, depending on whether or not the person actually understands what dark academia is, it might have a murder. Or "it's fantasy!" Okay, what kind of fantasy? High fantasy? Low fantasy? Epic fantasy? Urban fantasy? Gaslamp fantasy? And it's the same with diverse books. "Oh, this book is so good! There are gay people in it!" "This book is about a person of color!" Great. Now tell me what they're doing and I'll decide if I'm interested or not. Like all of these things are good things to have in books. Tropes are a fundamental part of fiction. You can't have a book without a setting/theme. Genre is important in organization/marketing. Diverse books are important and always great. But they don't actually tell me what a book is about and there are too many books out there that I'm excited to read for me to put all that on hold for one that I know absolutely nothing about except that at some point two characters are going to have to share a bed.

[@chastity6062]

The MC is clearly is dating one of those walking trees from LOTR.

[@b2ksflyhoney]

🤣🤣🤣

[@lg9680k]

I think the problem with emphasizing tropes is that it gives the impression that these are story beats that should be hit and prioritized in reading rather than just things that may or may be naturally happening in the story as a result of themes/plot? which I don’t think is really authors’ fault, more marketing teams and I think it can actually do a disservice to the author’s works to boil down their story to buzzwords. It arguably makes more sense for fanfic to emphasize tropes as “selling points” to read since they are stories based off already existing ip so people go in the fanfic already invested/knowledgeable, and also wanting to read very specific characters in very specific situations so they can have fun with how that particular character they already know and enjoy might react in a situation. While even some argue genres as they exist are limiting, I think it will always be more useful to approach writing/classify and discuss books in terms of genre than tropes. I think in general, just and understanding of the conventions both and how they are meant to enhance or come about naturally in your stories rather than something you would construct them around entirely will help writers create new stories more easily. I don’t know if maybe ali hazelwood struggles with this out of a lack of confidence or an over-reliance on tropes as points to hit and having to fill in plot point in-between, but either way I hope she can build her confidence a bit more to branch out or even just make her niche stronger/more substantial.

[@renjiai]

I'm inspired to write a book with a short male love interest.

[@winraw6113]

My main pet peeve with her books is the characters being pieces of cardboard I don't mind the use of tropes, but when that's as deep as the characters go, it gets old fast. Also put some love on short kings 😔🤟

[@AngelaHesterBooks]

Oh man...the quotes you gave were painful. lol Thanks for taking one for the team!

[@briannagolatt]

With these quotes all I could think was: is this Levi part tree? 😂

[@parmahmac6073]

I am ashamed that I liked The Love Hypothesis. I am a TROPE QUEEN. I like to know what I am getting when I buy a book. There is a formula to follow but it’s what the author does with that formula that makes the book enjoyable. So many talented writers (Black women!) out there that don’t need their hand held by an agent to this extent.

[@BooksofAmber]

The thing that gets me is publishers tell people what to write ALL THE TIME. They approach agents with story demands and the agents ask their writers to write it. It happened with Rachel Hawkins and The Wife Upstairs because the publisher wanted that specific thing and the agent was like "yeah I have someone who can do that". But no one talks about that and they're acting as though AH is the first :)))

[@booksvsmovies]

Plus there are book packagers who's entire business model is commissioning authors to write stories for ideas they generated. The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, and Pretty Little Liars were all packaged books.

[@BooksofAmber]

@@booksvsmovies yes!! It's hardly a novel approach.

[@brennamartin2546]

Oof. As a writer, it's cringy hearing that her idea basically didn't come from herself? I get asking people for feedback, but usually you don't ask for that much direction on a project. You want people's reactions, not prescriptions on what you should write.

[@froggyringu]

Hate to love is an art form. Very few authors can actually write it well. I mostly only enjoy it when both parties dislike each other in the beginning but then get thrust together and they have to learn about each other....and then they fall in love.

[@Emily-fh8en]

You can tell her "i'm not like other girls" ness comes through in that interview bless her heart

[@iheartcats4life_]

I still love how you said you were bamboozled by the love hypothesis 🤣 that's such a good word for it and I felt the same way and couldn't finish it

[@annaevans476]

I think what Ali gets right is the science writing. I absolutely love the academic-romance genre, and I think for me, she really captures that immersive feeling of being in STEM/academia. I understand what you mean by the overuse of the Marie Currie-thing. However, when I read it from my point of view as a women in STEM, it's refreshing to see someone other than athletes or musicians being idolized. I do wish there was more diversity, and the male dominated environment is something that, in my experience, can be frustrating to deal with. I really like these books as cheesy as they are, even though I did find her cluelessness absolutely infuriating. If you have any recommendations for similar (or better) academic romances, I'm interested!

[@QueenBethJoy]

I know Ali Hazelwood said this is the first one she was writing from scratch, but it still felt like a fanfiction to me. Specifically a Loki/Jane Foster fanfiction. The way she described Levi, the name comparison, the dynamic between Bee and her assistant, /her assistant/ that reminded me so much of Darcy. So I don't know if that was subconscious for her, or if she was pulling ideas from an old fanfiction she wrote or what, but those were the vibes I got.

[@jasminv8653]

For real i was just thinking where i know these characters from and that's it. Also the hell kind of a name is BEE KÖNIGSWASSER. jeez.

[@Daniisavibe]

The opening has me ON THE FLOOR.

[@the1stfairy]

'[fanfiction] is mostly about the characters and their interactions, so you don't need to have a story with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd act and the beats and character arcs.' tell me you've never read good fanfic without telling me you've never read good fanfic. god. my soul hurts.

[@valenz1234]

I think it's true that fanfic often has a different structure and more flexibility compared to published stuff. But honestly that's what I like about it, it's less predictable and always a passion project.

[@jasminv8653]

tell me you missed the point without telling me you missed the point

[@tweetypieplansandreads]

The interspersed quotes though 🤣 LOVE IT!

[@GraveyardShift-tl6ri]

tamsyn muir is a great example of how you can start out writing fic and not be cringe with your published work, she did homestuck fic on ao3 and i think livejournal back in the day.

[@BookmarkChronicles]

The quote excerpts are killing me 😂😂😂

[@AlwaysInStock]

No I'm so glad you talked about the hate-to-love thing. Most if not all of the time it's miscommunication. And the reasons why they think the guy hates them are sometimes so childish. Girl, you're telling me that you as a grown woman with a grown woman job are hung up over a guy who is not connected with you platonically or romantically because he gave you a "bad" look one time? It's one of the reasons why I didn't like The Spanish Love Deception. The hate-to-love reasons seem so overblown and obnoxious

[@keisha3169]

I legit thought you were just making up those quotes I cannot A VICTORIAN MANSION?? 🤣💀

[@BandysBooks]

I read The Love Hypothesis and didn’t hate it, but now it’s a nominee for Book of The Month’s Book of The Year which I feel is a bit extreme. I actually appreciate her Honesty about requiring an entire team to write a book instead of taking all the credit by her self. I do think that her quirkry, science theme will get old…but then again I thought Coho’s toxic people thing would get old and somehow she just gets more popular. I am dying at all of the tree comparisons.

[@books_with_clementine]

Eww she liked the new movie adaptation of Persuasion… this tells me everything I need about her books, and I’m even less interested to pick up one of her books…. Hum, also the last books is with physicists, I’m one so I really am scared about that…

[@N_Garamond]

you bring up a lot of good nuances that I appreciate, esp as a writer. even the best writers may need a good amount of help. and trust me, we all need editing. I am glad you found a lot to like in the book. HOWEVER, after all that work, when she still has so many cringeworthy moments in her writing, my heart sinks. I know all writing is subjective, but it is disheartening that all that help still produced such highly questionable stuff.

[@formerclarity8836]

This honestly sounds like a book packager situation, but no one told the author? There's nothing at all wrong with 'package' books, and I'm sure we've all read and enjoyed books that were designed this way, but seeing the author describe the situation like she doesn't understand it makes her look extremely naive.

[@veronicachandler1314]

Yes, books have always relied on tropes, but I think lately, it has become the primary way some books are being advertised. Also, the short hands like 'enemies to lovers', and 'sharing a bed', or 'love triangle between dark haired and light haired guy' have definitely gained popularity that they didn't have ten years ago. People do come down hard on romance because it's something women enjoy and things women enjoy are instantly vilified, but there's also the stench of capitalism in the air. It's like writers are throwing tropes at a wall and seeing which ones stick, all in the interest of money.

[@Marie45610]

All her analogies for how tall the male characters in her books are weird.

[@caytmiashell]

I kind of get where people are coming from regarding the “tropification” of romance if they mean that people focus too much on tropes to pick what they read. I don’t necessarily agree but I do think when you ONLY point out the tropes a book has, it diminishes the rest of the story. I also don’t enjoy romance at all, so take that opinion with a grain of salt lmfao. The “PINING!!” line on that graphic really turned me off 😂 it might be petty but come onnnnn now

[@another_youtube_bot4400]

dude when a gun was brought out in Love on The Brain, I went through a whole range of emotions. That shit was outa nowhere, and then I remember it was set in Houston, and I lived in Houston for 6 years before moving elsewhere. So I read that moment as 'welcome to Texas, bitch.' So I laughed my ass off. That scene did not hit the way the author intended for me.

[@VickiWeavil]

My editor (and my publishing house) expect me to turn in a complete, fairly clean manuscript -- no handholding -- by the deadline. Will my editor answer my questions if I ask them? Yes, but she doesn't expect to write the book for me. (She's way too busy for that!) I do get revision notes from my editor after I turn in my manuscript, but I think one of the reasons I have ongoing contracts is that I do turn in fairly clean manuscripts and don't require massive amounts of help in writing them. I mean, that's how it usually works in the business. Other writers are going to be surprised if they think they are going to get Hazelwood's level of hands-on support. Referencing your comment about agents or editors having time to offer this level of help -- that would be great. But they honestly don't have the time. My agent is extremely helpful, but she doesn't time to handhold all her authors. So aspiring authors really should NOT expect anything like this (as you said). And your point about the industry -- so right. They certainly do pick and choose who they support (or not). (See: Lightlark as well). And the money bit is definitely true -- if books sell, they hype them. The industry basically doesn't care about representation or anything else. The bottom line is the $$.

[@afroqueen698]

I haven’t been on twitter much lately so I don’t know how they’re discussing trope-ification of romance on there, but I feel like the problem most people have with it has to do with how book recs work on tiktok. Many popular booktoks will only hype up the tropes that are present in a book and sometimes misrepresent the actual storyline because of it. For example, people will hype up a book because it has an enemies-to-lovers storyline and you will go into a book expecting to read about that trope, but come to find out you’re actually reading a murder mystery that happens to have a enemies-to-lovers storyline in the side. The other part is that it feels like many of the romance books released in recent years are relying on tropes to sell the story instead of the other way around, so it’s all feeding into each other.

[@t.a.summers]

I'm mentally prepping myself to read this book soon, but at least your review and the interview Ali gave Goodreads gives me an idea of what to expect, lol.

[@t.a.summers]

I understand what they mean by "tropeification" because it's not necessarily that people are opposed to tropes as much as it is people writing to those tropes specifically just to throw them in and then not developing the characters and plot to connect anything into a full or cohesive experience. I've seen it in a few novels I've read where I'm like "Make it make sense!" and I realize the reason that nothing really connects or happens is because...it's vibes no plot. Some writers can make that work, with caveats, but it takes work.

[@RaspberryDevil]

This was fun to watch, I like how you included these quotes :D Honestly, at this point I read so much fanfiction that I can't really agree with her? There are so many writers who write and wrote 'fix-it' stories, including character growth, world building, playing around with the lore. Fanfiction is not just shipping and romance tropes. And while I'm glad she got all this help, she should probably attend a writing workshop or something else if she wants to continue writing :') Also that graphic she made is cute, I'm not used to see these of authors since it's something you do in fandom. But since she comes from fandom spaces, it makes sense. It' a weird thing to be embarrassed by it. I think you're right about the whole industry thing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us 🐢✨️

[@Ektambo]

God this is so frustrating for anyone who has dedicated years of their life to craft. Like it really just goes to show what a shitshow publishing is.

[@raven_moonshine39]

God, yes. Hearing her say she read Save the Cat in preparation to write her SECOND book just...I had to stop what I was doing and just stare the wall for a moment after hearing that.

[@trianenopenottrian9108]

10:30 I cracked up I feel you on the physical reading thing. I can the hell not I just listen to what you read there. Edit: Jess... I have a whole scientific doctorate. I work at a lab with a bunch of tech geeks and scientist and LET ME TELL YOU...yes. They are. They are that clueless. Mix in a few divergencies and my friend I tell you the smarter the human the more clueless and obnoxious they are. And they make their personality being awkward or older the stories I could tell you about having to lie about my age (Make myself older) to be respected in my field or how someone thought me cheering in High school meant I was mean as a 25+ adult. This book is the mind of an awkward scientist and should be taken as a comedy. Except the men thing. That is a sad fact as the only black woman on my board.

[@ohhhgosh]

When you said "academic rivals to lovers" I immediately thought of The Make-Up Test by Jenny Howe!

[@RKStumblingbear]

As someone who hopes to be published someday, her interview reflected the writer-agent relationship from all the research I've done. I know each agent is different. I personally would like an agent that helps with the editing process and many do. Every traditionally published author I have heard about talks about how important it is to have a frank conversation before accepting representation because the writer-agent relationship is a business partnership. (The agent doesn't get paid unless the author does.) I'm happy she has found someone who can help her where she is at her stage in her career.

[@see_emmy_and_jack_read3569]

I am here for your shirt 😍👑🤣 ...and of course your commentary 🙌🏻 Also...what is with all of the 🌳🌲 references?!

[@kelleylovesbooks5688]

That intro.... Almost spewed my coffee all over my screen! 😂😂😂😂😂

[@kiwimint]

Haha actually i found your channel through one of your unboxing book mail videos!! It was so wholesome

[@sharonkantone9967]

It is weird that her and Anna Todd who are fanfic writers turned authors are the ones that are picked coz as an avid fanfic writer I feel like there are more talented fanfic writers that could write better books

[@audreybenony8264]

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I enjoy a cheesy, drama-filled, media escape. So sometimes, I'll disregard bad writing or problematic tropes if the story is juicy enough. However, here's some things I hated about the book. 1. The one thing I could not stand is the narrator's obsession with his height. At this point, I want to read a story where if the male love interest is 6'4", then the female love interest is 5'11". Seeing normal height differences would be refreshing. 2. On what planet do you get to have sex in a pretty much open area (unclosed/unlocked office with cameras... cameras everywhere) and keep your job? ALSO, I know Rocio is supposed to be this snarky dark-humored character, but it's not cool at all to have sex on your friend's desk... at work. 3. Levi... most things about him annoy me. Like for 1, be an adult and communicate. As soon as Tim stated he made Bee feel uncomfy during grad school, he should have pulled Bee to the side to clear the air. It was ridiculous that even in their professional ground-breaking project (one that he has personal connection with due to the death of his best friend), he couldn't be an adult and clear the air. He had to wait for Bee to cuss his ass out for him to realize what he's doing. Having a crush does not excuse the way he acted during grad school. Actively avoiding a colleague of yours is extremely childish. 3.5 At this point, even though Levi's lack of communication annoyed the living shit outta me. Right now, he's clearly being kind and caring. Y'all clearly bond over multiple things. So why is Bee still insisting he hates her! But if Levi refuses to explain himself and clear the air, even after hearing her state MULTIPLE TIMES how she thinks he feels about her, it's his fault for how Bee perceives their relationship. If she's stating "you hate me" and he's not explaining why that's not true, then he's actually confirming her beliefs. But if Levi actually hated her, he wouldn't want to be around her. This was very frustrating to read, I punched the book multiple times. 4. I thought the dinner scene w/ his family was poorly written, simply just an over-dramatic cliché scene. Side note, if I've been vegan for nearly half my life, and you still make reservations to a steak house of all places, I'm either refusing to eat dinner with you, or I'm picking the place and making the reservations myself. I also wouldn't bring someone to witness the shitshow wither. Another side note, realistically, if you have a PhD in ENGINEERING and if you're working for NASA, most parents would sort of... get the fuck over the fact that their kid chose a different career path. 5. If I am telling you one of my deepest darkest and most traumatic experience, such as witnessing my best friend since early childhood die in front of me, it's probably not the best time to initiate sex. 5.5 Very idealistic to think you can take down the GRE or other standardized testing. People have done work surrounded by taking down or reworking the SAT/ACT for instance and haven't made that much progress. So it's simply unrealistic, reforming the status quo takes hard work. 6. I swear to God, I felt like Guy was about to say "And I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids". That ending felt so Scooby-doo ish. 7. This is petty on my end and not real criticism but I'm not wearing a target dress and a lab coat to my wedding lmao.

[@LoveLeighReading]

Tropes help me decide if I want to read a book sometimes. And if the author delivers on said trope satisfyingly I'm more likely to read other things from the author. With the format of the post she made to Insta, I am not sure if she started it but I have seen so many reviewers use that. At this point I'm annoyed by it. But also it gets the tropes in my face so idk 🤷‍♀️

[@angelxxsin]

I saw this trend on boosktagram and admittedly had no idea this is the book that started it. It did seem a little shocking at first and I couldn't put my finger on why. Romance has always been about the tropes but I think the problem many have is with how romance has further devolved into a laundry list of tropes and that's the way books are sold, almost like just stringing a bunch of keywords together. This is exactly what a ton of people, including actual romance readers, criticize about the genre. As a marketing person and someone who used to read romance, I have mixed feelings about it. I stopped reading romance a few years ago because of how formulaic it all had become, especially in the era of Amazon and chasing the algorithms.

[@LoveLeighReading]

@@angelxxsin Admittedly I read a lot more self pub romance than trad pud so I feel I've been lucky with books not feeling formulaic. But I can definitely see where the problems come in if you pick a trope first and write around that. Stories should naturally fall into tropes, so writing around a specific trope can feel forced to the reader.

[@Chelsea2023K]

I think the problem with Ali Hazelwood's books is that they are all the same and her next release looks to be the same too. The writing is too over the top for me and the heroines too quirky. I'm over the huge man small woman trope and I need more communication between my heroine and hero.

[@reecha994]

One of the things I like about fanfiction is that it's based on interpretation. Whether you interpret your characters, situation, the relationships the characters have with each other...the possibilities are endless so it's kind of interesting that Ali thinks fanfictions are more constraining than the industry which is known for rejecting author's works for the smallest things. Anywho, I know some folks love her and good for you, but Ali's writing is pretty boring. Especially cause she writes to one trope, one type of character, and one type of situation and still can't build a compelling story. If her fanfics were like this...I would pass.

[@secretlyadragon4723]

Jess, stop lying. Ain no way those are actual quotes from the book. Somebody would have told her to stop romanticising tree bark at some point. That same agent for instance, offering all her help and support couldn't have said, "Ali, you sound like you have a tree fetish. Tone it down." You telling me not one person on her editing team even... ridiculous! 🤣

[@spinningiris]

That t-shirt is Fabulous!! I have never heard of this book or this author...But I will say those quotes had me giggling, and they do sound like they are right out of a fanfiction.

[@27-kimaudriehilton67]

She was convinced that he hated her because he rolled his eyes at her ONE time. It was so ridiculous 😭😭 The way all of Ali Hazelwood's books have the same miscommunication problem, the same characters and the same story over and over again are so annoying. Because you know the Reylo cult will buy her books no matter what

[@andeeharry]

welcome back Jess, love your t-shirt

[@jenyfursmith8413]

That last quote convinced me that I’m not going to read this. A Victorian mansion? REALLY?!

[@laaapanda]

I could not agree more with the cluelessness of the mains in her books. I did like this book way more than TLH, but damn can she write a PHD grad who isn’t totally inept at reading human interactions? It becomes clear within the timeline of the book that Levi CLEARLY cares about her and is not actually an asshole, but she asserts it so hard like we, the readers, can’t also read what he’s doing. It’s wild! Again, I liked this wayyy more than TLH, but the same issues still rise up.

[@MJSpice]

Lol Ali Hazelwood is slowly becoming one of those love to hate authors. I really don't get the hype tho like I tried reading another novella of hers and it just seemed like a rehash of TLH. Then I found out that practically ALL her books are nothing but Reylo fanfics republished under different names. Her "tee hee" reveal of the fact that her books are built on nothing but tropes provided by editor doesn't help any. If anything it's white privilege at work because you know that any BIPOC writer trying to do the same thing would be dragged to the depths of the Mariana Trench.

[@isabellavalentine7268]

I have read everything by her so far- I had an ARC of this and really enjoyed it (minus the obsession with Marie Curie, girl please) and then upon re-reading it realized that I did not really enjoyed it as much (5 stars dropped to 3), and I realized it's because everything she writes is written from a YA high school prospective. "He made no eye contact with me in grad school and now 6 years later, he must still hate me" like??? He never hated you to begin with??? That ain't hate

[@teddy3809]

i have no problem with her writing revolving around science and STEM (i actually rly like it bc i am a STEM reader) but i just don't like her books! they are not good and it lowkey annoys me that they are some of the only books i can find written abt STEM.

[@taylorgayhart9497]

I don’t find the advertising of the book that way to be embarrassing, but as far as the tropefication of romance, for me I just hate when authors rely too heavily on tropes instead of providing character building or plot development. There are definitely some books out there that I’ve read that are just a bunch of troops strung together to fill out enough pages to make a novel.

[@FatimaMarques0890]

Wring a book and writing fanfiction is different, Totally agree, the why does she keep writing books as fanfiction? Emphasizing descriptions is so fanfic, dialogues, and development that lead to nowhere are fanfic, and weird metaphors and similes are worth fanfic, so I can't take her seriously. She wrote books, they have been published, kudos to her but that doesn't mean they're great.

[@ohladysamantha]

I’m generally a fan of her works, but always love to hear your roast/critique depending on the book. I do think she NEEDS to make her people more physically diverse. Not all men are 6’5 and not all women are 5’ and TINY. Im not bothered by the science stuff because it is so different from my own life so it’s like fantasy in a way 😂. I do appreciate her demisexual rep in a couple of her works and I appreciate her being transparent about her process. No one creates anything completely alone! Good art takes collaboration!

[@orchardbackup]

This is my first time finding out the couple on the cover Love on the Brain is NOT the same one from Love Hypothesis

[@booksslay]

As a romance lover, I devour Ali’s books. I’ve read both TLH and LOTB and adored them. But you have to be real to yourself and understand how cringey they are 😭 because, they are. You can clearly tell by the writing that it’s as if it was a fanfic that got promoted by no merits. I love the books for their cringeyness (?) but they give us the same couple over and over again, Adam and Levi were the same person. Olive and Bee are eerily similar. It’s annoying that more talented authors don’t get a chance to showcase their expertise!

[@bobertvallie5746]

if Maria Skłodowska Curie was mc's idol, she should've known her full name pls 😭

[@yuliavmp]

after reading the TLH I will never touch another Ali Hazelwood again 😂

[@briarbramblerose]

I think writing is something that even a lot of writers don't rightly understand. I have not read anything by Ali Hazelwood, but if your quotes from the book are anything to go by I wouldn't be able to deal with her writing. Tropes are everywhere, and not just in writing. There isn't anything wrong with using them, and knowing what ones are going to be catnip to readers is a game of chance. She's lucky. How she got picked up was lucky, but the fact that she's getting help is the mark of a good agent. They were shopping a book that they didn't know would sell. It's good business sense to have something else ready to submit. Writing is hard work, and while it sounds like they hand-fed her a lot of things, she still had to get the words out. An entire industry has built up around writing, basically, someone else coaching you through your writing processes. You can pay some pretty pennies for someone else to do that. Publishers aren't the only ones out to make money. All those writers who are subbing to publishers aren't offering up their books for free. They are trying to make money just like the publishers are. It's funny how some people pretend that they are just trying to get their work out there to be seen, but if that was all you were doing you could share your writing in other ways. If you are subbing to a publisher, you want to be paid for your writing. The real problem with publishing today is their model is just fucked up. I mean they buy numerous books, try to guess which ones will do well, and ignore the other ones. When those ignored ones do poorly, they blame the author rather than looking to their flawed publishing/marketing plans. Every once in a while one of those ignored books will explode, and then the publisher scrambles to try and figure out what made that book catch fire. Then they try to duplicate it, normally, by having that author, or other authors try to recreate that same story. How many really popular books have you read, and then seen the insane number of copycats that show up on the store shelves aftward. We assume Ali Hazelwood is doing the same thing over and over again because it's what she writes, but it sounds more like it's what she's been locked into the way that certain other authors of popular books series are not allowed to write outside the series world that they blew up with. I mean sure they could try and strike out on their own and write something else, but if the publisher isn't willing to stand behind the book, it won't matter.

[@jeanm1911]

I am in STEM and have been on the fence about reading Ali. I think she has been so hyped. I probably won't read till there is less hype. I can't believe how help this author gotten. She sounds like she is thankful for the help but totally unrealistic for most authors. Thank you Jess for your genuine review.

[@alex23star]

Honestly not worth it. I'm in STEM too and in love hypothesis I didn't mind the stem representation but after a while it gets really annoying. All she talks about is how hard it is for women to be in stem, all of the bad things and I'm not saying misogyny doesn't exist but her portrayal of stem seems a little harsh. Like idk can u mention the good parts too, like the old kind professor that treats u like their daughter some things. Like she mentions the good parts in one line and just makes stem seem so unbearable. It's like she wants to show that the fmc is so freaking smart and strong and all the guys suck , but meanwhile her fmc is acting like a 13 year old.....like wtf. Her books leave me so frustrated. Irl stem life can be frustrating but it's also fun and Ali sucks out all the fun bit of stem to write a one dimensional plot .

[@jeanm1911]

@@alex23star this is exactly what I suspected thank you so much for your honest feedback