source: purchased
rating:★★★★★
from goodreads:
Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job.
Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
my review:
love theoretically. i finished it in two sittings and i can say i couldn’t put it down. ali is an amazing author.
elsie is such a relatable character, from the beginning to the end. i looooveeeee the character development throughout the book. went from insecure to knowing what boundaries to set. i love that she had self doubt but also kicked ass at anything she did and KNEW she kicked ass.
jack was great the whole way through. he was a very soft and caring man that would pretty much go to the end of the earth to make sure those he cared about were taken care of.
don’t get on his bad side though!!! always love a man that falls first. i can’t get over the possessiveness that comes with the man falling first. i also loved that he paid attention to her and did things for her that no one else would do, he seen her for who she was and did things because he wanted to see her happy, healthy, and succeed.elsie’s mentor pissed me off the whole book. i can definitely say i hated him and i feel like he is much of the reason why elsie is the way she is and why she is such a people pleaser!! i’m glad she finally learned who he was and stood up for what she believed in.
this book was super cute. the STEM part of it is interesting because in my field of study we had to learn about allll of it so having it tie into my reading hobby is kinda cool and interesting! it was also super heart throb for me, they were so cute some of their banter moments from the beginning when they hated each other were sooo funny to me. i love when a book can make me laugh and feel mushy at the same time. i hated that the “break-up” came so far at the end of the book because we really didn’t get a super mushy make-up scene or anything like that. the “break-up” also didn’t break my heart like it usually does. i feel like it was more of an understanding than it was a breakup.
loved the olive and adam cameo! i feel like elsie and olive would be the bestest of friends and they would both be badass STEM bosses!
the ending was very forgettable but nonetheless cute. i always wish we got more from the endings but i guess it’s for a reason!
i really wanna get to know more about kirk and cece. and dora and george. looking forward to more ali hazelwood stories!!!
favorite quotes:
"its easier like that, isnt it? never showing anyone who you really are... when you're yourself, that's when you're exposed."