Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.
Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.
But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?
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REVIEW
If there is one thing that I loved from Ali's characters from her previous books is how relatable they are! Needless to say that after also meeting Ali on Apollycon this past July, I became even more enchanted with her writing. I knew that Love on the Brain would be out and I was overly excited to dive into this book.
Technically we'd apply this on the enemies to lovers trope BUT hear me out, the feelings run deeper. Here we have Bee a neuroscientist who becomes contracted to work with freaking NASA and there she meets her old grad school enemy, Levi who is the lead engineer. Cue in the sexism, the unprivileged treatment that is unfortunately evident in academia (both theoretical and practical believe me), and you have two people who despite their difference slowly open up to one another.
I did not expect Levi to top up Adam from the Love Hypothesis. I DIDN'T! He is such a sweet and amazing person! And Bee my beautiful pink-haired scientist needed all the love she could get. Of course, each interaction was packed up with the classic Ali humor where I found myself thinking that the author also shared this deep love for academia but mostly about seeing these two characters dealing with their issues and finding love in each other.
I definitely did not expect those final chapters to develop the way they did; I gasped when I realized why everything was going so wrong.
Do I desperately need this to be adapted into Netflix?
Yup
Do I even want an anime adaptation?
100% also
Do I recommend it?
Already you are reading this book and you have not realized it yet :P
About the author:
My favorite thing in the world is to explore traditional romance tropes—and to picture how they’ll play out in academic settings.
Rival scientists falling in love despite their better judgement?
There’s only one cot in the lab?
Fake dating during faculty meeting?
Sign me up!
I’m originally from Italy, lived in Japan and Germany, and eventually moved to the US to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. I recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies me. Oh, the sheer dread of being entrusted with the care of young minds!
When I’m not at work you can find me binge-watching shows with my feline overlords (and my slightly less feline husband), running, or eating candy.
Oh, and I’m a New York Times Bestselling Author.
I’m represented by the amazing Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.
Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.
After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.
If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most – Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares – each other?
Ah my dear Megan Bannen...from where I do begin to write about how her books always feel like they tear out my heart, take a chunk of it, and then put it back? Bot her previous works, The Bird and the Blade and Soulswift had introduced us with characters both flawed and spectacular in their bravery and how much more they truly felt amidst the story.
Megan knows how to craft a story that stays with you even after the book is done. Despite the ending that so far had left me crying about how unfair everything ad turned out, (definitely NOT Allegiant-like, let me viciously clear about this), exactly because of the plot the characters had altogether been woven gloriously seamlessly together.
The Undertaking of Hart and mercy is in essence: "You got mail" has a date with "Pride and Prejudice" in a "Waling dead" inspired world where the Old gods are gone, the New Gods have risen and all the people live in fear of zombie-like creatures that live in a surrounded area in this dystopian world.
Mercy works as an Undertaker, meaning in a funeral parlor whose job is to offer the last services to the dead both human and zombie-like in order to pass to the afterlife without coming back as zombies. I loved the ritualistic aspect of this, it reminded me greatly of ancient greek rituals with coins and incense.
Hart is a demigod and a hunter of zombies and he detests undertakers due to their greedy behavior and he does not like Mercy at all. When he sends a letter addressed to "A Friend" and said letter gets a reply then both will slowly develop a friendship via their writing and open up to each other.
The loathing Hart feels is real. The loneliness Mercy feels even surrounded by family is real. The way these two open up to each other anonymously through letters and fall for each other is so beautifully written I was waiting for another shoe to drop.
And it did. BUT this book was sooo worth the tears! I loved it very much, even more in its Fairyloot edition with the pink cover and sprayed edges! Definitely recommended!
About the author:
Megan Bannen is a former public librarian whose YA debut The Bird and the Blade was an Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2018 pick, a Summer 2018 Kids’ Indie Next List pick, and a Kirkus Best YA Historical Fiction of 2018 pick. While most of her professional career has been spent behind the reference desk, she has also sold luggage, written grants, collected a few graduate degrees from various Kansas universities, and taught English at home and abroad. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and their two sons. She can be found online at meganbannen.com.
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