Lit Vibes Only

Ep. 70: Lit It or Quit It: The Love Hypothesis

• Lit Vibes Only Podcast

Share episode

*Spoiler alert for Quicksilver by Callie Hart*

Join Kelsey and Amanda as they dissect Ali Hazelwood's 'The Love Hypothesis' in their signature style, balancing humor and insight. They explore the book's charming rom-com elements, realistic depictions of women in STEM, and moments of cringe-worthy dialogue, offering a thorough review that will leave you laughing and thinking.


00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only!

00:47 Find Us on Socials1

02:43 Current Reads 

09:03 Summary of ‘The Love Hypothesis’

18:50 Book Discussion

38:07 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst

51:54 Final Thoughts and Social Media Plugs


Send us a text

Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!

See you on Mondays!

Amanda (2):

In order to make choices that are best for you. Please note that this episode does contain brief, mentions of sexual assault

Kelsey:

Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit outta books we love and hate. I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard, romantic and fantasy reader.

Amanda:

I'm Amanda, the insightful thrill seeker and historical fiction nerd. Welcome and happy New Year. We are so glad. Oh my God. Yeah, you're right. It's 2026. Holy cow. Our very first episode of the New Year. We so excited that this podcast is still chugging right along. That you've all been here for this journey with us and we've got some good content for y'all today. But as always, if you were sitting out there and you have not yet rated and reviewed our podcast, we're gonna start with this this time. I think this is a great New Year's resolution for you that you can check off the list right away, which is to rate and review us as to give back. This is how you're going to do it. How do you more, more specifically how to rate and review your podcast. Hit that five star button if you are on either Apple Podcast or Spotify. If you are on Apple Podcast, you can also write a review for the entire podcast, a sentence or two, a little more than suffice. And if you are on Spotify, you can write a comment on this episode. Let us know what you think about the book we're gonna be discussing, and you'll have checked off. Your first New Year's resolution and we need that, like we need that motivation when we're making to-do list resolutions, like getting that first tick off is just for me, such a huge motivator. So we're also doing you as service. As well. Yeah, so please do that. And then if you are not currently following us on our socials, this year is a great year to start. We are on Instagram at Lit Vibes Only podcast, also TikTok and YouTube at Lit Vibes only podcast. So follow, comment, subscribe, engage with us there, share your thoughts. So we wanna know what you're up to, what you're reading, what your goals are, all of that good stuff. Mm-hmm. And if you're not on socials, which is okay if that's not your thing, you can also send us emails at Lit Vibes only podcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from folks over there as well, so you can reach out to us through our email or honor socials, but either way, get into touch and let's start this year off. Right guys. So

Kelsey:

excited.

Amanda:

Mm-hmm. So exciting. I know. It's, it always is like, okay, it is currently December 7th, so we are fully in like winter holiday, Christmas mode, and it's like, oh, actually Christmas hasn't, right? This is gonna, Christmas hasn't even, hasn't even happened yet. And here we are celebrating the new year. Mm-hmm. But Kelsey, what are you currently reading right now? So I

Kelsey:

started brimstone.

Amanda:

Okay. It is on my Libby. I'm waiting for it to come in. I can't

Kelsey:

believe you're gonna still read it. I know. I've heard like horrible things about it. Yeah. The editing is not good. That is like really poorly edited, very poorly edited. So I'm so curious, but also I'm listening to it. Okay. And it's such a long one. Such a fucking long one.

Amanda:

How many hours is it? 24 hours. Oh God, no. I've ne absolutely not. Okay, I have to interject. I like truly, like I've gotten so much better about listening to audiobooks this past year, processing that information being a better auditory processor and I could not keep track of that much content. Like orally, I just couldn't, mm-hmm. Like the people, the locations the map, like you don't have a map to look at, like how do you do it? Yeah. I would be so confused.

Kelsey:

I, for these ones, I tend to buy the book as well. Oh, okay. I don't currently have it, but I probably will just so I do have those things and then for some parts of it I can just. Read it as well. Okay. That's helpful. Mm-hmm. Because I just need a reference point.

Amanda:

I need a reference point for books of those length or that length. It's just like too much.

Kelsey:

Mm-hmm.

Amanda:

Okay. So you just started

Kelsey:

it? I just started it. I'm like an hour in. Okay. Yeah, I'm about an hour in. Okay.

Amanda:

And what are your initial impressions?

Kelsey:

You're learning a lot more about vampires.

Amanda:

Okay. That tracks and she's now the queen of the vampires. Mm-hmm. Sorry guys. Spoiler alert, if you haven't read Quicksilver, which you should have. It's been out for a minute now, so that's on you. You, but should preface

Kelsey:

this with spoilers.

Amanda:

We should maybe when I'm editing, I'll remember to put that in there. I, you're gonna love this, Kelsey. Last night I just finished reading all My Rage by Saba Tahir. Oh yes. Yes. Tell me what you thought. I, so I did not cry at any point. Um, Wow. Although I did get a lump in my throat at the end, but I loved it. You were absolutely right. It is. Mm-hmm. A tear jerker, it's going to destroy you. The level of emotional devastation that both of these characters go through, like the FMC and the MC. Is just off the charts. It's one of those books where you're like, nothing more could happen. Like nothing else could possibly go wrong. Yeah. And then something else inevitably goes wrong. Yeah. It does have a happy, bittersweet ending, so that was nice. But yeah, SA Bad Hir knows how to write a great novel. It is a white novel, but it is just a great novel period. And I learned so much about like Pakistani culture. Mm-hmm. And. Yeah, just the various struggles that immigrants face in the United States and mm-hmm. It was just, it was beautiful. I, if you haven't read it, you should read it. Yeah. I'm so glad that I recommended it and that you read it and then I finally read it. Yeah, that's perfect. It only took me like a year. So yeah, so I just finished. Had it

Kelsey:

been that long?

Amanda:

Yeah, it's yeah, roughly. Yeah. I think it's been exactly year, actually.'cause I think that was like last December, because I think that the episode came out. Yeah.'cause I think we, it was either December or January.'cause we either did it for immigrant stories or for Muslim American Heritage Month.

Kelsey:

Okay. Yeah. So basically a year. Yeah. So

Amanda:

basically a year. So yeah, that's what I'm reading and I haven't, I'm gonna be starting a new book. Hopefully today, which is a book that was co-authored. I think it's Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Cobin wrote it. Wait, yeah, it's called gone Before Goodbye.

Kelsey:

Is it a book called book?

Amanda:

Is it like a Reese book club book? You mean, is

Kelsey:

it No, like you book? Oh no. This

Amanda:

is no. This is just for me. Okay. It's a thriller and I'm just curious I'm like I wonder what kind of writer Reese is and, love a good thriller. So I'll keep you guys posted. But yeah, so we are here today. To discuss the book that Kelsey forced me to read the Love Hypothesis by Allie Hazelwood. By all means, Kelsey, let the folks know why you chose this book.

Kelsey:

Partially because. I first had you read Bride. You sure did. It is not a good representation of Ali Hazel work. I'm glad. Okay, well that's, that's good that you can, and this is one of her more popular books that people love and so I wanted to give you a little taste of Okay. Personally, my love for Ali Hazelwood. Okay. And that, that is not hopefully. A torture for you. Okay. Um, So yeah. Okay.

Amanda:

And this book is also, it's currently being made into a film that will be coming out, I think in the coming year or this year. I think it's coming out 2026. Yeah. Is it coming out on Netflix? Great question. I don't know but I do know that it is, I think they're, I think it's out of production at this point and should be released shortly. So that'll be fun to read or to read, to watch and. I know that this is more of what she normally writes, which is like women in STEM rom-coms. Yeah. I can see why Yeah. You wanted me to read something that's more representative of what she normally writes,

Kelsey:

so Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It comes out July 16th. Okay. Dunno know if it comes out like

Amanda:

in the, I feel like it's probably in Netflix

Kelsey:

theaters or not.

Amanda:

Okay. We'll find out. I could see it being a Netflix release for sure. Oh, is it an Amazon Prime movie

Kelsey:

studios.

Amanda:

Oh, okay. And that tracks,

Kelsey:

Okay, cool. So Amanda. Mm-hmm. Before you get into the summary. Yeah. Was this a lit it or quit it for you?

Amanda (2):

I have been like going back and forth actually about this, and even right now I'm like, I'm not sure what I'm gonna say in this moment. I think I would give it a soft. Lit it. Okay. And I, yeah, we'll take it. I'll just say that. I'll take it. We'll get into why later. Of course. Okay. So the summary, I will say one of the nice things about these romcom books is that they're really easy to summarize versus like some of the longer romantic books that Kelsey has me get into. Oh my God. Essentially this book is about a young woman named Olive Smith and the book opens with her. Applying to get her doctorate at Stanford. She's just gone through a bunch of interviews. She's in the bathroom. After this interview, it's this is how the book opened. She is having an issue with her contact. She put in like really old contacts They're really bothering her eyes now. She's having this like bathroom catastrophe with her contacts. This man wanders in. She can't really see him clearly, but they have this very like. I don't know, poignant conversation about grad school and how to know if you're doing the right thing with your life and mm-hmm. All of that stuff. And she doesn't forget what this blurry man tells her. So the book like officially opens I wanna say a year and a half perhaps after that little prologue. And Olive is now at Stanford working on her PhD and she's researching, early detection methods for pancreatic cancer because she lost her mother to pancreatic cancer. It was a very horrible, traumatic thing, and so she's like, I wanna make sure that we are able to find this. Disease earlier and treat it. So that's like her life mission. Mm-hmm. So she's at the university doing her research. Overall things are going well. One issue is that she. Does not have the lab equipment and like a large enough lab to continue her work. So she really needs to find a different institution to work at to continue her research. Mm-hmm. The second issue that she's having is that she was briefly dating a boy. Named Jeremy, a man named Jeremy, and things just weren't really jelling with them. So she ended it and she realized that her really good friend who's a fellow PhD student on really has a thing for Jeremy and she thinks they'd make a really cute couple, but she knows that Anna's a good friend and that she would never right, go and date someone that Olive has dated. Mm-hmm. So Olive has decided if she can prove to aunt that she has moved on and that she. Is dating someone else and like fully happy and in love, then on might feel more comfortable. Pursuing this interest that she has in Jeremy. Mm-hmm. So one evening while she is, in the lab she runs into Adam Carlson, Dr. Adam Carl Carlson. He's this young hotshot professor in the, I guess biology department. He's like well known in academia. He's brilliant. But he also has a reputation for just being really like moody and broody and not. Kind. He's abrupt, especially with the student that he is mentoring. So anyhow, she's in the hallway one night they run into each other on is nearby and all of things to herself. I'm gonna like randomly kiss this man to show on that. I have now moved on and I'm interested in someone else so that she'll date Jeremy. So they have this kiss, of course Adam is like WTF, who are you and why are you kissing me? And she goes on to explain. What the deal was. It's awkward. Mm-hmm. They part ways, et cetera. Long story short, she realizes that in order to get on to be like fully convinced that Olive has moved on, that she and Adam need to fake date for at least a certain length of time so that on will go and date Jeremy. So they decide to do this. So all of his getting out of this relationship, the fact that on will move on with Jeremy and Adam confides in her that his funding for his research has been frozen by Stanford because they're afraid that he's a quote flight risk, that he's not going to stay at the university because he is been courted by other institutions to go work for them. And so he's like, if I can show that I'm in a serious relationship and dating someone and putting down roots, they will unfreeze my funds. So they decide to date for exactly a month. And the reason why they chose a month is that at the end of the month is when like the department budget review is happening. And he'll find out if the, those funds have been unfrozen. So they decide that they'll meet I don't know, every Monday at an on-campus coffee shop. Mm-hmm. They wanna make it really visible to other folks in the community like, Hey, we're together, we're getting coffee. This is real. Okay. Of course, as these coffee dates continue, like real feelings start to develop on both ends at the same time, all of has gotten news that there's been some interest expressed by this professor named Tom Benton at Harvard. Mm-hmm. And he might want her to come to his university to continue her research. So she's really excited. He's coming to campus in two weeks. They're gonna meet and chat. Super stoked. So time passes, Tom shows up and we find out through a series of events that Tom and Adam are actually friends. They like went to school together, they go way back. And so that's like a interesting little twist. So things go well. All of in Tom's meeting goes well, he's impressed with her work and he offers her a position outta Harvard, so things are going well. At the same time, in the middle of all of this. Olive is hesitant to show her true feelings for Adam.'cause she knows this whole scenario is fake. Same thing on Adam's end. They're both like trying to protect their hearts even though they're really falling for each other, blah, blah, blah, blah. So the next big thing is that they are both going to this big conference on the East Coast. Mm-hmm. At or near Harvard. And near Harvard. And so they're there before they go. Olive realizes that even though she was originally supposed to room with Anne and her roommate at school, Malcolm at this conference, because she's done a really good job with her fake dating, they just assumed that she's of course gonna stay with her boyfriend. Adam at this conference. So they end up in the same hotel room because of course, all of us tried and tried. He can't find another place to stay at the last minute, of course, in bed. Oh no. One bed trope could it be so they end up in the same hotel room because Of course. So a couple things happen at this conference that are important. Mm-hmm. One, olive is invited to present on this panel, and honestly, she does a really great job, but she finds out, after her presentation, she has this encounter with Tom who, mm-hmm sexually assaults her and says really horrible things about her, and she realizes that the only reason he gave her this position. At Harvard was that so that he could get in her pants essentially and he also accuses her of basically like sleeping her way to the top and that's why she's dating Adam. It's a really awful interaction. Olive doesn't wanna tell Adam about it because she knows that Adam and Tom are friends and she doesn't wanna create a rift there. Because Adam is also like Olive considering a move to Harvard'cause he is also been offered this opportunity to do some research with Tom. So she doesn't wanna like wreck that. So she says nothing to Adam about it. He can tell that something's happened, that she's really upset. She doesn't say they end up going out to dinner I think that night And, at some point in all of this, they have an intimate moment in the room and they have sex and it's oh, beautiful. But olive still hasn't told Adam the truth. So they go their separate ways. She goes back to Stanford. I think Adam stays on a little bit longer at Harvard. Perhaps they don't really remember the logistics. Needless to say, olive kind of feels

Amanda:

like,

Amanda (2):

okay, we did what we needed to do. We did our fake dating thing. We need to go our separate ways. And I can't face you because Tom. Or actually no, I'm sorry. I mixed that around Before she leaves, she does confront Tom at the restaurant. So Adam is at a dinner with a bunch of Harvard faculty with Tom, because we're talking about him coming to work for them. And on and Malcolm who are Olive's friends, realize that. Olive has inadvertently, which is a little bit of a de ex mock in a moment, but whatever. She has recorded the entire interaction with her and Tom when he was saying these horrible things about her and trying to assault her. So they're like, you have to tell Adam he'll understand. He already isn't a huge fan of Tom anyway, so she like shows about the restaurant, plays this recording for Tom and Adam. Adam is furious. Goes off on Tom. Long story short, Tom loses his position, I think at the University. Mm-hmm. And Olive goes back to Stanford not knowing what's gonna happen at this point, but she's

Amanda:

like,

Amanda (2):

I did what I needed to do. At the end of this story, basically Olive has reached out to other universities. They were really impressed with her work and her presentation at this conference. So she ends up getting. An offer to go to another university in California. I don't remember which one, to continue her work. So she's still gonna be close by and like her and Adam profess their love for each other and there's a little epilogue at the end, like 10 months later and they're together and happy and they recreate their first kiss that they had in the hallway of this academic building. And that is essentially. It. That's it. That's what happens.

Kelsey:

Thank you, Amanda. You're so welcome. I could have sworn, are you sure that Olive doesn't stay at Stanford?

Amanda:

She she does she finishes off her like, I don't know, semester, year, whatever. Mm-hmm. She like goes to work at whatever other. University It is. So she's there for a while and I think at the end of the book she hasn't left yet at the end of the book. She hasn't started working out her new lab, but she will be and like she'll have a commute. I think it's I dunno, an hour or something.

Kelsey:

Okay. Yeah. Cool, cool. One of my favorite tropes is fake dating. I love it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, Amanda, tell us what are the positives of the novel? What are the positives? Fuck.

Amanda (2):

It's a rom-com, mm-hmm. And I think if you like, turn your brain off and just let yourself. Indulge in the, sugary sweetness of a romcom, you're gonna enjoy it. Like it's entertaining. I feel that way about the romcoms that I watch, and I think I mentioned this in a previous episode where I'm like, the reason why I can't read a lot of romcoms back to back, it's like eating too much sugar. It's like eating too much dessert. It's just too much. But, on a one-off, it's like fun. It's a fun light read. So it, it was entertaining. I multiple times laughed out loud, like full on belly laugh. So that was fun. Do you remember where or what it was for? I did not mark down any of the quotes I should have, but it was just, I think, olive has a very vivid inner life. Her inner dialogue is funny. And, even her roommate Malcolm, added a lot of humor to the story. I guess the flip side of that though, which I know I'm only talking about positives but sometimes I was like, you sound like. You talk like a teenager, you don't talk like, I don't know, an academic woman in her twenties who's studying like pancreatic cancer. It was just, it felt very, it felt too young. But at the same time, I thought it was funny. The banter between Adam and all of I really enjoyed, I found that really entertaining and cute. I also liked the fact that. We as the reader could see how into all of Adam is and she's just totally oblivious. Yeah.

Kelsey:

Yeah. So just

Amanda:

like that dramatic irony. We're like, oh my God, girl this man cannot control himself around you. Was like head over heels, so smt and she's just like, do, do, do, do, do. What else? What else? Yeah, like she's.

Kelsey:

Isn't it not covered at some point that he was the guy in the bathroom? Yes. Yes. At what point does

Amanda:

he, she realize that, that's like the very near the very end of the book. Okay. So yeah, that's something I left out the summary. That guy that she met in the kind of prologue chapter mm-hmm. Is in fact Adam and he's been crushing on her this entire time. Yeah. But because she's a grad student, he's a professor and there's an age gap there, he's never really felt like it was appropriate to act on that. Yeah.

Kelsey:

Yeah. And

Amanda:

so you do find out, like have this like full circle moment. I would say the one other thing that I really loved, and this was near the beginning of the book. Okay. She talks about the first time she met Anh her friend who is an Asian woman. So she's a woman of color in this, advanced STEM field. Mm-hmm. And she talks about how the first time she met her, it was love at first sight. Mm-hmm. And I love that because I feel like in general, friendships are ranked below romantic relationships, right? Mm-hmm. Romantic relationships are always like, that's the thing that you want. They have, I don't know, they're just given more priority, more weight, and I'm like, female friendships especially are so beautiful, essential. Mm-hmm. Can be honestly sometimes even deeper and like more intimate than romantic relationships. Oh, yeah. And. Often last longer than romantic relationships. Mm-hmm. And so I love that we started off the story by like. firmly situating female friendships as something of value and that are right up there, if not above romantic relationships. Mm-hmm.

Kelsey:

And

Amanda:

As someone who's been single, for most of my life aside, from like being in a relationship for two and a half years, like female friendships are the things that have been consistent for me, right? Yeah. Through all the ups and downs in dating, whatever. Mm-hmm. So that for me, just like really hit home and I like that that was called out before we got into the like, oh, the cute guy and whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

Kelsey:

That's great. Yeah. Is there.

Amanda:

Oh, one other thing. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, go ahead.

Kelsey:

No.'cause you're gonna say pos another positive, right? Yeah. I'm gonna do my last

Amanda:

positive, which I thought was smart because obviously, rom-coms are cheesy. We all know that. There's a bunch of tropes and if you thought about it really logically, it's like a huge eye. But I thought Ally was really smart in that there's a lot of meta moments in the book, so the fact that Olive knows and is continually referencing the romance tropes that are happening to them as they're dating. Or as they're getting too into like fake dating. Yeah. Only one bed trope. Like all of those things. Yeah. The fact that she's calling them out in the moment. Makes it less cringe. So I think that it was tongue in cheek and that was yeah. A really smart move on Ally's part to keep it from being too eye rolly. That's cute. Yeah. Okay, now I'm done.

Kelsey:

I was just gonna reference your, idea about her feeling like her inner di dialogue feeling really young. Yeah. Because even her decision around oh, Ong is not going to believe me unless I'm dating, so I'm gonna make this fake thing up. That also is very like immature. Yeah. Yeah. And so, I was just gonna point that out. I was like, it's so over the top, but it's so silly. You have to have a in order to have a rom-com. Something weird like that has to happen. You

Amanda:

have to have some ridiculous premise to kick things off. Yes. I think the only way you could possibly argue that, or try and make it more believable is that mm-hmm. He realizes the book goes on, that Olive has like. Little to no dating experience. Yeah, like very minimal. She hasn't even really, she hasn't had a lot of sex, and that's a whole thing when her and Adam are like getting together and he's like, whoa. Are should we like, wait so I think. There is a level of like cluelessness that Yes she has, which you could attribute to the fact that she's just, like this nerdy science girl who hasn't done a lot, and been pretty sheltered in that regard.

Kelsey:

Very focused on academics. Very

Amanda:

focused on academics. And so like in her mind, like maybe that did make sense, but it is pretty silly and unbelievable.

Kelsey:

Yes.

Amanda:

To base the whole thing on there. Yeah.

Kelsey:

Yeah, other than that, yeah. What were some of your criticisms or, oh my goodness.

Amanda:

Okay, so I do appreciate the fact that once again. We have a tall FMC, right? She's five eight. Oh, sure. Mm-hmm. But Right. Like literally,

Amanda (2):

this is a direct quote from the book,

Amanda:

by the way.

Amanda (2):

olive had always been slight, just this side of too slender And like, look, I know my mom included,

Amanda:

like

Amanda (2):

there are some women who

Amanda:

like

Amanda (2):

are just naturally very thin, right? Mm-hmm. And that even if they're trying to gain weight, they can't. So I don't wanna like body shame anyone. But again, and I've mentioned this on many episodes with romance and romantasy Yeah. It just can get really. Tired. Mm-hmm. When we have these itty bitty female protagonists and these like big brawly men,'cause literally, oh my god, guys, okay. At one point, and I wish I was making this up at one point, Adam literally pushes a truck by himself

Amanda:

and I'm just like, and they,

Amanda (2):

and I cannot tell you how many times Ali goes on about how much bigger. Adam is mm-hmm. Than olive and like maybe this is TMI, but it's in the book. Like at one point when they're finally having sex, he like. fits her whole boob in his mouth. And I'm like, what? First of all, WTF. But also like why

Amanda:

is that?

Amanda (2):

Is there this

Amanda:

like

Amanda (2):

obsession with women having to be these teeny tiny like waifs and the men just being these massive,

Amanda:

like

Amanda (2):

hulking, ripped like and they go on at length. At length about just how insanely muscular and ripped and like over the top he is. It was just too much. Like it was a huge turnoff. It was so unrealistic.

Amanda:

And I'm just like, what are we drilling into our minds? Oh my God. Stupid. I don't know. I will

Kelsey:

say that's the one thing about Ally Hazelwood's books, like in general. Okay. That she keeps to that theme.

Amanda:

Oh God. And

Kelsey:

it's throughout a lot of her books, it's like always the tall man, small woman. And and then he's always like giant. He always says Giant dick. Yeah. He's jacked out his mind. It's

Amanda:

What the fuck? Like, Do we need this? Okay, just just say that he goes for runs and leave it at that. There's one point where he like takes off his shirt at the faculty picnic or something.'cause they're playing like ultimate Frisbee and like literally everyone is just like, the crowd goes wild. Everyone's like, oh my God. And I'm like, and also on that same point. Why is everyone in this book just like stunningly gorgeous, right? Tom Benton shows up and he's also crazy hot. Holden, who's another professor that her friend Malcolm falls in love and I'm just like, I'm sorry, what world is she living in and how do I get invited? Because literally everyone just stepped straight out of gq. Like I don't understand. And I don't know, and I know it's romance and I know it's supposed to be just like, ugh, I don't know, some romantic fever dream. But I just, I can't read these books with a straight face. I just can't. Yeah, I get

Kelsey:

it.

Amanda:

It's just

Kelsey:

I hear

Amanda:

you. It's too much. I'm like a little subtlety. A little subtlety would go a long way. Yeah, I think that just like really. Annoyed me. And then I thought of you when I read this, because when they are having sex, she does use the word folds. And I was

Kelsey:

like, oh, that is one other thing Yes. That she does do. And I'm like, so those two things are like some of my like blah turnoffs. Yeah. And I'm just like. Yeah. Not my preference. Yeah, Ali. But we, I mean, it

Amanda:

was good that there was really just the one sex scene. Like I liked that the smut was to a minimum,'cause that works better for me. Mm-hmm. And I guess this is more of a positive, but I did like the fact that. Opposite of what I just said about like, oh, it's like you're, they're leaning into all of these tropes and like the gorgeous guy, whatever. Mm-hmm.'Cause this moment did feel like more human and real and honest. Their first time together isn't like this perfect Yeah. Hollywood moment. Like they have to work things out and it's a little awkward and she has to admit to some things that could be really hard to admit to someone when you're trying to be intimate. And so I liked that they had to like, work through it together and. You know that he was like patient and understanding.'cause that's not always the case, obviously. And it's also really hard to have those conversations with someone when you're trying to have sex for the first time with them. So I thought she did a good job of kind of capturing, yeah. The honesty of that moment and the authenticity of that moment. And that felt, I don't know, that landed well for me and I was like, okay. Ellie, I see you.

Kelsey:

That's good.

Amanda:

There were some good things. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's interesting with these books, like these romance novels, I'm like, I don't know if there's a lot to talk about. Yeah, she does touch on, the issues around women in stem, women of color in stem, so dealing with sexism, racism, misogyny.

Kelsey:

Yeah. And

Amanda:

That does crop up here and there. But it didn't, to me, didn't feel like it was dealt with in a super meaningful way, which again, is fine. That's not necessarily the job of a romance novel. Mm-hmm. But. Dunno, or like a focal point of some. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I just, I felt even like ON'S character. She felt a little bit like a plot device. Like Yeah, like we wanna make sure this book is culturally relevant and, we're being mindful of representation, so we're gonna put in this woman of color in the book. And like literally anytime on shows up on the page, she has some little quip or remark or comment about something she's doing in relation to like. Women in STEM and like folks of color, and I'm like, oh, I'm about to run to a meeting with all of the students of color in stem, or I'm going to a conference. And it's like, is that the only reason why you're in this book? To just randomly interject these little like one-liners about, yay, I am organizing these events to help women of color and like people of color in stem. So it did feel very I don't even know, not even performative, but just maybe a little bit performative, but we have to, yeah. Like we have to include something right about this, so let's just have this character be like the representation for this. And it didn't feel like it had any real, like weight or meaning behind it to me personally. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It just, yeah, it felt like it was like, we need to put this in here. So we did. Yeah.

Kelsey:

I did like how olives. Whole desire to be in stem was geared around her mom's. Yeah. Challenges, health challenges. Yeah. And so like she was, and her death, she was committed to mm-hmm. Yeah. She was just committed to, yeah. To that. Throughout her whole life so far. That's, yeah. That was in, that was like a. A meaningful I thought addition.

Amanda:

Yeah. And that really rang true and I think gave all of a really believable motivation, for why she's doing what she, she's doing and Right. And it does, it impacts, which I didn't talk about, like it is one of the reasons why she's hesitant to get into a relationship with Adam because her whole thing is like everyone I love. Leaves me, right. I lose them. So I'm gonna protect myself and just not get close to people. I'm not gonna have, romantic relationships for sure. And even her friendship with On and Malcolm are new things for her. Mm-hmm. So, Yeah, I liked, I did like that part as well. I thought that was Yeah, authentic and really just touch my little heart touch strings, my little heartstrings, but. Yeah. I, do

Kelsey:

you have any other things to say about this book? I, other than I'm excited for the movie. I, yeah. I like the casting for the movie for sure. Yeah. And then I remember seeing the buildup for the casting. Mm-hmm. And they were doing like these TikTok trends. Okay. Where it's like. It's that one where it's like, Hey, really nice to meet you. Do you, oh, I don't know this now. And then it's like the woman first. Okay. And she's shaking someone's hand and then, oh no. Yeah. And then, oh, really nice to meet you, kind of thing. It was like, yeah, is this illegal? Something like that. I can't remember what everything else says. No, I, yep, I remember seeing this. Was that because of the it very smart. Yeah, that was for the movie. Oh, I didn't realize. Okay. Yeah. Not the sound itself, like that's just the train sound, but the No, but the, yeah, but the, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I thought that was fun. I feel like more movies are doing that. You know how like Hunger Games. Like the new one coming out next year. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They did a lot of that too. Yeah. The promotion. Yeah. I thought that was really smart. It is smart.

Amanda:

Yeah.

Kelsey:

I'm also

Amanda:

really excited for that. Not to go on a tangent, but I finally watched the trailer a couple days ago and I was like, oh my God. It's intense. It looks, oh my God. So good. I love all of the Hunger Games movies. I'm so scared.

Kelsey:

Why are you scared?

Amanda:

You

Kelsey:

think it's gonna be bad?'cause it's No, no, no, no, no. Oh. I just think that, just because everybody does. It's awful. It's so awful. It's gonna sad. It's be so like intense because the deaths are not like. Deaths are brutal in that

Amanda:

one, and it does not have a happy ending. No. Ugh,

Kelsey:

God. I'm just gonna cry.

Amanda:

We'll have to see it. We'll have to like, no. Yeah. Yeah. We usually, when we come out in November or something. I think so. Yeah. November. Of this coming or this year?'Cause we're in 2026 technically. Yeah. But we should definitely, we should watch the love hypothesis together for sure. Yeah. And we should also watch the Hunger Games together or sunrise on the reaping. Calm down. Okay. Yeah, that's all I have to say about this book, I would say, in terms of final recommendations mm-hmm. If you are going to read Ali Hazelwood, if you feel compelled to don't read Bride read, just read this book. It sounds like, from what I've heard from both Kelsey and from other people, like this is more of her wheelhouse than what she is known for. And so if you wanna get a good sense of who she is as a writer and like her style, et cetera, I think this would be good. And if you're somebody who likes to read a book and then watch the movie, here you go. Like you're gonna have both. Yeah. So I guess I would recommend it. It for that. It's also an easy read. It is funny. Super easy read. Mm-hmm. If you like rom-coms, I think you'll enjoy it. Thank you. I didn't hate it for sure.

Kelsey:

Yeah, that's it. That's great for me. How would you say this one ranks out of all of the rom-coms I've had you read?

Amanda:

Oh,

Kelsey:

about them?

Amanda:

They feel like there's just the three because Kennedy ran. I wouldn't consider a romcom actually. It's too like, it, it's not, it's just a romance. It's really heavy. I would say, say remember me by Abby Jimenez and oh great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. And then this more like the three, like true kind of rom comy ones. And so I would say out of the three, this one would probably be in third. Place Just because I just, I liked the other two more. I think they had more going on. Yeah. They were more gr they were a little bit grittier. Yeah. Which, I like and I thought that I did, I don't wanna say I found all of annoying, but I didn't find her as likable as the female protagonist in the other two. Okay. Yeah. Which was fine, but I liked the other two a bit better.

Kelsey:

Yeah.

Amanda:

Yeah.

Kelsey:

Yeah, that's fair.

Amanda:

That's a good question. I guess they're right.

Kelsey:

It's just those three. It's just those three. Yeah.

Amanda:

Yeah. Although I, you're gonna love this. I have what, it's supposed to come in, I think in a day or two. I have another Henry Emily Henry book coming in on my, Libby. What? I know. Whatcha reading. It's. Book lovers. Did you read that one?

Kelsey:

I don't think I read. What's that one about?

Amanda:

I don't know. I put it on by Libya a while ago. I'd have to go back and look. But I think it's, it says that it's available soon, so I have a feeling it's gonna pop

Kelsey:

up today or tomorrow. Um, I don't think you would like, funny story. I don't think I've read book lovers. Okay. I read funny story beach read. Okay. And. Great big beautiful life and great big, beautiful life was my favorite

Amanda:

out of the three. Okay. Yeah, because I was chatting with folks online, like on TikTok about it, and several folks said to check out book lovers. So we'll see. I have a feeling this will probably be my last Emily Henry book, but I was like, let me just, I enjoy great big, beautiful lives. Let me just see. Mm-hmm. What other the difference, yeah. What the difference is. And if I do like it, maybe I will read more, we'll see. We shall see.

Kelsey:

I'm gonna bet. No. Okay. This is what, this is this the sentence of book lovers like, okay. A literary agent and editor keep running into each other in a small town and their unlikely friendships starts to unravel the stories they've written about themselves.

Amanda:

Oh, okay. Mm-hmm. Okay. Very similar kind of setup, I feel like to a greatly beautiful life. Like they're stuck in this town, keep running into

Kelsey:

each other and it says, yes. Emily Henry's book Lover has Spice. Oh, okay. Some detailed sex scenes.

Amanda:

I still think it can't be any worse than. Nests

Kelsey:

book?

Amanda:

No, probably not. Like I think it every book that I, that, I mean, you didn't have me read that one, but every book that I've read, that was the S Muddiest for sure. Yeah. Okay. Anyhow, I dunno how you can top that one. I don't want to top that one. That was too much. That was rough. Okay. Let's do our literally the best or literally the worst. Yeah. I've got one star, Kelsey's got five star. Mm-hmm. These are all from good reads as always. Yep. I will kick things off. For us, please. This first one star is from Sophie. This is legitimately one of the worst books I have ever read, and I am astounded at how popular it is. It feels like it should be one of those situations where someone asked a bot to write a romance and this is the result that characters are immature. Poorly written and have zero character development. The romance is terrible and literally only progresses because of another character forcing them to interact and the intimate scene is poorly written and awkward. There's some lines that made me think of men writing women, which is pretty sad, and considering how progressive and feminist this book is supposed to be, weirdly enough, it really makes light of sexual assault and harassment. Hey, I guess if you have a white woman talk about how women should have the confidence of mediocre white men. Love the irony, then that's all you need. Can we please ban publishing Fanfic? Okay,

Kelsey:

I remember that quote.

Amanda:

Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I didn't feel like she made light of the sexual harassment or assault. Mm-hmm. But maybe I'm just misremembering. I didn't come away being like, oh yeah. Like they treated that much, too much, too lightly. Yeah.

Kelsey:

I didn't feel that way either. Yeah. I feel like it impacted her heavily and then, yeah,

Amanda:

and I feel like everyone in the book took it very seriously as well. And like he faced serious consequences for his actions. Yeah. Huh. I don't know. I did see, so the whole fanfic note for folks who are listening, apparently, and I found this out as I was like doing a little bit of research and looking at these reviews, that this book started off as a fanfic about Adam Driver, oh my God. Yes. What? Yes. That

Kelsey:

is what I found

Amanda:

on the interweb. I love that. So

Kelsey:

that is hilarious because I was reading one of these reviews and it was like, yeah, this is Kylo Ren. And Kylo. And Ren, yeah. What is his name? No, it's, yeah, I think is his name Kylo Ren? Or wait, yes, Ray. And her name is, her name's Ray. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Amanda:

So they call, they're called Rayo together, like that's their couple name. Yes. So Rayo was everywhere.

Kelsey:

And these reviews and. Yeah. I love that edition though, because I loved them and I was so sad about the ending.

Amanda:

I did too, but I'm like, I didn't realize that this was based on, and you can tell though, if you look at the cover you can Yep. You can too. Yeah. That's what it's based on. That's what the cover. The cover was I, yeah. I'm trying to remember. But yeah, in one of the reviews, they were talking about the cover and it being alo.

Kelsey:

So funny. Yeah. Anyhow. Okay. Okay. My first one star review. No. Five star from God.

Amanda:

You're

Kelsey:

gonna

Amanda:

tell us how much you love this book, or how much your person loves this book.

Kelsey:

Okay. This is from Pauline. It is impossible and downright horrible for this book to get anything under five star rating. Dead emoji. Oh, it's so fucking good. And in such a hangover now. I literally do not know what to do with myself. Start to finish. Holy shit. Your hook, line and sinker baby, not one dry page here. Adam is one of the most wholesome characters I've ever read. Jesus Christ. I'm so in love with this man. And Olive. My dedication to these two is downright unhealthy. I'll ride hard for this book for forever. It goes down as one of my top reads this year. So many great things about this book, and she went on, but I did not.

Amanda:

Thank you, Pauline. This goes back to one of my earlier comments about unhinged romance romantic reaser readers. Yep. That will say in their review just how like wild and off the charts their responses are. Yes. Okay. This is my only like long one. Okay. This is from. Sima, I have many regrets. The Love Hypothesis is a book that I went in with low expectations, and somehow I was even more displeased with it than I expected. First off, I was immediately unnerved by the dynamic of professor and student. I know that both are of age and all of isna student of Adams, but there's still a power imbalance. They even made jokes about it, about Title ix, which is a very real and serious matter, and I thought that was in such poor taste. Women in STEM are taken advantage of. All the time. How is this? Okay. Adam was a terrible professor as well, and the type of person that makes me hate academia, he was so mean to his students to the point that multiple students of his had left his office crying. I'm an emotional mess, but even I haven't cried after speaking to a professor, so I can't imagine how ruthless he is. He says that it's to weedle out the people who are not serious about academia, but that's no excuse. He's like those people who are rude and say. That's life, man. Get used to the real world. Even though he's confronted about it, he barely makes any changes. He's not the grumpy character in a grumpy sunshine ship. He's an asshole. As for the other characters, I liked them that, but they were so shallow on's main characters. Trait was being a woman of color in STEM and advocating for our rights. It's wonderful, but surely more could have been added for more depth. I hardly know anything about the other characters, Jeremy and Malcolm, and then there's Olive, who's so sweet and ambitious, but I barely felt anything towards her other than thinking she could do so much better than Adam. Overall. I know I'm in the minority when I say I dislike this book, but hey. What can you do,

Kelsey:

what can you

Amanda:

do? She does make some good points for sure. Yeah. We chatted about those things and we chatted about the Yeah, we chatted a little bit about um, we didn't really chat about the fact that like Adam is an asshole. Yeah. Does that get resolved?

Kelsey:

I don't remember. So

Amanda:

he, yes, and we do get a bit more context about the way why he is the way he is. Like he has his own baggage and had a really abusive. Like emotionally and verbally abusive kind of relationship with his professor and mentor in grad school that had a really negative impact on him. So in some ways he's just continuing that cycle and also had a very. Kind of sad upbringing. Like his parents were just like absent parents. And you see him unpacking that with Olive and him pledging to do better at the end. Got it. So they do give kind of some rationale for his behavior. Mm-hmm. But yeah, he is a jerk and they do joke a lot about Title ix, which is, it is in poor taste to be fair, because that's a really important piece of legislation and was put in place for. Mm-hmm. Very valid reasons. So I could see someone being like, okay, like women have enough, not cool. And like oppressed groups, minority groups have enough to deal with without you just being like, Hey, title ix, like this is, you kissed me, this is a Title IX offense or whatever. There's people who actually are really suffering. So Okay. Yeah, that. Yep.

Kelsey:

Okay. From Chelsea Dulling reads, I went into this one on a complete whim because I needed an ebook to read on my nightly walk, and it ended up absolutely blowing me away. Everything about this was honestly perfect. The writing, the characters, the chemistry, literal and figurative. Laugh out loud, the smut. This was so hot, but also so cute and so funny, and I just loved absolutely every second spent in between these pages. I didn't know who Ali Hazelwood was before going into this, but I will now be anxiously awaiting every book she will ever publish because this was just so good. You all need to read it. Add to your tbrs immediately. My heart.

Amanda:

Exclamation wait. She said to me at the beginning of her review that threw me, she said she. Was re she was reading this book on her e-reader, her on her Nightly walks book. Are you reading at night outside while you're walking? There's so many. I have so many questions unless she's doing oh, she's on, or she's on. Treadmill. She just goes to the gym at night and watches her.

Kelsey:

We just wanna know more. Chelsea, we're just curious. You have few questions, Chelsea, how this all works?

Amanda:

I was expecting her to say she like listened to the audiobook on her nightly watch. But she said ebook. Yeah. So she sure. She sure did. Okay. This is my next one star. This is from Lucy. DNF at 56%. This book isn't what I expected based on the blurb. I only made it this far because I kept thinking it'd get better based on other reviews I've now read. I see that it won't. I expected a fun story with a quirky protagonist and witty banter. This isn't it. The characters are one dimensional and heavily based on stereotypes. The dialogue and situations are forced and cheesy. The premise is ridiculous and farfetched, especially considering Olive is a PhD student. And Adam as a professor, I'm glad I tried a new author. But now I know her books aren't for me. That's all you can do. Yeah. Okay. Put yourself out there. See what you like, see what you don't. I liked the banter. That was one of the parts that I really liked about the book. Yeah. But yes, the premise is ridiculous and makes no sense. I will look at her that,

Kelsey:

Yeah. And some people really love age gaps. That's just some people's thing.

Amanda:

I don't mind them to an extent. I think anything beyond 10 years is like getting a little, ugh, for me. Little too much. But I fine with 7, 8, 9. I don't mind it. Mm-hmm.

Kelsey:

Yeah.

Amanda:

That's fine. Yeah.

Kelsey:

This next review is very short.

Amanda:

Okay.

Kelsey:

This is from Mayo. Did I devour this book or did this book devour me? Oh my God. That's it.

Amanda:

Okay. Alright. My last one, which is a fun one I think. Okay. This is from Claude's book Zone. I'm such an outlier with many of these super hyped and popular romances. Some have cavemen types, clubbing women over the head and dragging them back to their caves where they can growl at them about their ownership status. And the women gasp and whimper and trembled delicately in the strong, possessive hands of their master. Some are beyond the realms of plausible, even though they are contemporary romances. As is the case with this book. Despite being a super intelligent STEM woman, the main character acts like a blooming idiot, and miscommunication slash no. Communication and withholding information plague us throughout most of the novel. I suspect I am meant to be on the edge of my seat, waiting for them to clear the air by speaking from their heart and professing their undying love, et cetera. All that happens is that I crank up the speed. I had this on 2.3 within the first 30 minutes, 2.3. Do you have any idea what they sound like at this speed? Let's just say the love interest should be named Alvin Simon. Or Theodore? Theodore. I actually enjoy a good fake dating trope, but this one made zero sense to me. Zero. And is it just me or is Adam's Height pretty much mentioned on every page? Olive and Adam were quite boring characters and the dialogue was clunky and cringeworthy at points. Yay for women in science. But bummed I paid for this book. Mean, not entirely wrong, honestly, but also

Kelsey:

like how can you criticize the book if you're reading it at 2.3 and now you're like. You're just like, they're chipmunks now. And I'm like yeah, that's true. So why does that even ma, that's your choice. Yeah. I, yeah, it's true. I don't know. I don't know. I thought that was silly. That was a choice. Yeah. Okay, so my final review comes from Brooke Averick. I love this. So much. I can't remember the last time I've been this giddy over a book. The ending was slightly underwhelming, but I couldn't care less. I was in too deep by then. I can't wait to devour everything Ali Hazelwood has ever written. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Amanda:

I mean there's a lot, she's got a lot of books. She writes like a maniac and I have

Kelsey:

almost finished all of them.

Amanda:

Oh, okay. Have you finished, mate?

Kelsey:

Yeah, I did. Okay. Yes I did. I like to bride more. Okay. Alright. Then I'm definitely not reading, mate. It doesn't like, mate you might like mate more. Oh wait, really? No, I don't think you would. Okay. Like at all. Like it, I think it would be similar to bride. Okay. But it's just, yeah it's, so wait, why did you like it, Les? It was slow and I didn't really care for the other plot lines like that were happening. I don't know. Okay. Yeah. The people that were in it, I was like, me, I don't talk about you. That's

Amanda:

fair.

Kelsey:

I believe I was gonna look at my, I was gonna have on hold, I was ask which book

Amanda:

you have left or books you have left,

Kelsey:

so Check and mate.

Amanda:

Okay. And then

Kelsey:

not in love.

Amanda:

Oh, so just two more?

Kelsey:

Yeah.

Amanda:

That's insane because she's written quite a few. I feel like she puts out a new book. Yes. At least every year.

Kelsey:

Or more

Amanda:

than

Kelsey:

that. Yeah, she just came out with me, yeah. There probably will be a new book next year. I don't know what it is though. But yeah, I have read all of her little novellas. Wow. It might have only been th No, there was like six. There was six.

Amanda:

She had six novels and then Oh my gosh. Okay. All the other

Kelsey:

books too. Yeah. Yeah. So I have read almost her entire collection. Wow. And then.

Amanda:

Congratulations. What a, what an accomplishment. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. I do not foresee myself reading any more. Ally, Hazelwood.

Kelsey:

I don't recommend it for you. You don't?

Amanda:

I don't think it's for me, and that is okay. Oh my goodness. All right. Can you, I was, I'm trying to think, what is the phrase where you like wrap up an episode? Um, Wrap it up. Yes. There's like a phrase that I'm thinking of when you like, I don't know, my brain has stopped functioning. Okay. Can you same lead us out? I don't even know. With our

Kelsey 2.0:

socials. Kelsey, thank you all for joining us today and you can find us on Instagram at Live Vibes Only podcast and on TikTok and YouTube where our full length episodes are. And you get to see our beautiful faces making weird. Faces along the way. And that is at Live Vibes Only podcast. Mm-hmm. Of course you can always email us as well if socials are not your thing. And we would love to hear from you. And again, of course, finally, go rate and review the podcast. Do it now. We greatly appreciate it. We sure do. And love hearing from you. We will see you next Monday.

Amanda:

See you next Monday. Bye bye.