Book Review: Not in Love

This is a departure from Ali Hazelwood's previous books, and I must admit, I welcome the change. I think I have said many times before that her books were starting to feel formulaic and predictable. Sure, they were fun reads, and I enjoyed them. But it was about time Hazelwood shook things up a little bit.

So here is a rough idea of the story: Dr. Rue Siebert is a wonderful scientist who has struggled with food insecurity. She is now working on ways to make food last longer to lessen the strain on those who cannot always afford to buy fresh produce constantly. She is now working for a biofuel startup company called Kline, the founder of which is one of Rue's few friends. Eli Killgore is the man who heads up a hedge fund, Harkness and is determined to acquire Kline at any and all cost. So naturally sparks of resentment, revenge, lust and eventually, love fly between the two.

In terms of plot structure, the characters are not as multidimensional as I’d like. I like that Rue is socially awkward and most likely on the spectrum. I do applaud the fact that food insecurity is an issue that isn’t as loudly spoken about as other areas of need, such as Health care or Climate Change. That is not to say that Rue doesn’t have depth as a character, she is, after all, human. Eli is a little more cut and dry. On paper, he should be complex: failed engagement, taking custody of a child when you are barely an adult yourself, traumatic education - the list goes on. Perhaps it's an example of toxic masculinity, but all those emotions and responsibilities are chucked to the wayside in lieu of developing the romantic storyline between Rue and Eli.

I was also surprised that this novel was less heavy on the science side. Or maybe this time I actually understood the science. Who knows! But the focus was more on the smutty, spicy romance and less on the intellectual abilities of the characters, it was more a plot device and stayed in the background. Whilst the science was (and always is interesting) it wasn’t the focal point this time. This time we looked at interpersonal relationships more - I found the book’s perspective on narcissism interesting, it wasn’t clear cut, but the toxicity of narcissism took a while to be seen because Rue perceived those behaviours as “normal” when in reality she was being heavily manipulated.

At the end of the day, this was a fun read - it's the kind of book you don’t have to think too hard about but can switch off and relax to. Love, Theoretically, will always be my favourite out of all the books Ali Hazelwood has ever written, but Not in Love was a fun departure from the formula.