I read an Ali Hazelwood book

Рет қаралды 31,136

7 ай бұрын

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@ReadswithRachel 7 ай бұрын

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@SemiIocon 7 ай бұрын

I guess "rivals" just means they weren't instantly in love the moment they saw each other nowadays, lol.

@ReadswithRachel 7 ай бұрын

Rivals has lost all meaning

@mel4957 7 ай бұрын

as an etl (enemies to lovers) fan I feel this in my soul, the way it's been combined with "rivals and/or people who vaguely dislike each other" I honestly don't get why ppl change the meaning of those tropes to just mean not instalove? that's not how that works

@natsby4life842 7 ай бұрын

And they keep calling actual rivals-to-lovers "enemies-to-lovers" *sigh*

@starksandrecreation 6 ай бұрын

@@ReadswithRachelback in the day (2015ish) there was a tumblr blog that reviewed popular fanfic in a bit of a snarky way-not personally mean to the writer, but pointing out issues with characterization, plot, narrative structure, etc. anyway, when I see Rachel/you talk about people using words in a way that ignores what the word actually means, I think of that tumblr because one of their most common tags was “words mean things”. (also similar vibes) (other common tags were “hundreds, possibly even thousands”-bc it’s actually very different to see hundreds of something vs thousands they are not close interchangeable lol-and “words are hard” which is a phrase I use just about every day even all these years later)

@lordtette 4 ай бұрын

@@starksandrecreation is the blog still active?

@eugenemetayhas 7 ай бұрын

I feel like I've commented this in a million places but here I go again. I received my PhD in a STEM discipline, and there weren't many women in my discipline. It is already hard enough being a queer woman in a very hetero male dominated discipline. What makes it even harder is professors sexually harassing femme graduate atudents. There were multiple incidents I know of at my institution alone, and each professor got off with a slap on the wrist. As a former PhD student in STEM and a professor herself, Ali Hazelwood should absolutely know it is 1000% wrong for a professor to have a relationship with a graduate student, even if on the surface it appears consensual. It's not. Professors, particularly if they are in your defense committee but even if they're not, they gossip like hell amongst each other, have a lot of power over in finishing a PhD program. This type of relationship has an inherent power imbalance. Here I thought: finally! A FMC who has a background like mine in a romance novel! But no. I was appalled and I hate that her books are so popular.

@TarisLuna 7 ай бұрын

@ville__so you are a closeted bi

@LauraWood 7 ай бұрын

Oh my god same! I'm a physics PhD and I remember starting the love hypothesis a while ago because it was so popular, and I was very quickly like, "nope nope nope"

@arcadiaberger9204 7 ай бұрын

@@TarisLuna People who say "Being gay is a choice" actually fall into three categories: 1) Bisexuals who fiercely repress their gay thoughts. 2) Gay people who repress all of their sexual thoughts (especially lesbians who have been coerced into marrying heterosexual men, who must go into the Sunken Place when Hubby wants a piece). 3) Heterosexuals and asexuals who don't know what the fuck they are talking about. @ville__ might be any one of these. She/He/They is more to be pitied than to be condemned. But a lot to be condemned, once we're done with the pity.

@arcadiaberger9204 7 ай бұрын

My father was a college professor. He sometimes talked with my mother, when he thought the kids couldn't hear, about how nice this or that graduate student was, how pretty or how charming. These conversatons would always end with one or the other saying that he'd have a grand old time as a sexual harasser, with all of the pretty grad students passing under his care, if only he hadn't been cursed with a conscience that made him respect both his marriage vows and (I think even more) his professional ethics.

@arcadiaberger9204 7 ай бұрын

@ville__ Gee, what a remarkable coincidence.

@serafinassong 7 ай бұрын

Timothee Chalamet is a wild choice to base your love interest on if you want Big Strong Man vibes.

@samanthadiaz1181 6 ай бұрын

She didn’t want to make it obvious it was actually Adam Driver😂

@unsavourycharlatan 6 ай бұрын

I don’t get why she ALWAYS bases her characters off someone??? If you want to write fanfiction do it, but it’s just giving laziness… what happened to the excitement of making a character from scratch?

@75sol21 7 ай бұрын

My theory is Alex Aster actually never read this book and just guessed the plot lmao

@lazarus9581 7 ай бұрын

My theory is Alex Aster actually never read this book and just guessed the plot lmao

@Yourmom753 3 ай бұрын

Bear in mind that she didn't market Lightlark accurately either, I think she's just an used car saleswoman

@mjstew4453 7 ай бұрын

"Chess drama! Who knew that existed?" Everyone who was paying attention to chess last year during the Magnus Carlsen/Hans Niemen chess cheating scandal of 2022 🤣

@RuthMadisonAuthor 7 ай бұрын

I’m so old I’m thinking of the musical Chess 😂

@cls3282 6 ай бұрын

Immediately came to the comments looking for someone else with this intersection of interests lol

@mcowley895 7 ай бұрын

I've always hated size differences in romance pairings when they play up the 'I'm so powerless compared to him' thing. Makes me super uncomfortable as it's very scary being physically overpowered. I guess the point is that the woman trusts the man enough that he's not going to hurt her but stilllll

@FreyjaRKim 7 ай бұрын

As a tiny woman with a big partner, I agree with you. The "I'm so powerless compared to him" thing is just annoying the hell of me. I mean sure, trust, but I personally don't feel "powerless" except probably if I had to physically haul my partner who weighs like 2.5 times my weight lmao. This freaking concept is exactly the reason I hate straight omegaverse stories so much. Ugh.

@Ashbrash1998 7 ай бұрын

I hate it too, I almost want to throw up when they mention how "childlike" or "innocnet" the FMC is

@yoshitheorbit1118 7 ай бұрын

@@Ashbrash1998 It's borderline pedophilic imo

@darkdream1469 6 ай бұрын

I have nothing against size differences, but if the 'bigness' of the male lead is allways emphasized and the 'tinyness' of the female lead is equated with her femininity/desirability...🙄🙄🙄

@-autumnfeelings 7 ай бұрын

I want the old meaning of "Rivals to lovers" back when they were actually rivals.

@yoshitheorbit1118 7 ай бұрын

Ali Hazelnut be like: He's so BEEG, and BEEG, he's as tall as the Eiffel Tower, has BEEG hands the size of a pizza, and ENORMOUS feet that put the "feet" in the measure of the same name; did I already tell you he's so BEEG????

@s.y.k.a1912 7 ай бұрын

Let's not forget the FMC being "I'm so smol and teeny tiny speck of dust🥺🥺" 😂

@SusmitaSahaSS119 7 ай бұрын

Lol yeah it’s actually so funny how she describes them because sure they have different hair colours or eye colours sometimes, but it’s always a big huge large towering guy in a dark Henley. At this point it’s gotta be a fetish right??

@JessChii 5 ай бұрын

This trope always gives me the ick like why do you want to look like a child in comparison to him

@SusmitaSahaSS119 5 ай бұрын

@JessChii I 100% agree. Major ick.

@SirIsaac1313 3 ай бұрын

@@JessChii fr, i read the entirety of Love Hypothesis without knowing it was a Reylo fic (I thought it would get better as the story progressed, it did not.) and was seriously icked out by the nonstop descriptions of 'Big Large Guy' and 'Small Tiny Tiny Girl Small Lady' on every. page. Gross.

@syds5122 7 ай бұрын

"Magnus Carlsen, but shoved into Timothee Chalamet's body...but he's HUGE"

@oliviacauthen1766 7 ай бұрын

The thing about all the books having the huge man and the tiny woman reminded me of when I was in high school and super into Dean Koontz for some reason until I realized nearly every book starred a huge man in a Hawaiian shirt that falls for a knockout babe with a traumatic past who eats hamburgers and saves herself for marriage. And there is usually a magic golden retriever. I couldn't read anymore Dean Koontz once I noticed it.

@leviscozyworld 7 ай бұрын

Idk why ali hazelwood is so obsessed with the short/tall dynamic and enforcing gender roles so harshly. It really is giving stem major who desperately needs a social sciences class 😭

@sao-me1lt 7 ай бұрын

LOL

@Lulu-uc4zp 6 ай бұрын

I’ve only read two books from her (this one and Love, Theoritically) and YOUCH. It’s the same dynamic and the same weird infantilization 😭 it’s just re-skins of her kinks😭

@clarabrandaog 6 ай бұрын

It's Reylo. It's always been Reylo.

@Scatscar1985 7 ай бұрын

"The bad boy of chess" is not a phrase that should exist.

@snowingonolympus8588 7 ай бұрын

I actually just audiobooked this on spotify TODAY LOL, perfect timing! One thing about this story is that a lot of the conflict stemmed from, not just Mallory's lack of communication skills, but that no one was communicating with her. For her, it makes sense: she communicated that her father was having an affair (aka she communicated something that bothered her) and she felt it ruined her entire family's lives. I feel like that's enough to make anyone wary of communicating in a healthy way. She also took on the burden of her family, and they basically did what Feyre's family in ACOTAR did: took advantage, didn't ever thank her, got angry when she failed their expectations of her, hardly acknowledged it. She was working her ass off this entire book to make their lives better, and I don't remember a single thank you getting thrown around (which makes the parentification of her character even more awful to witness). I wish the narrative recognized that her lack of communication skills was only partially on her and almost entirely on the people around her. Also, I think Nolan is meant to be demisexual! That's how I read it, anyway.

@RoseRamblesYT 7 ай бұрын

I've never read one of Ali Hazelwood's books, and I'm still confident that I don't think she'd be an author that I, personally, would enjoy. I don't know if the general lack of communication in this book is a common thing Hazelwood writes in all of her books, but it's not something I enjoy in stories. I've absolutely DNF'd books/stories where there was little communication going on /and/ an unnecessary amount of miscommunication. Those aspects can certainly work, but there is also a point where authors can end up relying too much on them just to create drama, which is not my jam.

@madeleinekhouri1655 7 ай бұрын

Yeah, I read Love on the Brain a while ago and many plot points relied heavily on miscommunication. Her books are personally not my cup of tea for that reason

@vainpiers 7 ай бұрын

As an older sibling (8 years) i definitely feel parentification. My parent come to me for advice on how to deal with my younger sibling. I end up having to teach my sibling how to do chores and look after them when my parents go away. They never told me i was an emergency contact so when the school called me because my sibling had been injured and needed taking to the hospital i was suprised and wasnt sure what to do.

@TheDearRosemary 7 ай бұрын

I genuinely want to see writers getting blurbs from regular readers/reviewers instead of other authors, I’ve only ever seen one author do that

@gabz49242 7 ай бұрын

@27:00 The "I'm angry because I benefitted from nepotism" thing is such a tired trope. If somebody set it up so that I suddenly had a six-figure job, I don't think I'd be getting mad, especially if I was thriving because of it. It often makes the MC feel super privileged and naive (which, I get, is a thing with a lot of teenagers/young 20 somethings) rather than acknowledging that you can still thrive and make your own way, even if you had some help getting there. Also, most good things are not really done alone, whether it's with the influence of irl friends or you went and researched other people's ideas on the internet.

@deathnstuff 6 ай бұрын

I think she was mad cuz the fact that he paid for her to have a job while ACTIVELY trying to get into her pants is rlly…manipulative rii? Being put in a position where u almost have to feel obligated to return someone’s advances cuz they’re setting up ur financial career sounds super uncomfortable to me 😭😭 it’s not rlly “nepotism” so much as it is “financial manipulation” lol

@RuthMadisonAuthor 7 ай бұрын

My books are the opposite of big man/tiny woman 😂 In the one I published in August the hero is very small and a friend of mine told me it wasn’t sexy but I was determined to make a small disabled man sexy! Don’t know if I succeeded but I did for myself.

@focornali4349 7 ай бұрын

Love how the cover doesn't even bother showing the height difference. I used to like the height gap, mostly for the comedic opportunities/scenarios it could bring but: 1. authors (at least the ones I've read) rarely utilize for humorous purposes 2. the sheer inconvenience of having a partner who significantly taller than you. Like, dude with develop a crick in his neck every time he's gotta bend down just for a kiss or a hug.

@baka9466 7 ай бұрын

See, I read Love Hypothesis and enjoyed it because yay demisexual rep, but then I read a few more of her books...and they somehow had different plots but felt exactly the same and I became bored.

@october7895 7 ай бұрын

Love interests/main characters being 'demisexual/graysexual' is very common in Ali Hazelwood's books, to the point it feels weirdly fetishy. Like just to have the line 'I never wanted this until you', if the only representation of ace-spec people is in sex makes it kinda weird to me as an ace-spec person Edit: I feel the need to express that the depiction of these characters and the lack of actually calling them acespec, feels icky to me. Not lots of representation being written by someone who isn't publicly/or out as acespec, that's fine.

@issiep327 7 ай бұрын

Agreed! As a demisexual it felt just a little off

@LisatheWeirdo 7 ай бұрын

I'm gray asexual, who isn't sex repulsed, and I find that line kind of uncomfortable... and I haven't read her books and probably won't now...

@mel4957 7 ай бұрын

yeah that definitely feels like "you just haven't found the right one yet"

@cakt1991 7 ай бұрын

As a longtime romance reader who has only come to realize my queerness (ace and otherwise) relatively recently, I do think it’s just a “diverse” rebranding of the “reformed rake/playboy” trope. There’s this stated belief that sex wasn’t special until they meet that specific person and they can abandon their previous playboy ways and be faithful forever. Never mind that it’s sometimes (although not always) attached to some severe childhood trauma, as seen in the first two books and seasons of Bridgerton with both male leads, and that isn’t satisfyingly unpacked half the time.

@bluebirdeyes 7 ай бұрын

At this point I'm kind of assuming it's Own Voices demi rep, not that the author's orientation is any of my business

@ObsidianNebula00 7 ай бұрын

I know exactly what you mean by the Disney announcer, I can hear that in my head and I 100% get why that popped into your head reading that synopsis

@ishathakor 7 ай бұрын

ali hazelwood says she gets her book ideas from her agent telling her what book to write. her agent basically gives her a list of tropes the publishers are looking for and hazelwood fashions it into a book

@eveellisen 7 ай бұрын

She gets her premises from her agent and everything else she gets from the Reylo fandom, honestly (I used to be in it years ago, I even knew Ali and read her fanfiction years before she got published). Tiny women/huge man kink, power imbalances, woman is always scrappy and quirky and brilliant yet struggling, man is always a jerk on the surface but a soft boi inside as well as rich and successful, age gaps, miscommunication, etc., all the stuff that you see in literally every single Ali Hazelwood book are staples of Reylo fanfiction.

@TheDearRosemary 7 ай бұрын

@@eveellisenI wouldn’t even be surprised if she has a ghostwriter at this point with how many books she puts out in a year, and I don’t think her style of writing would be that hard to duplicate

@draconiskittensweetie9765 7 ай бұрын

I'm loving all the intro art of reviews are for readers from all these different artists - they all look so good! It's really cool to have such a fun and engaging fanbase. I'm excited to see the cringe/proud dichotomy laid out

@ObsidianNebula00 7 ай бұрын

The massive man LI and tiny woman heroine thing is... as a very short AFAB person (not a woman but usually perceived that way), I have opinions lol. First of all, personal dating preference was always that I actually don't want someone too much taller than me, for convenience and spinal integrity reasons. On the other hand, some people are... *into* size disparity. And I mean same tbh, I just never found it appealing in a potential long-term partner, you know? But all of that is of course complicated by all the social conditioning telling us that women should be small and delicate, and men should be big strong protectors. It's hard to ignore that context when an auther consistently plays into that social norm in their works.

@Marie45610 7 ай бұрын

I haven't read any of Ali Hazelwood's books, but as a short gal (5'0) who is married to a tall guy (he's over 6'0) it's very weird that all her books are like that. I don't feel like a tiny baby standing next to my husband. That's just icky. Do we know if Ali is a short person or not?

@wathykite 7 ай бұрын

As another short gal (same height) who dated a few tall guys (6'0+), I feel like she can't be short with how much she seems to lean on this trope. It's one of those things that I didn't really think much of but a lot of taller girls I knew were jealous of? It sounds like a taller woman writing about a trope she's always fantasized but never experienced imo

@leviscozyworld 7 ай бұрын

Another shortie here (just under 5ft). Bad with height but I would play her at 5’6-8 when I met her. She’s so nice in person but I can’t stand her books it makes me feel so bad 😭

@SailorSaturn1994 5 ай бұрын

I think it's just a thing reylos do, they've perceived rey as smol uwu bean since day 1 (despite the fact that daisy ridley is like 170 cm tall)

@AmyWelling24 7 ай бұрын

I read the love hypothesis and thought it was cute. I later read love on the brain and it felt just like the love hypothesis, but worse and was a pathetic attempt at enemies to lovers. I haven't had the desire to pick any of her other books up because I'm worried they will just be the same. Also I feel like the love hypothesis is more Adam Driver fanfiction than reylo.

@Annie_Annie__ 7 ай бұрын

I’m a parent that is chronically ill and one of my biggest fears is that I’m inadvertently parentifying my kid. I only have one kid so he’s not going to feel obligated to take care of younger siblings, but as he gets older (he starts high school next year) I’m afraid that he’ll feel obligated to put his life on hold to take care of me. When I was in high school my dad had cancer and I went to the local community college instead of going away to a university so I could be there to take care of him and save money. And as much as I don’t regret that decision, it’s a hardship that I don’t want my own kid to have to deal with. I want him to go start his life when he’s ready and not only feel like I’ll be okay, but for the first couple years feel like I’m a safe place to go if he needs it. He can’t feel that way if he feels like he needs to take care of me and protect me. In short: parentification sucks and those of us that are chronically ill parents should actively avoid it.

@meowlo-the-mood-reader 7 ай бұрын

Whoever writes the summaries of books, please stop lying about rivals-to-lovers!!!!!! I just ran into that with another recent release. Stop lying to me 😭 I think the whole "main character doesn't get it" thing is another consistent plot point in ali hazelwood's books. It's what drove me up the wall in Love on the Brain. These women are supposed to be smart......how do they miss all these obvious queues.

@Sh3rrr 7 ай бұрын

You can be smart about clear information while social/intuitive cues are challenging to understand. Those are different skills. Btw. I agree about the summaries.

@rnlhickman 7 ай бұрын

If no one has told you, thank you for all of the fantastic content lately! You’ve been killing it! ❤

@winterhartarts 7 ай бұрын

I’m honored that my art was used for this review specifically 😂❤ I want to check this book out now to see if I’ll like it! This is a common thing for me whenever I watch your reviews 🤣 Thanks for these reviews, genuinely. I know you get a lot of hate for simply reviewing things, and I think it’s wonderful that you’re able to keep reviewing anyway 💖 And, thanks for letting us submit art for these reviews too!!

@Rose-jz6sx 7 ай бұрын

I normally listen to your videos as I fall asleep, but I had to look to see the cover when you were so enthusiastic about it and omg I think that is absolutely hideous! Like to the point I'd be embarrassed to have it in my house never mind being seen reading it in public. Hahaha so funny how different peoples tastes are.

@cuddlewuffle 6 ай бұрын

the “big huge man x itty bitty petite woman” trope that you see in a lot of the books written by Reylos (even when the main couple isn’t necessarily a direct reskin of rey and kylo) is sooo odd to me because, Rey isn’t even a petite woman?? her actress is 5’7”, that’s tall by most people’s standards .. where is it coming from? feels like it’s less Rey X Kylo influence and more “petite female reader X Adam Driver”

@isaacnewton9021 Ай бұрын

Fr yeah. I felt like my brain was being eaten by a parasite scrolling down and seeing that 'smol uwu rey' is apparently a fanon interpretation of the character (I'm not in the SW fandom so I honestly had no idea)... Daisy Ridley isn't even that short bro 😭

@belovedwinter 7 ай бұрын

She's an older author, but Kresley Cole does the BIG GIANT MAN and teeny weeny tiny baby lady, too. I mean, size difference is a thing and all, but man... why EVERY SINGLE BOOK?? I don't get it either.

@sari9645 7 ай бұрын

I think it’s just a common fetish/kink

@natsby4life842 7 ай бұрын

It's a kink (a kink I also have, so no judging, but a kink nonetheless)

@belovedwinter 7 ай бұрын

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong! I love the kink, I read it often... but the other authors I've read who've done it kind of space it out a little, haha. @sari9645 @ville__ @@natsby4life842

@belovedwinter 7 ай бұрын

@@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf I definitely get it, and I read m/m as well, so I know it's a bit common in terms of kinks/tropes basically regardless of whoever's dating who in a book, it just gets dull for me when it's so homogenous. If EVERY SINGLE BOOK you have features a giant/tiny couple, it just becomes standard, and if I'm honest - a little dull. I won't get into the questionable seme/uke dynamics from slash, either, but yeah, fully agreed, it's all kinda part of the same stew, so to speak.

@Witchy_Reads 7 ай бұрын

The Alley Cats Strike reference made me do a double-take! What a callback!

@Artbyhurricanyounot 7 ай бұрын

Less than a minute in and you sound THRILLED about this book 🤣

@bro.that.is.adorable.2633 7 ай бұрын

Rachel you are the ONLY KZfaqr who I feel has a really similar taste in books to me 😭 I feel so seen with your opinions

@Nickshelf 7 ай бұрын

THE STARLESS SEA IN THE BACKGROUND! I fucking adore that book. Only author signing I’ve been to.

@Smile4ever14 7 ай бұрын

the couple on the cover makes me think of rose/ten

@ReadswithRachel 7 ай бұрын

YES

@netogrof 7 ай бұрын

I completely agree. I gave it 3 stars. So many points didn’t make sense to me. Mallory’s family treated her like shit, blamed her, and yet were asking her for money every other page. How can she not be a parental figure when she was literally doing everything for them. Her sisters and mom were ungrateful for what she did and just wanted her money. Her best friend gaslit her at the end and Mallory just accepted it. That girl ignored all of Mallorys texts the WHOLE book and then had the gall to say ‘you should have told me what was going on’. She just suddenly was interested in Mallory because she was getting famous, had a famous boyfriend, and was making money. AND her BF that guy was manipulative the WHOLE book and got away with it because was smart, cute, and rich. I still had fun reading but this was Ali’s worst book yet.

@AnitaSleap1080z Ай бұрын

Damn, why is such good oldest sibling rep in this book lol. The bit about wanting to go back to being protected and the weight of responsibility for the family really hit deep.

@terrijones5311 7 ай бұрын

I’ve never heard of an endorsement being called a blurb. I was so confused. I’ve only ever seen blurb referenced as the back of the book and the description on Amazon.

@ReadswithRachel 7 ай бұрын

yeah idk when it started also meaning the little quote from someone else on the front

@NateReadsDiversely 7 ай бұрын

When publishers don't read their own books

@EmilyPage04041 7 ай бұрын

Lmfao she said STUCK IN THE SUBURBS! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@ilovecats6844 7 ай бұрын

HII! I love your channel and I’ve been binge watching it for quite some time now. I’d love to see you read the sequel (i think, or whatever new book it was) of fourth wing 💕

@LilyEvans1996 7 ай бұрын

I’m just here to support your video with my comment. I’m going to be back to watch it when I finish the book because I don’t want spoilers. I actually love Ali’s books and I’ve been waiting for this one since she announced it

@Merdragoon 7 ай бұрын

I can see why this is a "low Meh" for you from how you discribe it, but I'm not going to lie that I'm intriuged. I had no desire to read any Ali Hazelwood books when people talk about them but this one... this one caught my intrest even as a YA Modern Comtempory Romance (I know you said that it's not really a Romance with how it reads but I'm going by the market Genre for now). I loved chess. I'm horriable at it but I've always loved the concept of it and always try to play it even when I'm not good at it. (I thought I understood castleing but I can't pull it off actually apparently as an perfect example how bad I am at it lol. that's when you switch the King peice and the castle looking one (the rook) for better protection.) To answer if you could get a job in playing chess.... yes, that is *actually* a thing, Being a Pro Chess player you get big bucks to play in toruments. Same with Shogi (the Japanese version of Chess with some extra peices) and Go (another "tactical" based board game). If you want something *like* this but it does a lot of the themes better, I actually suggest "March Comes in like a Lion" and "Hikaru No Go". Both of them are Manga series that you can read and they actually do explain some of the manuvers they are talking about. It's accessiable for people not in those worlds but have some good charater and story developments. Both are also extreamly wholesome. (I watched both with my mom in Anime form so they are a bit dear to my heart on those terms).

@lordtette 4 ай бұрын

But was the MC a pro player? It'd make sense if she wrote it that way rather than here's a bag of money come play though you've been out of the game for a little bit

@eepy.stawbie Ай бұрын

Listening to you explain this and although it’s not *THE* published Raylo fanfic it absolutely has all the hallmarks of a scrubbed Raylo fic. Bob is absolutely a renamed fandom version of Unkar Plutt that is rampant in the contemporary AUs - having the Rey work as an under the table mechanic is absolutely a micro-trope at this point. Don’t get me started on the size difference, too. Seems like the writer did a mashup of some real life people (creepy) and an old fic concept that was hanging around their WIP folder.

@bananabonana5713 7 ай бұрын

Ali hazelwoods love on the brain literally made me want to end it. I’m not even exaggerating it was so bad

@dalishrogue3621 7 ай бұрын

We love an ace king

@10puppyluv 6 ай бұрын

Ive seen a lot of people saying that a lot of Ali's books feel like rehashing the same romace but with different plots. So i looked up her AO3 account (a fanfiction website for those not familiar) and yep shes only ever written reylo fanfic. I think that the reason her books all feel samey is that she's just written 1 romance for the same couple over and over and is continuing to do so in traditional publishing.

@lordtette 4 ай бұрын

I think her agent is a Reylo fan too.

@sari9645 7 ай бұрын

I liked “Love Hypothesis” and “Love, Theoretically” but her other books didn’t really do it for me. “Check and Mate” was the only book of hers I gave up pretty early on because I just really hated the main character and her family 😅 But in general I really like Ali Hazelwood’s style of writing, but obviously things like style of writing is very subjective

@kbird6208 7 ай бұрын

My cat is being very subtle now too...😂

@lovers807 7 ай бұрын

Maybe I’ve just been living under a rock but when the heck did she write so many books??? I thought she only began like in 2021

@sarahbauer1433 7 ай бұрын

As an older sister myself I was wondering if you had more recommendations for books that discuss parentification of a child. I love your videos btw❤

@zachreads 7 ай бұрын

I have Below Zero by her, I was worried that you were going to completely roast this and it would be an unread unhaul, but I still have some hope(ish). Glad I don't have to pawn it some knight

@RuthMadisonAuthor 7 ай бұрын

Hehehe chess puns!

@JessChii 5 ай бұрын

"Do siblings do that?" Ask completely random sexually charged and inappropriate questions in reference to their sibling? No. No, they do not.

@arcadiaberger9204 7 ай бұрын

I got to take part in the "de-parentification" of one of my kids. She was the eldest of three, and had worked tirelessly to ensure that the chidren stayed together and stayed in touch with their family. Along with being the eldest (I was an eldest child myself), she'd been charged to keep the family together by her great grandmother, literally on her deathbed. My wife and I learned quickly that we could get the little children to obey us if we asked *_her_* to ask them to do something (take a rotation on dishes, change their clothes daily, &c.). This also got *_her_* to do what we wanted, too, of course. Gradually, we were able to get her to relax from her role as "the little mother", although she remained an eldest child. Indeed, right now one of the kids has a medical issue which the whole family has to help him with, and the project is being handled by her, me, and my late wife's eldest biological child - three firstborn children from three different families, now in one family, holding it together!

@LavenderLydia 7 ай бұрын

The bad boy of chess lmao

@kathrynolsen1256 7 ай бұрын

If you want a really good rivals romance, Broken Chords by Barbara Snow Gilbert. Two pianists meet at the semifinals of a scholarship competition and it turns out they’re working with the same teacher. They become friends and help each other with the competition while also trying to beat each other.

@BulldogsAndBooks 7 ай бұрын

Blackberry generation! Same!

@daddytchaik 7 ай бұрын

I would love to hear your opinions on Ali Hazelwood, but I’ll have to wait to watch this bc I actually like her books and I don’t want to get spoilers yet.

@jennderqueer 7 ай бұрын

I'm honestly dying at you telling me how you went to the school library and watched YT on the library computers. When I was in high school there was no consumer inter--- no, I take it back, one boy I knew had Prodigy, which was essentially the first ever consumer dial up internet service. I'm showing my age here but I have a feeling you were born after I finished high school LOL.

@thEonLyfiREanGeL 2 ай бұрын

Actually, she won in the end and was the new champion, but it was kind of a balance. At a later tournament, he beat her. I have to say, I am an Ali Hazelwood fan. Her books, are comfort books for me. As you said, she hast a type: small, deinty women in STEM, which strugle with some kind of traume/mental health and the guys have mostly no toxic masculine behaviours (mostly, they are still veeeeery protective and big). However, as a women in STEM with mental health issues, I always feel so seen and wish to find someone like the guys whe writes about. Would I wish for a curvy girl, definitely, do I like pop culltere refereces, seems so, I just realized watching your video. Want I want to say is, that I like your review! Thank you, bacause it makes me think a little more about it.

@4p853 5 ай бұрын

I couldn’t get into it now Lynn Painter I just read her books and I love Them

@minerstatus1407 7 ай бұрын

so, I thought her first book was funny af - unrealistic but funny af cuz it was clearly fanfic. Then I got another cuz why not, its the same fucking book. Over and over. Same people, different names, and clearly reylo. Also she wrote sexual assault as consent in her novellas.

@ReadswithRachel 7 ай бұрын

That’s what people keep telling me and it’s starting to feel like she is the stem romance version of Colleen Hoover

@dropslemon 7 ай бұрын

Honestly I can't even judge the very clear size difference thing Ali Hazelwood has going on lmao. Not my thing, but I can respect that she likes One Thing

@studio_kayotic6937 7 ай бұрын

this is the one Ali Hazelwood book i havent bought yet. its on my list too, i am an unabashidly Hazelwood Enby. (i am also just, also a sucker for Raylo i cant help it. im so mad about the last movie and will be forever and a half.) She is my Guilty pleasure read. my (i am aware of the issues, but lemme enjoy my thing) author lol.

@sarahbevc2434 6 ай бұрын

Same:-)

@pixelsbykris5494 7 ай бұрын

ngl, the "MASSIVE Dude and teeny tiny woman" thing just brings to mind all those fanfics of people getting turned into giants and having sex with their partner who's still regular human-sized. Not saying that that's the author's thing, just that that kink/fetish was the first thing that came to mind. As nice as it is to hear that there's positive safe sex rep in this book it IS kind of wild to know since Ali Hazelwood is a ReyLo fan when that relationship in general was toxic af like 90% of the entire sequel trilogy. Definitely not complaining because the positive representation of sex IS more important. It's just that personally there's just this huge cognitive dissonance going on. Talking about misogyny is fine, but the way you described Bob the Mechanic as being ugly while the love interest guy is suuuper handsome and sexy made it sound like Ali Hazelwood is doing the "you know this person is bad and evil because they're ugly and/or fat" thing and. uh. Not About That Life tyvm. That thing about your cat fucking SENT us. Pets really are the best. ...Is... is this actually kind of Real Person Fanfiction? Because that feels really creepy even when it's just free on ao3 or FF.net and now this whole books feels even more... not Gross, per se. Just that this stuff keeps piling up that are kind of personal Red Flags. Miscommunication plots are the WORST jfc. Why don't people in these books just fucking TALK to each other???? Also, the way you're describing the ending by saying sounds less simply "shallow" and more "victim blaming", tbh. Like a sort of "oh, you didn't do THIS specific thing and something bad happened? well then it's YOUR fault the fall-out happened.

@scipulchre 7 ай бұрын

While I love seeing bi rep *especially* in more accessible spaces and YA books, I really hate when a majority of the time it’s viewed through “sex positivity” and/or our bi woman being more promiscuous. Not to say I don’t love sex positive characters because I absolutely do but I feel like some authors think the best way to rep a bi person is to show how much they’re getting from men and women. And a comment from a younger sibling, supposedly (mostly) raised by this bisexual character and supposedly being taught what it means to be bisexual since her coming out to her family was accepted and her family is open minded, about “oh you’re bisexual, are you going to sleep with this person” is NOT it and is frankly quite gross to me.

@ChiaraMihara 7 ай бұрын

If you like pink covers - do you know Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald? That's the pinkest cover I've ever seen - and a pretty fun read, too :) (a Hades & Persephone retelling)

@wildkattrigger 7 ай бұрын

The communication issues seem to also be an Ali Hazelwood Thing TM. It's one of the main reasons (besides all the others) that I haven't actually read any of her books, nor do I plan to. (The size disparity between the narrator and love interest is yet another big reason.)

@cheaptadpole 7 ай бұрын

i think having an alix aster blurb is fine bc the type of books she writes seem more like a sub-genre of romance (ie a romance book with a fantasy subplot) than a whole chested fantasy (ie a fantasy book with a romance subplot) so there's a solid chance the core audiences are overlapping lol but this is just me being unnecessarily pedantic about ~romantasy~ books

@wa11ie 5 ай бұрын

this was my first ali hazelwood book as well, as a casual chess enjoyer this one spoke to me and as a 21 year old and an eldest sister who has absolutely dealt with parentification this book was just relateable enough. i listened to the audiobook and through the whole thing i was mostly suspending my disbelief because beating the world champion and number one chess player after not playing for 4 years is absurd. as an asexual, nolan 100% read as demisexual to me, allthough it did feel a bit icky that he has never been into anyone before mallory. i‘m forgiving it because he‘s 18 and that‘s a perfectly fine age to get close enough to a person to develop sexual attracktion towards them. i hope she doesn‘t do it in all of her novels because that is weird and it does become a case of the pussy or the dick that fixes asexuality and that is problematic and a microagression most ace people experience in one way or another. and it did read like that at times. my biggest ick is that the protagonists were supposedly inspired by anna cramling and magnus carlsen. and i can see where that’s coming from and it‘s weird and i‘m glad i didn‘t find that out until after i finished the book. overall, i quite enjoy the book, it rings very true to the growing up experience as an elsest sister with parents who can‘t do the parenting properly.

@ReadswithRachel 5 ай бұрын

Your feedback on the Demi rep absolutely makes sense

@heyimsasa 7 ай бұрын

i wonder if this is queen’s gambit fanfiction. i’m not a fan of ali hazelwood for the shrek-hulk man descriptions she constantly writes and i won’t enjoy the riverdale talk either. thank you for another great review!

@unsavourycharlatan 6 ай бұрын

I doubt it, they’re completely different in every way. Beth loved chess, especially JUST playing it, she had iconic short red hair, she was an orphan etc… She probably has read it, I’m guessing. I “like” to believe that it’s about those two real life chess players (help me, god!!) 🙃🙃

@xfgh111 7 ай бұрын

Omg I’ve never been this early!!

@joelleblanc8670 7 ай бұрын

Can you do a video about the *drama* going down at Nanowrimo???? I am surprised so many people still don't know about it. Writers organisation behaving badly?

@traeh1714 6 ай бұрын

Speaking of Fourth Wing, will you ever upload pt. 3 of the deep dive?

@ReadswithRachel 6 ай бұрын

Yep it’s coming in two weeks!

@traeh1714 5 ай бұрын

@@ReadswithRachel Yesss so excited!!

@-autumnfeelings 7 ай бұрын

My dad taught me chess when I was little and even if our relationship has been kind of broken for a while it still means so much for me because of him. So I am kind of thinking about buying this book. Only to get back into chess but all I am hearing about it sounds so bad.

@demigoddessreads 7 ай бұрын

Not me considering an overseas company for my glasses....

@demigoddessreads 7 ай бұрын

But I do feel you about the flip phones and blackberrys. Pretty sure my first phone was a nokia brick.

@letmedream111 5 ай бұрын

The hatred i felt for love hypothesis, as a F grad student....!!!!

@BookishBatz 7 ай бұрын

I think alex aster and ali hazelwood are friends, i think thats why she blurbed the book lol

@eee5448 7 ай бұрын

it’s interesting that you kinda imagined Timothee Chalamet because I kept imagining Nolan as Fabiano Caruana if he was taller and had the general personality of Magnus Carlsen which makes this book awkward for three chess players 😭😭 Malory is definitely inspired by Anna Cramling and her parents are both chess players. I don’t play chess seriously so not gonna comment on the chess. This was my first Ali Hazelwood book and she just isn’t for me like the references are cringey and I am definitely in the intended age-range so it’s not that I’m old/young. It was just kinda embarrassing all around.

@samanthadiaz1181 6 ай бұрын

The Charming Offensive did a better job with demisexuality, I mean, could’ve been better but still good. I’m acespec and I really wish writers would show more on how being on the ace spectrum can affect the character’s life instead of them suddenly finding the right person. It’s getting tropey and offensive with how much it’s done in fic.

@noellestradamus 7 ай бұрын

The main character not getting the obvious social cues 🤔 maybe there's some neurodivergence there 🙋🏼‍♀️😂

@Milovatsi 7 ай бұрын

Me thinking young Ben Barnes and lovin this book 😂

@ElianalaDivina 7 ай бұрын

Personally, I didn’t like Love Hypothesis, but I did like her other two full novels. The novellas were kinda nice too, but she recycles the same tropes, stories, and characters over and over again. I like learning about some of the STEM stuff and the stem world, and ill still enjoy the books i do like from her, but i feel no reason to read anymore books by her because they’re literally all the same. Might as well just reread the books i do have instead of reading anything else she comes out with

@EvaWright 2 ай бұрын

I definitely don't get the hype. I don't know if it's the very slow way in which the audio books were read but I took every book out of my Amazon shopping cart and trashed the list. Ever since The Queens Gambit people are into writing chess books. I've learned a valuable lesson about checking the audios first before buying a book. Especially from this author.

@Lulu-uc4zp 7 ай бұрын

So excited to see what you think! This is the first time I’ve actually read something from an author you discuss 😂 (did NOT enjoy)

@kambersorel1348 6 ай бұрын

Could it be? The mythical demi rep?

@annabelledrake2027 5 ай бұрын

not me getting annoyed every time chess is called a sport

@thedeepfriar745 6 ай бұрын

So the author is referencing Timothy chalamet as a large man, the guy is 5ft.10in. tall. That’s a pretty average height for a Caucasian man. The authors version of big and tall is the average sized white man

@rphalange206 7 ай бұрын

(pop culture refs are indeed a lazy way to, uh, everything in writing LBH)

@zactriestoread 7 ай бұрын

“Strong cringe feelings” needs to be a shirt you sell😂

@hailhex 7 ай бұрын

the thing about the reylo one is the main running joke is a sex crime that occurs only a few pages in & there's this extremely weird probably-not-consent thing that's treated as... romantic? or something? you didn't miss out on anything

@lauraburnham7461 7 ай бұрын

If there is one thing about Ali Hazelwood, it's that she's gonna create characters strongly, and obviously based off real life people she thinks are hot. It's so fucking weird.

@massomouse1556 7 ай бұрын

Chest innuendo? Though I don't know how to make chess suggestive. lol

@sao-me1lt 7 ай бұрын

"Maybe she is better in her adult books" Noooo, her adult books have the same cringey references and miscommunication but since the characters are grown adults it feels even worse

@8LyJu8 7 ай бұрын

It weirds me out so much a romance book with a character based on Magnus Carlsen because I remember when he had a stalker pre becomming world champion (he became WC a couple of days before turning 23). I remember the woman, who was I believe between 27 and 29, even travelled to Norway to visit him and stuff. I hope he never hears about this book