by Ali Hazelwood
Reviewed by Sara Zagorski, Gold Mine Thrift Store Retail Manager
Now, I’m not generally one to (admit that I) like romance books or anything of the genre, but after the holidays I most definitely needed a bit of lighter fanfare than my usual sort. During the last bit of the year my stress level is generally at an all-time high and whatever book I find myself reading has no business adding to it. Queue: Love on the Brain.
Two mortal nemeses find themselves paired together on a project for NASA that will either make or break Dr. Bee Königswasser’s career. Bee has devoted herself to neuroengineering and the simple question: What would Marie Curie do? From the very beginning the pushback from said nemesis, Levi Ward, is apparent and disheartening. The two had previously met in grad school where Ward made his feelings rather obnoxiously known—that life would be a heck of a lot easier if they stayed galaxies far, far away. (There’s a lot of Star Wars references sprinkled throughout, both a treat and an all-too-typical nerd trope. I digress.) Bee is determined to overcome this and prove to Ward that, not only is she the best fit academically for the new technology they’re seeking to implement, but also a more than capable scientist overall.
…life would be a heck of a lot easier if they stayed galaxies far, far away.
In addition to her workplace drama, she also finds herself the secret owner of a Twitter account that’s reached accidental fame, partially due to its questioning of the systems set into place concerning traditional testing and acceptance of new students into doctorate programs. She takes her real-life fight and that of her internet crusade on with an ardor that’s both admirable and exhausting to consider.
My final thoughts are as follows. Entertaining? Certainly. Light-hearted? Yes, as long as you don’t actually sit and dwell on the practices and (still somehow) modern thoughts about women in science. Would I read it again? Probably, ask me around January 5th next year.
