Ah, scientists in love! Be still, my heart!

Olive is a third year Ph.D. candidate, filling her pipettes and titrating like a boss, when she somehow manages to land herself in a fake relationship with the ever glowering Dr. Adam Carlsen. She really can't believe her bad luck. Unfortunately, she has spun her lies, so she has no choice but to see them through. But the more time they spend together, the more Olive starts to realize he might just be the one she's been looking for all along.

This was just a hoot and a half! A lot of romcoms manage to get the romantic part exactly right, but The Love Hypothesis hits the comedy bit out of the park too. Olive's dialogues are witty and snarky, and she pretty much cracked me up from beginning to end. I couldn't stop giggling and snorting, even while reading in public, which definitely got me some weird looks from strangers.

I absolutely loved that Ali Hazelwood chose a woman in STEM as her main character and highlighted the difficulties they encounter as part of this story. As a woman in STEM myself, it warms my heart to see someone like me take center stage in a romance. A lot of what Olive went through, including how intimidating it is to be in a field surrounded by men and how unsure she is of her worth and her ability, I understand intimately.

The romance between Olive and Adam developed slowly, with plenty of tension and sizzle. The premise to set up the trope of fake dating was a little silly, but once you get past that, the rest is nothing short of sweet and satisfying. Adam is reticent in the beginning, but he soon thaws and warms up to Olive's relentless cheer and good-natured teasing. His support of her in their shared field is particularly touching and it made me root even harder for this couple.

With romances, there's always the question of whether it contains explicit, open-door scenes. And whichever way the book chooses to go, it inevitably alienates half of the readership who wants it the other way. That's why I was particularly fond of the way it was handled in this book. All those scenes are in one contiguous chunk (spread across two chapters), so it's easy to skip if that's not your thing and you can still enjoy the rest of the story without having to worry about missing anything crucial.

This story totally checks all the boxes for me. It's sweet, smart, and uproariously funny, and it touched my heart and my mind. No doubt about it, anything Ali Hazelwood writes from now on will be devoured by me posthaste.

Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!

This was a pick for my Book of the Month box. Get your first book for $5 here.

Wow, I'm kind of speechless at how utterly dull this story was. Given the premise, it's really quite unbelievable.

Bill Hoffman is the pilot of Flight 416, en route to JFK with 149 souls on board. What he doesn't know is that his wife and children have been kidnapped and are being held hostage. When his plane is midair, he is confronted with a choice: crash the plane or his family will die.

That sounds interesting enough, and the first few chapters were. But the more I read, the worse it got. The crux of the problem is that there's nothing compelling or new or even entertaining in here. If a book could be made up of clichés, one after another, this is it. Of course the passengers are upset, the flight attendants heroic, the bad people Middle-Eastern, and the authorities good meaning but bumbling.

Every dialogue is so cringey in how predictable and trite it was. Every scene felt like a repeat of ones I'd seen before from bad action movies. It's hard to keep my focus when I already know how it will all play out. I caught myself skimming multiple times because my brain just filled in all the blanks without having read any of it.

I never made any emotional connections with the characters. They are just stereotypes, and can be replaced by any other character of the same type. There's a simplicity and predictability to everything in here that wore me out and completely bored me to tears.

Honestly, there's no need to read this book. Just close your eyes and imagine some scenes from an airplane hijacking. Whatever you just imagined is more exciting than what you would find in this book, and you just saved yourself many hours. You're welcome.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars

Some days I can't quite work out how I got here; I opted for the guy, I opted for the kids, I just didn't realize that meant waving goodbye to everything else.

On the surface, Mizuki has it all: a handsome husband, two beautiful children, and a lovely home in bustling and frenetic Tokyo. So why does she feel so lonely and sad? Then she meets Kiyoshi and he makes her feel alive again. But she knows what she is doing can't go on, and she will have to make a choice soon. But how can she decide between impossible choices?

My heart aches for Mizuki. What she wants—what we all want—is to be seen and understood. But her traditional role as a housewife and her husband's rejection of her as anything other than a servant to him and a caretaker of their children makes that impossible. The building up of her loneliness, made all the more acute because she is surrounded by her family, feels hopeless and gut-wrenching.

As a woman, I was instantly sympathetic to Mizuki and her plight. I imagine most readers will relate to her, especially if they have ever been the nurturer in the relationship. When she sought to find that basic human connection with Kiyoshi, I couldn't help but cheer for her. To see her rediscover her spark after so long, unfurl into the fully-faceted person she used to be, and realize she's so much more than just a wife and a mother, is immensely satisfying.

This book's writing style drew me in from the first page. It's straightforward, funny, and witty, and I couldn't put it down. For a relatively short book, I was amazed that Emily Itami managed to wring so much out of it. Not only was the main story riveting, but it also contained many interesting observations about life, love, parenting, and relationships sprinkled throughout. I constantly caught myself nodding along and chuckling to the insightfulness of it all.

The only part of the story that fell a bit short for me was the ending. Obviously, when a story is about infidelity, there are only so many ways it can go. But as I grew close to Mizuki, I wanted so much more for her. I don't know what ending would've satisfied me, but the one that was given just didn't quite meet my lofty hopes.

Still, what a visceral and poignant story this was, deftly capturing the essence of our human need for connection and meaning. This is Itami's debut effort, and I cannot wait to read more from her.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

My heartfelt thanks for the copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.

A celebration of scientific ingenuity and man's unfailing spirit to survive, The Martian left me astounded and exhilarated. It made me laugh, think, and hope, and along the way, it captured my imagination and my heart.

Due to a freak accident, astronaut Mark Watney is in a bit of a jam. His crewmates have blasted off from Mars and left him behind, thinking he is dead. Now he has no way to contact anyone and his supplies are fast dwindling. To survive, he must reach into the depths of his scientific knowledge and creativity and good humor, and put all that to good use if he is to make it off the planet alive.

I'm like the very last person to read this book, and I honestly have no idea why I waited so long. Maybe I thought since I've seen the movie already (like a dozen times!), that I wouldn't be surprised by the book. Or maybe I was afraid it wouldn't live up to my sky-high expectations. But I'm so glad I finally stopped procrastinating and read it. Because this story could not be more made for me if it tried.

Right from the first page, it was utterly riveting and unputdownable. It felt so real that it seemed like I was actually reading the mission logs of an astronaut. I kept forgetting that we hadn't really sent a man to Mars yet and that this is just a story.

The science in here is a large part of what made it feel so authentic and fascinating. It's based on real science, not the handwavy stuff that a lot of sci-fi books resort to. But you don't have to understand every single thing in order to follow and enjoy the story. In fact, there were a few times I just move on when I wasn't 100% clear on a technical detail, and it didn't take anything away. It helped that I had watched the movie before reading the book, so it was much easier to visualize what was going on.

Usually when you think of disaster stories and fights for survival, it ends up being a dark and brooding read. But that's not this book at all. I loved its optimism and humor and charm. It was lighthearted and fun even though it was tackling some serious problems. It not only showcased what one person's perseverance can accomplish, but also what the world can do if it came together. It made me feel happy and inspired to immerse myself in this imaginary and cooperative world, if only for a few hours.

This story isn't perfect. You can tell it's Weir's first book, and so it does have a few quirks. At times, the humor is a bit too potty-mouthed and the technical and scientific information can be a bit too enthusiastically detailed. But I found the overall story so amazing that these small flaws are easily overlooked.

This is my favorite type of book. I love reading about space exploration and science, courage and hard work, and overcoming great odds to achieve the impossible, all with a sense of humor. Its message of resilience and optimism through the hardest of times pays homage to the best in humanity.

Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!

This was an add-on for my Book of the Month box. If you're curious about BOTM or want to find out how to get your first book for $5, click here.

"You're a liar! I'm going to tell on you!"

"I'm not the liar... you are! Liar liar, pants on fire!"

Ok, that's not actual dialogue from the book, but it might as well have been.

Patrick and Stephanie are enjoying life as new parents with their colicky twins, when some woman shows up and claims that Patrick killed his first wife. The shock! She demands money for her silence, of course. Instead of going to the police with this threat, the couple decides to fight back by engaging in a Who's the Bigger Liar contest with the blackmailer. After that, all hell breaks loose.

You guys, sometimes I don't even know what I'm reading anymore. Have domestic thrillers lost all sense of reality? Don't go to the police when randos threaten you; you should talk them out of it instead! Getting blackmailed over something minor or false? Best to freak out and give in! And accusing someone of murder? You just need evidence of an affair and a life insurance policy!

Where is the logic in here? No one behaves like this, I tell you! And yet, this book is full of these loonies, and we are forced to read about them overreacting to every little thing, having paranoid breakdowns, and making one bad decision after another. Nothing they did or said made any sense. My eyes rolled so hard I was seriously afraid of permanent damage.

Then, as I'm getting towards the end of the book, a thought popped into my head: "You know what would totally cement the insanity? If this happened." And guess what... that was indeed the big twist of the story. So I didn't even get to enjoy the surprise after all that.

Honestly, what a completely silly, nonsensical, ridiculous story this turned out to be.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars

There is something odd going on in the boarded-up house at the end of Needless Street. Its inhabitants include a man who drinks a lot, an angry teenage girl who isn't allowed out, and a religious cat. When a new neighbor moves in next door, it seems all their secrets will finally come to light.

Talk about a riveting story. It took me a few chapters to get into the rhythm of this, but once I did, I could not put it down. There is this chilling and discordant atmosphere that permeates the pages and kept me coming back for more. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it, mulling over what was real and what wasn't, and trying to puzzle it all out.

A lot has been said about the twists in here, but I don't want to talk them up too much because I think it sets up unreasonably high expectations. Either you'll get an inkling of what's going on or you won't, but in both cases, there are still plenty of surprises in store.

I'm not afraid to admit that this book got under my skin. At times, it feels so raw and dark and uncomfortable. I even had a dream about it, though my subconscious subbed in much scarier details than what was actually in the book, which thoroughly freaked me out.

This feels like one of those books that everyone will read and talk about. It's wild, engrossing, and thoroughly memorable. If you read this (which I highly recommend), don't skip the afterword. It adds a new dimension to the story, and I appreciate it even more for what the author said in there.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

My heartfelt thanks for the advance copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.

Poor Madison May! She keeps getting murdered and she never sees it coming.

Each time, there is Maddie, going about her life as an actress or a student or a real estate agent when bam!, this obsessive guy shows up, professes his multi-world love for her and kills her. The police are rightfully puzzled, but what could they do against a world-hopping traveler? Enter Felicity Staples, a journalist trying to figure out what happened to Maddie, who soon realizes there might be more to this than just a seemingly random murder.

Whenever I come across a book that's set in a multiverse, I'm always excited to read it and curious to see where it goes with that concept. And this ends up being a fascinating take on parallel universes. It touches upon all the ideas I'm interested in, including how one goes about picking the next world to travel to and what happens to the version of the person already there.

But if you're not a science buff like me, don't let the science fiction part deter you. This is sci-fi at its lightest. There are no extraneous technical details to get bogged down in and no prior knowledge needed to understand. Once you accept the concept of parallel universes and being able to travel between them, all that's left is a thriller. And what a riveting one it is.

The pacing is fast, the action nonstop, and it all builds into a satisfying conclusion. One of the most interesting byproducts of setting a story in a multiverse is that you get to play around with the concept of slightly different versions of the same person. And it's clear the author had a lot of fun crafting all the versions of Madison May.

This has everything I enjoy in a thriller, albeit with more locations and slightly different versions of the same people. It took an interesting premise and made it into a unique story, one that both entertained and surprised me. This is my first time reading Max Barry, but it won't be the last.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

My heartfelt thanks for the copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.