Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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this one broke me

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

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For a short novel, a shorter review…but also this is probably the one that broke me. WHAT on earth is going on in this novel? Having read the original short story that inspired it, I would assume that an editor would do some casual research (or less-than-casual research, given that I assume these books have done very well for themselves) and create a situation that holds up to some scrutiny. Instead we are left with some laughably ridiculous romance set ups, even for Romancelandia where […]

A touch of science and romance

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

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After finding Ali Hazelwood through a recent book club book, I’ve been reading her trio of romantic STEM novellas. Below Zero (2022) is the second novella that I’ve read, and it has what I’ve come to expect from Hazelwood. There’s a smart science-y woman, a hunky hero, friendship, a misunderstanding, and in the end: a happily ever after. This one I listened to on Audiobook. Hannah has always known that she wants to work at NASA, and that knowledge has motivated her to succeed through a lot of schooling–even […]

Romance novella with a little misunderstanding

Stuck With You by Ali Hazelwood

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After reading The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for book club, I decided I should read some more books by her. I discovered that she has written a trio of romantic novellas involving women in STEM. I picked up Stuck With You (2022) for a quick read. I finished this one night when I was sick and couldn’t stop coughing. It was a nice distraction, but I could have skipped the sickness. Sadie (also the name of our new puppy, which felt a little weird as I was […]

STEMinist take 2

Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood

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I liked this novella a tad more than I liked the prior one in the series, Under One Roof, both of which are well-retooled prior stories. As before, the three main characters (including the one from the next novella) are friends and women in STEM, hence the term STEMinist. Which, to reiterate, I don’t love but I also don’t hate. If I had to clarify why this novella worked for me more than the prior one, I would say that it doesn’t mince words as to […]

STEMinist definitely isn’t my favorite but…

Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood

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Hazelwood continues to do the thing, which is to reframe her popular prior fiction into a series focused on the lives of female STEM students/graduates (jury is still out on the portmanteau “STEMinist.” I do not hate it the way others do, but I do not love it. I think I am torn as to whether it is another Girlboss or a clever form of branding). This is a very short novella, with almost 15% of length nonetheless authors notes and the like. There are […]

Love story in the lab

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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My book club picked The Love Hypothesis (2021) by Ali Hazelwood for our next book. It sounded like a fun romantic comedy, so I was eager to read it. Olive is a biology Ph.D. student at Stanford, working her ass off for very little money but high ideals. In a misguided, desperate attempt to convince her best friend that she’s not interested in Jeremy–a guy she dated a couple of times (she does this because Jeremy and her best friend are perfect for each other and she […]



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