Love, Theoretically

Love, Theoretically is a 2023 novel by best-selling novelist and neuroscientist Ali Hazelwood. A romantic comedy about love, lies, and standing up for oneself, Love, Theoretically centers on Elsie Hannaway, a theoretical physicist and chronic people-pleaser. Within the novel, Elsie navigates the difficulties of being a woman in academia and falls for the rival physicist who nearly destroyed her field. By employing many of the classic tropes of contemporary romance, Hazelwood explores the human need for love and acceptance along with themes of self-worth, revenge, and performance. The novel, along with many of Hazelwood's other works, is a popular BookTok read.

This study guide refers to the Berkley e-book edition of the text.

Content Warning: This text features recurring discussions of institutionalized sexism.

Plot Summary

Elsie is an overworked and underappreciated adjunct professor at three Boston universities who loves theoretical physics but dislikes teaching. To cover her medical expenses and to make up for the poor compensation she receives as an adjunct, Elsie works for an app called Faux that allows users to hire people to pretend to be their girlfriends. Greg Smith has been a client of Elsie’s for some time, and she considers them to be friends, but she feels antagonized by Greg’s older brother, Jack, who believes she is lying to Greg about who she really is.