#maya killgore

[maddiesflame]

Problematic Summer Romance headers

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[togetherasap]

i'm so happy i live in a world where ali hazelwood exists

[violetasteracademic]

//Taylor Swift- Suburban Legends

Maya and Hark- Problematic Summer Romance//

"I figured out a way to have you and also set you free."

[activefancaster757]

𝙍𝙐𝙀 𝙎𝙄𝙀𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙏: 𝘚𝘈𝘙𝘈𝘏 𝘗𝘐𝘋𝘎𝘌𝘖𝘕

𝙀𝙇𝙄 𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙂𝙊𝙍𝙀: 𝘑𝘈𝘊𝘒 𝘖'𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘓𝘓

𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙍𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 𝙆𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙀: 𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘌𝘓𝘓𝘌 𝘓𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘝𝘙𝘌

𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙊𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎 (𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙆): 𝘑𝘖𝘌 𝘈𝘓𝘞𝘠𝘕

𝙏𝙄𝙎𝙃𝘼 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙄: 𝘗𝘙𝘌𝘊𝘐𝘖𝘜𝘚 𝘔𝘜𝘚��𝘈𝘗𝘏𝘈

𝙉𝙔𝙊𝙏𝘼 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙄: 𝘋𝘐𝘈𝘔𝘖𝘕𝘋 𝘞𝘏𝘐𝘛𝘌

𝙈𝘼𝙔𝘼 𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙂𝙊𝙍𝙀: 𝘚𝘖𝘗𝘏𝘐𝘈 𝘓𝘐𝘓𝘓𝘐𝘚

𝙑𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙎𝙄𝙀𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙏: 𝘍𝘙𝘈𝘕Ç𝘖𝘐𝘚 𝘈𝘙𝘕𝘈𝘜𝘋

𝙎𝙐𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙉 𝙅𝙀𝙉𝙎𝙀𝙉: 𝘍𝘈𝘉𝘐𝘌𝘕 𝘍𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘒𝘌𝘓

𝙈𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙄 𝙊𝙆𝘼: 𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘈 𝘚𝘈𝘞𝘈𝘐

[chaoticmiserablelover]

I think I manifested Maya Killgore with this one. Ahhhh, the yearning.

Why is it only cool for male characters to be down bad for their love interests? I am a simp too. We need more representation.

[phantomdialogue]

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐥𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 - 𝟓.𝟕𝟓/𝟓 ☆ . ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗

“Because that’s how relationships work. If it’s a good one, you let loose. You show all sides of yourself.”

Premise: Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists. When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.

Couple: Conor Harkness and Maya Killgore

Tropes: age gap romance, brother's best friend, opposites attract, friends to lovers, vacation romance, nonlinear narrative

Content Warnings: death (off-page/in the past), grief

Review Below!

Review:

Ali Hazelwood, I sign my life over to you. You can do anything you want. This is an author that has only grown so so much stronger with each book. I thought Deep End was my favorite and it wouldn’t be a competition and this came and completely wiped the floor with Deep End. Obviously when it was announced I was so so excited to see Ali’s take on an age gap romance that it much more significant than her previous books but I could not have ever expected what she would do with that specific trope and how much it would emotionally destroy me at times. The thing that really did it for me with the way she handled the age gap was how deeply rooted it was in Conor’s character. It wasn’t just a silly thing to be used for conflict but actually had real effect on the characters, Conor most specifically, because of who they are and their histories.

Conor is I believe the most unique of the contemporary Ali Hazelwood men in just how many layers he has to him. Yes, he still fits the bill for the classic Ali Hazelwood refrigerator man who is beyond obsessed with his girl. But he’s so much more than that. When I first started the book, I was sad about the lack of dual POV that Not in Love had because it was something that worked so well for me with Eli and Rue and I had assumed it would translate over to this book. However, it’s the lack of it that really allows Conor to shine and let the reader peel away all of these interesting layers about his character. 

Maya is a hoot. She is, again, within the typical Ali Hazelwood FMC framework of spunky with moments of insecurity but she also felt refreshingly different from her previous FMCs at the same time. Her anger issues and the aftereffects of her childhood, as already slightly brought in Not in Love, just really made her stand out for me. Her dynamic with Eli is one of my favorites of any “side characters” in Ali’s books but her dynamic with Conor really just makes this book shine. It feels so natural for them and really just shows how well Ali Hazelwood has done in writing two opposite characters and making them connect in such an amazing way. 

This is my new favorite Ali Hazelwood book. Hands down. No competition. It may take quite a bit of force to dethrone this one. Conor may not dethrone Jack Smith Turner for favorite Ali Hazelwood man overall but he is definitely my favorite in his writing. My truly tiniest nitpick that interferes with this book being 6 stars for me is that there is a tiny portion of the beginning of the book in which I don't think the author has a good grip on Maya and Conor's dynamic but even then, I understand why the development of that understanding had to wait so it's quite a tossup for me. I will be thinking about this book for days and dreaming of my own (hopefully less-) problematic summer romance. 

My Ratings:

Characters - 5 ☆ - believable, change and grow, memorable, multilayered, unforgettable protagonist

Plot - 5 ☆ - addictive, nonlinear narrative, satisfying conclusion, steady pacing

Setting - 5 ☆ - atmospheric, beautiful, historical, picturesque, vivid descriptions

Writing Style - 5 ☆ - beautifully-written, descriptive, original, witty

[beckysbook5]

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood - Book Review!

Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power…

[thenoratheory]

Review: 'Problematic Summer Romance' by Ali Hazelwood

I always find it so absurd when a book stirs up a storm of online controversy months before anyone has actually read it. Keyboard warriors took great issue with the age gap in Ali Hazelwood’s Problematic Summer Romance, and frankly, the whole thing just made me more determined to devour every page of this book. When I did, it was crystal clear that the controversy was nonsense. Maya Killgore is…

[edutym]

Problematic Summer Romance Ali Hazelwood

Problematic summer romance ali hazelwood: Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As…

[bookswarrior]

Problematic Summer Romance Ali Hazelwood

Problematic summer romance ali hazelwood: What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman;…