This review is of a novellas series written by Author Ali Hazelwood. The series includes three novellas about women in STEM.
The STEMinists Novellas
By Ali Hazelwood
Romance
133 pages, 127 pages, 139 pages
Audiobooks published February 8, March 8 & April 5, 2022 and eBooks published May 3, June 7 & July 5, 2022 by Berkley
Series rating: ⭐⭐⭐½
The STEMinest by Ali Hazelwood is a series of three novellas. They focus one three best friends, all women in STEM. I love reading about women in STEM and badass women in general but this series was a bit disappointing. The first two novellas barely focused on the women’s careers and more on their drama and romance. The last book, Below Zero met all my expectations for how much it focuses on her career. I was very happy about actually learning about what Hannah does, her journey getting there and how she wants to advance, in more detail than the other books.
Ali Hazelwood has a preference for tiny petit women with huge strong men, which kind of bothers me. Why do all of them have to be these itty bitty women, appearing so weak and in need of a big strong man? She literally mentions their size comparisons in each book several times as if she doesn’t want you to forget. She is a great writer, there is no doubt about that but I feel like she could have changed it up a bit for at least one of the novellas.
Overall, I enjoyed this series. I thought it was a great concept and look forward to reading more of her books in the future. I give the series as a whole 3.5/5 and would recommend it
Under One Roof
(The STEMinists Novellas #1)
By Ali Hazelwood
Romance
133 pages
Published February 8, 2022 (audiobook) May 3, 2022 (eBook)
⭐⭐½
Environmental engineer, Mara, finds her self living under one roof with a lawyer for an environment killing company, Liam. They have to sort out their differences in hopes to live peacefully until Mara can afford to find a new housing situation.
Okay, so I wasn’t a huge fan of this. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t like it much either. I liked some of it but it was also pretty disappointing. I feel like I would have enjoyed this as a full novel that focused more on Mars and her career, especially since the novella series focuses on women in STEM. I just felt that her career in STEM was only mentioned to fit the “STEMinist” narrative and then she went on to focus on her being this awkward, weak, submissive girl. The romance part was difficult for me. I loved their growing friendship and their secret crushes on each other, but when it got to the spicy part, I couldn’t help but cringe. I love the idea of this novella but I just don’t think it lived up to my expectations. I definitely would have preferred it as a full novel with more career focus, more character development and more romantic development.
Stuck With You
(STEMinists Novellas #2)
By Ali Hazelwood
Romance
127 pages
Published March 8, 2022 (Audiobook) & June 7, 2022 (eBook)
⭐⭐⭐½
After a quick and steamy romance that fizzled out just as quickly, Sadie and Erik get stuck in an elevator together and are forced to revisit their relationship they had and possibly rebuild what they once had for a short time.
This one was definitely better than the first. Both characters were a lot more likeable, but I hate miscommunication in a romance like this. I know this is a novella but it just felt so rushed. Again, I feel like I would have enjoyed this more as a full novel where more details could have been included and it could have gone more in-depth into their story. I loved their romance though, they had great chemistry. I thought Erik was such a sweetheart and I felt so bad for him once the truth came out and the miscommunication was cleared.
Below Zero
(STEMinists #3)
By Ali Hazelwood
Romance
139 pages
Published April 5, 2022 (Audiobook) & July 5, 2022 (eBook)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hannah finds herself injured and in danger on a risky research expedition and may have to accept help from the last person she would want help from, Ian. Ian is the one who tried endlessly to make sure her expedition did not happen and now he just might be the only one who can help her.
Hannah and Ian are perfect! I am so happy about this Novella, this one was by far the best of the three. I really enjoyed Hannah’s character, she was so open and honest. Ian was a total sweetheart. I loved him. Together they were my favourite couple of the series. This story was also miles above the other ones. I loved how much it actually focused on Hannah and her career in STEM. That’s what I wanted from all of them. It had the right amount of career focus and romance focus. I was very happy about that.
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