Love on the Brain(104)

This book is, of course, fictional, but everything Kaylee says about the GRE is true, and tests like the GRE and the SATs are not only very sketchy when it comes to predicting future academic performance, but they traditionally favor people who come from economically advantaged backgrounds. Access to higher education is, as a rule, scarcer for those who aren’t traditionally privileged, and standardized testing only contributes to the problem. But in the last few years there has been a shift, with more and more institutions and graduate programs not requiring these tests for admission, and that’s a fantastic step in the right direction.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, and remember: if academia ever makes you feel like you’re not good or smart enough . . . it’s not you, it’s academia.

Love,

Ali





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


Publishing has very weird, very long timelines, which means that I’m writing the acknowledgments for my second book in October 2021, right after the publication of my first, and my heart is very full. Every good thing that has happened after the release of The Love Hypothesis I owe to my team at Berkley: Sarah Blumenstock, the best editor in the multiverse (who lets me add sex scenes till the very last minute!); Jess Brock, my fantastic publicist; Bridget O’Toole, my incredible marketer; and, of course, my most beloved agent, Thao Le, who brought me to them. Let’s be real: publishing is terrifying. But the constant support, hard work, and talent of these four women made it slightly less so. Plus, through them, I got to work with the best publisher in the world. Basically: to every single person at Berkley and at SDLA who helped with my books in any capacity, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. I’m sorry I always turn in stuff at 11:58 p.m. on deadline days. I’m sorry I ask the same questions forty times. I’m sorry I keep abusing the caps lock. I swear I’m trying to be better!! Special thanks to Penguin Creative (in particular Dana Mendelson) and to Lilith, the cover artist of my wildest dreams. And, of course, thank you to Jessica Clare, Elizabeth Everett, Christina Lauren, and Mariana Zapata for blurbing my first book (asking for blurbs is pants-crappingly scary, guys) and for the constant encouragement.

Love on the Brain wouldn’t be what it is without the feedback of the brilliant Claire, Julie Soto, Lindsey Merril, Kat, Stephanie, Jordan, and, of course, Sharon Ibbotson, my very first editor. Kate Goldbeck, Sarah Hawley, Celia, Rebecca, and Victoria were amazing and let me vent to them during the writing process. The Grems, the Edge Chat, TM, the Family Chat, and the Berkletes have been crucial to my survival, and I am forever grateful to have these amazing people in my life.

And, of course, a million thanks to all the readers, booktokers, bookstagrammers, bloggers, journalists, reviewers, and fellow Reylos who supported my first book and showed enthusiasm for my second: sophomore book terrors are definitely a thing (or maybe they aren’t and it’s just me!?) and I spend a few hours every day worrying that people will hate mine, but everyone’s excitement has been helping so, sooo much.

And last but very much not least: thanks to Lucy, for being the father I didn’t know I needed, and to Jen, for holding my hand during the highs and the lows. Everybody needs a Jen, but mine is taken.

(Oh, and thanks to Stefan, I guess. But only a little.)