Two Can Play

 Here I am again.  

I think I need to take a healthy break from Ali Hazelwood, I have never had such a dysfunctional relationship with an author in my life, on the one hand she has a way of writing, that leaves you wondering if what you are reading is fan-fiction or on the other, stories that are close to being something.

This is not the first time I feel that the short stories Ali Hazelwood writes are half-baked and this time is no different, but there is something here in Two Can Play that could have been developed a lot more. 

The problem here is what always happens with the protagonists Ali Hazelwood tends to write. The female protagonist is full of energy, is extraordinarily smart, is relatively smaller than her male counterpart and has a bit of self-esteem issues because she doesn't think the world values her the way she thinks they should and on the other side is the male protagonist and well if you are a fan of Ali Hazelwood you know he is tall, has communication issues and has a number of over the top thoughts about the female protagonist.

The conflicts in her short stories are so small and absurd that I wonder if the lack of communication is what she automatically thinks of to create narrative tensions, no matter how small they are, I'm still waiting for her to do something more to create an entertaining story, I know Ali Hazelwood has talent, but it seems that she has been stuck in her comfort zone for years, and she doesn't think about getting out of it.

It's the usual and yet I think it's entertaining, because the theme of this little novela breaks with the common scenarios to which we are accustomed. In the end it's a bit of the same if you've read most of her work and if you're here, reading this little story, it's because you're either a fan or you're curious.