Book Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

About the Book

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

My Thoughts

I picked this up right after finishing The Astonishing Color of After because I needed a boost of serotonin. And I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I read a huge chunk of it in one sitting. I believe I read it at the right time and I loved it.

It had a lot of great laugh-out-loud moments, and when I say that I mean I literally laughed out loud! I loved the banter between Olive and Adam, as well as Olive’s inner monologue. I found myself writing down a number of quotes that I loved and some that I just found hilarious, here is one in particular that had me rolling:

“He lifted an eyebrow. “I doubt a language exists in which the thing you just ordered could be referred to as ‘coffee.'”” (p. 71).

And there were so many others! If I hadn’t borrowed it from the library, I probably would have tabbed and underlined a lot more than what I jotted down. Maybe I need to get a copy so I can mark it up if I re-read it. But back to the review.

I loved the characters, and even though I guess this is kind of Reylo fanfiction, it isn’t not really. Yes, our love interest is named Adam and his mother is a diplomat, and both our main characters are described as looking similar to Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley. I honestly was able to separate them from this fact in my head. I loved getting to know both of them.

I found Olive in the third act a bit annoying, especially when she hides something from Adam. I also loved Adam, but there were times I felt he could have been more assertive, but considering their situation it makes sense.

Also, and this is a spoiler of sorts, can we talk about how much I hate Tom Benton. What a sorry excuse for a human being! He got what he deserved.

So I guess I really like fake-dating as a trope? Also, I love how the characters were self-aware that what they were doing was a popular romance trope!

This was a great romantic comedy and it was a new favorite. I look forward to reading what Ali Hazelwood puts out next. 5/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.