The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

"This might be inappropriate but... Olive. You are really... You are extraordinary."

Synopsis: 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.

At long last, I picked up an Ali Hazelwood novel.

I've seen The Love Hypothesis all over social media for quite some time now, and I figured it was about time that I found out what all the hype is about. Truthfully, I can see where the appeal comes from. It features popular tropes, focuses on women in STEM (which was so interesting to read about), and was, overall, a very fun read. Although, as with most books, I do have a few complaints. So, without further ado, let's dive in!

The Love Hypothesis follows Olive, a Ph.D. candidate who gets trapped fake dating Adam Carlsen, a famously hellish professor. I actually enjoyed this plotline quite a bit. Their relationship was a slow burn, but I could appreciate it. It gave us the opportunity to see a more realistic progression in their relationship, going from very awkward and forced to friendly and trusting and then, finally, to an actual couple. And unlike some contemporary romance novels I've read in the past, I found myself genuinely rooting for them! The situation that led to them fake dating in the first place was a bit strange, but I was willing to overlook that. Ali Hazelwood does a fantastic job of drawing in her audience, so much so that quite a few of the complaints I had didn't immediately stand out to me.

Before I get to those, however, let's talk about the fabulous academic setting of this novel.

To be clear, I have no background in STEM whatsoever. I'm just a creative writer who spends more time thinking about writing than talking to actual people, not a genius scientist like Olive who's trying to find a way to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages. This was all new to me, and I loved everything about it. The science, getting an understanding of academia and the politics surrounding it, or even just getting the perspective of a grad student struggling to climb the ladder. This was eye-opening, and I have so much respect for the women who go through the challenges that Olive does.

Olive's character in general I found to be very relatable. Her struggle with imposter syndrome at times especially stuck out to me, because we've all been there at some point. The question of whether or not we're good enough, smart enough, capable enough, can be a crushing burden to carry, and this was shown well through Olive's character arc. My heart went out to her, and I was so happy that we got to see her have those doubts proven wrong. Having persevering, powerful women represented in fiction is incredibly important, and this is an excellent example of that.

As I stated above, this was a fun read. The plot was engaging, the main characters were a pair that I could root for, and I actually was a little sad when I finished the book. Unfortunately, there were a few drawbacks that did lower my rating, the first of those being Adam's character.

Now, I'm not saying that I didn't like Adam. Rather, I have some critiques for how he was written. Mainly regarding his personality, because I feel like what could have been a complex, layered character was simply reduced to being large and occasionally an asshole. Every time Adam enters a scene, we get a description of how big he is despite having already been informed of his large stature the very first time he was introduced. Similarly, there was so much focus on proving that Adam is a brooding, critical jerk that we miss out on what other characteristics make up his person. It felt like the author was so concerned with making sure he fit into certain boxes that she forgot to fill in the rest, which was a shame. There were still several moments where I enjoyed his character, and I appreciated the way that he treated Olive in their relationship, but there was definitely some missed potential.

Similarly, there were a few writing points that I think could have been handled a little better. For instance, none of Olive and Adam's romantic moments happened without being caused by her best friend, Anh. We don't get any organic romantic interactions between the two until towards the end of the book, and I would have liked to see more relationship growth that was not forced upon them. There were also some instances where the writing could have been phrased better or expanded on, and the single explicit scene in the book was very awkward to read. In the bonus chapter at the end of the book we also get Adam's point of view during this scene, and I think the story would have been better off without it. It portrays Adam as being alarmingly obsessive (stating he has been unable to stop thinking about her from the brief moment they met several years before the book takes place), and it comes off as somewhat creepy and concerning. There is an age gap between them, and Olive was still very young when they met, so this rubbed me the wrong way.

With all that being said, my experience reading The Love Hypothesis was overall positive, and I still plan to pick up some of her other books in the future! If you're a fan of contemporary romance that features tropes like fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, or featuring women in STEM, then I would recommend checking it out!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars