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The Scientific Process of Love and Fake Dating
- Jhanya&Ria's Corner
- Jun 4, 2022
- 7 min read
“That’s the thing with science. We’re drilled to believe that false positives are bad, but false negatives are just as terrifying.”
Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
Amazon Kindle, Audible, Bookstores Worldwide
14 September 2021
352 Pages
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.
cw + tw // sexual content, sexual assault
Table of Contents:
DISCLAIMER: The reviewers are both women in STEM so please understand that this review might be partially (very) (Ria for the most part) biased because they finally have good representation in literary fiction. (minus the fake dating part ofc)
Prelude
Ria: Let me say this now. The amount of bias that I have is off the charts. I’m going to lay the ground now and say that I love this book and it’s part of my favorite books of all time, alongside Red, White, and Royal Blue and what you’ll be reading below is me fangirling over this book. You have been warned :D
Jhanya: In contrast to Ria, I’ll be giving a more sound and critical perspective for this book review. Because even though I am partially biased because of my position, I’ll try to not fangirl as much to give everyone a more general view of the book. So yeah, Let’s head on to our review.
Story + Pacing
Ria: I devoured this book in less than a day. Literally, I finished this book in 6 hours, one sitting. This is how much the story got me hooked. The plot and story in general are actually quite common. With the fake dating and grumpy x sunshine trope, it’s sort of obvious as to how the story would go already. It’s also a fun and cute read. However, what made this story a hit for me is the incorporation of Women in STEM, sexual harassment, family, and upbringing, and how they all intertwined in the story. First, as an advocate of Women in STEM, I was absolutely thrilled with how this story pushes that agenda and advocates for it. The book really said, “women can be in STEM, too, and we are just as brilliant as every other person out there.” And I loved how that was merged with the issue of sexual harassment because I really think that this is an important theme and issue that should be known and talked about more for people to be more aware of. I loved how aside from the romance, there was a mix of other subplots. This really made the book an all-around better book and a lot less boring.
Jhanya: The story focuses on Olive Smith and how she accidentally had to fake date Adam Carlsen, the detested research terror professor at Stanford, simply because she lied to her best friend so she could comfortably get together with Olive’s ex. Confusing, I KNOW. But trust me when I say that this book is a cliche in the most entertaining way. I also sped through this book because it’s a rom-com and I like speed reading light rom-com reads. Its pacing was just right, and the usual for many other contemporary books.
The story was also very fun despite the many cliche tropes and predictable events which really made it stand out. In this day and age, it’s very rare to find a completely unique book, and it’s perfectly normal and okay because inspiration is a very underrated yet valuable currency we have right now. What makes The Love Hypothesis great is how it proved that one doesn’t need to write a perfectly original story both plot and theme-wise in order for it to be considered a good book. It really comes down to execution, and Hazelwood did so in a very creative and scientific way (literally). And as Ria has mentioned, it covers very relevant topics that really should be given more attention these days, and this book has done so in a very fun and charming way.
Writing Style
Ria: One of the favorite things I loved about the writing style was the structure of each chapter. Usually, a chapter would have a hypothesis that relates the reader to the chapter. I loved the implementation of this kind of structure into the story because it made the story a lot more fun and the writing super engaging. Each hypothesis then later on concluded into a result which I absolutely loved. Aside from this, the writing was super easy to follow and read. All the more conceptual and scientific words were very much explained well and in layman's terms so I didn’t find myself just scratching my head and googling the term myself.
Jhanya: As much as I wasn’t bothered too much about the writing. I think this is one part where it shows that it's the author’s debut novel. There were times when I got confused with the perspectives like is it 1st or 3rd person because one moment, we’re seeing what’s inside Olive’s head, and the next the book is suddenly describing the surroundings. I’m not sure if it’s me who has the problem, but there were really times when I had to reread because I got a bit confused. The overall writing of the book though was fun and charming enough to make you laugh during a lot of scenes despite the cringe of the fake dating trope. How different scientific terms were also smoothly incorporated into the story had me laughing at how nerdy I was to get most of the references, if not all.
Characters
Ria: The characters are probably my favorite part of a book. And what made me love the characters of The Love Hypothesis is their relatability. I saw myself in Olive so much because she’s who I want to be in the future – working in the lab on cancer, being a PhD candidate, getting grants and doing talks, and having awesome friends (and studying at Stanford!!). Her personality is also very similar to mine so I understood most of her logical reasoning and the decisions that she made which made me love her so much. She’s a burst of sunshine that always tries her hardest and really has goals in life and works towards those. I really also love the dedication she has for her craft and that’s really important in research. Although, I must say I probably wouldn’t kiss the nearest person to me, no matter what.
Jhanya: Ria has fangirled enough about Olive so I’ll keep it short. Olive Smith, in one word, is relatable. As a woman in STEM myself, it was refreshing to read about a character that has also experienced the struggles of being a woman in the STEM field and writing, AND ACTUALLY FINISHING a research paper. I was so happy about her small achievements throughout the story and it made me proud as well.
Ria: Adam was a sweetheart and I already very much expected the “I hate everyone in the world but you” kind of trope from him early on. I saw from the start the soft spot he had for Olive and sort of also predicted the years-long pining he’d been doing ahahahahahah. What I think I probably love the best about him are his bluntness and honesty. Although it could come off as really harsh, I think that being prepared for that while in school is the best thing that he’s giving to his students. He also kinda reminded me of a teacher I had who was brutally honest also, but I have mad respect for him. And similarly, Adam is like that. He genuinely wants his students to succeed and to experience what they’ll experience in the future and I love that about him. Although, if I ever have him as a mentor I’d probably cry too many times, I’d be trained really well and be a great scientist which, ultimately, is my goal.
Jhanya: I loved Adam Carlsen, the “Destroyer of Research Careers”. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not just saying this because he’s described to be tall, handsome, and built af (totally unrealistic btw, I KNOW). He was a very touching and nice character to see. And also someone I’d want to date but wouldn’t want to be my thesis professor (see, Olive and I also have a lot in common haha). BUT If there was one thing I didn’t like about the book, it is the lack of development and depth he had. Adam Carlsen was such a unique character and I kinda feel bad that Hazelwood wasn’t able to flesh out his personality more, especially at the end. As a whole though, I loved his chemistry together with Olive, and it all felt natural even though it was a sudden fake dating.
Final Thoughts
Ria: In conclusion, I am very much in love with this book. I know that objectively, this book isn’t spectacular, life-changing, or will be winning any literary award anytime soon, but this book will forever have a special place in my heart. The characters, plot, and writing all merged together to form a beautiful story that has a cutesy romance and advocates for something dear to my heart, not to mention this book basically just spoke to me through Olive. I definitely recommend this book to anyone and I do hope you’d love it as much as I do!!
Jhanya: I think the charm of this book was how cliche it was under a different, yet more relevant premise. The way Hazelwood was able to cleanly incorporate the typical rom-com plot format with the world of academia and research was what really made the readers, as well as myself, get into the book. As Ria has said, this isn’t a groundbreaking, life-changing novel in any way, but it was a very fun and comforting read nonetheless. For me, the sense of familiarity as a whole is what made me like the book. It was such an easy, yet good read that I just flipped through the pages unconsciously. Overall, The Love Hypothesis was very comforting and I definitely recommend it to everyone in need of a good, yet light read.
Rating
Criteria | Jhanya | Ria |
|---|---|---|
Story / Plot (2) | 2 | 2 |
Characters (2) | 1.75 | 2 |
Writing (2) | 1.75 | 2 |
Morale (1) | 1 | 1 |
Originality (1) | 0.5 | 0.75 |
Relevance (1) | 1 | 1 |
Reread Value (1) | 1 | 1 |
TOTAL | 9 | 9.75 |
Final Score | 93.75 | |
FINAL RATING:
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