The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood Review

Summary 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.

Cover lilithsaur’s art work for the cover is really great - from the details to the colouring was one of the main reasons I glanced back at the book in my local store

Favourite Quotes ‘She wanted to go back in time. She wanted to be less lonely. But since that was impossible, she’d settle for fixing what she could’

‘I know where you’re coming from. I get it … I know it’s scary, being vulnerable, but you can allow yourself to care. You can want to be with people as more than just friends or casual acquaintances.’ ****

‘I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.’

Rating

4.5/5

Commentary

I really enjoyed reading this book as a STEM student (albeit a really bad one) and a secret hopeless romantic this book appealed to me.

The pacing of the book was nice - it didn't feel overwhelmed with plot devices, the romance itself felt natural and not forced. The way we had hints on the connection between the two MCs (limiting my words to quell spoilers) from early doors but were left wondering till it came to light.

The fact I am a sucker for the grumpy x sunshine, fake-dating, and slow-burn stories really had me hooked from the get go.

The supporting characters felt integral to the story and not just haplessly added - Malcolm is my favourite support bean and did provide one of my favourite quotes ****

The constant reminder about consent made me clap my hands on multiple occasions in the more ‘steamy’ scene - changing your mind and being given the free choice to change your mind is not weird and shouldn’t be made to feel weird.

Conclusion

I gave the book and 4.5 out of 5 rating purely because this book gave me the serotonin boost and distraction I needed when I read it (I have been feeling kinda ‘low’). The romance was cute and since reading it over the last 2 days, I have been recommending to the majority of my friendship group. I will be looking into some of Ali’s other works too (Love on the Brain is currently en route to my house as we type this)

From reading some of the other reviews I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy it - a lot mentioned the story style, the general romance and all that jazz. But from the blurb, the title and even the cover you know what you’re getting into, so I’m genuinely surprised with how shocked they’re coming across.