Title: The Love Hypothesis
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Romance, contemporary romance, romantic comedy
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: September 2021
Format: Audiobook
Length: 12 hours

Read if you like: fake dating, miscommunications, women in STEM, grumpy meets sunshine, romance novel references

Rating:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a huge romance reader, but I love Ali Hazelwood. Her STEM/academia settings are among my favourite settings that a book can be in, and her characters are always quirky and loveable.

The Love Hypothesis was fun and silly while also being heartfelt and endearing. Hazelwood employs a couple of super-used tropes, but I loved that even the characters acknowledged the absurd ties to the rom-com premises and just had fun with it.

The only thing that kept this from a five-star for me was a personal preference: I can’t stand a miscommunication trope. There was so much about this book to love, but in the end, I was often so frustrated with Olive for refusing to see what was so obviously in front of her that it drove me nuts. I know this is ultimately how most romance novels work though, so don’t let this stop you from reading the book if romance is your thing. I’ll still be picking up more Ali Hazlewood in the future and will continue to recommend this book indefinitely.

The Book: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis follows Olive Smith, a PhD student in a bind. Her best friend Ahn is into a guy named Jeremy who used to be into Olive, even though Olive never really had any interest in him. To convince Ahn that Olive is well and truly over Jeremy, she in turn convinces Adam Carlson, a young hotshot professor in her department and well-known ass to be her fake boyfriend. Carlson, who is also trying to convince the department that he isn’t a flight risk, agrees to go along with the scheme in the hopes that appearing to be in a committed relationship will convince the other faculty that he is here to stay.

As Olive and Adam continue on their fake dating track, things get predictably awkward and interesting, until Olive finds herself surprisingly smitten with Adam for real. As she works towards her professional goal of securing research funding for a major cancer research project, which Adam supports her through, she begins to wonder how she’s going to end this fake dating arrangement without getting her heart broken.

The Review

The Love Hypothesis is in some ways a stereotypical romantic comedy (fake dating and grumpy-to-sunshine tropes), but in most ways, it’s so much more.

First and foremost, I love Hazelwood’s consistent use of STEM and academic settings, alongside smart, sharp women. Olive is a scientific powerhouse in her own right, even if her confidence is somewhat lacking, so while a relationship with a broody, smart, accomplished man is nice, it isn’t necessarily required, and he isn’t there to save her. I love this about Hazelwood’s novels, that the women are all strong and capable and fighting against the patriarchy of scientific academia. It’s so enjoyable to see traditional tropes deployed in such an interesting and engaging setting.

I also really enjoyed the characters themselves and how Adam and Olive complimented each other. Olive felt a little young and naïve, but Adam brought a more realistic perspective to her that rounded her out nicely. The lack of experience that Olive had was offset by Adam’s depth, and the two of them were then able to grow with each other.

The fake dating trope was super well executed, and I loved how Olive consistently acknowledged the absurdity of the rom-com-like scenario. The miscommunications were driving me crazy by the end and had me wanting to shake Olive myself, but I get that this is a pretty standard aspect of a romance novel and concede it’s a hallmark of the genre.

I read this book on audio and once again, it was superbly executed. I feel like Hazelwood’s books all lend nicely to audio and I’ll definitely be reading more this way.

Overall, this was a really solid read, and I’ll be picking up more of Hazelwood’s works in the future.