Book Review: The Love Hypothesis

Title: The Love Hypothesis

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

hy·poth·e·sis (noun)

A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence, as a starting point for further investigation.

Example: “based on the available information and the data hitherto collected, my hypothesis is that the farther away I stay from love, the better off I will be.

The Love Hypothesis has been getting a ton of hype and it is so well-deserved. This was easily a 5-star read for me. It’s the type of book I want to scream about from the rooftops, so let me tell you what I loved about it:

• The relationship, of course! – I loved the way Olive and Adam were able to trust each other and rely on each other. They were each other’s person and it made my heart happy.
• The tropes – I suspected that fake dating was my favorite trope but The Love Hypothesis confirmed this. It also made me realize how much I enjoy the grumpy/sunshine trope. All of Olive’s fellow graduate students either hate Adam or they’re absolutely terrified of him, and I loved seeing her bring out this soft side of him and realize that he’s not at all the monster people think he is.
• It was HILARIOUS! – This book made me laugh out loud sooo many times and the banter was *chef’s kiss*!
• Women in STEM representation – I love that Olive is a woman in STEM and really appreciated the discussions of the difficulties that women in these fields face in general.
• Academia vibes and statistics references – I recently graduated college with a degree in math and statistics and I found some of Olive’s experiences so relatable. There were also a few references to statistics scattered throughout which I loved. In one scene, there was mention of how upsetting it is to have a p-value of 0.06 and I couldn’t stop laughing.
• Demisexual rep – I can’t speak to the accuracy of this representation but I did really appreciate its inclusion in The Love Hypothesis and found the discussion to be really eye-opening.
• The hypotheses – This is just a bonus, but there was a hypothesis at the beginning of every chapter that hinted at what was to come. I thought this was such a cute idea!
• Olive acknowledged the mistakes she made – See a spoiler-y explanation below:

Click to read spoiler!

Adam clearly cared very much about Olive so I found it really frustrating that Olive was so in denial. She convinced herself that there was no way he could ever have feelings for her which drove me a little crazy. However, at the end of the book, she acknowledges that she was wrong by telling Adam she made a Type II statistical error. If that means nothing to you, this is basically a nerdy way to say a hypothesis was objectively true, but the scientist falsely concluded the hypothesis to be false (Adam obviously cared for Olive, but she told herself he didn’t have feelings for her). The inclusion of this concept made me so happy that in hindsight I don’t mind that Olive spent so much time in denial haha.

Overall, this book was absolutely amazing! If you enjoy the fake dating or grumpy/sunshine tropes, are looking for a romance that is set in academia, or just need a good laugh, I would highly recommend picking up The Love Hypothesis!!!

Let’s chat!

Have you read any good romances lately? What are your favorite tropes?