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A review by theeditorreads
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
5.0
The Love Hypothesis is Olive and Adam’s fake-dating turned, of course, real story that is adorable to a fault.
Synopsis:
Olive Smith is a third-year PhD candidate who wants to save the world from pancreatic cancer while trying to convince her best friend that she’s not in love with the man the latter has fallen in love with. And she inadvertently needs Dr Adam Carlsen’s help to prove to her best friend that he has moved on.
Review:
If I could give a book all the stars in the world, this would be it. This is the best rom-com I’ve ever read, and speaking of romantic comedies, it’s safe to say that this story defies the genre, in that it is so much more than only a rom-com!
A prologue is what starts the story, where we meet our powerhouse Olive having second thoughts about pursuing PhD from Stanford when the Guy helps her out. Just a small and totally insignificant fact is that she never caught the guy’s name or his face since she was wearing expired contacts. But the Guy made an impression on her that day.
The story starts after two years and eleven months, where each of the chapters starts with hypotheses that are as funny as they’re relevant, yep. This was such a unique element that I can’t even begin to describe how good it was, and of course, there are result(s) at the end in the form of an epilogue. But more on that later.
I work as a proofreader at an academic publishing company where we edit research papers for language after it has been to freelancers with subject matter expertise. And I know someone who is a staff at a private university in a geosciences department (and privy to the inner gossip). And this story felt so relatable, not in the sense that I’ve ever set foot on the hallowed grounds of anywhere related to STEM, but I know enough about research and publishing and collaborations and conferences that I was constantly in an “Oh my God!” phase every few pages.
To convince her dearest friend that she didn’t fancy a guy whom the latter fancies, Olive starts fake-dating the first guy she stumbles upon, and that is none other than Dr Adam Carlsen, known ass and every grad student’s nightmare. Now, where do I even start with Adam? He is it! However many broody, angsty, moody protagonists you may have read, Adam is at a totally different level.
And yet you will find yourself falling for him. Although narrated in the third person, this is Olive’s story, her dreams, her work, her loyalty to her friends (while I want an Adam, can I also get an Anh and a Malcolm too, as part of the package), and her spunk. And her love for Adam. Sigh!
What can I say about [a:Ali Hazelwood|21098177|Ali Hazelwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611084228p2/21098177.jpg]’s writing? It is simply the best. Whether it be in her descriptions of the rigours of life in academia or her excellent humour thrown in at all the right places. This is a slow burn but that does not stop it from being hot; the pacing is just right. The gestures, big and small, are oh so heartwarming. And it is balanced with insecurities, both personal and professional, which make the story more human and oh so deliciously relatable.
There are so many aspects to like about this story, from Olive’s colourful imagination running wild to the sciency humour to Adam’s indifference toward what everyone thinks to the “lawless land” that academia is to the cute nicknames the characters have for each other to their adorable friendships, hot relationships, America vs. Canada, and the age and science-related teases there are.
While there is everything sweet and nice that there is in a romantic comedy, how can there not be drama where University politics and jealousy is involved. There are tears and heartbreak and hate but a rallying cry for what is right as well.
The fake-dating/age-gap trope has never felt this good. Olive is twenty-six to Adam’s thirty-four. And never have I ever read a more well-matched pair in the romantic universe of books. You’ll definitely feel “a surge of something warm and soft in the squishy part of yourself that you guard most carefully.” (A slightly modified quote to urge you to read this gem!) Please do read it, if only to savour Adam’s assedness and his dimples.
P.S. Thank you to the author for the references to the journal guidelines. After having formatted journal articles for over a year now, I can say that I know some of them by heart and finding them in this story, it was nothing short of the sweetest of treats.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Synopsis:
Olive Smith is a third-year PhD candidate who wants to save the world from pancreatic cancer while trying to convince her best friend that she’s not in love with the man the latter has fallen in love with. And she inadvertently needs Dr Adam Carlsen’s help to prove to her best friend that he has moved on.
Review:
If I could give a book all the stars in the world, this would be it. This is the best rom-com I’ve ever read, and speaking of romantic comedies, it’s safe to say that this story defies the genre, in that it is so much more than only a rom-com!
A prologue is what starts the story, where we meet our powerhouse Olive having second thoughts about pursuing PhD from Stanford when the Guy helps her out. Just a small and totally insignificant fact is that she never caught the guy’s name or his face since she was wearing expired contacts. But the Guy made an impression on her that day.
The story starts after two years and eleven months, where each of the chapters starts with hypotheses that are as funny as they’re relevant, yep. This was such a unique element that I can’t even begin to describe how good it was, and of course, there are result(s) at the end in the form of an epilogue. But more on that later.
I work as a proofreader at an academic publishing company where we edit research papers for language after it has been to freelancers with subject matter expertise. And I know someone who is a staff at a private university in a geosciences department (and privy to the inner gossip). And this story felt so relatable, not in the sense that I’ve ever set foot on the hallowed grounds of anywhere related to STEM, but I know enough about research and publishing and collaborations and conferences that I was constantly in an “Oh my God!” phase every few pages.
To convince her dearest friend that she didn’t fancy a guy whom the latter fancies, Olive starts fake-dating the first guy she stumbles upon, and that is none other than Dr Adam Carlsen, known ass and every grad student’s nightmare. Now, where do I even start with Adam? He is it! However many broody, angsty, moody protagonists you may have read, Adam is at a totally different level.
Dr. Carlsen might have been a young academic rock star and biology’s wunderkind, but he was also mean and hypercritical, and it was obvious in the way he spoke, in the way he carried himself, that he thought himself the only person doing decent science within the Stanford biology department.
And yet you will find yourself falling for him. Although narrated in the third person, this is Olive’s story, her dreams, her work, her loyalty to her friends (while I want an Adam, can I also get an Anh and a Malcolm too, as part of the package), and her spunk. And her love for Adam. Sigh!
What can I say about [a:Ali Hazelwood|21098177|Ali Hazelwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1611084228p2/21098177.jpg]’s writing? It is simply the best. Whether it be in her descriptions of the rigours of life in academia or her excellent humour thrown in at all the right places. This is a slow burn but that does not stop it from being hot; the pacing is just right. The gestures, big and small, are oh so heartwarming. And it is balanced with insecurities, both personal and professional, which make the story more human and oh so deliciously relatable.
Because this was her life, and these were her poor, moronic, harebrained choices.
There are so many aspects to like about this story, from Olive’s colourful imagination running wild to the sciency humour to Adam’s indifference toward what everyone thinks to the “lawless land” that academia is to the cute nicknames the characters have for each other to their adorable friendships, hot relationships, America vs. Canada, and the age and science-related teases there are.
While there is everything sweet and nice that there is in a romantic comedy, how can there not be drama where University politics and jealousy is involved. There are tears and heartbreak and hate but a rallying cry for what is right as well.
The fake-dating/age-gap trope has never felt this good. Olive is twenty-six to Adam’s thirty-four. And never have I ever read a more well-matched pair in the romantic universe of books. You’ll definitely feel “a surge of something warm and soft in the squishy part of yourself that you guard most carefully.” (A slightly modified quote to urge you to read this gem!) Please do read it, if only to savour Adam’s assedness and his dimples.
Adam Carlsen, responsible for 90 percent of the department’s tears, had actually managed to make someone stop crying. Who would’ve thought?
P.S. Thank you to the author for the references to the journal guidelines. After having formatted journal articles for over a year now, I can say that I know some of them by heart and finding them in this story, it was nothing short of the sweetest of treats.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings