Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by chiaralou
The Love Hypothesis by Laura Steven
3.0
This was so so bad but also a highly enjoyable read. For the most part, it was ridiculous but in a fun way (the entire premise of Caro taking random pills to increase her pheromones was so weird but funny).
The book was overall just not very coherent. The writing style was trying to be hip and cool way too much and it really wasn't working for me. I hate when books incorporate so much internet slang.
The friendship between Keiko, Gabriela and Caro fell a bit flat to me, it didn't really come through why they're actually friends. Also I just didn't vibe with Gabriela's characterisation, Caro was constantly talking about how Gabriela put her friends above anything but it really wasn't reflected in the way she acted.
The romance between Caro and Keiko started a bit too late for me. It just randomly started happening in the middle of the book with no signs beforehand that there could be romantic feelings there. Plus Keiko did act really self-obsessed at the beginning and then changed out of nowhere and it just wasn't addressed again. I have to admit I did really like the ending though, I was really rooting for Caro and Keiko!
Haruki was surprisingly one of the best characters for me, he seemed really three-dimensional and way more coherent than most other characters.
I'm usually a big fan of the serious/goofy combination in couples but it just didn't work with Caro's dads for me. Dad was way too stern and serious at all times and Vati was way too goofy and also lowkey really inappropriate with his teenage daughter? Germans do have boundaries as well actually. And I just didn't like his random German expressions, it was way overdone and just not funny.
But all that was mostly bad in a fun way. There were a few things that did genuinely bother me. I just don't think storylines about adopted children looking for their birth parents need to be combined with those children having gay parents. If done with more nuance, it could have been a good storyline, but saying Caro feels loved by her dads is just not enough to make it not have a weird connotation. Plus the whole tragic backstory was just really unnecessary.
And the Harry Potter references always punched me a bit in the gut. Apart from the fact that I don't think it's great to include HP references in a queer book (and this wasn't released 10 years ago, it's relatively new), it was also just way overdone.
But overall still an enjoyable, silly read with some redeeming (albeit a bit overdone and clichéd) scenes.
The book was overall just not very coherent. The writing style was trying to be hip and cool way too much and it really wasn't working for me. I hate when books incorporate so much internet slang.
The friendship between Keiko, Gabriela and Caro fell a bit flat to me, it didn't really come through why they're actually friends. Also I just didn't vibe with Gabriela's characterisation, Caro was constantly talking about how Gabriela put her friends above anything but it really wasn't reflected in the way she acted.
The romance between Caro and Keiko started a bit too late for me. It just randomly started happening in the middle of the book with no signs beforehand that there could be romantic feelings there. Plus Keiko did act really self-obsessed at the beginning and then changed out of nowhere and it just wasn't addressed again. I have to admit I did really like the ending though, I was really rooting for Caro and Keiko!
Haruki was surprisingly one of the best characters for me, he seemed really three-dimensional and way more coherent than most other characters.
I'm usually a big fan of the serious/goofy combination in couples but it just didn't work with Caro's dads for me. Dad was way too stern and serious at all times and Vati was way too goofy and also lowkey really inappropriate with his teenage daughter? Germans do have boundaries as well actually. And I just didn't like his random German expressions, it was way overdone and just not funny.
But all that was mostly bad in a fun way. There were a few things that did genuinely bother me. I just don't think storylines about adopted children looking for their birth parents need to be combined with those children having gay parents. If done with more nuance, it could have been a good storyline, but saying Caro feels loved by her dads is just not enough to make it not have a weird connotation. Plus the whole tragic backstory was just really unnecessary.
And the Harry Potter references always punched me a bit in the gut. Apart from the fact that I don't think it's great to include HP references in a queer book (and this wasn't released 10 years ago, it's relatively new), it was also just way overdone.
But overall still an enjoyable, silly read with some redeeming (albeit a bit overdone and clichéd) scenes.