A review by madeline
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A really solid debut from Hazlewood, in which PhD candidate Olive must fake-date a professor in her department in order to convince her best friend that she really is FINE with her dating a kind-of ex. 

I was apprehensive about this book -- it's clearly a Reylo fanfic, and I know nothing of that fandom besides Adam Driver's character is grumpy??  I wasn't sure how much I would need to know about that pairing to make the book work, and the answer is not a ton, thankfully.  It also seemed vaguely self-insert to me, since the author is also a scientist (I do think that if it had not obviously been a Reylo fic this would not have bothered me).

Overall, the writing is great and the plot is a lot of fun and well-paced.  It's thoughtful about the rampant problems in academia, particularly the sexism and racism, but also the challenges of mentoring/being mentored and the appeal of industry contrasted against the above-referenced issues of the academe. 

My quibbles are minor: mostly, Adam and Olive must be two of the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet to not know they are each other's secret love interest.  This is likely vaguely spoilery so
but literally how did you not know it was Adam in the bathroom at the beginning, Olive?? It's so obvious to the reader that later in the book when she's like "wonder who that dude was!" it really threw me for a loop.  It's the dude you've been rubbing sunscreen on to
.  It also feels a bit too on the nose to name your hero after the actor that plays the character he's based on, but that could be just me.

This is a true three star review for me: an absolutely fine book that lacked a zing, and one that clearly performs much better for folks in the fandom.  Still, I'll be looking out for forthcoming books from this author. 

CW:
parental death off-page, absentee parents off-page, references to foster care, sexual harassment, clearly joking threats about Title IX reports.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings