The Love Hypothess

 

(3.5/5.......I think?)

Well then. Unpopular book opinion – I’ll go first. This was, in fact, not as hyped as BookTok and Bookstagram made it out to be… but it was still pretty good.

Okay, a quick synopsis of what we are dealing with here for you newbies. In short, we have Olive Smith, who is a third-year PhD. biology student studying biology at none other than the prestigious Stanford University. What is she doing there, you ask? Researching pancreatic cancer. After losing her mother to it, she was determined to make a kit that could help catch it earlier in people affected, therefore possibly extending their lifetime. In comes Dr. Adam Carlsen, who is a professor at said university. In the prologue, we see that they have an exchange in one of his lab bathrooms because someone (Olive) has burning eyes from wearing expired contacts. He remembers her and starts pining after her, and Olive remembers The Guy, as she likes to call him, but can’t remember him, though she has a few light bulb moments.

Olive also has two friends: Ahn and Malcolm. Olive was getting to know a guy called Jeremy but soon found that Ahn and Jeremy have taken this unsaid liking to each other. Olive did tell Ahn it was fine if they wanted to date because she was over Jeremy. However, Ahn didn’t believe it, and also, hello, girl code.

So, what does Olive do two years after meeting the guy on a random day in the hall of Stanford University, who, by the way, she still doesn’t remember? She spots Ahn, and to convince her about the lie she told of being on a date, she asks Dr. Carlsen, if she could kiss him and then does so… without WAITING for a response. And that is how this fake dating trope begins.

I knew what Olive was getting out of this, and I was intrigued by what Adam was getting out of it, which was his grant getting released. Adam was what one could call a “flight-risk” as in literally they were worried he would hop over to Harvard because he was that wanted. Now let’s get into my experience reading this.

Overall, I rate this a 3.5/5 stars, and I’ll tell you why. The trope had protentional because, of course, it did. The fake dating and arranged marriage spectrum of tropes always do, but just because something has potential doesn’t mean it will get its due diligence. If we talk about the character development, it was done beautifully. I knew so much about both the main characters enough to keep me going within the first 5 chapters, and from there, it only went up. Where my interest started to flatline, when it should have piqued, was with all these unnecessary fillers of the forced proximity element of this fake dating trope. It was borderline just irritating how Ahn was behaving. It actually made me dislike her character, whereas Malcom, I loved so much more.

When a chapter is longer then let’s say, 12 pages, then we need to re-consider what the purpose of said chapter was. 22 pages for one chapter? I have never sighed so much in my life. An example would be the suncream chapter where Ahn put too much in the palms of Olive’s hand. If I had to use one word to describe it, it would be cringe. There were so many other ways that this could have been done, like Dr Carslen asking Olive to do so when he noticed certain important members of colleagues looking. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best example, but you get the idea. Even the original idea could have been made better.

What I did look forward to reading about was their Wednesday coffee dates. The ways in which the bonding worked. Olive’s story behind her research was gripping, and her anxiety with speaking in public was something I could relate to. I’m so much more confident now. However, I remember the times when I wanted nothing more for than it to be over. Actually, there was a line that Adam had said to Olive before she left, and I kept reading it over and over again. He said “It will be fine, Olive.” His smile softened. “And if not, at least it will be over.”

Heart-breaking was the moment when Tom came out with his little dingy claws. Even before Holden told Olive, I knew there was something off about that weirdo. What I did appreciate was the missing information Holden filled in for Olive. A wise, witty man who knew how to change his approach and separate professional life from his friend’s personal life. That was actually another issue I had with this book. The suspense was there, but the irony was lost.

Oh, you thought I was going to give you a straightforward answer? No. Definitely not. For some unknown reason, I can’t even stop thinking about The Love Hypothesis. I always read books twice; one as paperback and then one time on the Kindle. It gives me time to understand two things; one it’s personal research since I want to see how it affects the reading ability in terms of experience and two to see if knowing what happens before-hand has an effect. Sometimes it does, and other times, it doesn’t. You would be surprised.

Unfortunately, the press around the movie made me read this, and I say, unfortunately, because it should always be the other way round. In my mind, Lily Reinhart and Tom Bateman are the perfect cast. The casting directors (who, you know, actually read the story and paid attention to the community) might be the reason I feel this excitement within me. I see why this is going to be a great movie as long as no one takes tips from It Ends with Us because talk about ruining an already not very good book. Ali Hazelwood has a way of just somehow getting into your head and wiring these characters into your memory.

I 100% understand why readers fawn over the characters. I’m doing that myself. Speaking of characters, I don’t like Ahn and Jeremy. They were annoying and inconsiderate sometimes. However, Malcom, I loved. He’s the type of friend I am.

This is someone’s work, and I have never reviewed a book negatively on my blog or Instagram mainly because I just don’t like to. If I don’t like something I read, I don’t tell anyone about it. But that’s the thing I did like it, it was a lovely read, just not up to par with some other ones I much rather prefer.

Anyways. I’m off to continue job hunting after a publishing house rejected me just as I rejected the norm of BookTok. Head over to Instagram and comment below what you think about The_Love_Hypothesis.

 

Until next time.

Mwah.

Vivian.