Ali Hazelwood - The Love Hypothesis
5 ⭐
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romance, Academia/ STEM
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Favourite Quote: ''Carry Yourself with the Confidence of a Mediocre White Man'' (Page 198).
Book Blurb:
When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive on her way to a happily ever after was always going to be tough, scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting woman, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when he agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire and Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support (and his unyielding abs), their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion.
Olive soon discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
My Review:
This book! It is the cutest rom-com I have read in a while! I absolutely love this book and not because of BokTok but because it is actually an amazingly written book!
Firstly, of course, I loved the STEM/ Academic representation in a fictional romance book. It is so rare to see STEM and academia represented in fiction, especially in romance books. Also, it is so fresh to see a romance book set in a different and not conventional environment. For someone who is passionate about STEM and academia and who was a graduate student in a STEM subject and who knows academia, it is amazing to see that it is represented in this book.
This book displayed so many everyday realities of STEM and academia: long hours working alone, long hours doing research and experiments, competition for funding and research, challenges when applying for grants/funding, stresses of publishing and conferences, to name a few. All that whilst barely having any social life and barely surviving from the smallest possible student loans and scholarships...and of course constantly doubting your ability and research. This book covered all of this perfectly! I loved how I could relate to Olive so much because of all that!
Olive is so bright, determined and ambitious to achieve what she wants even in a very male-dominated field of STEM. Her navigating the world of STEM and academia really shows how hard is to be a female in the STEM and academia. I also liked the fact that at times Olive was portrayed as socially awkward, introverted, especially when it comes to socialising with friends and having a relationship or even not having a life outside a lab. She always has her work and research on her mind, as well as, most of the time she is doubting herself and her abilities. That imposter syndrome is not uncommon with graduate researchers and thus made Olive even more relatable.
I was really happy that this book didn't jump straight into lovey-dovey romance but allowed Olive's and Adam's fake relationship to grow slowly into a friendship and then into strong feelings towards each other. They got to know each other, then they also started to show each other their true personalities, which made this such a brilliant and more realistic read.
I think what would make this book even better is chapters from Adams's POV. Mainly because I wished there was more background on Adam so that I could've gotten to know his character better since in this book I only got to know his character as how Olive saw him and how his students stereotyped him. I haven't seen the true Adam Carlsen. Although, there were a couple of places in the book where some of his true personality was presented, but not as much as I would’ve liked.
To be perfectly honest I just wish there was a second book as I want more Olive and Adam and their adventures in academia.
Overall: It is definitely my favourite romance book! Apart from the cliche kiss and fake dating, this story was just an amazing portrayal of two people becoming friends and falling in love, struggles in academia and challenges in STEM research.
Any romance lovers should add this book to their TBR list (if you
haven't already read this) - you will not be left disappointed.
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