Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
Release: September 14, 2021
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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 is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, 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 Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding... six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

Review:
Do you ever read the synopsis of a book and immediately know you are going to adore it? Then you get the book and can't get yourself to pick it up because there is so much hype for it and what if this is the one time that your gut leads you astray and you don't like it? There is no hypothetical you here. This is totally my experience getting my hands on The Love Hypothesis.

This book blew up on social media and everywhere I turned was another raving review. I just kept putting it off because I've been burned by the hype monster before. So instead of picking this up first, I dipped my toe into Ali Hazelwood's STEMinist Novellas series and fell in love with her writing. Armed with the knowledge that I loved the novellas, I finally picked up my copy of The Love Hypothesis. And wouldn't you know it, I loved it so much! I want to go back and kick past me for not reading it as soon as I got my hands on it

I'm a sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers book and Ali Hazelwood delivered that trope with a book that read like the most delectable ReyLo AU fanfic ever! I quickly fell in love with Olive and her science nerd awesomeness. She might be one of the most relatable characters for me in recent years. As someone who went to grad school in a STEM field, I have never read so a realistic portrayal of being a female science grad student ever. It truly transported me back to my grad school days and made me feel seen. It really does takes someone from STEM academia to write it correctly. Thank you for putting it out there, Ali Hazelwood!

Olive's friends, Anh and Malcolm, were amazing! Anh is tenacious and blunt and Malcolm is calm and supportive. They really balanced Olive and her dumbassery out. The one character I loved just as much would be the love interest, Adam Carlsen. Now that I've finished the book, I can totally see why everyone loves him. He's a taciturn and stern person but totally gone and soft for Olive and I love him! He is the grumpy to her sunshine and I couldn't get enough of either of them!

I loved everything about this book but I don't want to go into details about the plot. It's definitely worth it going into the book as blind as you can. One thing I have come to appreciate about Ali Hazelwood's writing is that there has been demisexual rep in almost every one of her stories I've read so far! And it makes me so happy! I love that I can see myself in more and more in the books I read!

I actually listened to the audio of this book and it was freaking fantastic! Callie Dalton's narration was on point and I'd highly recommend reading this story that way! If you haven't picked this one up yet, do yourself a favor and a get a copy! You won't be disappointed! I cannot wait to get my hands on Ali Hazelwood's next novel, Love on the Brain! I need it!

Also, can we appreciate how beautiful this cover is? I love it so much that I had to get the BOTM hardcover edition for my shelves.

ARC provided by the Publisher via Netgalley.

    

  5 / 5 Stars!!!