The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
A solid 3 stars for me for a variety of reasons, but none that I think will dissuade the right reader if you go in with your eyes open — The Love Hypothesis is reskinned Star Wars fan-fiction set in a contemporary universe with the divisive pairing of Reylo (Rey and Kylo). It is decidedly more on the romance than the steamy side of things, but does have its moments which I will get into a bit later in this review.
The cover alone has some hints with Olive’s hair in that really well drawn messy bun, though Dr. Carlsen looks decidedly less massive, or bedecked in black than the interior. All that goes to the wayside though, as within the book it’s hard not to picture Adam Driver as …. Adam Carlsen, our love interest.
Even the blurb has references to the origins of the book:
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.
Goodreads blurb
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.
Olive, like most protagonists, has a cliched, happy but unrealistic problem to solve — so Olive does what seems to come most naturally to her to solve her problems — she lies.
“But it’s for the good of her friend’s happiness!” You might say to yourself. It’s still lying.
So, of course, her lies snowball underneath her, and while Dr. Adam Carlsen seems more than game to be in on the charade with her, Olive can’t help but discover that under his brooding and prickly exterior, she finds herself falling for the man who has made many a student in her grad program break down.
There are so many things not quite right with this book, and yet I enjoyed it all the same. Each chapter feels complete, to the detriment of the flow between them. It’s almost non-existent. Knowing that this came from fan fiction, it makes sense to me and fits that format of storytelling well. As for how it translates into a novel? It left some things to be desired, but again, that’s just down to author’s style and reader’s preference. I can see a reader who doesn’t devour books in whole sittings like me, enjoying having more concrete starting and ending points.
Olive is written as an attempt to subvert the “girl doesn’t know she’s pretty/beautiful/desirable” trope by framing her lack of self-awareness and self-confidence into demi-sexuality with a thick layer of *trauma* heavily influenced by Rey’s tragic backstory. Unfortunately, it still comes across as lazy writing when stripped of the context of the fanfiction, which is where the book begins to struggle standing on its own.
Adam suffers similarly, but due to the task of making him immediately likable when compared to the source material, gains more depth than Olive. He doesn’t seem to have much struggle or growth to go through, which does him disservice as a character. He does have strong opinions at the very least, and I found myself agreeing with his takes on academic work.
The academia backdrop The Love Hypothesis is set against does feel well crafted and authentic. My stint in academia was not in the STEM field, but I recall vending machine dinners more than once, and my friends in the STEM field share stories, mannerisms, and experiences similar to the ones in this book. It feels properly grounded in that area, and given the author’s own background, it makes a lot of sense. This is something that, without having a lot of science or post-secondary education knowledge, might be a turn off for other readers since Hazelwood doesn’t provide a lot of accessibility points within the book. I don’t mind niche, it provides a lot of flavor after all, but when it becomes exclusionary I take a step back.
The romance I have very little issue with, and in many ways, enjoyed wholly. Particularly when Olive realizes she’s catching feelings. Been there. However, the steamy extended scenes were hard to enjoy due to some consent concerns I had. Olive may be demisexual, which is well and good, but she didn’t have a lot of agency or respect given to her when she hesitated or outright said “no” or “hold on.” I don’t mind, and frankly enjoy when those real life moments slip in to romance, but they weren’t honored by Adam/Hazelwood, and I was ultimately disappointed.
There is, of course, Adam’s monster dick to be contended with as well. He’s basically End Game Hulk, super ripped, super smart, kind of a babe when he’s not making grad students sob, so of course the man has a penis the size of a Star Destroyer. And that’s normally par for the course in romance, but when Olive is described as so small… I was physically uncomfortable for her during those scenes in the book. There may have been consent, but it didn’t feel wholly enthusiastic on her part, especially in the moments her body resisted.
Overall, for a first foray into traditional novel publishing, I think this reskinned Reylo fic will provide a strong platform for Hazelwood to build on. Most debut novels in a romance series play it the safest, so I’m more than willing to see what she comes up with for her second: Love on the Brain. While this first novel was good, I’m still not placing it with my top tier of romance recommendations just yet; it really does require a certain reader to enjoy it despite its flaws.
The Little Book Witch 