Pictured edition: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Sphere 2021. ISBN 9781408725764. Cover art by Lilith (@lilithsaur) – can’t find last name! Book design by Tiffany Estreicher. Image used on this blog under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968. Surrounding design made by me using Canva.
Olive Smith, a Biology PhD student at Stanford, wants to convince her friend Anh that it’s okay to date her recently ex-boyfriend, so she says she’s going on a date that night. Then Anh catches her in the labs working instead, so Olive kisses the nearest random guy: Dr Adam Carlsen, tenured professor, “young academic rock star” and “a notoriously moody, obnoxious, terrifying dick”. He demands an explanation, and then suggests they continue with the fake dating charade to gain access to funding that’s being withheld because his department head thinks he’s a potential “flight risk” – he’s being wooed by other prestigious universities. In the meantime, Olive tries to continue her research and painstakingly carve out a path as a young woman in an ultra-competitive, male dominated academic discipline.
Well, I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t get into a school library, due to the graphic sex scenes. But I’m equally sure that there are plenty of high school students reading it, especially given its popularity on Booktok. It’s an absolutely gripping page-turner and excellent escapism, as well as making some reasonable sounding points about the difficulty of science as a career in general and for young women and minorities in particular.
This novel apparently started life as a Reylo (Rey + Kylo Ren) fanfic, and this is echoed in the cover art and the description and naming of Adam (Kylo Ren is played by actor Adam Driver). It’s smart and it’s funny, particularly including some metafictional jokes about the fake dating trope. I very much enjoyed it.
Title: The Love Hypothesis
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Cover: Art by Lilith (@lilithsaur), book design by Tiffany Estreicher
Publisher: Sphere, 2021
ISBN: 9781408725764
Genre: contemporary adult romance
Representation: women in STEM, BIPOC (supporting characters), LGBTQIA+ (supporting characters)
Suitability: 18+
Fyi: graphic sex scenes, swearing, sexual harassment, death of mother from cancer (in back story)
Themes: love, consent, academia, women in STEM
Literary features/tropes: third person subjective narration, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating
If you like this, try: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE LIBRARY... 
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