The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Contemporary Romance
September 14, 2021 by Berkley Books
Reviewed by Kate

The Love Hypothesis is mostly a charming book. There is so much to love about it. Olive and Adam are adorable together, and the fake-dating plot was perfect. Olive’s friends are amazing and I enjoyed the banter all around. The writing is great, and I breezed through it in one sitting. But while I would very much like to overlook my problems with it for the cuteness, it feels disingenuous to skim over what I feel is a very significant issue with the plotting of the book. 

Slightly past halfway through the book, Olive is sexually harassed, and that incident becomes a catalyst for the rest of the plot. My issue is that I do not feel that it was handled in a way that made sense for the characters or provided any real closure afterwards. Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult for me to talk about why I don’t believe this worked without giving specific details, so feel free to skip the next couple paragraphs if you’re concerned about spoilers. 

Overall, it felt like the sexual harassment plotline was written in as an easy way to create a Very Serious Conflict. And I just don’t think it was necessary. In the hands of a skilled writer, even the tiniest possible conflict can be written such that the reader is convinced of its importance to the characters’ lives and relationship. I can think of many other conflicts for this book, including but not limited to: Adam’s perceived or real power over Olive’s career, Olive’s issues believing people will stick around after a lifetime of not having that, the fact that they were lying to all of their friends for months about their relationship, Adam being a demanding asshole to every other grad student or Adam’s possible move across the country. I have read romance novels where characters had a third act breakup for less than that last reason, for example. I do not believe we need to traumatize our romance heroines (or trigger readers who weren’t given a heads up) for the sake of causing conflict.

I know many people really enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, and I certainly did until about 65% in. It’s possible that because the situation with the sexual harassment is written in such an over-the-top way (it did feel a little like somebody took an HR manual on “How not to sexually harass” and included every example of what to avoid) that maybe it didn’t land for other readers in the same way it landed for me, but I am honestly frustrated with how it ended after such an amazing beginning. Maybe if I had been aware of what was going to happen, it would not have bothered me so much, but there were no indications that the book was going to take the turn it did.

I want so hard to like this book, and as I said, I think there is a lot to like, but I cannot recommend it without reservations. I look forward to seeing what Hazelwood does next. 

Grade: C-

CW: Sexual harassment with some unwanted physical contact, Olive’s mother died of pancreatic cancer prior to the events of the book.

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