The Love Hypothesis (STEM #1) by Ali Hazelwood review

Hey ForeverBookers,

I’ve just finished “The Love Hypothesis” by Ali Hazelwood, an adult contemporary romance and I flipping LOVED it!!! I didn’t think it would be for me because of the STEM aspect, but boy was I wrong! 

Olive, our main character is a woman in STEM, which was interesting to read about. The novel didn’t focus much on the STEM aspects which I appreciated. It was very much in the background. “The Love Hypothesis” tells the story of Olive and her love life. 

I read The Love Hypothesis for a couple of readathons, which were:

Reading Rivalry: Fortune Cookies - there’s a scene in The Love Hypothesis where the 2 main characters get fortune cookies. What do they reveal? I’ll let you read for yourself. 

Always Fully Booked 2025 Reading Challenge - Women in STEM - Olive, our main female character is working as a scientist. 

“The Love Hypothesis” does have a sex scene and some more abusive words in the middle.

Spoilers below!

“Maybe I’ll see you next year,” she babbled, flushing a little. “If I get in. And you haven’t graduated.”

     “Maybe,” she heard him say.

      With that, The Guy was gone. And Olive never got his name. But a few weeks later, when the Stanford biology department extended her an offer, she accepted it. Without hesitating.”

This is the last lines of the prologue. They’re significant because Olive, our main character, doesn’t know who she’s talking to. We learn as the plot develops just WHO this man is. I won’t spoil it but let’s just say he’s a significant character to Olive. She wants a place at Stanford to be a scientist. This is where the women in STEM theme comes in to the plot. It’s very much on the sidelines. I’m not a science person at all and I still understood the plot points. 

“Though, I’ve been thinking about this a lot."

        He waited patiently for her to continue.

        “And I think that it would be best if we laid down some ground rules before starting.”

        “Ground rules?"

        “Yes. You know. What we are allowed and not allowed to do. What we can expect from this arrangement. I think that's pretty standard protocol, before embarking on a fake-dating relationship.”

        He tilted his head. "Standard protocol?"

        “Yup.”

        “How many times have you done this?"

        “Zero. But am familiar with the trope."

        “The... what?" He blinked at her, confused.

         Olive ignored him. "Okay." She inhaled deeply and lifted her index figer. “First of all, this should be a strictly on-campus aragement. Not that I think you'd want to meet me off campus but just in case you were planning to kill two birds with one stone, I’m not going to be your last minute backup if you need to bring a date home for Christmas, or—"

        “Hanukkah.”

        “What?”

        “My family is more likely to celebrate Hanukkah than Christmas.” He shrugged. “Though I’m unlikely to celebrate either.” (55)

Olive and Adam are setting up their fake relationship above. Olive is very much a scientist as is Adam. They’re both very to-the-point as characters. They’re fake dating to hide that Olive was never interested in her best friend, Anh’s boyfriend. Does this whole cover-up work or does it come crashing down around Olive? You’ll need to read to find out! 

Anh, Olive’s best friend, wasn’t actually that present in the plot of “The Love Hypothesis.” I appreciated this as I hate it when the romance comes second place in a romance book. Yes, friendships are important but they shouldn’t outrank the main romance in my opinion. The author did a good job of balancing this, I thought. 

Later on in the book, Tom Benton makes an appearance. He’s one of Adam’s old friends from when he was a student, like Olive is now. He offers Olive a job on his team. Is he genuine or does he just want Olive out of the way? I’ll let you read for yourself! 

I really enjoyed “The Love Hypothesis.” The plot is very simple. A girl and a guy, Olive and Adam in this case meet each other, make a deal, get to know each other in the process, fall in love, experience a little conflict, end up happily ever after, or do they? That’s why I’m giving the story 4 stars! I would have liked just a little bit more to the story but all in all I had a great time reading it and it only took me three days to read, which is very good for me. 

I’m reading the last in a middle grade series next that I’ve loved over the past few years. Come back to read my review of that!