The Love Hypothesis

If you're looking for a silly and mindless rom-com that plays into the fake-dating trope, then yes, this book is for you. If you're looking for a compelling female character, an appealing love interest, and a plot that has substance, then no, this is sadly not for you.

I wish I liked this book, but I do not. Even though it was a fairly easy read and the premise was up my alley, it was just so frustrating to read through because of how incessantly annoying Olive is. Her logic makes no sense at all, like non-consensually kissing and sexually assaulting the random person in a hallway so your friend could back off your dating life? I don't know, how about talking to your so-called best friend about that?

As an adult woman, she has zero backbone, integrity, and respect for herself. I understand how insecurities and imposter syndrome can feed our internal cycle of hate towards ourselves, lowering our self-esteem and devaluing our self-worth. Olive is supposed to come off as relatable to readers simply because she has insecurities that makes her an imperfect and flawed person. Yet, it so hard to find her likeable because she has no character development at all. She spends the entire book berating and doubting herself on whether she is worthy of a spot in academia and whether she is a likeable romantic interest (for Adam). It's just so frustrating to sit through 350 pages of a woman who refuses to grow up and take matters into her own hands, who refuses to stand up for herself even when confronted by a terrible, disgusting person. And worse yet, all of her problems are constantly resolved by a man whom she even calls her “knight in black armor”. It was such a cringeworthy and eye-rolling line.

The long-harboring crush that Adam has towards Olive was plain creepy and not cute at all. You're telling me a 31 year-old (established professor) crushed on a 23 year-old (post-undergrad, incoming grad) after one chance encounter, and kept crushing on her for 3 years? There's an underlying power dynamic here in both age and career/professionalism that can't be ignored, no matter how respectful and patient Adam is or how they're both consenting adults. Additionally, they're both emotionally inadequate to be in an intimate relationship with each other - one is emotionally stunted (Adam) and the other is emotionally immature (Olive). I also could not stand the way they spoke to each other; their banter lacked substance, continuously making the same jokes/jabs at each other as if they don't actually know each other that well. I honestly could not feel any romantic chemistry between these two.

That smut scene... I get that this was originally a fanfic and I can see this exact scene in a fanfic I'd typically read, but I am just so tired of the inexperienced young woman x experienced older man trope. It just feeds even more into their power imbalance. Also, it was so weird when Adam said “You can take it” like sir... you are not the one taking it, please wait for her to say yes or no.