'The Love Hypothesis' is latest gushy romance novel you need to read right now

Hypothesis: "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood is the perfect escapism for everyone who needs to take a 384-page-long break from reality. And let’s face it, all of us could use a book-induced bender before the business of the semester. 

“The Love Hypothesis,” which readers suspect began as a Kylo Ren and Rey fanfiction, was released on Sept. 14, 2021 and quickly rose to fame. The book became a New York Times bestseller, a Goodreads must-read, a TikTok sensation and was named the best romance book of 2021 by Amazon. 

The romance follows Olive Smith, a knee-socks-wearing and messy-bun-rocking third-year doctoral student. She’s never really been in a serious romantic relationship — which is why she decides to kiss the first man she sees to convince her best friend Anh that it’s totally fine for her to date Olive’s last boyfriend. 

Unbeknownst to her, the man Olive smooches in a Stanford University hallway is Adam Carlsen, a young, rigorous professor with a reputation of making doctoral students cry due to his harsh criticism. Olive expects Adam to recoil at the very idea of her, but instead, he’s the one that suggests fake-dating Olive to benefit both of them. 

The secret deal is a win-win: For Olive, it means that Anh can date her ex without it being weird, and for Adam, a believable relationship could secure more funding for his research.

Adam is the archetypal brooding, black-coffee drinking and pumpkin spice-hating man that takes the "I’m-mean-to-everyone-except-the-girl-I-like" cliche to new heights. He’s successful, stern and is dedicated to scientific pursuit. Olive’s happy-go-lucky attitude, intellect and fierce loyalty make the two the perfect fake-dating pair. 

But as these things usually go, fake dating leads to real feelings. Just as they start to get closer, their fear of losing each other makes them pull apart. 

Put simply, the book is delicious. For students who regularly read literary titans and theorists for their course load, “The Love Hypothesis” is like devouring a moist piece of decadent chocolate cake after subsisting on a diet of hearty soup for months. Soup is practical and tasteful of course. But it really just isn’t chocolate cake. 

Beware of reading the novel in public, because it will be impossible to suppress squeals of delight from all the cute romance. It might be best to keep your mask on to conceal the devilish grins that the dashing Adam and the endearing Olive will almost certainly illicit. 

And if the internet-era accolades aren't enough to persuade you to pick up the book, then what about the knowledge that this book contains a sex scene that could make your toes curl? 

Fanfiction is notorious for sex that’s written with more description and acuity than what most romance novels can offer up. Hazelwood’s writing is no exception. (Spoiler alert, Chapter 16 is one of the most fun and hot sex scenes you’ve ever read, like, ever). 

The only downside about reading the book is that once you’re finished, you’ll be having major Adam and Olive withdrawals. It’ll feel like you’re a little kid again, obsessing over characters that aren’t real, missing people you’ve never met. 

But thankfully, Hazelwood’s got her readers covered: When you sign up for the author’s email newsletter, you get a chance to read a bonus chapter Hazelwood wrote. And get this — it’s the notorious Chapter 16, but from Adam’s perspective. 

Sure, the hypotheses that introduce each chapter might make a scientist shudder, and no, the book doesn’t offer something new to the world of literature besides making nerdy scientists main characters. But it’s a fun journey about love that doesn’t require any critical thinking — the exact kind of brain break that we could all use right now. 

The book’s most attractive trait is its ability to make the reader feel something they probably haven’t in a while: Hope. The earnest romance between adorable Olive and Adam is pure and saccharine, leaving out the pessimistic approaches to love that taints so much of our media today. 

The book is ridiculously cheesy and it knows it. There are parts where Olive screams about how cheesy her life has become and the reader can’t help but agree. Yet there’s something so appealing about a book that possesses the self-awareness, without the haughty pretense, to give in to the reader’s fun fantasies without making them feel stupid for wanting it. 

Ultimately, the book’s not-so-far-fetched fantasy is that working really hard and looking out for your friends, with a little help from fate, can make everything work out all right in the end.