love hypothesis characters adam

The Love Hypothesis

48 pages • 1 hour read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-13

Chapters 14-15

Chapters 16-19

Chapter 20-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (2021) follows a female scientist’s comedic journey to true love that’s fraught with lies, tears, and awkward moments. The book was an instant NY Times bestseller, a BuzzFeed Best Summer Read of 2021, and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist. Born in Italy, Ali Hazelwood moved to the United States via Japan and Germany to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She currently works as a college professor and writes romance novels about women in STEM fields. The Love Hypothesis was her debut novel. This guide follows the 2021 Berkley edition.

Plot Summary

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The Love Hypothesis is set in modern-day America and follows Olive Smith , a 26-year-old graduate student of biology at Stanford University. Olive’s research focuses on pancreatic cancer, but each chapter begins with a hypothesis about Olive’s love life or choices as is relevant to the chapter’s contents.

Two years before the main events of the story, Olive’s expired contacts act up right before her interview for Ph.D. candidacy at Stanford. While she waits in the bathroom for her eyes to stop watering, she meets Adam Carlsen , one of the foremost biology researchers in the world—though she doesn’t learn it was him until the end of the book. His wise words convince Olive that grad school is the right path, and two weeks later, she accepts an offer to study at Stanford.

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Almost three years later, Olive is trying to convince her best friend that she’s over her ex-boyfriend so her friend, who is interested in her ex-boyfriend, will date him. Olive is working in the lab on a night she said she’d be on a date when she sees her friend walk by. Desperate to appear on a date, Olive kisses the first man she sees, who turns out to be Adam. Adam has a reputation for being mean and terrifying, and he demands an explanation. Olive haltingly explains her situation, apologizes for the kiss, and runs away, hoping she never sees him again.

A few days later, Olive’s friend corners her in the lab. Before Olive can spin an explanation, Adam arrives and acts warmly toward her, which convinces Olive’s friend their relationship is genuine. Olive wants to keep up the charade until her friends are solidly together, and Adam needs to convince Stanford he’s not leaving to get his research funds unfrozen. The two decide to pretend they’re dating for a month in hopes their fake relationship will be mutually beneficial.

Olive’s area of focus is early detection for pancreatic cancer. Her mother died from pancreatic cancer because it was found too late, and Olive dedicates her life to the disease so other people don’t lose loved ones to it. Needing a better equipped lab for the next phase of her research, Olive contacts several professors at other universities, but only one responds—Tom Benton from Harvard. He’ll be visiting Stanford in a couple of weeks, and Olive frantically works on her project in the hopes he’ll give her space in his lab.

Meanwhile, she keeps up appearances with Adam, meeting him at the campus coffee shop once a week. At their second fake date, Tom Benton joins them. It turns out that he’s a friend of Adam’s and wants to meet this girlfriend everyone’s been talking about. After listening to her research pitch, Tom requests a report by the end of the week, which Olive delivers. A few days later, Tom offers her a spot in his lab next year.

Olive receives an email regarding a paper she submitted to an upcoming conference in Boston. Her paper was accepted for a panel, which means she’ll need to give a speech. She’s terrified, but Adam helps her prepare until she feels more ready. Olive’s friends found other accommodations for the conference, which leaves Olive to share Adam’s hotel room. Olive’s panel overlaps with the keynote speech, and Adam is the keynote speaker, which means he won’t be able to attend as he promised he would.

After the panel, Tom approaches Olive and forces himself on her. When Olive pulls away and threatens to report him, Tom threatens to publish her research under his name and insults her, calling her mediocre and talentless. Adam finds Olive crying in their hotel room. Olive tells him what happened but not who insulted her. They spend the evening together. He shares a similar story from his grad school years, and they make love.

Olive spends the next few days dealing with her emotions, breaking things off with Adam because she feels it’s the right thing to do. When she finally meets up with her friends, they hear Tom’s insults, which Olive accidentally recorded after the panel. They convince Olive to tell Adam the truth and report Tom. Tom is fired from Harvard, and Olive and Adam get back together. Olive finds a new lab placement closer to Stanford, and the two stay in California together.

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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | Book Review

Posted August 12, 2021 by Jana in Adult Fiction , Book Review / 4 Comments

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos. As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs. Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

So. I’m really not the best at reviewing books I absolutely loved because I don’t have many words! We all know I love fake dating romances, and I loved the idea of a STEM romance because science is cool and I really love and miss Big Bang Theory (and no, this isn’t like that per se, it’s just got super smart people spouting off science facts). Anyway, I immediately gravitated toward The Love Hypothesis because it sounded fresh and funny and unique. It was all those things and more! As always, my main points are bolded.

1. This book is so, so nerdy and I loved it. The people are a little awkward and extremely smart. There’s strong women in science, and I loved learning a little bit about the challenges women face in this field. Every chapter starts off with one of Olive’s hilarious little scientific hypotheses about love and life, each one teasing a bit about what’s coming up in that chapter. These made it very hard to stop reading because I’d get to the end of the chapter and decide to read and then BOOM. I’m intrigued again and must continue reading. Very clever. A lot of the book takes place on campus in the labs, and I thought it was such a fun setting with people working late and running experiments because science doesn’t wait for people to sleep or eat. There’s lots of science talk, there’s a science convention and people get all excited about presenting posters and attending talks and it’s all just so much fun. It reminded me a bit of Ross’s paleontology convention from Friends, just no Barbados.

2. Olive is sweet and strong. She’s smart and strong and totally dedicated to her cancer research. She’s looking for a lab that will accept her the following year so she can continue her testing with better equipment and proper funding. It matters more to her than pretty much anything. Everyone she’s ever loved has died, so she’s very reluctant to get too close to anyone except her two best friends. Relationships are scary and also a little confusing for her. It takes her a while to sort through her feelings and figure things out, and I loved watching her grow and evolve.

3. Dr. Carlsen (Adam) is a dreamboat. He’s seen as rude and lacking in compassion. He’s hard on his grad students, but it’s because he wants them to succeed. He’s super sexy and thoughtful and protective of those he cares about. He’s sarcastic, flirty, suave, and all the things I love in a hero. Olive is a little inexperienced in the love department, and there’s a scene where he puts all of his focus on taking care of her. Consent and comfort are so important to him, and the entire scene was him making sure she was ok. It just melted me, and I’ve never read another scene quite like this one.

4. The chemistry between Olive and Adam is insane. These two can throw the banter back and forth forever and get me laughing, but they can also build up a level of tension that makes you squirmy. There’s an age gap of about 8-9 years between these two, so Olive loves to make fun of him for being old. She also loves to make fun of his healthy eating habits. He likes to tease her about her love of sugar and poor taste in food. But then there’s a scene where Olive’s best friend kind of forces her to kiss Adam after he’s just pushed a car out of the road and is all sweaty, and wow. And then there’s a scene at the department picnic where Olive has no choice but to coat his muscley back in sunscreen (poor girl), and wow. Their relationship is sweet and spicy and tender, and I just love them.

5. Olive’s best friends, Anh and Malcolm, made me so happy. They are both scientists and work together, although their research is all different. Anh is the loyal best friend, who also mothers Olive and makes sure she doesn’t get skin cancer. Malcolm is Olive’s roommate, and he’s pretty much made of rainbows and sunshine. They love to discuss hot men and other fun things. I would love to be a part of this friend group. Adam’s friend, Holden, is another favorite character of mine. He gives great advice, really cares about his people, and is so happy all the time.

6. There’s some deeper issues at play that run throughout the story, including the #MeToo movement. All were treated with sensitivity and respect. 

7. There’s so, so much humor! I actually laughed out loud at one point, which never happens to me. I’ve been known to smile or silently laugh, but this was an actual audible laugh that startled me.

8. The writing is also spot on, and flowed so nicely that the pages practically turned on their own. 

All in all, this is a stunning debut for Ali Hazelwood. Strong women in science, a sexy doctor hero who values and supports those women, hilarious banter, strong friendships, and a very sweet love story all wrapped up into a glittery, sugary package. What’s not to love? I highly recommend The Love Hypothesis, and cannot wait to see what Ali Hazelwood does next!

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4 responses to “ The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | Book Review ”

“insane chemistry?” Sounds fun!

Great review. I’ve been waiting for this book and I”m so glad you liked it so much!

I can’t wait to read this one! It’s one of my most anticipated releases and reading your review just bumped it up to multiple spots haha! CANNOT WAIT! Hasini @ Bibliosini recently posted… Can Books Be Effective Horror? // Let’s Talk Bookish

Book was insightful and inspiring, right mix of teasing, drama, and nerdy science. Once picked up, the book just can’t be put down Check out @thehazelwoodfangpage on Insta