The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood Book Review
“You just had to go and make me fall for you, she thought, blinking against his skin. You absolute a**.”
(pg. 235)
About
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
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Love on the Brain (Coming Soon!)
Synopsis
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.
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To all the hypothesis we make in love,
Oh my goodness, where do I even begin? Where do I find a tall, dark, broody, antagonistic, and unapproachable scientist named Adam Carlsen in real life????? I’m asking for a friend 🙈.
I mean, gosh, I feel hot and bothered 😂. I just got done reading the secret (not-so-secret) Chapter 16 in Adam’s POV, and it’s absolutely worth the read. It’s steamy for sure. My brain is most likely malfunctioning because of how steamy that scene was from Adam’s point of view.
It feels like it’s been forever since I read a romance book that I was absolutely in love and obsessed with, and The Love Hypothesis is my new obsession. I just want to thank Ali Hazelwood for, first and foremost, writing what a reader would want to read in a romance book 👏🏼. We had fake dating; grumpy-sunshine; I-hate-everyone-but-you; tall, dark, broody, and handsome; one bed and one room; one chair; and forehead kisses. I LOVED it all!! We can have it all 😅
What I admired about this book the most was how the characters were in academia. Not many YA or NA books I have read growing up or recently, highlight people who are academics. So it was refreshing to spotlight those in academics and represent people in STEM—representation matters as it gives people a way to feel seen in the world. The media doesn’t highlight enough academia jobs, yet alone women in academia because women are always treated inferior in most professions. Olive was a woman in science who wasn’t sure if she wanted to pursue higher education—go to grad school—because of the pain and energy higher education can cause. As someone who recently graduated with my bachelor’s degree in education, I understood Olive’s visceral emotions of wanting to pursue higher education but also feeling like she wasn’t good enough. I felt the same way when I was graduating, but not so much the not good enough part (not to sound egotistical). For me, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through more years of schooling when I felt already burnt out and tired from the last two years in my education program that I felt if I pushed through two more years to get my masters, I wouldn’t have been making myself happy because I was forcing myself to continue school when I didn’t want to. My reasons wasn’t an ego thing, but a mental well-being thing. But I understood how higher education is a challenging question to answer when you come fresh out of college, not really knowing what to do but also thinking maybe you want to keep being in school just to get all the school years over with. I don’t know, that’s my take on it. Also, being a college student is challenging—-being an adult is challenging in general. But I loved how Ali Hazelwood made Olive relatable because she was just a broke, struggling-to-get-by graduate student who was working all these hours without really feeling like she was good enough. That’s an emotion all of us can understand at one point in our life—-to struggle to achieve something we are passionate about, but hesitant about actually being good enough to do it.
I believed in Olive the entire time because there’s a reason she was called down the path she was on and a reason why she got into the Stanford graduate program in the first place. If she wasn’t meant to continue to pursue science, she wouldn’t have got in.
I loved the prologue where we got to see Olive in all her fun, spunky, quirky glory. She really is a fun character who has such a big heart 💙—-Olive is incredibly lovable.
I loved how she wore expired contacts—which, as a glasses wearer, I didn’t know contacts expired—-because she couldn’t afford to get new ones and her old ones were good enough. I laughed with how she talked to this blurry, tall, dark-haired dude in “his” bathroom. I mean, how awkward that she was in a corner of “his” bathroom, crying because her contact hurt 😂. I initially thought she was crying because she was terrified for her interview or that something went wrong with her interview, but I loved how that blurry guy was very honest, a bit cold, but honest with her that he thought that her reasons for going to grad school was good.
“‘So why the Ph.D, Olive?’
‘I have a question. A specific research question. Something that I want to find out . . . something I’m afraid no one else will discover if I don’t . . .Something important to me.
‘Is mine a good enough reason to go to grad school?’ she called after him, hating how eager for approval she sounded.
. . . He paused and looked back at her. ‘It’s the best one.'”
(pg. 8)
I really liked how the blurry bathroom guy didn’t tell her she was good enough—sugar coat it—or that she was—stomp on her confidence—but he wanted to know her reasons so that Olive also knew why she was even at this interview in the first place. Sometimes we get so in our heads about if we’re good enough or worried that we should be doing something else, that when we return to the root of something—the purpose, the reason—we always remember why we were there in the first place. As a teacher, there are many days where I’m questioning why I still want to teach when there’s a lot of behind the scenes things that I have to do that are tedious or overhwhelming or take up so much of my time that it feels like I’m not really living for me, but when I ask myself why do I teach, I remember the purpose, the reason, the passion. The why always recenters yourself and lets the doubts fall away. The fact blurry bathroom guy knew that that was what Olive needed to remember, meant that he was a wise dude indeed.
No one could say Olive didn’t a heart that rivaled the size of Asia (and yes, I had to Google what the biggest convenient was because my geography sucks ) 🤪. I loved that she planted one on one of her superiors and went through this whole elaborate fake dating scheme with who she thought was a grade A a**hole just so her friend would be happy 🥺💙. I mean, if that’s not ride-or-die, I don’t know what is. Olive’s unwavering love and protectiveness of Ahn attested to how close they were. Olive and Ahn were the only females at the Stanford biology graduate program, which is pretty darn sad to me because so much for inclusivity. So it was natural that Olive and Ahn clicked the first time they met because they were the only women in the room and would stick together. I loved how natural Olive felt to be herself around Ahn because Olive should feel like she could be herself around her best friend. I loved how there wasn’t anything competitive between them either because science can be a very competitive progression with people trying to outdo each other or maybe steal ideas. Olive and Ahn were nothing but supportive and encouraging with each other, and I loved how they naturally complained about things they didn’t like about work because we all have those moments where we need to vent. I was happy Olive and Ahn had each other. Also, shoutout to Ahn who joined all these women in STEM or BIPOC STEM clubs to promote the inclusion of women and women of color in science because anyone who is passionate about science should be given opportunities to pursue science. I don’t know if it’s just because not many women are interested in science that there are low numbers of women enrolling in academia programs or women not being given the positions to be in academia programs, but either way, I hope we can raise more girls and people to be in academia because the world needs diverse and inclusive scientists.
But Olive randomly kissed Adam Carlsen in the hallway because she wanted Ahn to see her with someone else when she was supposedly supposed to be on a date. Olive used to date a guy named Jeremy because her friends (Malcom) encouraged her to date, so she dated their friend Jeremy. But Olive didn’t like like Jeremy, Ahn did. Jeremy was also more interested in Ahn. However, when Olive and Jeremy broke up, Ahn wouldn’t allow herself to date Jeremy even if she really liked him because of girl code that said you don’t date your best friends ex. I respected that Ahn respected girl code and Olive to not date Jeremy even if it mean that Ahn couldn’t date someone she really could see herself with. But I mean, to me, if you are meant to be with someone and that person does happen to be the ex of your best friend, I think you should just be honest with your friend about how you feel and ask them if it’s okay. However, I guess, it’s a tricky situation because someone could say it’s okay and then harbor all these bitter emotions that lead to resentment later on. Olive wasn’t like that though. She genuinely didn’t like Jermey that way—-no big deal. Olive could also tell how much Ahn and Jeremy were good together and wanted to be together. So Olive said she had a date and was seeing someone so Ahn would be convinced that Olive had moved on and it was okay if Ahn wanted to date Jeremy.
However, Ahn was at the lab too when Olive was supposedly on her date, so Olive thought to kiss the first guy she saw to save face. She kissed the broody a**hole that everyone hated 😂—her superior. I mean, I bet he had an interesting night! Not going to lie, Adam came off as a broody, closed-off a**. He was very stoic and impassive—he didn’t emote at all. I’ve seen walls with more emotion. But he told her he would file a Title XI suit against her for kissing him, but my gosh, this guy said yes and then retracted his yes or whatever because first of all, it’s not like he pushed her off of him so he wanted to kiss her. Sooooo . . . I didn’t see why he was scaring her with the whole Title XI write-up.
Also, I could only imagine how awkward it must have been for Olive to literally spill her guts about her menial work-friend love-life drama to Adam who had this detached, terrifying demeanor. I mean, was he thinking that her problems were childish and ridiculous and no reason to kiss her? Because when we first met him, I was thinking maybe that was what he was going to say—that Olive’s problems were none of his business for the work place. But he was actually not terrible about the situation when Olive told her how she just wanted to make her friend happy and that Ahn had the love she deserved. If a friend loves you so much that they just want you to be happy, that is true friendship.
I was also pleasantly surprised that he knew her name.
He was definitely the bathroom dude 😉.
We all knew he was The Guy from the bathroom because no way in heck was it not. I mean, dude didn’t just get jumped with a kiss and then acted like he didn’t like it, let alone like he didn’t know the name of the person who kissed him, because he did know her from all these years ago!
That was a long, chaotic sentence, but this book has made me lose my gosh darn mind 🤪.
But what had me reeling a bit was how Ahn caught Olive in the break room and confronted her about kissing freaking Adam Carlsen. If I were Ahn and I saw my best friend kiss a grade A a**hole, and a**hole that my best friend didn’t even tell me she was dating, I would have thought my best friend had been abducted and switched or something 😂. I loved how Ahn literally asked Olive if she was dating Carlsen because she was at risk of being deported back to Canada, and proceeded to offer to marry Olive instead. I mean, that is ride-or-die. I also would have been highly concerned because no one wants their friend to date a jerk. But what I didn’t expect was when Adam entered the break room and he played along with the whole fake-dating scheme. He put his arm around her waist, but not really touching her. I was like, “Sis, should retaliate and file that for her Title XI.” 😂
I was even more surprised that he agreed to fake-date her. I was thrown off.
For an a**hole who berated people and made them want to cry their eyes out and quit their passions, I didn’t understand how he had the heart to fake-date Olive 😂. It just seemed like an unlikely ordeal given who he was based on his authoritarian disposition. It’s either he really was a down bit** 🤪 or he was looking for some fun in his boring life and was like, “Why not fake date her?” That’s what I was thinking at first because he didn’t seem entirely mean to her. He didn’t write off her fake-dating idea or call it dumb or childish.
Even when Olive told him that the whole Stanford biology department knew that they were dating, he just seemed so unbothered and unsurprised by the whole fake dating news, that I didn’t know if I should hav been eerily concerned that he was okay with fake dating Olive or that he was so cool for playing along. It also surprised me how he seemed kind of concerned for Ahn and Jeremy’s happiness—like he actually listened to what Olive spieled to him the night they kissed. But I still wondered why he cared so much about Olive’s problems when his concern went against everything Olive thought about him. But then again, we were learning there were more layers to Adam then we knew.
“There was a lot about Adam Carlsen she didn’t know. He was an a**hole, but with unexpected depths.”
(pg. 143)
I don’t know what this says about me, but I freaking loved Adam’s dark sense of sarcastic humor 😂.
This is what I get for reading broody sarcastic a**holes in most YA and new adult books. I have a type.
I freaking laughed when he said that “his wife and the twins wouldn’t mind” when Olive asked him if he was married or something. She was paralyzed with horror and instant regret at the thought that she kissed a married man who had kids. He really made her shake with that one. She also had to process his humor too; everyone has a different sense of humor and she wasn’t used to the big-scary Adam cracking a joke. The fact that he could even joke about this insane situation was something else entirely considering how he didn’t seem to have a clear reason.
We knew Olives reasons for fake-dating him, but I wanted to know his. He agreed to fake date her because Stanford put him on Flight Risk and froze his research funds. Stanford was scared that Adam Carlsen, renewed scientist would leave Stanford because they knew he had a plethora of offers to study somewhere else, so they didn’t want to fund him if he was leaving. If he fake-dated Olive, it would look like he had roots to California and Stanford might unfreeze his research funds. It didn’t seem like he wanted to move because he wanted his funds back, but it made sense now that they were both kind of desperate for different things—-Olive to make her friend happy and Adam to get money for research. I guess, desperate times calls for desperate measures. What was kind of funnily cute was how Olive was so worried about his reputation and how it would look for him to date a graduate student that he was the one who gave her time to think about fake-dating each other when she was the one who kissed him first. It was just sweet the way that he felt her nerves and hesitations about dating and wanted to ensure she was okay with whatever they would do.
Olive was smart for setting boundaries, as she should 👏🏼!
The whole scene where she walked into Adam’s office and they laid the law of their fake-dating, gave me To All the Boys similarities with how Adam and Olive set clear expectations, an end date, and they shook on what they agreed to. I freaking cackled with how Olive caused his brain to malfunction when she said no sex. 😂I bet he was thinking, “Oh, darn!!!” 🤪 I’m joking, but I mean, she had to say that because she shouldn’t go into fake-dating him and that not be an apparent line he shouldn’t cross.
I also really loved loved loved their banter with their teasing and prodding 💙.
“‘What do you do for fun?’ He was probably into something atrocious, like cow-tipping excursions or Japanese beetle fighting. Maybe he collected porcelain dolls. Maybe he was an avid geocacher . . .
‘Fun?’ he repeated, like he’d never heard the word before.
‘Yeah. What do you do when you’re not at work?’
The length of time that passed between Olive’s question and his answer was alarming. ‘Sometimes I work at home, too. And I work out. And I sleep.'”
(pg. 59)
Not Adam’s brain combusting, trying to recollect what the word fun means 🤪.
I can’t tease him too much though because gosh knows that that’s my version of fun these days too 🙈. Definitely not the work part, but the working out and sleeping. But fun for me also involves reading and eating. It’s actually quite sad how fun as we grow up, adults do things that are more chill as fun because we’re already so stressed and high strung that anything that would have been fun when we were super young seems like a lot of work. Or that’s how it feels to me these days—-not that I don’t want to have fun or do fun things, it just gets tiring faster or there’s less time to have fun.
Anyway, enough of my fun spiel.
I couldn’t stop laughing at their constant Title IX joke whenever they did something remotely touchy-feely. I mean, not that anyone should joke about Title IX because it is a very serious federal law, but their situation made their inside joke funny because of how they began fake dating. So again, not to joke about Title XI because Title XI is not a joke or funny, but Adam and Olive’s inside joke was. I also loved how she constantly teased him about not loving anything fun or that brought enjoyment to life.
“‘Is the sunscreen going in the Title IX complaint?’
HIs mouth twitched. ‘Right on the first page. Nonconsensual sunblock application.’
‘Oh, come on. I save you from basal cell carcinoma.’
‘Groped under SPF pretense.'”
(pg. 140)
Groped under SPF pretense got me.
And not whenever she joked about “when you are a certain age” 😂. She really knew how to make him feel like a grandpa 😂. I also loved how she joked about him having a taxidermy collection in his house and that he was secretly hiding it from her or something.
Ah, but their food jokes were the absolute funniest!
It’s unsurprising that Adam’s favorite color was black like his dull personality, but I freaking laughed with how they were getting coffee for their first fake-date Wednesday and he ordered a black coffee 😂. Of course he does. And then you have Olive who ordered the most sugary and colorful drink. I loved the moment it crossed her mind that she should let him pay for her because she was a struggling grad student and he was rich as f*** so she should get a free meal out of this situation 😂. I don’t blame her. A sis was hungry and getting by.
I loved loved loved their whole idea of fake-dating Wednesday 💙.
I loved how Adam was so agreeable to carve out time out of his busy Ph.D schedule to fake-date her for ten minutes at Starbucks every Wednesday. I loved how their first fake date was super awkward, but also very funny with Olive asking him what his favorite color was and where he was born. He was actually kind of funny with his whole ‘Is this another one of your green card marriage interview questions?’ (pg. 72). I just liked that he could see the humor in the situation and wasn’t angry at her. I liked how he also humored Olive by trying to get to know her favorite color and where she was born. I also loved how he smiled at her. He had a very shy, but deep smile. I loved loved loved the way we saw Olive get to know his smile, the small arch of his lips and the secret dimples that attacked when he was really happy.
“She couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark lenses, but she didn’t need to. His mouth had curved as soon as he’d noticed her, his smile slight but definitely there.”
(pg. 155)
Also, Adam was a sugar daddy 😂.
HAHAHAHA, I’m joking! Not really.
I just found it incredibly endearing how he always teased Olive for her outlandish food choices and she teased him for his bland food choices—that he only ate broccoli and kale 😂.
“‘Actually, scratch that, you probably don’t like ice cream anyway because you don’t enjoy anything that’s good in life . . . maybe the cafeteria has some raw broccoli?””
(pg. 166)
I also loved how he took the joke in stride and never corrected her like she was right that he only ate his vegetables like a good little scientist guy. They really did have opposite tastes and I loved that he never said no to trying something different or buying Olive what she loved because it made her happy.
I also loved the way we saw him slowly open up as someone who has this horrific reparation as a moody, broody, antagonistic, unapproachable meanie, as someone who was soft, humorous, and had a heart—-a heart that only was kind to Olive.
That had to mean something that he was only nice to her—-like she centered him and made him want to be good, or at least not completely terrible. Adam was definitely the grump to Olive’s sunshine.
When Olive said that “He is a nice a**hole, I guess,” (pg. 35) she wasn’t wrong 👌🏼.
The more the book continued, the more I found myself reiterating this sentiment because Adam wasn’t a complete a** and he could be nice. But he could still be an a**—a nice a**hole 😂.
I mean, he seemed like a hard a**, but also like a nice dude deep down and that had to count for something, you know 🤪.
“Or, you could stay made and we could go to your lab and throw test tubes full of toxic reagents at each other until the pain of third-degree burns overrides your [shizzy] mood? Sounds like fun, no?'”
(pg. 80)
And I really liked Adam. He was growing on me. I mean, yes, he was still moody and mean, but he was nice and caring and sweet and I loved those parts about him as well as the other parts, which I will get into later. You know, the if you can’t have me at my worst, you can’t have me at my best sort of thing. But again, I’ll talk about the more later.
I also have to give a huge thank you to Ahn who was doing the mostest to ensure that Adam and Olive found themselves in every gosh darn uncomfortable situation 😂!!!!!!👏🏼 Ahn’s the real one!
I’d like to thank her and Ali Hazelwood for all the romcom tropes they bestowed upon us.
I FREAKING WAS SCREAMING when there weren’t enough seats at the auditorium meeting-talk thing and Adam offered Olive his chair, which was a nice thing to do. Btu then Ahn was like, Adam’s so tall that he’d block everyone so Olive should just sit on his lap 🤪. USE HIM AS A CHAIR, SIS 👏🏼!!! I loved how Olive was overthinking the situation and was trying to get out of sitting on Adam’s lap because it was “professionally inappropriate,” but again Adam was such a down bit** to do it 😅. He’s so cool, either that or just unbothered. But I loved how he didn’t make it awkward at all for her—that he never did even though all these situations were awkward as heck, knowing they weren’t real.
But I cackled when Olive was actually on his lap and she was like, “F*** my life” 😂!!! Yea. Who would have thought she would be sitting on the least approachable scientists lap?
But when he wrapped his arms around her like a teddy bear and the way she eventually settled back into his body and got comfortable?????? SCREAMING. COMBUSTING. How CUTE!
If you partner, doesn’t let you use them as a chair at one point, that person is not it.
What got me too was how he was so in-tune with her to notice if she was slipping and he would lift her body up and readjust them so she was sitting on him again and she was comfortable. I also loved how he didn’t make her feel heavy for sitting on his lap, but like she was the lightest, most precious thing in the world 🥺.
I guarantee you that there wasn’t a part of Adam that wasn’t enjoying being Olive’s chair.
I bet you.
I bet you he was feeling a bit something something down there, if you know what I mean 🙈. I’m SCREAMING. But I mean, it was obvious that he enjoyed being her chair because he made sure she felt comfy and safe and he also didn’t object. I don’t think Adam is the kind of guy who doesn’t do something he doesn’t want to do or doesn’t mean what he doesn’t say.
But when he pushed a car with his bare hands!!!!???!?
Okay, Dr.Push-a-Car 👏🏼!!!!
What kind of scientific workouts was he doing at home?
Bill Nye the Science Guy is shaking because what kind of scientist *cough cough Adam Carlsen** can move a FREAKING TRUCK by himself!!!!!!
Not Ahn telling Olive to give her mans a kiss 😂.
I love Ahn.
“‘Ol, why don’t you want to kiss your boyfriend?’
Ugh. ‘I . . . It’s not that I don’t want to. I just–‘
‘Dude, he just moved a truck. By himself. On uphill ground. He deserves a damn kiss.’ Ahn shoved Olive and made a shooing motion.”
(pg. 105)
HAHAHAHA 😂. Yea, Olive go give you mans a kiss for being a secret Hulk.
Again I loved how Adam was too chill about the situation and letting Olive kiss him or that they kiss while Ahn and everyone else watched (because gosh knows everyone was watching). I just really expected him to object more to going as far as to kiss her in front of everyone this time. I mean, sitting on his lap was a whole other thing, but a kiss was a whole other shebang he didn’t need to do. But he did. And he was cool about it. I liked how they kind of had that whole back and forth moment where he was like, “We can kiss.” And Olive was like, “We don’t have to.” They were dancing around each other with wanting to kiss but not wanting to kiss and wanting to feel out what the other person felt. I liked how Adam initiated the kiss because he knew Olive was going to overthink and not actually do it because she was nervous.She had every right to be nervous to kiss someone she was fake-dating in front of the entire biology department. But Adam kissing her didn’t give her a chance to second guess their ruse or make things even more weird than they already were. I bet he sure did enjoy that kiss though 😏. We all know he was enamored by her because sure, he was fake dating her because he wanted his funds defrosted, but he probably always loved her deep down and this was his chance to date her even if it was fake. He wanted it to be real. I mean, a dude wouldn’t go through such lengths and be so compliant if he didn’t like her. Again, he didn’t seem like the type to not do something he didn’t want to do.
What had my heart gushing was when they talked silently together about the picnic. I liked how he was dreading going to the picnic to be social because he hated other people, but when Olive said she was going he was like, “At least there’s that” (pg. 110) 🥺💙!!! If Olive was going, it made him feel like there was at least one thing to look forward to at that picnic. He really has a subtle way with words that you have to read into to appreciate and love. Gosh, did I love! Adam saying that at least she would be there is the equivalent of telling someone, “I wish you would have been there”—-that you were thinking of that person and thought that things could have been better with them.
The picnic social was soooo freaking hilarious. I would just like to know for a friend, where are all these SHREDDED scientists hiding 😂?????
I LOVED how Ahn, Jeremy, and Malcom all basically ogled a shirtless Adam playing frisbee.
“Jeremy pointed at the Ultimate Frisbee crowd. ‘that’s him, right? Shirtless?’
‘Holy [shiz],’ Ahn repeated, her vocabulary suddenly pretty limited given her twentysomething years of education. ‘Is that a six-pack?’
Jeremy blinked. ‘Might even be an eight-pack.’
‘Are those his real shoulders?’ Ahn asked. ‘Did he have shoulder-enhancement surgery?’
‘That must how he used the MacArthur grant,’ Jeremy said.”
(pg. 124)
I loved to hear it 😂👏🏼!!!!
BUT I was CRYING with how Ahn was being motherly about everyone wearing sunblock to protect their skin, which she has a valid point that they should protect their skin. But when she squeezed too much sunblock in Olive’s hands and had all this leftover, I was like, “Ahn’s going to make her rub it on Adam!!!!!”
HOW AWKWARD 🙈!!!! For her. Not for me, I was thriving 😂.
I love an awkward romantic situation.
Rub that suntan lotion into his MacArthur grant shoulders 😂.
Dang, lucky her that he didn’t wear sunscreen that day. I felt awful for her because I could tell she felt weird and uncomfortable about the situation because not only was she going to rub sunscreen on her fake boyfriend, but her very fake, hot and shredded boyfriend who she was ogling just as much. I bet Adam was enjoying himself 😏 when she rubbed suntan lotion on his muscled, sorry, chiseled back. He was living his fake dating life up. I know the only reason he was tense at first because of how much he liked it because he didn’t want to or he wasn’t supposed to be enjoying himself, but he was. Tell me I’m wrong 🤪.
“She really didn’t want to be massaging lotion into his chest in front of 70 percent of her Ph.D program—not to mention her boss, since Dr. Aslan was probably watching them like a hawk.”
(pg. 131)
I mean, the Ph.D program was sure getting a show!
Some spice in their life.
It was very sweet and cute how Adam made the situation less awkward by joking about how they will probably always find themselves in these situations now. His reassurance and calmness made Olive feel less uncomfortable and weird. Also, being put in awkward situations sure did bring them closer together and created inside jokes they could laugh about—everything they had to do so far in their fake-dating relationship was all in good fun because they ere doing it together.
“‘Mn. What do you think [Ahn] will have us do next time?’
He shrugged. ‘Hold hands?’
‘Feed each other strawberries?’
‘Good one.’
‘Maybe she’ll up her game.’
‘Fake wedding?’
‘Fake-buy a house together?’
‘Fake-sign mortgage paperwork?'”
(pg. 133)
I would love to see Adam and Olive feed each other strawberries but have a real wedding, a real house, and a real family together 👌🏼.
I also loved their little Fluechella moment. Do they actually call a flu shot even fluchella? That sounds . . . kind of awful 😂. I mean, a festival of getting the flu??? I know it’s acutely just getting the flu shot, but if I didn’t know Fluchella was about the flu shot, I would have thought it a flu festival and that does not sound like a good time.
Out of all the things Dr. Adam Carlsen repulsed from kids, pumpkin spice lattes or anything pumpkin related, chamomile tea, color, and anything that didn’t have to do with a vegetable, I didn’t think the one thing that would make him shiver was a needle. I mean, I’m not a fan of needles or shots either so I don’t judge, but he just didn’t peg me as being scared of anything, let alone a needle. I know he’s a scientist kind of Dr. and not a medical doctor, so I understand why he might not be comfortable with needles. Also, I highly agree that getting a shot is gross. Someone rubs your arm with alcohol and sticks a needle in you and you’re supposed to trust that it protects you and others. I do trust science and medicine, but I also understand how it’s terrifying not knowing what is going into your body or how you will react to that.
I liked how Olive didn’t tease him about his fear, but she reassured him. When people open up to you about their fears or deepest vulnerabilities, we should never make them feel invalidated for what they feel—-like their emotions are a joke. I liked how she told a story about her mom and how she was also scared of needles but her mom would make her get a shot and she would keep an ice cream sandwich in her purse to give to Olive right after getting the shot. I loved Olive’s sweet memory because it allowed her to talk about her mom, but also connect to Adam. I think hearing Olive talk about her fear of needles and still getting the flu shot year after year gave him a small ounce of courage to get the shot.
It helped to know that he wasn’t alone.
I loved how Olive also offered to hold his hand while he got the shot, not in a completely teasing way, but that she was there way. I also loved how Adam kept verbally resisting, saying he wasn’t going to get the shot, but then he didn’t physically resist when Olive pulled him to go get the shot anyway. Honestly, I felt like he would do anything for her because DUH he loved her. I just really loved how he would follow her anywhere, buy her anything, and do anything and everything to make her happy or uncomfortable because of how much he loved her.
One of the things I will forever be a sucker for in books is reading other people’s perspective about the love they see between two people. Reading an outsider’s perspective about someone’s love is so tender and sweet because when I’m reading from a first or third person, it is so easy into being consumed with how in love the characters are or how the author wants to portray such a strong love connection. It’s also easy to get lost in the characters head because they don’t see the way their love interest looks at them, so they don’t know that they love them.So to hear other characters talk about the love transpiring between two characters is a whole other level that makes the love feel special and real. I loved whenever Ahn or Holden would mention how they could see the way Adam looked at Olive and Olive looked at Adam. I loved hearing Ahn say that Adam stared at her like he was in love with her because he obviously was. I do believe that when someone loves you, they look at you differently and other people can sense their emotions. THat’s why when I like someone, it’s hard for me to look them in the eye because I’m afraid they can tell how much I like them or others can—I can’t meet them in the eye. Love really does enhance the senses.
Something I also read once was when someone is in love with someone else, they know their scent. I don’t know where I read this, but it’s something about how when you’r win love with someone, you are drawn to their smell and you release pheromones or love hormones that make you pick up on someone’s smell. There is also something about how if you like this person, that person’s smell makes you associate this person with positive feelings and memories, which I think enhances those feelings of love. Whenever I read a book or watch a show or movie ,when the character can already distinctly name someone’s smell, I’m like, “That person loves him/her/they.” I kid you not, if they love you, they know what you smell like.
And honestly, it’s no a YA/NA man if he doesn’t smell like half tree and half fruit 😂.
Tell me I’m wrong.
I also loved how we got to see Olive falling for Adam in all the ways she never thought she would. Fake dating always leads to someone catching feelings—-it’s inevitable.
I loved loved loved their little vending machine talk in the break room. I felt that talk connected them on a more intimate level.
Olive wen tot he break room to go get some salt-and-vinegar chips from the vending machine as a reward for working her butt off all day. I mean, you do need those incentives/rewards to treat yourself. I would have felt pretty shizzy and ticked off too if I was working up towards buying my favorite treat only for it to be gone. It’s like going to the McDonald’s drive-through wanting ice cream and then seeing the sign that says “Machine broken.” Worst feeling. I liked how Olive and Adam finally had similar taste in chips though, haha. I liked how he gave her the rest of the chips because he really didn’t have to, but he did. It is gestures like that that mean the absolute world, you know? For someone to see you and to want to share something they love with you.
I liked how they had a real conversation that wasn’t entirely about their fake-dating or teasing each other about how awkward the situation was. It was a legit, honest conversation between two kick butt scientists who understood the hardworking and struggle of being in academia. Adam said something about how being in academia doesn’t’ get better but that the science was worth it. Olive started to connect the dots between what Adam said and Bathroom Guy said about academia was a lot of bucks for a little bang. She was getting suspicious that Adam and Bathroom Guy were the same person, which they were. I would have got that sense too. I kind of wonder how she never looked for Bathroom Guy after that day in the bathroom? Because Bathroom Guy told her that he would see her in the program hopefully and then she got in, so why didn’t she ever wonder who that guy actually was? Maybe she did wonder, but for me, I would have been more alert for any signs of Bathroom Guy because such a mysterious run-in would have me curious to know who that person was.
I was also pleasantly surprised with how Adam complimented Olive for how she did on her interview with Tom. Again, I don’t think Adam is the type of guy to sugar code what he feels, especially because he’s known for being brutally blunt and making people sob their eyes out. So the fact that he told Olive that she was great and a good scientist, was high praise from him. Part of me kind of wonders if at the moment he really believes she is a great scientist or if he just wanted to be nice to her because he loved her. I know he thought highly of her and Olive was a fabulous scientist, but you know, sometimes we sugar coat words for people we like because it’s not like that person is going to go head over heels for us if we tell them they are absolute shiz at what they do 🙃.
What I loved most about their vending machine conversation was how Olive opened up to Adam—that she felt safe and comfortable to do so.
“It hit her then what was so special about Adam. That no matter his reputation, or how rocky their first meeting, since the very beginning, Olive had felt that he was on her side. Over and over, and in ways that’s she could never have anticipated, he had made her feel unjudged. Less alone.”
(pg. 217)
That’s kind of rich considering he was the most judgmental person to other people 😅.
But I love the he-hates-everyone-else-but-me-trope now, so . . . . 🤪.
It was incredibly painful for Olive to talk about her Mom—an open wound.
Olive’s mom was the greatest influence to why Olive wanted to be a scientist—the purpose and reason behind why she wanted to go to grad school. She wanted to find early ways to detect pancreatic cancer because she had lost her mom too soon and too late; the doctors had found it too late. I just wanted to hug Olive for all that she had been through when she was younger because it’s never easy to lose a loved one, let alone the pain that comes with losing a parent. I also hurt for Olive knowing that she didn’t really have a dad in the picture who could have supported her through what her and the mom were facing together or that she didn’t have any relatives who could comfort her. Olive processed her mom’s battle and loss all on her own, and she went through the foster care system until she was old enough to emancipate. I have so much respect and love for Olive because the foster care system can be a tough place and process to go through mentally and emotionally, yet she was this phenomenal and compassionate person who wanted to make a difference because of the endless love she had in her heart for her mom.
Olive is a phenomenal person through and through 💙.
I could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to talk about her mom because she lost her such a long time ago. It’s also challenging to reopen a wound when you never really had the time to tend to it and just sealed it from the world—-Olive never talked about her mom when she was younger, so as she got older, it was even harder to share what happened. I’m also like Olive in the sense that I don’t share vulnerable and heavy things with people unless I know them or trust them very well. I’m glad she had Malcolm and Ahn who were like her found family and knew her darkness to love her. Now Adam was a part of that.
I loved how Olive told stories about her mom because that’s how you keep the memories and love alive. I also loved the fact that Olive allowed herself to cry. I loved it even more that Adam validated and reassured Olive that it was okay for her to cry and “be weepy.” Losing someone and talking about the love you still have for them is warranted tears. I just never thought Adam would have had the heart to tell her it was okay to cry given how he made everyone else cry 😅. But again, he was a nice a**hole because he knew that talking about her mom was touchy and personal and he was gentle with her. Now let’s transfer some of that energy to others 😂. I’m joking. I would be more concerned if Adam did start being nice to others. I also loved this scene because it meant a lot to Olive that Adam was there and listened to her. Sometimes people just need someone to listen, and he did that for her. He didn’t try to make her feel like everything would be okay—-to sugar coat her emotions—-he was honest in a tender way; Adam did make her feel unjudged and like he was always on her side, which we all should have people like that in our lives.
“‘You know, when I have no more friends and everyone hates me because of this fake-dating thing, I’ll be super lonely and you are going to have to hang out with me every day. I’ll annoy you all the time. Is it really worth being mean to every grad in the program?’
‘Absolutely.'”
(pg. 147)
He SOOOOOOO LIKES her 💙
As much as Ahn has given us some iconic fake-dating moments, she really had to barge into the middle of Adam probably telling her that he was Bathroom dude and that he loved her from the minute he met her!!!!! BAD timing sis!!!!! 😫
I wanted to rewind the moment Ahn barged through the door because gosh I just wanted Olive and Adam to for real kiss at this point. I mean, he was on the verge of telling her something significant because the mood was right and they were loose and vulnerable. But the way Adam closed back up when Ahn entered the room had me screaming. They were having a moment. I loved them.
Sigh.
I failed to properly talk about how much I freaking love love love Adam Carlsen. I know I said that he was a nice a** and that I had warmed up to him as a person, but I genuinely mean it. I just loved how he loved Olive and treated her with the utmost respect, care, and love that he possibly could and then some. He was just so good to her and I loved that he was a good guy to her because it meant something. I don’t know if I’ve been reading the wrong romance books or just not enough of this trope, but I know the he-hates-everyone-but-you-trope is a bibliophile favorite. I never read a book until now where that trope was my obsession, but gosh, is it now! The way that he loves her is a testament to how much he loves her because he doesn’t treat other people quite the same. I mean, is that kind of a red flag? Eh, maybe, but I just saw Adam’s coldness as his scientific part of himself.
Because he was a good person and once we got to know and understand him, I appreciated and loved him. I mean, yes, he could have been nicer and, hey, I still think he can grow as a person 😅. But I liked his humor and his tenderness—that when he loves, he loves with his whole heart. And that he loves with a passion that is undeniable.
I also loved how we understood him better as a person from his friends.
I mean, dude was a triple steel wall safe room with titanium plating and whatever the heck else sounds protective and safe 😂. It just felt like Adam didn’t share much about his life with others unless you were close to him or you knew him from when he was young and naturally had stories to tell.
Adam grew up moving around a lot because his parents moved around a lot. I thought it was interesting Adam was Dutch and knew how to speak the language. I also enjoyed hearing a less serious and fun part of Adam and how he almost didn’t graduate high school because he punched a guy in defense of his friends. I don’t think being a lawyer would have been Adam’s calling, but his broodiness and dominant persona sure would have fit the bill.
I also liked Adam’s relationship with Dr. Holden Rodrigues because Holden was a genuine childhood friend. I freaking laughed with how Holden said that Adam took him to prom because Holden’s boyfriend at the time broke up with him. I loved how through Holden’s story, we glimpsed a softer side of Adam—the side that acts out of love for the people he loves just like he was doing with Olive. I loved hearing this side of Adam because it highlighted he really wasn’t a bad guy, but he was just a stickler or hard on some people because that was the way he was treated in his profession. But when it comes to other matters, he really did have a heart, and a type 😅. White knight syndrome if you ask me. Someone cue Taylor Swift’s “White Horse.” Hahaha.
Let’s dive into how Adam was hard on others because others were hard on him. This is something I greatly believe because I was/am the same way. I believe that people who are hard on themselves or others are people who had those who were hard on him—those who were judgmental, heavy with the criticism, and ruthless tough love. It wasn’t until a few years ago when a professor told me that I was hard on myself that I realized that I was. No one had ever told me that before, but when my professor said that, it made me think about how I was tough on myself. I was so quick to turn myself down or make myself feel worthless or not good enough because of all of the voices that I stored in my head over the years that told me that I was worthless or not good enough.
I felt like Adam felt the same way. Being in a tough academia profession like being a scientist, I can only imagine, comes with a lot of criticism and people being hard on you. People pick apart your work and it almost feels like they are picking apart your worth. Adam had a ruthless advisor who was verbally abusive. Because of his abusive advisor, Adam believed he wasn’t good enough as a scientist. There was one time when Adam was put on the same project as Holden and their advisor told them that whoever had publishable results first would get funding. The advisor created an unhealthy climate of competition that backfired on him because Holden and Adam worked together to create the publishable results so they could both get funding, but the advisor didn’t like the fact that they had worked tighter and he punched Holden and Adam by taking their work and not giving them any credit for it. I have to say, isn’t that illegal to take someone else’s work or findings and use them as your own. Couldn’t Adam and Holden sue or press charges against their advisor because that seems messed up and wrong!! I know they were only students, but still, that was their work and their advisor deserved no credit except to be behind bars. That was incredibly screwed up and I don’t understand how anyone at the time let that advisor get away with it.
I know Adam mentioned how they couldn’t press charges or didn’t feel like they could press charges because their advisor was going to get a Noble Prize or that he was of a high position that it would only hurt their careers. I was jus beyond furious because I don’t give a rat’s a** if that advisor was going to get a Noble Prize or if he had one, they should have said something to make sure that loser didn’t get one ever again or at least revoke his Noble Prizes because ain’t anything Noble about stealing someone else’s work and slapping your name on it. But it also sucks because I understand how when you are starting out in your career, you feel like you don’t have a lot of power or say because you’re the newbie. So if you say something, it only hurts you more because not many people would believe you compared to someone who was more established. However, it bugged me when Adam said:
“Because we felt there was no real system in place to ask for help.”
(pg. 254)
I’m not in the academia field unless you count being a teacher in the academia field, but I hope there is a system in place nowadays that evaluates advisors because what Adam went thorough is something I know probably happened in real-life. No one should ever have to experience working their butts off on ly to have that work stolen and to not feel like they have the power to say anything. There should be a real system in place to ask for help and report those who have done people wrong. I say this not only for scientists but for all professions and places in the world because it really is hard to ask for help when you feel powerless to do so. No one should ever feel like there isn’t someone or someplace or somewhere to get help or the support they need.
But all this to say, it makes sense why Adam was so reserved, cold, distant and closed off to others, but especially hard on his students. Adam wasn’t abusive nor was he a plagiarizer, he was just critical of his students because he wanted to create the best scientists and to push them to be better. I mean, there is no fault with wanting to challenge people because you see the potential in them. I also don’t think Adam meant to personally attack the people he advises, he was just doing what he was asked to do—advise. How those people reacted to Adam’s advice was on them. But also, as someone who is still learning to take criticism, it sucks to hear people hound on your work because it does feel personal when it matters a lot to you. I also do feel like there is a fine line between being critical and being an a** 😅. The way Adam delivers his critics could use improvement for sure because I could only imagine that he doesn’t care what people think of him to say things in a kind way—he’s probably very blunt—but then again that’s just his personality. I’m just a softer, kinder person so I would deliver critics nicer. And it helps when you are critiquing someone to be nice about it but honest because no one wants to be critiqued because it feels like they are wrong or not good enough and to only hear those comments in a harsh way only feels worse. So that’s something Adam could work on. But yes, I do understand and respect that Adam is not abusive, but he’s just distinct and honest and that makes people cry and feel attacked. I would have cried and felt attacked if Adam was my mentor and he chewed into my research to make me feel like what I was doing wasn’t good enough. It’s just always hard to hear people take your work and not like it the way you hoped because it means a lot, you know.
At least, Adam was always self-aware that he was brutal and honest. If he wasn’t self-aware, that would have been a red flag that he’s a complete a**, but he’s not. He’s a brutally honest a** but that was because he cared. He wanted to make the best scientists and he did, and as much as I think people harp on Adam for making everyone cry and being a di**, he did push his students to be the best, and no one can fault him for that.
When Adam opened up about why he advised the way he did, Olive didn’t understand it. She still didn’t get why he was so callous about how he advised people to the point they cried or wanted to quit their profession. People questioned why she even “dated” Adam if he was an a** and they let her get away with him treating people that way. There was that whole blow-up conversation with Greg who was furious at Adam for failing him but it wasn’t Olive’s fault. He was just projecting his hurt feelings onto Olive, and it made her feel responsible for why Adam was a butthole to his grad students. Even when Adam explained it to Olive over text, I just felt like Adam was indifferent or he was unaware of how he made other people feel. Not that Adam was heartless, but that it wasn’t as deep as other people made his comments out to be. Again, I do think there is a better way he could present his critiques to people so they do not take it the wrong way. But the more she got to know Adam and his backstory, helped her fully understand why he was hard on his students. I felt like when she understood him, she respected him more for who he was and knew that he wasn’t trying to be malicious, but give tough love in a better way than he was given.
I didn’t like Adam’s relationship with Tom after Holden talked about how Tom gave him bad vibes. My initial reaction to Tom was that he seemed like a decent dude because he acted like a bro, but then Holden strongly voiced his disdain and distrust of Tom, and that rubbed me the wrong way. If someone doesn’t like someone else, that is a red flag in my eyes. I don’t know. I just trusted Holden a lot more because if he caught a bad vibe from Tom, I highly believe you need to trust those vibes because they are there for a reason. Also, if someone tells you to watch your back and your friends back, that doesn’t sound like a good thing. So Tom was definitely on my suspicious list and I wasn’t sure how his relationship with Olive and Adam would go down later on.
The more Olive and Adam spent time together, the more Olive obviously caught feelings—very real feelings for Adam. I mean, how could she not.
“He’s a tall, broody, sullen hunk with a genius IQ. Everyone likes tall, broody sullen hunks with genius IQs.”
(pg. 172)
I liked Olive’s relationship with Malcom. I feel like being in academia would be a lot more painful and lonely if you had to go through it alone or if you felt like you had no one to talk to. So I liked that Olive had her group of people who understood what she was going through who made her experience as a scientist less isolating.
I 1000% agreed with Malcolm that she should have just freaking told Adam that she had feelings for him the moment she felt them because we all knew that he OBVIOUSLY felt the gosh darn same. I mean, how could she not think that he felt the same way when Adam only treated her like a decent human being and everyone else like compete trash 🤪. That means he liked you, sis!!! It’s called the he-hates-everyone-but-you trope. I wish Olive truly did see herself the way Ahn and Malcom saw her because Olive was always so quick to shut down the possibility that anyone could like her romantically because she thought she wasn’t good looking enough when she was. Just because she was a hard working scientist and didn’t wear the fanciest clothes or the most make-up, didn’t make her unattractive or not deserving of love. I loved whenever Ahn and Malcom hyped Olive up because she needed it; Olive needed to be reminded that she was a beautiful, intelligent woman that anyone would be lucky to date. I also really loved how much her friends wanted her to be happy as much as Olive wanted them to be happy—-that’s true friendship right there.
However, I understood from Olive’s perspective of how she didn’t want to be with someone seriously because all the people she cared about left or were gone. That’s rough to feel like if caring for someone will eventually lead to them leaving. In a morbid sense, there’s always going to be that fear of someone leaving because life happens, but it doesn’t mean we should ever fear loving or caring for someone because of that fear. If we all harbored that fear, then we would never know the most powerful emotion or experiences greater than fear—-the power of love. I wanted to hug Olive because yes, her mom did pass away and her dad did leave, but she had people who were with her and love her. She found her own family and love and that did not stop her from loving Malcom and Ahn. She also found Adam who she had feelings for and I think it’s tough that she felt that he might leave her too so it was easy to push down her feelings or not confront them because she didn’t want the worst to happen.
I FREAKING SCREAMED when Olive went on a tirade of, “How would I even tell him that I have a huge crush on him,” and Malcom was like, “OLIVE.” Because Adam was behind her in the coffee shop 😂!!!
I would have been MORTIFIED!
The minute she called an emergency coffee meet with Malcolm in the same dang coffee shop she had fake date Wednesdays at with Adam, I was like, “Isn’t he going to show up for fake dating Wednesday or pop into the coffee shop?” Well . . . this is why you do not have secret meetings about how you feel for your fake dating partner in the place where you fake date.
But what made me want to combust was how she freaking lied to Adam about how the person she claimed to have a huge crush on was some other guy!!!!! OLIVE 😫. She should have just told him it was him and we could have skipped all this disappointment and pinning from Adam when he loved her and she loved him but she didn’t think he could ever love her back and all that miscommunication thing! They both should have just been honest about their feelings instead of skirting around it like the plague. Or when Adam absolutely showed no freaking emotion to the fact that Olive straight up said she had a huge crush on someone that wasn’t him. Like dude just stood there like a pole and acted like that news didn’t phase him when it probably punctured his balloon of a heart 👏🏼! I swear, this dude needs to learn how to emote because I wanted a freaking reaction out of him! I mean, he loved her and he wasn’t even showing any signs that he was bothered by the news that Olive liked some other guy. If he showed that he cared or was even the tiniest bit jealous, maybe Olive wouldn’t have had all these mixed signals about whether he liked her or not.
Adam thought Olive was still hung up on Jermey, which made me want to spit milk 😂. Bro, she is the least bit hung up on Jeremy. Jeremy is irrelevant to her. But what I loved was how Adam felt the need to tell Olive that she was extraordinary and that she could basically do better than liking Jermey. I just wanted to melt on the floor with how he showed Olive he cared in his own way. Adam Carlsen talks in subtle codes—-the way that he complimented her and displayed his concern about Jermey because he didn’t want her to get hurt again if she did like Jeremy. He accepted that she still “liked” Jermey, which meant he cared more about her happiness than he did his. Which in my eyes is love because he cared about her, and that is it’s own form of love.
I wanted to SCREAM when she had that conversation with Holden in the coffee shop (on a different day) and he told her that Adam liked this other woman for a long time and she thought it was someone else 😫!!!! SIS, Holden was talking about you!!!!! *face palms myself* Ay yi yi.
I mean, Adam really loved her all this time and talked about her to his friends for years 🥺💙. How could she NOT know that that “amazing girl” Holden was talking about was her. It’s not like anyone else is lining up to date him 😂. I don’t get it though—-okay, I do get it—he’s a hot scientist who’s tall, dark, and handsome, why aren’t the ladies and gents lining up? I mean, I would 😂.
Olive felt defeated after Holden told her that Adam liked some amazing woman because she didn’t know it was her. I would have felt terrible if I really liked someone only to know that they already liked someone else. It just really sucked how they both believed that they liked different people when they really liked each other. I mean, when Adam was gone for a quick trip, I loved how he was in the airport and thought of her by buying something pumpkin. No dude buys something they absoltultey repulse just because they want to. He bought pumpkin because he missed her and was thinking of her, which was a huge tell that he LIKED her!!!!
I need to be a love scientist because I can read the signs better than these amateurs in love 😂.
I FREAKING loved loved loved the entire conference part of the book.
It was romantic, it was drama-filled, it was tropy, it was SPICY 🔥🙈.
I loved that fact that Olive had to give a speech at the conference because doing so would push her to be a better scientist and to connect with more people. I also loved that Olive was going to do something that terrified her and that she believed she wasn’t good at. I thought it was special that her mentor, Dr. Aslan, believed in Olive to give the speech at the convention because she thought Olive had good work and that Olive could do it. Dr. Aslan knew Olive wouldn’t want to give the speech because Olive would be nervous, but she saw more in Olive. The only person who didn’t believe in Olive was herself. Again, we can be out harshest critic. I believed in Olive! I knew she could do it if she set her mind to it. Hey, if she could publicly sit on the lap of her superior at work and rub lotion on his body in public, then she could do anything 😂.
“‘What do I always tell you?’
‘Um . . . ‘Don’t misplace the multichannel pipette’?’
‘The other thing.’
She sighed. ‘Carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white man.'”
(pg.198)
We love to hear that the confidence level is a mediocre white man 😅.
But I was truly excited for Olive because she was going to smash this speech and do a good job and I knew it was going to give her the boost of confidence she needed to know that not only was she an excellent scientist, but a connected one to her passion.
Let’s also shout out Ahn more time for making Olive and Adam SHARE A ROOM 👏🏼 😂!
Ahn really is a real one!
She said,I am going to room with Jermey and Holden said I am going to room with other friends and Olive is going to room with Adam because they are “dating.” That’s SOOOO AWKWARD! I would have felt awkward if I was Olive and I was fake dating someone I really liked now and didn’t have a room for this booked convention and now had no where to stay unless it was far away. I also wouldn’t’ have wanted to ask Adam if I was Olive because that would have felt like a ploy to sleep with him and it would have been too weird to say, “Hey, can I share a room with you?” like it’s the most natural and normal thing ever. But I really appreciated how Adam was always a down bi*** and sooooo chill about every awkward circumstance that came his way. I loved how he straight up offered to share a room like it was natural.
I really would have loved to read from his perspective to know how he was feeling about sharing a room with the love of his life. He really was living his fantasy dream of being with Olive.
“Hypothesis: Approximately two out of three fake-dating situations will eventually involve room-sharing; 50 percent of room-sharing situations will be further complicated by the presence of only one bed.”
(pg. 204)
Olive WISHED their was one bed 😂👏🏼!!!
It would have been too good though if there was one bed.
I loved how when Adam saw her after his trip in Boston, he gave her one of his signature dimpled smiles because he missed her. I also loved how they easily bantered about broccoli and him being an a**—-good old times. I loved when Adam left the hotel room, she found a protein bar with chocolate in his bag. This sounds like the dumbest tidbit for me to mention, but I was low-key smiling because for all her teasing about him being the equivalent of the Green Friendly Giant, he ate chocolate! He was a fun guy 😂. I also missed their banter of fake-dating and lap sitting.
When he saw Olive walk out in that little black dress, his favorite color no less, I was CACKLING!! HIs big scientific brain was MALFUNCTIONING 😂👏🏼. You alright over there Adam????? Never seen a woman in a LBD and some killer heels. What a time.
That moment has got to be one of the only times I have seen this man give a reaction. I would have liked his mouth to literally drop to the floor to really sell home the point.
But it was super sweet how reassuring he was to Olive about her speech. I also loved the fact that he took the time to look through her presentation to ensure that it was good and that he helped change the color from horrid acid green to a better color. I also loved how said he wouldn’t have missed her speech for the world, and then realized he was saying a speech at the same time and probably couldn’t catch her speech. But it meant a lot that he believed in her and supported her in all the ways that mattered. He truly did care.
I was incredibly proud that Olive did her speech and that she got a few laughs. I also loved the confidence Olive exuded when she spoke about something she was passionate and loved. There is a different glow that exudes from a person when they speak about something they understand well and care immensely about. I loved how Olive felt like all those people in that room were there for her because they cared what she had to share and the research/information she had. It was because they were there for her. That’s the thing with being in academia that I think is so beautiful—all these like minds who are trying to answer questions and reasserting different ways or ideas and to share that information with others who have the same question or even more questions from what you are doing. Sharing is a way to connect people and putting herself out there allowed Olive to connect with those she never thought possible—those who also cared about her work and could support her in her research.
Going back to Olive’s mom, Olive discovered something new that she wanted to research more on, but she needed new equipment/ a better lab. Tom was the only person who replied to Olive’s email regarding needing a bigger lab with better equipment to go through with her research. Because he was the only one who replied to Olive, Olive felt like Tom was her only way in to what she wanted to continue to study. Tom was seemingly also a good person to work with because his labs were at Harvard. He was going to be in LA for a few weeks and that’s when he met Olive and that’s when Olive realized Adam and Tom went way back as friends. So of course, Tom took Olive’s project on because Olive was Adam’s girlfriend and he couldn’t really say no to his friends girlfriend.
Because Olive was going to study at Harvard in the fall, Adam started looking into transferring to Boston where she would be. For someone who wanted Stanford to release his funds because he wasn’t going to leave yet he was looking to leave, it was like, “What the heck?” But also, I loved how Holden mentioned how Adam had never looked into transferring schools before until now. Boston wasn’t a coincidence because it was freaking obvious that Adam wanted to be closer to Olive, or heck, wherever Olive was, he wanted to be there. But how could she not think that he didn’t like her if he was apparently looking to move to the same state she was going to be 😅. I swear, I needed to be their romance whisperer or something because they don’t have any clues!!!
So that whole warning from Holden about Tom, put Tom on my red flag list because I don’t think anyone says that just to say it. And Holden wasn’t wrong.
Tom was a sleaze.
The FREAKING AUDACITY he had to feel Olive up and try to kiss her after her speech had me SEETHING 😡!!!! And the ATROCIOUSNESS THAT HE KEPT TRYING TO KISS HER!!!!! I was LIVID 😡.
Someone hold my beaker 😂. Someone better call me DNA because I’m all wind up 😂.
And the fact that he objectified her by touching and looking at her body made me want to projectile vomit and sue!!! And HOW DARE HE CALL her a mediocre scientist!!! Tom is a less than mediocre white guy! He is less than the standard. He is FILTH!
What a LOSER for also assuming that she was sleeping with Adam to get ahead and that she would do the same with him. I wanted to punch this guy to Pluto. What a Uranus. I could not believe the filth coming out of his mouth.
OOOOOOH, sexual harassment is one thing—-a big thing—-but black mailing her that if she didn’t finish her project at his lab, he would take her work and replicate them to do his own study. Olive gave him a detailed report about her research and study because he wanted to see it to approve whether or not he would allow her to use the labs at Harvard where he studied. But THAT SUCKED!!!! He was going to pull an Adam’s advisor and take her work for himself. I just don’t understand how there isn’t something in place that prevents people like Tom or Adam’s advisor to do such a thing because no one should be able to easily take your work like that ever. I don’t think that’s okay. And, Tom’s cockiness that Adam wouldn’t believe her if Olive told him that Tom harassed her and was blackmailing her made me want to scream and laugh at the same time. I was going to combust!
For one, HECK YEA he would believe Olive because he doesn’t love you Tom, so shove your ego where the sun don’t shine. If Adam knew what Tom did to Olive, I can bet on my scientific knowledge that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell that Adam was going to WHOOP his BUTT to a galaxy far, far away because no one double crosses his woman like that. Olive should have trusted that Adam would have trusted her because Tom might have been his long term friend but everyone hated Tom for a good reason.
Olive didn’t tell Adam though.
She cried it out.
It was obvious she cried it out.
If I was Olive, I would have sobbed it out too. If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have told Adam about what happened with Tom because what Tom said was true—she had only been “dating” Adam for a few weeks where else Tom and Adam had known each other for years. Also, it freaking sucked that someone who sucked was also a big reason why Adam continued to study science. Adam was going to become lawyer as mentioned earlier, but he found purpose again with the help of Tom when they did some research. But I mean, that doesn’t mean Tom’s a good person now.
It just sucked to know what happened to Olive and to know what Adam would have done to those who hurt her; I just wanted to see him beat down on Tom because he deserved it 😅.
But can we just appreciate how Adam saw her crying and literally knelt down in front of her like such a gentle broody giant and wiped her tears 😫💙! If he doesn’t get down on his knees to wipe your tears, I don’t want it. And how he was her literal shoulder to cry on, and how he didn’t let go or push her away but held her closer!!!! That is the kind of emotional support I need 😂.
“Adam Carlsen, responsible for 90 percent of the department’s tears, had actually managed to make someone stop crying.”
(pg. 236)
Just his concern for her emphasized his love that he would do anything for her. Also, just the way all his attention went on her when he walked into the room and saw that something was wrong and wanted to go to her to make it better. I swear, I need to find me an Adam Carlsen level of love.
This man is too good.
And the way he reassured her that “the people who judged her during her speech” (in actuality Tom) meant nothing, was incredibly sweet coming from someone who was the most brutal judge. I also loved how he knew just what Olive needed to take her mind off things and that he wanted to do this for her—make her happy. It was this spontaneity and care that made me gush over the fact that he was a sweet guy who cared about those he loved—-Adam continued to surprise me in the best ways. I also loved his I-don’t-care-attitude with skipping an event because he wanted to hand out with his “girlfriend.” Just the casual way he tossed that word out felt real and sweet.
I loved how he let Olive choose where to eat. I loved that Olive wanted to eat sushi because of the bullet train thin that goes around you and that Adam was unamused by the train but amused at Olive being amused at the train. But he went along with eating sushi because he saw how happy it made her. I also loved how they joked about the sushi tasting like foot and and Fast and Furious movies. I also liked the moment when they saw that other couple a few tables over and hypothesized if they were on a fake date too. It felt wholesome and cute to how not-fake, but also fake their sushi date was.
“Do you think they’re on a fake date?’ she asked, leaning back against her seat.
Adam followed her gaze to the couple. ‘I thought those mostly involved coffee shops and sunscreen applications?’
‘Nah. Only the best one.'”
(pg. 243)
I cannot with their cute-as-heck flirting and banter.
Also, get you a person who literally sweeps you off your feet when you feet hurt and carries you because gosh darn 😫! What a true gentleman.
But can we talk about the SPICE 🙈💙💙!
“He attacked it like it was his true north.”
(pg. 280)
OKAY, I SEE YOU 🙈 ADAM.
Not going to lie, I was HOT and BOTHERED at their steamy moment in the hotel room, which was bound to happen even if there weren’t two beds. I mean, they were sharing a hotel room and he liked her and she liked him and she was feeling all emotional and he wanted to make her feel better. He sure did make her feel better, that’s for sure. You could hear my SCREAM when he was like, “I think I’ve changed my mind . . . My favorite color must be green, after all.”
Let’s go DR. ADAM CARLSEN!!!!!!!!
But gosh dang, who knew Dr. Adam Carlsen was meticulous with his love like he was with this science. I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence. If you haven’t subscribed to Ali Hazelwood’s reader subscription to read Adam’s point of view of the steamy moments, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you subscribe because that is the content, baby, content and it left me even more hot and bothered than I thought I already was.
Like someone better come over and cleanse my dirty mind 😂.
The steamy moment in the book was everything and more, but gosh, reading it from Adam’s perspective and the love he already had for Olive, but the restraint he had with her because he didn’t want to hurt her or make this uncomfortable but still wanted to love her, was just a whole other level of emotions and feelings. Honestly, I would read The Love Hypothesis from Adam’s point of view in a heartbeat! I just want to pick his brain to know how he felt the entire time, fake-dating someone he knew he loved the minute he met her and how he hid his feelings the entire time he was with Olive because he never knew she reciprocated those feelings. So to read his perspective and how much he loved Olive and how much loving her felt like the greatest and worst thing because he loved her but didn’t know her feelings at the time. I just loved the whole romantic steamy scene and how intimate and delicate Olive and Adam were with each other.
I also really loved the afterglow talk and the way they woke up next to each other.
“The casual domesticity of it—-the thought that his day and hers would end in the same place, at the same time.”
(pg. 245)
I loved how he teased her about her colorful socks and how he wanted to see her feet. I don’t know about you, but I think Adam has a foot fetish 😂. We love a guy that has a foot fetish. Joking, but it’s funny how foot fetishes are all the talk these days and how Ali Hazelwood made Adam a foot dude. But what I really loved about their conversation after their steamy moment was how honest and open it was. We got to see a softer side to Adam who opened up more about his childhood and how his parents were barely around and how he wasn’t the most social person. Knowing that his parents weren’t around much and he didn’t socialize, explained why he was the way he was—-not the best with socializing with other people. I can relate to that because when you’re not around much people, you’re not developing those social skills to know how to hold conversation, have eye contact, or to even know what the heck to talk about. It’s also hard when your parents aren’t around because parents/family are the main people you are expected to socialize with, so Adam felt even more like a pariah as a person because he didn’t have that social aspect growing up. I loved that he talked to Dutch to Olive, and we got to see a playful side to him.
Also, when he called Olive sweetheart???!??!?!?!? MELTED.
Just for Adam to be so endearing and loving towards Olive meant a lot because it wasn’t natural for him to be open and like everyone. But Olive had his heart.
I also liked how he talked more about his childhood and how he used to get in fights. That was interesting. I would think Adam was a good kid who never got in trouble, but it was kind of cool that he was a smart kid but he stood up for what he thought was right even if it got him in trouble. I also loved how he told the story of going to the dance with Holden when Holden got stood up. I mean, you can call Adam many things, but you cannot call him a bad friend. During their afterglow conversation, Olive asked Adam why Adam was considering transferring to Harvard when the whole reason they were fake dating was for Stanford to release his funds because Stanford thought he was going to transfer. We all knew that Adam was thinking about transferring to Boston to be closer to Olive because why else would he even entertain the idea of transferring when he was adamant about staying. La DUH, he LOVED Olive!!! He just needed to make a neon arrow sign above his head that said, “I love you and would follow you anywhere.” He even hinted at showing her around Tom’s labs while she was there. She should have used her romantic spidey-senses to know that he wanted to be with her as much as she did with him. I mean, no guy moves across the state all of a sudden because he wants to actually study in a new place. He wants to follow the woman he loves 👏🏼! That is the epitome of, if he wanted to he would.
No less, ladies and gents.
Then September 29 came around, the day the deal would end.
Stanford did release his funds, but he was still leaving because Olive was leaving to study with Tom. Or that was before Tom showed his true trash colors 🤪.
When Olive wanted to talk to Adam, I wanted to SCREAM. The somber mood was such a huge tell for what Olive felt like she had to do because of Tom and what he told her. FREAKING TOM can suck my toes.
Olive decided to break up with Adam because she didn’t want to ruin his friendship with Tom if she told Adam the truth about why she really cried after her speech at the conference; Tom helped Adam find his passion in science again and she didn’t want to take away someone in Adam’s life that brought joy and passion. She also didn’t want Adam to give up his new research if she told him the truth, so she held it inside for his happiness. The fact that she put Adam above her hurt and love to do what she thought was best for him, emphasized how much she loved him.
If you love someone set them free.
But also, I think she should have just told him what trash-a** Tom said to her because there is no way in HECK that I didn’t think Adam wouldn’t believe her. I swear on the Shadowhunter Codex 😂 that if Olive just told Adam what Tom said to her and how he patronized and objectified her, heck, even blackmailed her, Adam was going to BEAT HIS A**. NO WAY IN HECK HE wouldn’t believe Olive over his friend. He loved her, of course, he would trust her word more 👌🏼.
I really wanted to see Adam rage and beat Tom’s trash-a** 😂
“He actually wanted to protect her, when all Olive wanted was to . . . protect him.”
(pg. 300)
Olive went with the story that she didn’t want Adam to talk to the conference organizers about “the people who made bad comments about her talk.” I liked that even when Adam didn’t know the full story about why Olive was hurt, he was still trying to protect her while Olive was trying to protect him. That’s true love—-if they both want to be there for each other, to protect and care for each other.
I WANTED TO SOB for Adam with how compliant he was with Olive’s wishes to call of their fake-dating. I mean, he loved her enough to let her go because it was what she wanted. Or what he thought she wanted. But I just really hurt for Adam because my heart broke knowing how much Olive was breaking up with him because she loved him and how Adam was letting her go because he loved her. And it was this whole freaking mess of miscommunication and withholding what they were actually feeling or saying because they loved each other too much to say more. I just wanted Olive to tell him the truth so she didn’t have to break his heart or my heart for that matter 😫💔
“Because I’m starting to wonder if this is what being in love is. Being okay with ripping yourself to shreds, so the other person can stay whole.”
(pg. 302)
I’m starting to wonder if this is what loving a book feels like—-ripping yourself to shreds while the book stays whole 😂. No, but seriously, I need Ali Hazelwood to pay for my therapy 😂. Joking, I’m joking.
But, Adam and Olive 😫💔!!!!!!
Not me, floating in my tears when Adam was like:
“‘Olive. If you ever need anything, anything at all. Anything. Whenever. You can come to me.’ His jaw worked, like there were other words, words he was keeping inside. ‘I want you to come to me.'”
(pg. 304)
HE WANTED HER TO COME TO HIM 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫!!!!!!
GO TO HIM SIS!!!!
DANG.
Like, he went from broody to come-to-me! Lean-on-me! Count-on-me!
*sigh*
Dang.
I bet those words he really wanted to say was to be with him and that he loved her. He should have told her he loved her. I get why he didn’t because it would have made it worse for her to know that he loved her and that she might not reciprocate that if she called a quits with him. But I mean, they had all these beautiful, intimate moments that he must have known that she felt something for him.
I just loved that he didn’t hate her or was angry for her decision—-that he still wanted her to be in his life and lent out a proverbial hand for her to do so if she ever needed it.
You know for someone who’s a grump, he sure knows how to leaves the people wanting more (i.e. I am people 😂).
First, it was the come to me spiel and then it was the gentle forehead kiss before he left her.
I’m SORRY!!!?!!?!??!
Grump who?
More like Dr. Romantic-as-f***.
What rom-coms does Dr. Adam Carlsen read in his free time 😂?
Olive was a broken mess afterwards. Not only did she lose someone she love because she wanted them to happy, but she also didn’t know what to do about her scientific studies. No way in heck was she going to work at Dr. Loser-Tom’s lab. That’s rough because she didn’t get any other offers. I liked how when she was dating Adam, he gave her tips about how she should have gone through her advisor to ask other labs if they would take her to study at their labs. I also liked how he helped her draft her emails and proposals. Also, her speech she gave surely got her name out there to other scientists who would have an interest in her study, so I think it was a good thing she pushed herself because it put herself out there.
Because Dr. Aslan couldn’t watch Olive’s speech, Olive recorded it on her phone that day. When Olive was going to send the speech to Dr. Aslan, it hit me like a volleyball to the chest—-she must have gotten footage of her conversation with Tom!!!!! I was like, watch her have the footage and accidentally airdrops it to everyone and Adam will beat Tom’s a** like he deserves!
But only Anh and Malcom heard the footage when it started to play on Olive’s computer. Anh and Malcom were there to comfort Olive after her speech and supposed break-up. They also were there to fill her in on their speeches and Malcom’s development/new relationship with Holden, which I was excited about. Anh and Malcom watched the whole video through of what Tom said to Olive, which made me cheer because not only did she now have evidence she could use to show Adam that Tom’s a suck a** loser, but she also could get her man’s back.
I wanted to scream when Olive still didn’t believe that Adam would believe her even if she had evidence of being verbally mistreated. I mean, sis, you have a literal video recording, what is there to not be believed? I know she still didn’t want to hurt Adam and take away his dream to study something new with Tom, but I also think that if she loved Adam, she should tell him the type of person he was going to work with. Adam deserved to at least know that and decide what to do with that information. What happens after she shows him the video, wouldn’t be her fault, but his choice.
I freaking loved how Ahn, Malcom and I were on the same wavelength about how Olive should have told Adam how Tom harassed her after her speech. Olive had nothing to be embarrassed about or hold back on because that was Tom’s actions that he should be ashamed of. She did nothing wrong. But I have to freaking say that I LOVED Anh’s reaction to when Olive finally told her she was fake dating Adam the entire time, and Anh felt guilty that she basically forced Olive and Adam to do all these intimate couplet-things 😂. The book and Olive and Adam’s relationship would have never happened without Ahn forcing them to be the cute couple they were always meant to be 👏🏼!
“‘You fake-dated Adam. [Freaking]. Carlsen?’
‘It seemed like a good idea, and—‘
‘But I saw you kiss him! In the biology building parking lot!’
‘Only because you forced me to—‘
‘But you sat on his lap!’
‘Once again, you forced me to–not the coolest moment in our friendship, by the way—‘
‘But you put sunscreen on him! In front of at least one hundred people!’
‘Only because someone put me up to it. Do you sense a pattern?'”
(pg. 314)
I sense that Anh knew what was up WAAAY before Olive and Adam knew 😂. But not them literally recounting every awkward and uncomfortable thing Anh pushed them into doing. Again, we love Anh!!
Olive still didn’t want to tell Adam even after talking to Anh and Malcom about fake-dating Adam and what happened with Tom. Malcolm did suggest that Olive talk to the one person Adam was also the closest to to know what to do; Olive should talk to Holden. Again, I had good vibes about Holden because he seems to know Adam in a more genuine light than Tom did. Also, Holden had bad vibes about Tom and you should always trust someone when they tell you they have a bad vibe about someone because it’s for a reason. I knew that we needed to have a conversation with Holden in this book about why he had a bad vibe about Tom. Holden didn’t trust Tom because when Tom and Adam were working together with their mentor, Tom always conveniently saved the day whenever Adam got chewed out by the mentor. So it seemed like Tom was always using Adam because Tom knew how much brilliant potential Adam had, so Tom gravitated towards helping Adam with the mentor because the mentor liked Tom—-so Tom was kissing Adam’s butt to basically make himself look good. Holden also mentioned how he thought Tom was jealous of how intelligent Adam was that Tom asserted some dominance or power over Adam to make himself look more powerful—-that if he could control Adam, that it would make himself the bigger person. The way Holden explained his concerns made sense to me because sometimes when deceptive and mistrustful people want to get to the top, they will do anything to get there—-will say or hurt anyone to be where they want to be—-and that sometimes involves control and manipulation to make someone feell like they are in control when they are not. I never trusted Tom. Never and never will.
I must say, I really appreciated and liked how Holden was honest about his concerns about Tom and Adam’s relationship because his concern emphasized how much care and respect he had for Adam all these years. A true friend will look out for you. Maybe they won’t like the people you hang around and they won’t exactly say it to you face about what they don’t like about that person, but they will always have your best-interest at heart and that’s what matters. I know there were a few friends I had who my core group of friends since childhood didn’t particularly like. I remember always hanging out with this group of other girls, being treated like I was discarded trash on the road. I remember my childhood friends watching me being treated like that. It wasn’t until a few years later when I was out of that friendship situation with those other girls that my childhood friends told me how they didn’t like this person and how they treated me. It made me feel validated to know that I wasn’t imagining how these girls treated me. On the other hand, I felt hurt that my childhood friends didn’t voice their concerns to me because I would have rather they stepped up and told me that I shouldn’t have taken hat treatment everyday in high school. If they had told me sooner, I would have tolerated the other girl’s friendship less and I would have hung out with my core group of friends who were just watching me being treated poorly. I don’t know. Sorry for the random spiel. I guess what I’m trying to say is that your true and honest friends will look out for you and will tell you what they think is best for you. it’s up to you how to process and understand it. I think you should tell someone if they are not being treated respectfully as you think they should, or tell them the bad vibes you get because you feel them for a reason. You never know how big of an impact speaking up—just saying something—can help.
The other part of Olive and Holden’s conversation I enjoyed was how tactfully and delicately Holden answered Olive’s question of whether or not she should show Adam Tom’s true colors. I liked how Olive also went about asking Holden her question without outright saying she had a video of Tom harassing her, but she said she had proof of how Tom really is. Holden responded by saying he couldn’t answer that question, which I understood. He wasn’t trying to insert himself into a complicated situation, and he also wasn’t Adam. I did like how he cryptically advised Olive in a scientific way 😅. I mean, Olive did have evidence and that’s good science. Also, I loved how Holden used the he-would-move-for-you card on Olive because truly, if Adam was considering moving for the first time in forever because Olive was going to leave, he had to be serious about how much he loved her. If she loved him, she should tell him the truth before it was too late and she didn’t go work with Tom and then Adam move all the way to Boston only to be more miserable in a new state without the woman he loved.
When I say I WAS HYPED AND READY FOR OLIVE TO SHOW ADAM THIS VIDEO, I WAS HYPED AND READY 👏🏼!👏🏼!!!!!
My gosh, the way she entered the restaurant where Adam was and that he straight up looked at her like she hung the moon, and the way he walked to her with nothing but pure concern etched on every crevice of his face . . . PHENOMENAL. If he doesn’t drop what he is doing and goes to you, I don’t want it 👏🏼😫.
That’s the energy I need out of a partner.
OOOOOH, but when Tom entered the conversation because he knew what Olive was going to tell Adam, I was like, dude needs to leave teh chat, no one invited you! No one wants you there. But when Olive started to play that video . . . . HYPERVENtILATING!!!! LET’S GO OLIVE!!!! Expose Tom-a**!!!!!!!
OOOOOOOH, but what freaking got me was when Adam put everything together and figured out it was Tom’s voice and that he was the reason Olive cried that day after her speech. When said he wanted to whoop Tom’s a**, not going to lie, I screamed 😂. Or when he shoved Tom against a wall. I was sooooo convinced he was going to punch his face in. I mean, I don’t condone violence, but you know if Adam Carlsen does it to defend the woman he loves, then let’s goooooooo!
“Her knight in black armor.”
(pg. 255)
Low-key disappointed that he didn’t sock Tom’s face in, but you know what, that’s okay because Adam was the bigger person and did the right thing. I’m obviously not the bigger person 😅.
But when Adam was all up in Tom’s face and said how if Tom said another words about the woman I love, I WANTED TO COMBUST!! The woman he loves!!!! Let’s go, Adam! I love when the I-love-you slips out of the love interests mouth unintendedly. Hits every time.
Oh no no no, but what I loved the most was when Olive talked Adam down from doing something he would regret to Tom. I liked how Adam listened to Olive because he loved her and was the only person who he would listen to. But gosh, my heart wanted to melt like Olaf in Summer when Adam took a deep breath and turned to Olive and told her that he was going to take care of everything and that he would come find her later and take care of her. Like my gosh 😫.
Get you someone who would defend your honor one second and be the most tender person the next second.
Adam Carlsen, king of my heart.
Not going to lie. I kind of laughed how throughout the whole book, Olive and Adam joked about filing a Title XI and here they were about to file one for Tom with how he treated Olive. I mean, Title XI is not something to joke about, but it was ironic that it was running joke that become real.
I loved how Adam did take care of everything and then afterwards, they had a cute little triple date moment with Holden and Malcom. I loved their little inside joke about how burgers taste like feet because Adam could finally agree with Olive that they did. It was so cute how they went out for Chinese and how much laughter and joy both couples had with teasing each other and getting to know each other as real-life couples. I loved how Malcom bonded with Adam about their disdain for everything pumpkin spice related. I liked how Malcom and Adam were kind of getting along even though Malcom hated Adam’s butt in the beginning because he thought Adam was a broodish a**, which Malcolm’s not wrong. But he’s a nice broodish a**, you know.
You know what else?
In the beginning when Olive lost her contacts and was in the bathroom of that scientists dude who saw her? We all knew that dude was Adam, and I’m glad he finally owned up to being the bathroom guy who always believed in her. I knew that story had to mean something if Ali Hazelwood wrote it in the beginning because why would she write a random scene with a random bathroom dude if it wouldn’t have later significance 😅??? But my heart felt so warm knowing Olive knew that it was always him and that he always believed in her even when she literally and figuratively couldn’t see it. Also, that he genuinely always liked her but never acted on those feelings. I mean, if a person likes you enough to step back because he doesn’t know whether or not to cross that professional line, then that’s true love in the making because someone who loves you wants to see you shine and wouldn’t want to get in the way of that even if it means they have to take a back seat to who they want to be with. I loved that things worked out for Adam because he was a good guy and he deserved to be with Olive—-someone who made him happier and (kind of) a better person. I mean, he was still an a** to everyone else, but I wouldn’t’ have it any other way 🤪.
The whole walk home and opening up the fortune cookies scene was our serotonin.
I swear, Ali Hazelwood knows how to gut a romantic heart.
“Olive handed him the crumpled paper and remained silent as he angled it to read it in the lamplight.
. . . You can fall in love: someone will catch you.”
(pg. 342)
If that’s not a sign from the universe, I don’t know what is 😫💙.
Where’s my romantic fortune cookie Panda Express?????
But when Olive told Adam she loved him in DUTCH, someone hold my tissues!!!!!!
She told him she loved him in his native tongue!!!!!!!!
They. Were. Just. So. Darn. Cute. And. Perfect.
I love them, or should I say Ik hou van them.
Adam obviously did not go to Boston to study with loser Tom. He stayed in Stanford with Olive who was also staying in California to do research at Berkeley. When she had all these emails rolling in from different labs, I couldn’t help but feel a gush of overwhelming pride and happiness for Olive because she deserved all the credit and an opportunity to do honest work with people who believed in her and respected her. I just feel like especially as a woman in an academic field, it would be easy to turn Olive down or just have her work there because she’s pretty and another brain. But she was doing good, honest, beneficial studies that could help many people and I liked that others finally recognized a strong, intelligent mind to let her work.
I loved the end moment when Olive and Adam were in the same hallway where they first shared their spontaneous kiss by the water fountain. I loved how Olive told Adam to stand by the water fountain and look antagonistic and unapporabchale and say “pumpkin spice. 😂” Love to see that he still is the broody scientist who still doesn’t like pumpkin spice. What was really sweet and endearing was when she asked if she could kiss him by the water fountain, you know, his consent this time 🥺. The moment was just such a sweet ode to all they had been through together in the past year and how much a random kiss became the best decision and moment in both of their lives.
You know, the best moments—- the most transformative moments of our lives—are sometimes the most unexpected ones.
The only thing about the book I would have loved to know more about is a little more about Olive’s mom and her backstory. I know Olive mentioned her mom’s story, but I would have liked a little more detail or depth about Olive’s mom and Olive’s relationship with her mom. I felt like having more detail about Olive’s mom could have added something more precious and special about how close they were and why this study mattered a lot to her. I also wanted more backstory about Adam besides the few details we had. I wanted to know more about his parents and what they did and why they weren’t around. I was so convinced that we would see his parents at one point—maybe in a phone call or something—but we never saw his parents. For people who had a big impact on his life and who he became, I would have liked to know more about his parents. I would have liked a heart to heart with his parents or at least some sort of conversation of his parents apologizing to Adam for not being around more. I think that would have been an interesting conversation to have and for Adam to heal from his grumpy–broodiness.
Overall, The Love Hypothesis was everything I could ever want in a rom-com and everything I’ve been needing and missing in a good book! . I laughed until I cried. I gushed until I melted on the floor. I screamed until I couldn’t scream. I giggled like a devious school girl at all the times Anh meddled. I covered my eyes like a child at all the smutty scenes and uncovered my eyes because who I’m I kidding, I can read smut. I just enjoyed every second, every page of The Love Hypothesis and it was a good timed that was what a book should be/feel. I also became a new fan of the broody-grumpy-sunshine trope and he-doesn’t-like-anyone-but-you trope Adam Carlsen is the reigning king of these tropes in my eyes and I have no regrets about the person I have become after I read about Adam Carlsen.
Honestly, I need more academia rom-com book recommendations because a sis is currently obsessed with all things rom-com academia. Any dentist, doctor, scientist, engineer, vet book recommendations???? 😆
It’s a need at this point.
Obsessed 👌🏼,
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book?
Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.
And as always, with love,
Rating
5 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: I never would have thought I would be obsessed over a broody, antagonistic a**hole, but oops here I am. I also love Olive’s vibrant energy and determination as a strong, resilient woman in academia 💙
Plot: Refreshingly fun, hilarious, steamy, sweet, contemplative, and an overall wonderful time that won’t leave you hypothesizing if it’s worth the read—-it definitely is.
Writing: I have become part of Ali Hazelwood’s number one fan because she writes like she knows what us readers want and I love that
Romance: I have officially become a stan of grumpy-sunshine and he-hates-everyone-but you trope and I’m not mad about it