The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood, 2021
★ 4.09 from 2.2m ratings on Goodreads
To convince her best friend she is over a crush, a graduate student kisses a stranger in a lab hallway — who turns out to be the most feared professor in her department. Warm, funny and fizzy, with a slow-burn pull and a satirical eye on academic lab life.
Feels like longing, joy and humor. About love and death.
Who it’s for
You may enjoy this if you like banter-heavy romance and a women-in-STEM setting. Be aware that much of the plot turns on miscommunication, which some readers found frustrating.
Why read it
It gives you a light, funny read with real warmth between the two leads, and a wry look at how odd a research lab can be.
A page from the book
The moment a performance quietly stops being one, and nobody says a word.
Then that agonizingly slow moment went by, and the kiss became . . . different. The man inhaled sharply and inclined his head a tiny bit, making Olive feel less like a squirrel monkey climbing a baobab tree, and his hands-which were large and pleasantly warm in the AC of the hallway-closed around her waist. They slid up a few inches, coming to wrap around Olive’s rib cage and holding her to himself. Not too close, and not too far. What readers say
Readers split sharply: some were giddy, laughing, and swept up by the romance, banter, and spice, while others were bored or frustrated by the miscommunication and hype. The women-in-STEM focus drew repeated appreciation.
Ali Hazelwood.Ali Hazelwood is a neuroscience professor; this novel began as Reylo Star Wars fan fiction before she rewrote it with original characters.
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Love, Theoretically
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A theoretical physicist pays her student loans by working as a professional fake girlfriend, then meets the one person who seems to see through every version of her.
Love on the Brain
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A neuroscientist lands her dream NASA project and finds her grad-school nemesis is co-leading it. Enemies, engineering, and a narrator with a stand-up's timing.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Love Hypothesis for me?
- You may enjoy this if you like banter-heavy romance and a women-in-STEM setting. Be aware that much of the plot turns on miscommunication, which some readers found frustrating.
- What is The Love Hypothesis like?
- Warm, funny and fizzy, with a slow-burn pull and a satirical eye on academic lab life. Feels like longing, joy and humor. About love and death.
- What should I read after The Love Hypothesis?
- If you liked The Love Hypothesis, try The Selection (Kiera Cass), Ugly Love (Colleen Hoover) and Ruthless Fae (Caroline Peckham).
A taste of the feed
A blessing for love that doubles as a warning.
I hope you find someone you can’t live without.I really do. And I hope you never have to know what it’s like to have to try and live without them.
The Selection · Kiera Cass
What love costs when you stop pretending it is beautiful.
Ugly love becomes you. Consumes you. Makes you hate it all. Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren’t even worth it. Without the beautiful, you’ll never risk feeling the ugly. So you give it all up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly love again.
Ugly Love · Colleen Hoover
A kiss that feels like a rule being broken.
He kissed me like he wasn’t allowed to kiss me, but if he didn’t he’d die.
Ruthless Fae · Caroline Peckham
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