The DCBC met on Sunday, April 24, 2022 to discuss April's book: The Love Hypothesis, by Ali Hazelwood (selected by Tiffany).
Attendees were: Tiffany, Melissa, Paige, Miriam, Ashley, Kristyn, Jessy, and Sarah.
“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.”
The Love Hypothesis is a fun and light little romance novel that deploys the 'fake dating' trope in a STEM-academic setting with often hilarious consequences, because it's a romance novel, and what else would we expect? Fortunately, both characters are given plausible motivations for participating in their fake dating scheme.
“Olive,” Dr. Aslan interrupted her with a stern tone. “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.’ ”
Ali Hazelwood's academic background shone through in the text, making (at least most of) the Academy-linked plot points believable for us.
“Expiration dates are for the weak.”
Quite a few of us may have related pretty hard to Olive's wearing her contact lenses past their expiration date.
“I’m going to kill you,” he gritted out, little more than a growl. “If you say another word about the woman I love, if you look at her, if you even think about her - I’m going to fucking kill you.”
Those who had read it also compared The Love Hypothesis with its fanfic twin, a Reylo* alternate universe fic, and identified some other character parallels for us and where the two diverge, plot-wise.
Thank you to Tiffany and Kyle for hosting and to Kyle for toiling away in the kitchen to make such amazing homemade snacks while we discussed our book! And of course to Rey From Star Wars for gracing us with her presence!
The Verdict:
Taken from the average DCBC member ratings on Goodreads who had marked the book as read and rated at the time of this writing:
The Love Hypothesis 4.6 stars
*(Rey/Kylo Ren from Star Wars)
Next Month: May 2022: Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman (selected by Paige)
