The Love Hypothesis: What’s the Hype About?

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is an early fall must-read. I heard about this book a while ago, but once I got my hands on a copy, I was done in less than a week! As a recent graduate, it was fun to read a romance novel for young adults who have graduated from college. When asked mid-way through my reading binge if it’s worth reading, I responded,

“It’s the perfect amount of cringe and cute to keep you reading.”

Does it Pass the Bechdel test?

Yes. This book, like the title implies, is set in a STEM environment. Olive has a close STEM bestie, Ahn, whom she talks to about things other than boy drama. Of course, the Bechdel test is a low bar for movies and in this case novels. However, I think it’s important to reflect on the type of media we consume as women. If you read well-written romance novels, you can still have real-life takeaways.

I think what resonated with me most about Olive was her resilience to seek out new opportunities in a male-dominated field. I did roll my eyes a bit at the hero complex presented by her main love interest – always swooping in to save the day. The constant jabs at her love of Pumpkin Spice lattes also started to feel a bit personal as a fellow PSL lover.

Some Constructive Criticism

Olive is conducting complex cancer research at an underfunded lab, and yet she is minimized to a hungry grad student eager for her next PSL. Women are so complex, and often women in the sciences have many interests outside their lab experiments. It would have been nice to throw in some extra character traits to show Olive is more than her research.

I do applaud Hazelwood for making space for women in STEM (real or fictional) to have their love stories known. She is also highlighting a job track outside of reporter, actress, or high school student as seen in many rom-coms which is awesome. I was just hoping to find more representation of my multifaceted STEM friends.