My taste in books entirely depends on the writing style and the pace of the book I like long sentences with seven semicolons and descriptions that take up half of the page. However, after four mediocre books and countless hours scrolling through the trenches of that damned social media app, I finally found a book I thoroughly enjoyed. I am always wary of books I find on BookTok, the corner of TikTok for literature enthusiasts, which only look good in 15 second videos and will not stick with me for years. The novel is unique in that it falls within the “New Adult” genre, a developing genre that highlights the stories of 18-30 year old protagonists and is intended for those who have recently graduated from the Young Adult novel. The cliche of fake-dating, while drastically overused, still finds a way to my heart each time.

Adam can project the image of having “roots” at Stanford so his department will stop expecting his departure after the completion of his research, and Olive can keep up her lie to Anh. To her surprise, Adam then proposes the idea of “fake-dating” for their mutual benefit. Olive tells Anh that she’s also dating someone, and to prove it, Olive kisses the first man she sees: Adam. When Anh, Olive’s best friend, starts dating Olive’s former fling, Olive attempts to show that she is unbothered. candidate at Stanford University, and standoffish Adam Carlsen, a tenured professor and MacArthur Fellow. Author Ali Hazelwood creates a fake relationship between cheery Olive Smith, a Ph.D. Reading “The Love Hypothesis” feels like gaining all the perks of graduate school without actually having to attend a university.

Bonus chapter of the love hypothesis