Love Hypothesis

I've read both versions of the Love Hypothesis, both this one and the published Reylo fanfiction one, and I found this to be so much better. It's funny and heartfelt and occasionally, like life, a bit messy. Our main character, Caro, is funny and weird, has two dads, a lesbian best friend, and struggles with the desire to be loved that so many of us do. She makes mistakes along the way but really grows from the consequences of her actions. It starts as a silly Love Potion #9-esque plot but has so much more to say. I loved it!

Spoiler alert:Good read but was kind of cut short would have loved to see where things go with the three girl friendship and would have also liked to see how the relationship would have worked out between the two girls. Or even seeing where her crush went. What I'm trying to say is the story could have went deeper.

It’s honest. It’s funny. It’s interesting and timely. I love her dads and their relationship. And k. There’s something missing from the story though - like there’s growth we didn’t get to see. But then the ending happened.

I absolutely love Laura Steven’s writing and this was as brilliant as expected. Such a strong voice with a developed understanding of what’s important to teenagers, using humour to tackle real issues, along with a bit of a self-aware deconstruction of romcoms, and some really healthy depictions of friendship. And to top it off, it’s absolutely hilarious, and filthy, and relatable, and just STRAIGHT UP WONDERFUL. Read it, read it, read it.

Best book I've read for a long time - it cheered me up so much whilst self-isolating! Absolutely loved the characters of Caro and her Dads, and love how the author deals with topics of consent, sexuality and friendship. Honestly couldn't put it down

So in high school I was pretty nerdy. I didn’t mind and to be fair people didn’t make anything of it. It was at a time when being nerdy wasn’t considered the cook cache that it is nowadays. I worked in the library, I was slightly chubby and I had flaming red hair. I was – what some people would ironically call – a catch. The reason I am giving you this potted history is because if I had been told during my formative years that  I could take a pill that would make people be attracted to me then hell yes I would have done it. No questions asked.This is the same for protagonist Caro Kerber-Murphy. She doesn’t feel like she compares to her two best friends who are interesting and beautiful. She fails to get noticed. If she were a colour it would be beige. Ecru at a push. When she finds an advert for a medically approved drug that can make people fall in love with you she jumps on it. Little does she realise that the consequences can be quite damaging.I really enjoyed reading about Caro and her friends. I loved the inner turmoil that she goes through and how she really just wants to be noticed. I love how Steven used her back story to justify the way she was feeling without ramming it down the reader’s throats. Steven has shown in The Love Hypothesisand in her previous books how she trusts her readers to be able to understand things without spelling them out. As a reader, I appreciate that.The Love Hypothesis also makes you remember just what falling in love for the first time feels like. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read and one that you can finish in one sitting.

I’ve just finished The Love Hypothesis and it was incredible! Not many books can make me snort laugh, cry and think deeply. It’s smart, gorgeously written and honest.

If I could give this book a 0 I would. The LGBT representation was so forced throughout the entirety of the book and felt incredibly cringey - the marketing of this book as an 'LGBT love story' is also not entirely the case, more like it's shoe-horned in as a 'twist' in the final act of the book despite no LGBT inclination from the main character throughout the rest of the book.The main character herself was also completely unlikeable. She clearly didn't care about her friends and the entire relationship she has with the friend she ends up with is completely toxic. The boy she takes the pills for has zero consent in their relationship and is then tossed aside after she's played with his feelings. She treats her friend poorly and just doesn't seem to care that she is destroying other people's relationships. It's disgusting.Furthermore, I don't know WHO allowed Caro's parents to adopt her since one of her father's relationships with her is incredibly inappropriate. There's having a close relationship with your father and then there's your father sending you pictures of him deep throating vegetables in a suggestive way when you're SIXTEEN. The parents themselves had absolutely zero chemistry and were too opposite to actually work.Overall this was just a terrible book and I would not recommend it at all.