Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The whole of September, I read mostly fantasy and apocalyptic books. So I wanted to read something different, something more realistic. Maybe Gone Girl? I've wanted to read that for so long and I really should if I plan on watching the movie. But um, I was looking for something light and fun and maybe sweet... and I don't think Gone Girl qualifies as any of those things. While browsing my bookshelf, I saw my SIGNED (yeah, I had to emphasize that. Lols) copy of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. Now, that's more like it, right?



After reading Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Fairytale Apocalypse, and The 5th Wave, it was refreshing to read something that doesn't involve mythical creatures or fairies or aliens. This is the second Jennifer E. Smith book I've read (the first one was The Geography of You and Me). But as for realistic, how realistic is Statistical?

That depends on whether you believe in love at first sight or not. Me? I used to, when I didn't have a boyfriend yet. It's so funny, now that I've been in a relationship for so long, I've become more skeptical of this. Maybe because I now know that relationships take hard work and time and communication. But hey, I don't want to be cynical about this book. And if you believe in love at first sight, I totally respect that. For what it's worth, this book made me want to believe in love at first sight again.

It's not hard to like the main characters, Hadley (what a peculiar name) and Oliver. It was easy to understand them. Now that I think of it, the way they met was actually reminiscent of how Lucy and Owen (of Geography) met. And just like the two, Hadley and Oliver were mature teenagers. I guess when you're a teenager, you don't really think of yourself as young and reckless and immature. But you really can tell from their conversations that both Hadley and Oliver are smart, funny people.

I like Hadley. She's brave for 1) deciding to forgive her father and 2) following her heart. That's easier said than done, folks. If I was in her position, I won't even be in that wedding! But that's just me... I still love that this book is not just all romance. It actually gave a lot of room for Hadley's relationship with his father. I hated her father, I did. But as someone who's lost her father to heart attack a few years ago, I know how it is to feel left behind and just... lost. So yeah, Hadley and her father's talk made me cry.

“You know what they say," Dad said. "If you love something, set it free."
"What if he doesn't come back?"
"Some things do, some things don't," he said, reaching over to tweak her nose. "I'll always come back to you anyway."
"You don't light up," Hadley pointed out, but Dad only smiled.
"I do when I'm with you.”

Oliver wasn't hard to love either. He's so witty! And he seemed really attractive and fun to be with. That's why when I found out why he was coming to London, I was shocked. Did not see that coming at all.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is set on a 24-hour period... but because Hadley had been through a lot, that one day felt like a long time. This is the second Jennifer E. Smith book that I've read and so far she's not disappointing me. With The Geography of You and Me, she made me believe that long distance relationships can actually work. This time, while I still don't believe in love at first sight and that it's good to talk to strangers (no matter how gorgeous the person is, practice caution ok?), I do believe in fate. I believe that when it's meant to happen, it happens. Four minutes can certainly change everything.

“What are you really studying?"
He leans back to look at her. "The statistical probability of love at first sight."
"Very funny," she says. "What is it really?"
"I'm serious."
"I don't believe you."
He laughs, then lowers his mouth so that it's close to her ear. "People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely too fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else.”

Whether you believe in love at first sight or not, you will enjoy this book. Go ahead and read it! Don't have a copy yet? Hmmm... Why don't you visit my blog again tomorrow to see if maybe there's a giveaway? ;)

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