The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

electramia · Post by **electramia** » 27 May 2014, 15:09

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a romance novel by Jennifer E. Smith. The novel is set within a 24 hour period, and is about a seventeen-year-old girl named Hadley Sullivan. Hadley is about to embark on a flight halfway across the world to attend her father's wedding and be the bridesmaid for a bride she has never met. In JFK airport's waiting area she meets a British boy named Oliver who just so happens to be sitting in her row on the plane. This novel is supposed to remind you of the power of fate and the fact that you could find love when you least expect it.

Now naturally you judge a book by its cover and title at first glance, and I can honestly tell you the probability of loving this book at first sight is fairly low. After taking one look at it, I tossed it back down on the table, disgusted. Quickly, two of my friends chastised me and said it was worth the read, so I burrowed it. I'm not the biggest fan of books written in third person, but I can withstand it if its written well, and this one is (to some extent, however, the pacing seems oddly similar to how I used to write when I was 12).

Usually, the first rule of beginning a novel is to not commit the crime of an "information dump". An info dump being that you give the reader all the info they would've needed when the writer could've very much spread all that information out so the reader finds everything out in a longer time span. When starting this novel, you will most likely feel like Jennifer E. Smith is committing this dreaded sin, but I can reassure you she's not. Smith has plenty more backstory up her sleeve, so what may seem like an info dump at the beginning is practically nothing.

Much throughout most of the book Smith has this tactic to be telling the story of what is occurring in the present and begin to tell a story of the past. Personally, after awhile I felt a bit annoyed at these flashbacks and at the beginning they were necessary, but as the story progressed I felt like they were just page fillers. Considering the novel is set within an 24 hour time span, I suppose she didn't want it to be too short.

In my opinion, the only well-written character is Oliver. Having an uncanny resemblance to an unknown celebrity Harry Styles, with his green eyes, dimples, and british accent, the charm that just puts the cherry on top makes him one hell of a character. Seeming to be the only rational human-being in the novel, he was by far my favorite character. Hadley, with a name that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, neither does her personality. She was selfish and self-pitying. Of course at times it is a bit necessary for main characters to be reckless, otherwise there wouldn't be a novel, but to the extent that Hadley was imperfect was slightly unsettling.

All of the characters in the book are pretty much exactly as you would expect them to be. Hadley is your regular teenage American girl who just wants her family back together, back-talks her mom, hates what her dad has become and the woman that changed him. Oliver is the perfect British Yalie who is majoring in psychology and has this interest in Hadley that I don't think anyone understands. Hadley's mother only serves to coin in overused motherly quotes such as "You'll understand when you're older" or "It was all for the best." While Hadley's father was a I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing type father whom Hadley loved but had grown to hate due to him splitting up their family. Hadley's soon-to-be stepmother, Charlotte, Hadley had believed to be evil but is later revealed that not so much.

Considering the title and description, it's rational to believe that it is a romance. But after finishing the novel, I find that placing it under romance is a bit of a stretch. Yes it does involve a boy and a girl that like each other, but thats pretty much it. Oliver is only with Hadley for I would say roughly 9 hours, most of this made up by the time spent on the plane ride, a lot of time of which they were sleeping.Only counting waking hours, what would that be? 4 tops? 4 hours in total of the duration of the 24 hours that the book takes place and you call that a romance. Give me a break. I give this book a 2 out of 4-- not my style or genre so I could be a bit bias, perhaps others will like it.

kio · Post by **kio** » 27 May 2014, 16:01

This ended up on my state's award list and I'd considered reading, thanks for the heads up, I think I'll pass on it.

Norma_Rudolph · Post by **Norma_Rudolph** » 27 May 2014, 22:14

The title got my attention. Too bad it's not well written. Thanks for the warning, life is too short to waste time on less than great books.

Greycreature · Post by **Greycreature** » 29 May 2014, 15:55

I started reading it on my friend's nook and thought it was definitely well written, but now that you outlined the fact that the entire relationship between Hadley and Oliver spanned, at most, 9 hours, makes me skeptical of it as a romance book. The beginning of it definitely got my hopes up.

Tianarenee3 · Post by **Tianarenee3** » 31 May 2014, 13:48

isnt this a teen read?

HSafirah · Post by **HSafirah** » 05 Jun 2014, 20:16

First of all, I want to say that I expected so much from this book. I don't get it why people were fussing around about the book because to me, the outline of the story is not easily understood. I have to say that I give it 2 out of 4 stars too. The book called This is What Happy Looks Like, by Jennifer E. Smith too, is waaaay better than this book. Maybe this book could have been better if the flashbacks are not there

ellen may · Post by **ellen may** » 14 Feb 2015, 06:08

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything.
Today should be one of the worst days of Hadley's life... her father is getting married in London to a woman she's never even met, and she's just missed her flight. Hadley has never believed in destiny of fate before....
But, stuck at the airport in New York, today is also the day she meets Oliver. He's British. He's cute. And he's on her new flight.
Set over twenty-four hours, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you are least expecting it

The short story...
I found this book cute and funny, being well written with a good pacing and a nice little romance, meaning that I kept on reading and interested until I had finished. Because of this, I did enjoy this read. However, I did feel that it fell down a lot of the usual, predictable traps that YA love stories so often do, which stopped me from enjoying it anymore than I did.

The long story...
The storyline was a good idea which I did enjoy as a quick read that I had no expectations for, and I found it pretty cute. However, there was a serious case of instalove which annoyed me even more than usual because it was the whole point of the story but wasn't done in a remotely realistic way and was overdone which lowered my enjoyment. I also found that it was very predictable, being able to make correct guesses at almost everything that was going to happen.
Although I did like Hadley, because she was cute, interesting and realistic in some ways, I found her very unrelatable which made it a lot harder to connect to the story in anyway. I enjoyed Oliver as a character a lot more, he was sweet and flawed (which always adds so much to a character) and always had something interesting to say. I also liked the development of his character, even if twenty-four hours was too short a period for it to happen in. Furthermore, I liked the side-characters a lot too, Hadley's mum is supportive and kind, her dad's apologetic and looking for anyway to make it up to her.
The writing in this novel was pretty good - it was quick-paced and flowed really well, making the book easy and engrossing to read so that it was effortless. It wasn't intelligent or witty compared with David Levithan, John Green and the likes, but it still made a quite funny read which I enjoyed.

All in all it was a well-written, cute story with some good characters, so if that is what you are looking for I would definitely recommend it. However, if you are a hater of instalove and don't enjoy unrealistic, unrelatable or predictable stories, this is not a book for you.

Madimax00 · Post by **Madimax00** » 03 Feb 2016, 02:46

The Statistical Probabilty of Love at Fist Sight, is about a girl named Hadley who meets a boy named Oliver at the airport on her way to London for her dads wedding they meet and instantly feel a connection. I really enjoyed the way it was written I literally couldn't put it down I would read it during every class period and then when I got home I would continue, I really enjoyed the way the romance was written it wasn't to the point where it was so cheesy that I just couldn't continue it had the perfect balance of both cheesiness and entertaining, but I did not like the main character Hadley she gave off this kind of creepy esk vibe and I just couldn't picture her with a great apperance and she always seemed way to cocky for who she was, but in the end I truly liked this book and will probably read it time and time again, so if you really like contemorary and need a good romance read this book. I rate this 5/5 stars

BexSharp13 · Post by **BexSharp13** » 24 Jul 2016, 21:48

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Is it possible to fall in love in twenty four hours?

Normally, I’m not one for pure romance novels filled to the brim with cute teenage fluffery. To be honest, that is what I thought this book was going to be. Now I’m pleasantly surprised and very proud to add it to my personal library where I will no doubt reread it.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is most definitely a light, cute read meant for entertainment. However, it also delved into family love between a sixteen year old girl and her parents, depression and anxiety, and the concept of fate. Within twenty four hours this novel convinced me it’s okay to take a chance in life and love is both simple and complicated at the same time.

The characters felt real, even when it seemed only fate continued to bring them together. Each had flaws of their own, including the depression and anxiety I stated above. The concept is strong. The setting is intimate and detailed.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fun, easy reads. Because I read this book in a day and it most certainly is possible to fall in love within twenty four hours.