The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Posted: 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.
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.