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Parents' guide to, the love hypothesis.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 3 Reviews
• Kids Say 2 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Uneven romance has explicit sex, features women in STEM.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis is an adult romance set in the higher levels of academia at Stanford University. Ph.D. candidate Olive starts a fake relationship with a professor in hopes of inspiring her best friend to go for the man she's really interested in. Other than a few…

Why Age 17+?

Other than a few kisses and some romantic tension, there's only one sex scene, b

"Bulls--t," "clit," "clusterf--k," "c--k," "d--k," "f--k," "f--king," "holy crap

An incident of verbal sexual assault with an attempted kiss and coercion. An exc

A few food and beverage brands, and a couple of entertainment franchises to esta

All characters are adults of legal drinking age in California, where the story i

Any Positive Content?

Olive and Ahn are good models of women in STEM. They're extremely loyal and supp

Olive reads as White, is from Canada, and is very slim. Adam implies he's Jewish

An author's note explains Title IX and offers websites supporting women and BIPO

You have to be strong and tough to make it in the academic world, especially in

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Other than a few kisses and some romantic tension, there's only one sex scene, but it's extended, explicit, and meant to arouse. Oral and genital sex, manual stimulation, genital penetration, sucking nipples and genitals, and orgasm are described in detail with some crude words like "clit" and "c--k." Good examples of consent are modeled, and birth control and being "clean" are talked about. A few times adults talk about sex or sex acts like sixty-nining, butt stuff, and getting a "hand job."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Bulls--t," "clit," "clusterf--k," "c--k," "d--k," "f--k," "f--king," "holy crap," "holy s--t," "pr--k," "s--t," "s--tshow," ass," "assness," "bitch," "bitching," "butt," "crap," "crapfest," "dammit," "goddamned," "hell," "jackass," "pee," "smart-ass." "Jesus" as an exclamation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

An incident of verbal sexual assault with an attempted kiss and coercion. An excerpt at the end from a future book has sexual harassment and cyberbullying. A man pins another against a wall by the collar and threatens to kill him.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A few food and beverage brands, and a couple of entertainment franchises to establish character and setting.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

All characters are adults of legal drinking age in California, where the story is set. Very little actual drinking is depicted, but there are mentions of past drunkenness, a weekly beer and s'mores night, and taking advantage of free alcohol at academic meetings and conferences.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Olive and Ahn are good models of women in STEM. They're extremely loyal and supportive of each other, and Anh creates chances to support other women, especially BIPOC women in STEM. Adam is very protective and kind on a personal level toward Olive, but to his students he's harsh and uncompromising and seems uncaring. Olive makes a grand gesture out of compassion for Anh and models perseverance in advancing her research and career.

Diverse Representations

Olive reads as White, is from Canada, and is very slim. Adam implies he's Jewish and is very tall and powerfully built. Best friend Anh's family is from Vietnam, and she identifies as a woman of color. Roommate Malcolm reads as White, dates men, and enters a romantic relationship with another man. Olive wonders if she's asexual.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Educational Value

An author's note explains Title IX and offers websites supporting women and BIPOC women in STEM academic fields. The overall story provides insight into graduate and postgraduate academic life and careers, especially in STEM fields.

Positive Messages

You have to be strong and tough to make it in the academic world, especially in STEM fields. Don't be afraid to speak up when you've been harmed or you learn about something unethical. Your web of lies will eventually come to light, and when it does, it may cause more hurt than being truthful from the start would have.

Parents need to know that Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis is an adult romance set in the higher levels of academia at Stanford University. Ph.D. candidate Olive starts a fake relationship with a professor in hopes of inspiring her best friend to go for the man she's really interested in. Other than a few kisses and some romantic tension, there's only one sex scene, but it's extended, explicit, and meant to arouse. Oral and genital sex, manual stimulation, genital penetration, sucking nipples and genitals, and orgasm are described in detail with words like "clit" and "c--k." Main character Olive experiences verbal sexual assault, and an excerpt from another book in the back has sexual harassment and cyberbullying. Strong language includes "c--k," "d--k," "f--k," "pr--k," "s--t," and more. Adults mention past excessive drinking, look forward to free alcohol at university events, and have a weekly "beer and s'mores night." Two characters remember one of them projectile vomiting after eating bad shrimp, but it's not described. Olive is an orphan with no family. Her mother died of pancreatic cancer, so grief and loss are important themes, along with the struggles women still face in STEM-related fields.

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 3 parent reviews

This is a great book for mature 13+

Good for kids, what's the story.

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is about Stanford graduate student Olive, who needs to convince her best friend, Anh, that it's OK for Anh to date a guy Olive had recently been seeing but wasn't really interested in. So she hatches a plan to "fake-date" none other than the Biology department's most prestigious professor, Adam Carlsen, who's also a huge jerk. As Olive and Adam's ruse gets harder and harder to keep up, Olive starts to feel like she wishes their dating wasn't actually fake. Will she be able to untangle her web of lies without ruining everything, for everyone?

Is It Any Good?

This romance set in the lofty world of a prestigious graduate school program has its ups and downs. It's refreshing to see women in STEM represented and important to highlight how much many women struggle in that world. The Love Hypothesis has some funny banter, especially with colorful supporting characters. Readers who enjoy very familiar romcom tropes will feel at home here, because this story is chock-full of them. The one explicit sex scene is easy to skip for those who aren't interested. A big drawback is Olive's truly bad and unrealistic decision making, which strains believability and takes the reader outside the story.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the graphic sex in The Love Hypothesis . Is it over-the-top? Realistic? Is reading about it different from seeing it in movies, videos, and other media?

What are some concerns about reading or watching explicit sex ? Do you compare yourself or your body to the characters? Does it make you afraid, feel creepy, or unsure about what sex is like for real people?

What about all the strong language? Is it realistic? Is it a big deal? Why, or why not?

Talk about women studying and working in STEM fields. What are some of the challenges Olive and Ahn face? How do they deal with them? Who supports them? What can men do to make STEM fields more welcoming and inclusive?

Book Details

• Author : Ali Hazelwood
• Genre : Romance
• Topics : STEM , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Perseverance
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Berkley
• Publication date : September 14, 2021
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 18 - 18
• Number of pages : 400
• Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), iBooks, Kindle
• Last updated : April 2, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Screen Rant

The love hypothesis is finally becoming a movie — but it's not the ali hazelwood book that should be adapted first.

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10 Books That Perfectly Blend Fantasy & Romance

10 superhero movie scenes that are divisive because of what they mean for the characters, netflix's survival thriller movie with 75% rt score becomes global hit after just days of its release.

Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis is getting the film adaptation treatment, and while that's exciting news for fans of romantic movies, there's another Hazelwood book that should be adapted first. The name Ali Hazelwood should not turn up any real person when searched in a government database because it's the pen name of an Italian neuroscience professor who has successfully dabbled in romance writing . While the real name of Ali Hazelwood is yet to be revealed, perhaps, like Stephen King before her , in time, her given name will become as ubiquitous as her pseudonym.

Because of her background in STEM, many of Hazelwood's books center on women in the sciences and other academic fields . She first began writing in 2021, with her debut novel, The Love Hypothesis , which was originally a Star Wars fan fiction about Rey and Kylo Ren (via Vulture ). She didn't stop with one book, however, and has since written six more romance novels, as well as a collection of novellas. In 2023, she paused her teaching career and became a full-time writer, likely the announced adaptation of her debut playing a part in that decision (via WGBH ).

The Love Hypothesis Is A Perfect Movie Adaptation Because It Was Ali Hazelwood's First Book

Most fans came to the author because of her debut novel.

The Love Hypothesis was a huge hit. Originally published online under the title Head Over Feet in 2018, Hazelwood made some changes to her story, including removing any and all references to Star Wars and changing the characters' names to Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen. In the novel, Olive is a third-year biology PhD student at Stanford who is sick of her best friend Anh always commenting on her dating life. To avoid the questions entirely, she fakes a relationship with a new professor, Dr. Adam Carlsen, though the fake feelings begin morphing into something real.

While the draw of fantasy books is the worldbuilding & magic, the plots within these novels are elevated by great romances & love stories.

Hazelwood's debut novel made the New York Times best-seller list back in 2021 and has been celebrated for placing a woman in STEM at the center of the story, an unusual character for a romance novel . The author's background in the specific field makes her descriptions and the situations feel fully realized. In 2022, it was announced that The Love Hypothesis would be joining the romance novel-to-movie pipeline with an adaption from Bisous Pictures, a label from Elizabeth Cantillon (via Deadline ). Hazelwood said about the adaptation,

"It's a true privilege to have Elizabeth and such a talented and experienced team of people working on adapting The Love Hypothesis, and I’m very excited for this next step in Olive and Adam's story!"

It's great news for Hazelwood and fans who were first introduced to her via The Love Hypothesis , but there's another book that deserves the adaptation treatment as well.

Ali Hazelwood's Bride Should Be Adapted First

Bride is a more cinematic story that will draw in new audiences.

Bride is Ali Hazelwood's fifth book, debuting on February 6, 2024. The movie is a fantasy romance that follows a dangerous union between, Misery Lark, a Vampyre bride, and Lowe Moreland, the head of a Werewolf clan. For Misery to be accepted back into a society she was thrown out of, she agrees to a peacekeeping mission by marrying herself off to Moreland. Bride is a bit more of a polished novel than The Love Hypothesis and Misery is a much more cinematic character than Olivia , with her wit and darkness.

While Ali Hazelwood's real name is not known, she has frequently posted images of herself and does not take great pains to obscure her identity.

Viewers who aren't familiar with Ali Hazelwood would benefit from seeing Bride adapted first, as its characters, story, and Hazelwood's writing are all more suited to the film medium. Furthermore, there could end up being some contentious rights issues with The Love Hypothesis considering it started as a Star Wars adaptation. The infamously litigious House of Mouse may have something to say about it. Either way, having one Hazelwood adaptation, whatever it is, is better than having none.

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The Love Hypothesis Movie: What We Know

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood has a movie adaptation in the works. For all the details about this film adaptation of The Love Hypothesis, here’s what’s we know about The Love Hypothesis movie:

What’s it about? What’s the plot of The Love Hypothesis?

In The Love Hypothesis , Olive is a third-year biology Ph.D. candidate who shares a kiss with a handsome stranger in order make her friend think that she’s in a relationship. She’s horrified when she realizes the “stranger” is Dr. Adam Carlson, a prominent professor in her department who is known for being a hypercritical and moody tyrant.

She and Adam each have reasons for needing to be in a relationship, and they agree to pretend to date for the sake of appearances. Of course, as she gets to know Adam, it’s only a matter of time before she starts feeling something for him, and it becomes clear that her little experiment in fake-dating just might combust…

See the Full Review and Summary of The Love Hypothesis from The Bibliofile.

What format will it be? Will the The Love Hypothesis adaptation be a Movie or a Series?

It’s planned as a feature movie .

Who’s behind it?

Bisous Pictures owns the rights to The Love Hypothesis.

From author Ali Hazelwood: “It’s a true privilege to have Elizabeth and such a talented and experienced team of people working on adapting The Love Hypothesis, and I’m very excited for this next step in Olive and Adam’s story!”

What’s the status of the The Love Hypothesis adaptation?

The adaptation is currently In Development . In an interview in July 2023 , Ali Hazelwood discussed her excitement at receiving the script for the upcoming adaptation and how the project was paused during the writer’s strike.

Who’s in the cast?

No casting details have been released yet.

See the full cast (when available) on IMDB .

When will it be released?

Currently unknown.

Is there a trailer or teaser available?

Not yet! Stay tuned.

The Love Hypothesis Movie Development Timeline

September 14, 2021 The Love Hypothesis (novel) is released.

October 7, 2022 Bisous Pictures Lands Rights To Ali Hazelwood’s ‘The Love Hypothesis’

July 7 2023 Ali Hazelwood discusses receiving the script for the The Love Hypothesis movie adaptation

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The Love Hypothesis

This novel contains examples of the following tropes:

• All Girls Want Bad Boys : Averted. Despite being good-looking, Adam isn't pursued by women due to his asshole-tendencies. In fact, people are appalled about their relationship, and ask Olive if she is alright because she is dating a known jackass.
• Amicable Exes : What Olive and Jeremy are. They went on a few dates, but broke up because he was more interested in Anh.
• Anh and Jeremy.
• Malcolm and Holden.
• Big Man on Campus : Adam is this. So much so, that even Tom at Harvard heard of him dating Olive.
• Break His Heart to Save Him : Olive tries to do this, and breaks up with Adam, so he can work with Tom. Once Holden tells her Adam could easily research without Tom, and that Tom is gunning for Adam's career for a long time, she shows Adam the proof of Tom blackmailing her.
• Casting Couch : Tom tries it with Olive, making it clear that he'll only fund her research if she sleeps with him. If not, he'll steal it .
• Character Tics : Olive is prone to silently weeping. “Apparently, weeping silently was her new baseline state.”
• Compassionate Critic : Adam actually does mean well with his harsh criticism, wanting his students to become great scientists. He may not care about protecting anyone's feelings, but he does care about his students producing quality work and being able to thrive in the field.
• Curves in All the Right Places : A male version in which Adam gets countless stares playing Frisbee shirtless. Apparently, his shoulders are swoon-worthy.
• Deadpan Snarker : Adam snarks with every sentence.
• Disappeared Dad : Olive's dad left before she was born. Once her mother died, she had to go to foster care.
• When Olive kisses Adam, she quickly asks him if it is alright, and thought she heard a yes, which he denies. Turns out, he probably did say yes, since he was pining for her for about 3 years.
• Anh asks Olive if Adam is blackmailing her to be in a relationship with him, which Olive thinks is ridiculous. Tom tries exactly that later to hurt Adam.
• Fake Relationship : The entire premise. Olive wants Anh to date Jeremy without feeling bad, and Adam wants Stanford to think he will not move on to Harvard because his “girlfriend” is in Stanford.
• Gay Best Friend : Olive and Adam have Malcolm and Holden respectively; they even end up becoming a couple. The two serve to give them some (sometimes biting) insight into their relationship and support them in times of strife.
• Got Volunteered : This happens to Adam on a frequent basis. He doesn't care about social gatherings, but as a professor, he is in a rotation and has to go once in a while.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Adam. He doesn't believe in coddling other people's feelings in an academic setting, thinking it is more effective to get straight to the point. However, privately he is a genuinely nice person, a great friend and wants only the best for Olive.
• Loophole Abuse : Professors dating students, even grad students, is very frowned upon. But, as Adam points out, since Olive is a grad student, she's not his advisee, and she's not a T.A. for any of his classes, them dating is technically not against regulations. He'd have to recuse himself in the event he was ever asked to review any of Olive's work if she was up for funding or something, but other than that, they won't cross paths academically.
• Manipulative Bastard : Tom Benton. He tried to tear down Adam as a Ph.D. candidate whilst pretending to be his friend, and wanted to blackmail Olive into having sex with him to take something from Adam, because he was annoyed at his accomplishments.
• Missing Mom : Olive's mom died of pancreatic cancer when Olive was a teenager, forcing her to live in foster care till she was able to emancipate herself. This is the reason she is studying this specific type of cancer.
• Really Gets Around : Malcolm believes dating is an Olympic sport and is out to get gold.
• Reasonable Authority Figure : Once the recording with Tom Benton's blackmail is in the hands of his boss, there are quick consequences.
• Romantic Fake–Real Turn : Olive and Adam fall in love with each other for real.
• Adam has the reputation of one, being known for harsh and biting criticism and having a massive stick up his ass. However, as Olive gets to know him, she realizes it's not true; he may not like the majority of his grad students, but he does want the best for them, and his critiques are usually accurate.
• The real example would be Adam's adviser from back in his grad school days; cruel, domineering, abusive, and prone to messing with students just because he could and he liked having power over them. Adam is borderline traumatized by him.
• Single-Target Sexuality : Olive is gray asexual, and Adam is the first person she is attracted to.
• Stalker with a Crush : A mild example. Adam knows some things about Olive before they started fake dating. Turns out, he had a crush on her for the past couple years and was just too chicken to ask her out.
• Teacher/Student Romance : Downplayed. Olive is a grad student and Adam is a professor; however, he has no power over her academically and she was never in his classes as an undergrad.
• There Is Only One Bed : Discussed and ultimately averted. Olive is hesitant to share a hotel room with Adam because she's convinced they're going to end up with this trope. There are two beds.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel : Olive's more Thinks Like a Rom-Com. Having watched plenty of rom-com movies, she's already fully aware of the fake dating trope, There Is Only One Bed , and the like.
• The Topic of Cancer : Constantly at the back of the story, since Olive researches pancreatic cancer, which her mother died of.
• When She Smiles : Gender inverted with Adam. His usual version of a smile is slightly lifting the corners of his mouth. When he actually smiles, he is all dimples and teeth.
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