From what I can see The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a very well loved novel in the world of Young Adult books. Everyone talks about how amazing and adorable it is, so, of course, I checked it out from the library to see what the hullabaloo is all about. Jennifer E. Smith didn’t disappoint me with her book, but I was somewhat expecting it to be cutesier than it was, based off of what people said about it and the title. Don’t get me wrong! It was wonderful, just not exactly what I was expecting.There’s a lot more to The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (goodness, that’s a mouthful) than can be guessed without reading it. There’s a lot less romance than I was expecting, which sort of threw me for a loop. The story focuses less on the main character, Hadley, falling in love and more on resolving her issues while also falling in love. This book is very revolved around love, but it’s more of an “understanding love of all sorts” type of book than anything. I’m very pleased about the way the story went, though. It would have been so easy to write (and read) a corny, pre-canned contemporary love story, and the fact that Hadley and Oliver’s romance wasn’t in dead center made it all the more special.I really liked Hadley’s character. She was faced with a very difficult situation and I feel like she more or less took it very well. I’m not saying she didn’t whine or pout about it, but in the end she faced her problems with maturity and I absolutely respect her for it. Her character developed a ton in a short time period (24 hours). I genuinely think in an everyday situation Hadley would be someone I’d like to be friends with. She’s not perfect, but I think she tries to be as good as she can, and that’s wonderful to read about.Oliver… sigh, guys, don’t get mad at me. I know a lot of people think he’s “totes adorbs”, but I wasn’t in love with Oliver. I liked him, sure, but I guess maybe he’s just not my type of heartthrob. He isn’t terrible, but sometimes he was sort of annoying to me. Mind you, I could be and probably am biased. Anyhow, I was still totally a cheerleader for Hadley and Oliver and wanted them to end up together the whole time I was reading.I actually really liked all the characters in the story. I felt like they were all unique of each other and very likable. I would have liked to get to know them a bit more (big surprise!), but a book that takes place in twenty-four hours isn’t very permitting of many small talk scenes.In general I completely enjoyed reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. It’s so action packed you don’t even realize it’s a 200+ page novel that takes place in a timespan of twenty-four hours. On top of that it’s super interesting and will get you invested. I flew through this one and definitely recommend it. I’m excited to read more by Jennifer E. Smith.
