‘The Love Hypothesis’

Let me start by divulging the fact that shortly before I read this, I was informed it was in fact a Reylo fanfic. Had I not been told, and had I avoided looking at the cover too hard, I think I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but if you know it’s there, it’s easy to spot. I’m not saying that to sway anyone one way or another, I’m just putting it out there. I will say that as far as fanfictions-turned-books go, this has substance and holds up against any other romcoms.

Ok, so, after my recent history with popular genre favorites, I was ready to be let down by this but I was pleasantly surprised. And relieved. Which is sad.

It’s trope-y and it’s self-aware, which I always respect. I think this would be palatable to anyone who tends to enjoy romcoms, so don’t be dissuaded by the immense hype as I often am.

The banter was cute and the timeline didn’t feel hurried. The conversations felt natural and like ones that people would realistically have which, I’m sad to say is an achievement, though it irks me that I’ve had to read things that this can’t be said about.

All in all, fine for fans of the genre. Likable characters, sweet moments, and lots of nerd content if you’re into that.

If, however, I find out that Tom is meant to be General Hux, I’ll be FUCKING PISSED. Huxy is a good boy.

FORGOT TO MENTION: One of the parts of this book that I felt especially reverent of was the depiction of sex and the fact that it’s complicated and there’s no one way to do it. I thought it was really respectful of lots of different folks either on the ace spectrum or with differently functioning reproductive bits. I highlighted a bit of internal explanation that I especially liked.