'Love at First Sight' is a Page Turner
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a short, light-hearted romance written by young adult author Jennifer E. Smith. Written for the romantically-inclined, this easy read will keep you turning pages for hours at a time. Set during a 24-hour period, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight will certainly leave you wanting more.
During the novel, a teenage girl named Hadley misses her flight by just four minutes on the way to attend her father’s second wedding. Due to this act of fate, she meets a British boy named Oliver, who happens to be sitting in her row on the next flight. They fall unexpectedly in love during the seven-hour plane ride from New York to London. When their flight lands and they find themselves separated, will they lose each other in the large city of London or will they overcome the odds against them and prove the existence of fate?
Author Jennifer E. Smith also has several other contemporary romance novels out on the market, including This is what Happy Looks Like and The Geography of You and Me. Both following her trademark simple, easy, and fun-to-read style, Smith’s other novels are books that I would highly reccommend. A New York Times Editors’ Choice award winner and Indie Next List pick, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is going to be making a transition to the big screen in 2016. The cinematic version of this novel will be starring Hailee Steinfeld (known for roles in Pitch Perfect 2 and True Grit) and Robert Sheehan (known primarily for a role in the film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones).
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight has many more strengths than it has downfalls. It has amazing, funny dialogue, an interesting premise concerning whether or not fate exists, and even a stereotypical British guy that will make a ton of female readers swoon. It even manages to avoid the romantic trope of insta-love, or love at first sight, contrary to what the title implies. This novel is also PG rated, with nothing explicit to potentially turn people away from reading it. Even for those who swear vehemently against romantic stories, this book makes a great guilty pleasure read without the commitment of a lot of pages.
The only weaknesses present in this book are the main character’s first name (seriously, who names their poor child Hadley?) and the overwhelming amount of family drama present in the book. Hadley’s father, after leaving her mother to go off to London and teach, is about to marry another woman; it’s no wonder that Hadley is upset. Both she and her father blow the situation out of proportion, though, and much of this novel is dedicated to the relationships within her family instead of the romance the title promises. Finally, let us not forget the unfortunate truth that the concept of finding love on a flight is a little unrealistic. You hear so much more often about the talker, the overpacker, the sneezer, and the snoozer than you ever do about the cute British guy sitting right next to you in row eighteen.
Overall, this book is definitely worth the read. Due to its short, cinematic nature, even people who don’t usually read for pleasure can indulge their romantic sides without being overwhelmed by an excessive amount of pages. The upcoming cinematic adaptation also gives readers some incentive to go ahead and enjoy this book; after all, the book is always better than the movie, right?
