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The Love Hypothesis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the novel's 2026 film adaptation, see The Love Hypothesis (film).
The Love Hypothesis
The Love Hypothesis has sold over 750,000 copies worldwide.[1]
AuthorAli Hazelwood
Illustrator@lilith_saur [2]
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSTEMinist Novels
GenreRomance
PublisherBerkley Books
Publication dateSeptember 14, 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages376 pages
ISBN9780593336823
Followed byLove on the Brain 

The Love Hypothesis is a romance novel by Ali Hazelwood, published September 14, 2021 by Berkley Books. Originally published online in 2018 as Head Over Feet, a Star Wars fan fiction work about the "Reylo" ship between Rey and Kylo Ren, the novel follows a Ph.D. candidate and a professor at Stanford University who pretend to be in a relationship.[3]

Background

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Originally published online in 2018 as Head over Feet, a Star Wars fan fiction work about the "Reylo" ship between Rey and Kylo Ren,[4][5] the main characters were renamed Olive and Adam (the latter after Adam Driver) on the novel's physical publication, with all explicit Star Wars references cut, and the characters on the novel's cover illustration designed after Driver and Daisy Ridley.[6][7]

Synopsis

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The Love Hypothesis follows the main character graduate student Olive at Stanford University as she pretends to date biology professor Adam Carlsen to convince her friend Anh that her dating life is going well. While trying to convince everyone around them that they are in love, Olive and Adam forget that their feelings are supposed to be fake.[3]

Characters

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  • Olive Smith – A third-year biology PhD student at Stanford University who researches pancreatic cancer, the disease her mother died from. She fakes a relationship with Dr. Adam Carlsen to convince her friend Anh she is over her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. She is based on Rey. Olive is 26 in the story.
  • Dr. Adam Carlsen – A young professor who is described by his students as harsh and hypercritical. The university froze his research funds because they are worried that he is thinking of leaving to a different university. Adam agreed to fake a relationship with Olive to make the science department believe he plans to stay at Stanford. He is based on Ben Solo and named after his actor, Adam Driver. Adam is 34 in the story.
  • Anh Pham – Olive's best friend, pushes Olive to try new things with Adam without knowing their relationship is fake. Likes Olive's ex-boyfriend Jeremy and ends up dating him. She is based on Rose Tico.
  • Malcolm – Olive's roommate, who ends up dating Dr. Rodriguez. He is based on Finn.
  • Dr. Tom Benton – An associate professor at Harvard University and Adam's friend. He offers Olive a spot at his lab when hearing about her research, but later threatens and sexually harasses Olive. He steals her research, and ends up fired from Harvard. He is based on Armitage Hux from the fan fiction and named after Daisy Ridley's husband Tom Bateman.
  • Dr. Aysegul Aslan – Olive’s supportive PhD advisor who mentors her in her academic pursuits. She is based on Amilyn Holdo.
  • Dr. Holden Rodriguez – Adam's friend, who ends up dating Malcolm. He is based on Poe Dameron.
  • Jeremy Langley – Olive's ex-boyfriend, who ends up dating Anh. He is new character based on a version of Armitage Hux that wasn't present in the fan fiction.

Reception

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The Love Hypothesis is a New York Times best seller.[8] The book received a starred review from Library Journal[9] and positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly,[10] Shelf Awareness,[11] and Publishers Weekly.[12] Kirkus Reviews provided a mixed review.[13] In 2021, the book was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Romance, coming in second place behind People We Meet on Vacation with 683 fewer votes out of 435,858 votes total.[14]

Film adaptation

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In October 2022, it was announced that a film adaptation of the novel was in development from Bisous Pictures.[15][16][17] In July 2025, it was announced that Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman had been cast in the film.[18][19] Bateman is the real-life husband of Daisy Ridley, the inspiration for the lead female character in the book, but will play the character inspired by, and named for Ridley's co-star in the Star Wars films, Adam Driver. In August 2025, it was announced that Rachel Marsh was cast as Anh Pham, Jaboukie Young-White was cast as Malcolm, Nicholas Duvernay was cast as Jeremy Langley, and Arty Froushan was cast as Tom Benton.[20][21] The film will be directed by Claire Scanlon and the script will be written by Sarah Rothschild.[20][21]

References

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  1. ↑ Brown, Lauren (September 20, 2022). "Sphere lands five more from the Love Hypothesis author Ali Hazelwood". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  2. ↑ Oakley, Carly-Rae (June 8, 2023). "Interview with Author Ali Hazelwood". HeyitsCarlyRae (published September 19, 2022). Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Mabee, Megan (March 1, 2022). "My RomCom Hypothesis: How The Love Hypothesis Reminded Me of the Power of Humor in Romance". Book Riot. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  4. ↑ Di Carlo, Daniella (February 14, 2023). "10 Successful Books That Started Out as Fan Fiction: 'The Love Hypothesis' (2021) — Ali Hazelwood". Collider. #10 of 10. Archived from the original on May 11, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  5. ↑ Held, Elizabeth (August 29, 2023). "From Friends to Lovers: The Fanfic-to-Romance Pipeline Goes Mainstream". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  6. ↑ O., Sam (February 16, 2022). "#237 — Head Over Feet by Ever-so-reylo". Worlds Between Bindery. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  7. ↑ Arzbaecher, Lauren (July 18, 2023). "10 books you didn't know started out as fan fiction, from 'Twilight' to 'Star Wars'-inspired stories". Business Insider (published October 19, 2022). Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  8. ↑ "The New York Times Best Sellers". The New York Times. October 24, 2021. Paperback Trade Fiction #5 of 5. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ Miller, Heather (July 1, 2021). "The Love Hypothesis". Library Journal. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  10. ↑ Lenker, Maureen Lee (November 11, 2021). "Hot Stuff: Fall romance novels offer hot monks, witchcraft, reality TV, and Keanu Reeves". Entertainment Weekly. #6 of 8. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  11. ↑ Howard, Jessica (September 17, 2021). "Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, September 17, 2021". Shelf Awareness. Flagstaff, Arizona. Archived from the original on September 20, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ "The Love Hypothesis". Kirkus Reviews. July 27, 2021. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Best Romance 2021 — Goodreads Choice Awards". Goodreads. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  15. ↑ Kroll, Justin (October 7, 2022). "Bisous Pictures Lands Rights To Ali Hazelwood's 'The Love Hypothesis'". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 21, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  16. ↑ McPherson, Christopher (October 7, 2022). "'The Love Hypothesis' Film Adaptation Announced at Bisous Pictures". Collider. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ El-Mahmoud, Sarah (October 8, 2022). "Bestselling Romance Novel Inspired By Fanfiction About Star Wars' Rey And Kylo Ren Is Becoming A Movie". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  18. ↑ Grobar, Matt (July 16, 2025). "Lili Reinhart To Topline Rom-Com 'The Love Hypothesis' For Amazon MGM Studios & MRC". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  19. ↑ Grobar, Matt (July 17, 2025). "Tom Bateman To Star Opposite Lili Reinhart In Amazon MGM & MRC's 'The Love Hypothesis'". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  20. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (August 11, 2025). "Amazon MGM's 'The Love Hypothesis' Adds Rachel Marsh, Nicholas Duvernay, Jaboukie Young-White & Arty Froushan". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 13, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  21. 1 2 Gomez, Dessi (August 12, 2025). "Everything We Know About 'The Love Hypothesis' Movie So Far". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 13, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
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