Friday, November 30, 2012

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Review

Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release date: January 2, 2012
Pages: 236
Publisher: Poppy
How I got it: Library 
"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?"  
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row. 
A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?  
Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. 
I am always on the lookout for what I think to be the Perfect Teen Romance Book: a book that will make me laugh; make me want to become the character's best friend; make me want to jump into the setting; and, of course, give me the swoonz/warm-and-fuzzy-feeling. While I don't know that The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight gave me all of those feelings, the things I liked about it definitely made up for that.

Hadley's situation is total poo. She's didn't brush it off but she's not annoying or repetitive about it either, which ignited immediate respect for her in me. Hadley also has a unique and fun personality, so basically yeah she turned out to be a great protagonist. Then there was Oliver, who was British and shared Hadley's excellent sense of humor, so I pretty much loved him. Despite how Hadley and Oliver first meet when the book opens and when the book ends they've known each other for a day, their relationship built slowly and naturally, though because it was such a short period of time it didn't make me all giggly and stuff.

I have to mention that the third person narrative totally threw me off. I was expecting first person narrative and...well, with this kind of story it's definitely what I prefer. It always makes me feel that much more connected to the protagonist, so I felt like in Statistical Probability's case it removed me from the story a little bit.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight tackled some tough but realistic issues while still managing to be light and charming as a whole. It may have lacked a certain indescribable magic for me, but I'd still recommend it to fans of contemporary for several of its fun qualities, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as a whole.

Plot: Well I am now dying to go to an airport and just sit and wait for British boys to fall in love with me. Is that normal?
Character: Easy to relate to and fun, and Oliver was freaking adorable.
Writing: The third person was icky, BUT other than that I did really enjoy the writing.
Ending: Kinda perfect.
Mature content: Little to no swearing, very clean.
Overall: 
Please don't talk to me.
This may not have earned my undying adoration or anything, but it was a really fast and charming book that grabbed my attention until the end.
Other reviews:

4 comments:

  1. I've borrowed this book from a friend. She thought it would be perfect for me since I like romance. The problem is, I can't get excited about it because I don't believe in love at first sight. I only believe in lust at first sight.

    I've been stuck overnight at a British airport when I was in college. Let's just say there's another strike against the book. It wasn't a good situation and I ended up fearing for my life. No sweet romances there. :P

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    1. Stina, it's funny you mention that, because I only believe in lust at first sight as well, but I thought the book handled it very well. It was more of a lust-at-first-sight-followed-by-love book, I thought. :)

      Oh wow, that sounds awful! I wouldn't blame you for not loving the sound of this book. I had a long wait in the airport recently too, and was sad no Oliver came to ease me of my boredom. (Still, I didn't fear for my life...Yikes!)

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  2. I loved this book. love at first sight is totally real. I had that with my husband. Not in an airport though. Burger king parking lot, but still! lol.

    Great review. Glad you liked this one.

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  3. i was reeally excited to read this book as well. love 24 hr romances and airport romances and british guys so i could see it being a win-win-win book. only, it wasnt exclusively an airport romance and it lacked that magic for me as well. i did love the characters and the way the issues were dealt with, though. awesome review (:

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