11 January 2012

Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight


Book Summary

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. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that 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 in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A. 

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.
Book Review

Rating: 5/5

Cover. If I can judge the book by its cover then I have judged The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight well because as great as it looks outside, this book is pretty amazing once read. Okay, it may not be that cheesy and totally downright romantic to the core – but once you get this from the bookstore – from the moment you laid eyes on it, until you are off to the last page – your money is worth it.

TitleThe Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – whew! Long but catchy. I did hope it involves some numbers and some wild facts about the science of falling in love, oh well, it did but not as many as I have expected. Maybe if it did, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the book as much as I have

Characters. Gahd! This one is a runaway winner. I love Hadley – I love her name and I just adore her. She may not be perfect, but she’s real. She’s very transparent and wears her heart on her sleeves. There are a lot of teenage girls who are dealing with what she’s going through. This may not be on the first person (which I think would have been better but the third person sufficed). Readers can still know what she’s thinking and easily sympathizes with her. Hugely affected by her parent’s divorce, she harboured resentment towards her father who’s getting married in London to the girl he left her mom for. Although she hates her father, there is a part of her that misses him. She didn’t want to go, but she found herself in the JFK airport, missing her flight by 4 minutes and waiting for the next available flight.

Oliver, as in Oliver Twist, on the other hand greatly complement Hadley’s character. If she’s easily read, he is mysterious. He hides his emotions well. Nevertheless, readers can feel that he’s just some ordinary boy you’ll lucky to be meeting in an airport. He’s intelligent, funny, kind and has a positive outlook in life.

Plot. More than a love story, readers are presented with a story about closure, second chances, grief, losing someone and coming to terms with it. Hadley’s chance meeting with Oliver helped her greatly in her journey towards London, not only that, it had allowed her to deal with some of her inner fears.


I am not a believer of love at first sight because I believe that love is developed through time. Although this novel made it possible and really believable that you can meet another person by mere chance and in a short period of time form an amazing bond that would rival a long-standing friendship. 

I was a bit rooting for another plot – somehow I thought of something else because I had a feeling it was going to that direction, but Jennifer E. Smith had me wrong. She provided an amazing twist that surprised me.

Everything in this book is fantastic – from their first meeting in the airport down to their 7-hour flight seating across the armrest of seats 18A and 18B. Their talk revealed their personal doubts and problems as they both deal with other issues they have at the moment. I think they are exactly what the other needs in that moment, and it is just amazing to watch as the relationship (or whatever it is) blossomed in such a short period. You can already feel the chemistry between this two awesome characters.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is something you might want to read while waiting for your plane at the airport. So much for feeling the déjà vu. Even though, it talks about the mundane topic of falling in love the moment you laid eyes on someone, Jennifer E. Smith made it into something more insightful and easy to read with supposedly-heavy drama moments made lighter without losing the significance of the scene. Indeed, just the balance of being a light-hearted fun and a certain amount of depth will make The Statistical Probability of love at first sight worth reading. 
Favorite Quotes

“In the end, it’s not the changes that will break your heart; it’s the tug of familiarity.” 

“I like how you're neither here nor there. And how there's nowhere else you're meant to be while waiting. You're just sort of suspended.” 

“Did you know that people who meet at least three different times within twenty-four hour period are ninety-eight percent more likely to meet again?” 

“Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?” 

“People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely to fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else.”
ChuCha

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