Source: BEA 2010
Publication Date:02 January 2012
Series or Standalone: Standalone
ISBN: 0316122386
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 256
Websites:
Jennifer E. Smith - Blog
Place(s) Traveled to: London, England
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
First Line: There are so many ways it could have all turned out differently. (Prologue) (Read an Excerpt Here)
A few days ago I was agonizing over what book to read next. I wanted something amazing and as I've been on a contemporary kick something in that genre. Looking at my shelves I was overwhelmed by my options so I put out a call for recommendations on Twitter. Of all the suggestions I received the one for Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith stuck out. This was a book that I'd heard other blogger friends talking about over the last few months and it came highly recommended to me. So I decided to pick it up and found that I couldn't put it down until I hit the last page. And even then I was super reluctant to do so as I didn't want the story to end.
Any regular reader of my blog knows that I am not a fan of instalove. Its usually such a cliched ploy to in books that I feel that I'm being manipulated and it very rarely is believable in the books that I've found it in. I so prefer to see a relationship grow and develop over time. So imagine my surprise when I learned that the bulk of this book takes place over a 24 hour period. The whole premise of it can be found right in the title even....and I didn't mind one bit that Hadley and Oliver found a connection and essentially fell in love at first sight. Perhaps its the hopeless romantic in me that I like to believe that love at first sight isn't just the thing of fairy tales but that it could actually happen. Jennifer Smith managed to write that story and give me a totally believable heart-achy read.
Most of this book takes place on an airplane and most people who travel on planes, myself included, tend to become absorbed in their own worlds. They pull out a book, or laptop, pop in head phones and block out everyone around them. Very few ever strike up a conversation or form a connection. After reading Hadley and Oliver's story it makes me wonder about the possibilities of potential new friendships that could be made just by saying hello to that random person that fate places next to you on a plane.
Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a wonderful story that will make you forget about the world around you. It will make you think of the possibilities in this world and wonder at the little surprises that fate might have in store for you. What might happen if you chose left instead of right or missed your flight by only 4 minutes? Hadley and Oliver are two very real characters and ones that make you cheer them on from the moment that you meet them. This is a book where there aren't many surprises and yet at the same time you can't predict the journey that Hadley and Oliver take. Statistical Probability is beautifully written. It is a book that will make you laugh one moment at the banter between Hadley and Oliver and then make your heart ache the next as you realize just how perfect they are for each other. This is a book that I loved so very much and know that I will be re-reading it over and over. And if you know me in real life, online or just happen to run into me in a bookstore...be warned...this is a book that I will be bullying you to read.
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I don't really believe in love at first sight either, but you've made this sound like an awfully appealing book.
ReplyDeleteDespite the unrealistic nature of the love at first sight scenario I do think this was an interesting love story. It was well done. I did see the kinda twist with Oliver when they got to London but that didn't diminish the experience of reading the total story.
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