Monday, February 18, 2013

BOOK: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, 236 pages

This was the perfect light read for Valentines Day. First of all, speaking as a math teacher, I love the title! As a young adult book, it was very readable. Plus, love at first sight based on a friendship, so with a better outcome than Romeo and Juliet.

Hadley, seventeen, is reluctantly heading to London for her father's wedding when she misses her plane. She meets up with Oliver, a British teen heading home. They spend the long flight together, getting to know one another, mostly through Hadley's complaints and misery. Hadley is still upset that her parents have split up; she feels pulled between missing her dad and feeling disloyal to her jilted mom. Very common and understandable feelings in a too familiar situation.

The time in London is frantic and fast, a wedding,a funeral, several trips on the tube. Hadley and Oliver meet and separate several times, with Hadley growing up and coming to be more patient with her father and his new wife. It was predictable, but lovely. It felt like it could have been one of the plot lines in the movie Love, Actually, which is probably why I liked it so much. If you are looking for a short, sweet romantic book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight would be perfect.