The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith is a story of twenty-four hours, chance encounters, the meaning of relationships with those you love, and regret. Hadley and Oliver meet in an airport and over the next day they learn a lot about each other. And something big begins.
From the beginning, I knew Oliver was hiding something. Jennifer does a great job of fulfilling promises. Not only do we know there’s something hidden, but we know as soon as Hadley shows her dad’s wedding invitation to Oliver, that Oliver will come to the wedding unannounced. Well, at least we hope so.
Honestly, I wasn’t really rooting for Hadley and Oliver to begin with. Hadley has such a sour attitude toward her dad, who left her mom and is now marrying the other woman. I was much more invested in her relationship with her mom and her hatred of her dad. The relationship with her mom feels unique for a typical divorce story. I loved that it was a YA with parents heavily involved and a nice stepmom. That was different, wonderful even.
The wit between the characters was adorable. And by the end I was definitely hoping they would start something, that they would have the guts to jump in the deep end. One of the biggest problems I had though, was that it was written in third person. There was no need, as it was entirely from Hadley’s perspective, and it kept throwing me off. It was third person, present tense, and it just didn’t work. Other than that, this was a great, quick read.