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

Product details:
Publisher: Headline.
Hardcover, 224 pages.
Release date: January 5th 2012.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Ages: 13+
Source: Received from publisher for review.

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.

Ever since I read and fell in love with Stephanie Perkin’s Anna and the French Kiss last year I’ve been on the lookout for another contemporary novel to make me swoon. I actively seek them out, these swoon making books, and when The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight popped through my mailbox, I thought, Bingo! This is it. This is the book to make me swoon like I swooned for Etienne St. Clair. Better still, almost all the early reviews of this book were positively glowing. Everyone was swooning! So, I was all ready to settle down with a heart-warming, feel good, romantic read and while The Statistical Probability of Love at First sight is all of those to a certain degree, it didn’t really make a lasting impression on me. And it didn’t make me swoon.

Hadley is running late. She’s running late for the plane that will take her to her father’s wedding on the other side of the Atlantic. She doesn’t want to see her father, and to say that she’s not happy about the fact that he’s remarrying, is an understatement.  So she doesn’t care if she’s late for her flight, doesn’t care if she misses it. But when she does miss her flight by just four minutes little does she know that this will set in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever.  While she’s waiting on the next flight out to London, she meets Oliver, a British boy who is waiting for the same flight. Hadley is immediately drawn to Oliver, and when by another stroke of luck they find themselves sitting next to each other on the Heathrow flight, good things start to happen.

I love the premise of this one. I love chance meetings that lead to something more. I believe in instant connections and instant chemistry that can quickly turn into love. One of my all time favourite movies is Before Sunrise, which is all about fate and falling in love and is set over a similar time period as this book. But while I wanted to love The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, I just didn’t. For me it was a forgettable read.  Mostly this was due to the fact that I didn’t connect with the main character. I always find character connections difficult when books are told in third person point-of –view like this one is, and here I immediately felt distanced from Hadley. She’s got a lot going on in her life.  She’s angry and bitter, and not the easiest character to grow to like at first. Oliver is a different matter. There is nothing not to like about the guy. He’s smart, handsome and his charming behaviour made me smile. He’s a consistent character, too, with such a likeable personality that I immediately loved his presence in the book.

Hadley, though, changes a lot from when we first meet her. Since the book is such a quick read, I found the changes in her character a little inconsistent, contrived even, at times.  Hadley’s quick change in attitude towards her father and his new life didn’t sit too well with me.  I don’t even want to start on what I didn’t like about Hadley’s dad, because I might never stop.  Everything about him irked me. From the way he treated Hadley and her mom, to the Briticisms he constantly dropped into his speech. Seriously, dude, you’ve only been living in England for a couple years. It’s still a diaper! Ugh!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight didn’t pull at my heart strings and it didn’t make me swoon, but it did make me smile from time time to time. It’s one for total romantics, believers in love at first sight, and a fun way to while away a few hours.