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

I think I’ve found my new favourite author for summer reads. After falling head over heels in love with “This Is What Happy Looks Like”, I knew I had to read more of Jennifer E. Smith’s novels—they just fill you with hope and appreciation for the everyday magic in our lives. “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” caught my eye while browsing her works, both for its stellar reviews and its endearing title. Maybe I should’ve saved the book a little more, but I found myself greedily inhaling this story, and loving every single page of it.

Today should’ve been one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Not only is her dad marrying his new love of his life in London, but Hadley’s also missed her flight to the wedding—by four, short minutes. But as she’s stuck at the crowded JFK airport waiting for the next flight, Hadley meets what has to be the perfect boy. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row. A long night on the plane passes in a blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. But can fate—and the uncanny quirks of timing—intervene to bring them together once more?

One of the things that make “Statistical Probability” so enjoyable are the incredibly realistic and relatable characters that you unfailingly identify with. Hadley’s an undeniable normal girl with a fairly normal life and issues that a lot of teenagers can relate to. She lives with her newly single mom, and struggles with her feelings of hurt and betrayal, and of love, toward her dad. She has her shortcomings like every human being, like not having a filter when she gets angry, and, overall, is not a perfect person. I mean, who’s ever heard of a perfect person? And that’s what makes Ms. Smith’s books so compelling—the sheer believability of her characters, despite the otherworldly tinge in their everyday happenings. The same can be said about Oliver, whose character gains more and more depth as the story progresses. Sure, he may seem like an easygoing, charming British guy, but Hadley and the readers find that there’s definitely more to him than meets the eye, making him a truly three-dimensional, engaging character that you can’t help but fall for.

Plot-wise, I felt like “Statistical Probability” was a little more realistic than the storyline of “This Is What Happy Looks Like”—but I’m going to stop myself there and not compare two entirely separate books. I feel like the main reason this story reaches out to us so much—just like its characters—is the fact that what happens to Hadley and Oliver can very much happen to us one day. I mean, two people meeting in an airport because one of them missed her flight due to a series of seemingly insignificant events? That could happen to anyone. And there are people all around us, strangers we’ve never talked to, but with one tiny event can alter what happens after it in unimaginable ways. That’s what I love about “Statistical Probability”: The touch of fate that gives our otherwise uneventful lives some hope and magic. I do have to admit, however, that there were times when things were a little bit clichéd and predictable—but maybe that’s how life is sometimes.

Ms. Smith’s writing cannot go unmentioned when talking about “Statistical Probability”. I remember finding myself completely enchanted by her lyrical prose, and the writing in this novel doesn’t disappoint. As always, the words strung together into sentences, and then into paragraphs and chapters and so on, are evocative and elegant, yet simple at the same time. Ms. Smith uses small, striking images to conjure up the reader’s emotions and memories, and then through those reader’s recollections, establishes an undeniably personal connection between her story and the reader’s own life. It truly tugs at your heartstrings, in ways that are both bitter and sweet, and that kind of writing is just truly magical in its own way.

All in all, “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” is a must-read, with relatable characters, beautiful, evocative prose, and a reminder that there’s magic in ordinary life. This novel left me feeling refreshed and hopeful for what’s to come in life, and I highly, highly recommend this book for anyone who needs a little renewal of hope, and faith, to brighten their days.

Rating: 5/5

Book Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I think I've just found the perfect summer read. You know, those books that so effortlessly evoke a feeling of content within you, and whisk you away to sand-filled beaches with the cool waves lapping against the shore. I started Jennifer E. Smith's "This Is What Happy Looks Like" during my grad trip to Thailand, and discovered that it's just perfect for those summer vacations! It's light and sweet, not to mention beautifully written, and I found myself grinning as I flipped through the pages--now that's what I call a beachy read!

When teenage heartthrob Graham Larkin accidentally sends Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a remarkably witty and unforgettable correspondence, sharing everything about their lives and forging a bond they've never experienced before--even if they only know the other person's initials. Then Graham discovers that Ellie's small hometown in Maine is the perfect location for his next movie, and he decides to seek out the girl from his emails in the flesh. But can a movie star who constantly lives in the harsh glare of the spotlight really have an ordinary relationship with a small-town girl like Ellie?

I find that the characters in these kinds of books are of paramount importance in the novel. After all, if you have boring or unlikable protagonists, the entire story falls flat. And who wants to read about the lives of mean/whiny/dull people anyway? Fortunately, both Graham and Ellie are incredibly interesting and compelling characters with their own unique personalities and backgrounds, and I think Ms. Smith has definitely hit the mark with developing complex and endearing protagonists. I'll be honest with you and say that I didn't really pay close attention to the blurb before reading the book, so when I read the opening set of emails between Graham and Ellie, I didn't really even know that Graham was a movie star (oops, I know). So the very first impression I got of his character was that he was a witty, nice guy with a pet pig of all animals. I think if I'd known that he was a famous heartthrob will girls swooning over him, I might've been inclined to think he was arrogant on the outside, with a sweeter side to him, but the book itself thankfully never leaned towards that cliche! Graham is an undeniably sweet, caring character who deals with the downsides of being a well-known actor, someone who, at times, misses what being normal is like. And what I loved about him was that he was such an easy-going guy--not to mention protective!

Ellie is also undoubtedly a sweet, likable main character who, unlike Graham, lives a pretty normal life. She works at the ice cream store in her small town, loves to read poetry, and is living with her single mom. But what made her a really complex and truly interesting character, I think, was the fact that Ms. Smith wove in a backstory to Ellie that set her apart from the rest of the Auden-reading, ice cream-scooping girls. Ellie's struggle to raise money for her summer poetry camp at Harvard was coupled nicely with the fact that her biological father, a well-off politician, was never a huge part of her life. I also think that Ellie's and Graham's personalities worked very well together, and you could just tell why they were so attracted to one another in the first place. They're both witty and funny, yet at the same time possess the ability to take things seriously. In this way, it's easy to see how Graham and Ellie are kind of perfect for each other, despite the vast differences in their backgrounds.

I've read a couple of reviews of "This Is What Happy Looks Like" where other readers have said that nothing much really happens in the story. While this might be true in the conventional sense (i.e. there are no high octane adventures or daring coups against a dystopian government), the novel is rich in the emotional sense, which can be found in the growth of Graham and Ellie as individuals and as a pair. What also really enhanced this was Ms. Smith's beautiful writing. Her language is evocative without being purple, and brought magic to the ordinary. Her descriptions of the sea, or the way people gathered together to celebrate the Fourth of July, were elegant yet simple, and I found myself enchanted by her version of a small town in Maine.

Overall, "This Is What Happy Looks Like" is a sweet and simple novel about the emotional growths of two very different, yet very similar, teenagers. The evocative writing brings the story to life, and it is undoubtedly the perfect book to bring to the poolside on those bright summer days!

Rating: 4.5/5