Review | The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E Smith

The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
Published By: Headline
Published On: May 24, 2012
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 215
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★

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Four minutes changes everything. Hadley Sullivan 17 misses her flight at JFK airport, is late to her father's second wedding in London with never-met stepmother. Hadley meets the perfect boy. Oliver is British, sits in her row. A long night on the plane passes in a blink, but the two lose track in arrival chaos. Can fate bring them together again?


When Hadley misses her plane to London for her father’s wedding, she is stuck in JFK airport where she meets cute, British boy Oliver. Though Hadley is not a believer in fate, it is quite the coincidence when Oliver is not only on her new flight, but sitting next to her, thanks to the nice old lady who moved. Over the course of 24 hours, Hadley and Oliver write their story.

I absolutely love airport and airplane settings so this book was perfect for me. I don’t know why but I really enjoy reading about airports and airplanes, probably because I enjoy being in them. In fact, the setting of this book was the main reason I wanted to read it in the first place.

I loved that it was set over just 24 hours. It is a very unique thing for a book to be set over just 24 hours; at least this is the first time I have read it. It really shows just how much can happen in that small period of time, that connections can form and things can change in just a matter of hours. 

Hadley and Oliver make a great couple. I love a bit of flirty banter, both in real life and in books, and these two have a fair bit of it, which makes me love them. They were such a fun couple to read about but the real connection was clear in the tough, serious moments as well.

This plot screams instalove but there were no declarations of love after 5 minutes. Instalove is one thing I am not a huge fan of and I was worried there may be a lot of it in this book. Luckily, while there is a clear connection made, no one is declaring there undying love to someone they have known for all of an hour.

While this book was very much about Hadley and Oliver’s relationship, I loved the inclusion of the family aspect. This could easily have been a light and fluffy read about two people who meet on a plane, and in a sense it is, but both Hadley and Oliver have important stories regarding their family. I think this aspect of the book is very important.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and found myself wanting to stay up all night to read it, which I didn’t but I did end up reading it in just two sittings. I really enjoyed the setting, plot and characters and found it to be a fun, easy read, but with some more serious aspects mixed in.