Problematic Summer Romance

In this section, the food poisoning is the first in a long list of incidents that trouble what is supposed to be a perfect week for Eli and Rue. As a contemporary romantic comedy, these incidents are intentionally woven into Problematic Summer Romance to offer situational comedy through the unfortunate timing of bad luck. This chaotic energy acts as both a backdrop and a metaphor for the unpredictable emotional landscape Maya is navigating, heightening the stakes of every small interaction. The food poisoning is also the catalyst for tension between Maya, Conor, and Avery. Maya being mistaken for Conor’s daughter at the theater offers supposed validation for Conor by reminding him how the world would view him and Maya if they were a couple. This shows that Conor’s objections to the relationship are based both in his personal experience of watching his father and in how he thinks society will react, supporting The Pressure of Expectations on Relationships. This moment also underscores Conor’s fear of becoming a caricature—a middle-aged man dating a younger woman and repeating his father’s mistakes. It reveals that part of Conor’s healing will require not only rejecting his father’s legacy but also shedding the shame he associates with how others might perceive him, ultimately revealing the way he looks at his father and has internalized that sense of loathing.

Avery’s confession about her feelings for Conor shows that she, too, can’t yet fathom a romance between Conor and Maya. By confessing to Maya, Avery believes she is sharing a confidence with a neutral third party, and she later apologizes when she realizes how Maya and Conor feel about each other. Maya’s response to the confession again highlights her maturity. Instead of going on the offensive, Maya steps back, figuring if she doesn’t have a chance with Conor, then Avery should. Maya also uses this as an excuse to get away from Conor and the awkwardness of being out with him and Avery, showing that Maya is not simply lusting after Conor. If she were, she would have a harder time leaving him, so her departure emphasizes the genuine romantic potential between them. The emotional turmoil hurts, however, and she is not above doing whatever she can to minimize the discomfort. This emotional calculation—acknowledging both her desire and her limits—offers a nuanced depiction of adulthood and emotional restraint, reinforcing the theme of What It Means to Love by suggesting that love is both unselfish and self-protective.

The Scotland chapters in this section also highlight Maya’s emotional growth and her ability to deal with relationship strife, romantic or otherwise. Learning the truth about her ex-boyfriend and roommate makes Maya question her choices, including what she seeks in a partner. She realizes that, when she got together with her ex-boyfriend a year and a half ago, she was a different person who wanted different things and didn’t realize how immature the relationship was. Watching her friends lie to her and say she’s the problem also makes Maya realize these people are not really her friends. This paves the way for Maya to leave them behind and realize she’s worth more than their lies, further supporting What It Means to Love by showing how Maya is learning to love herself. Self-respect becomes the prerequisite for all other forms of love Maya experiences—from platonic to romantic—which reframes her heartbreak as a step toward growth. Moving forward from the events in Scotland also allows Maya to develop close friendships with Eli’s friend group back home. This again calls to The Meaning of Age by showing that physical age does not automatically mean people are at the same place in life. Maya is the same age as her friend group in Scotland, but they are less mature than her, demonstrated by their refusal to take responsibility for their behavior and emotional manipulation. By contrast, Eli’s friends are all around Conor’s age, but Maya finds it easier to be around them because, despite the age difference, she is closer to where they are in life. Age is not a factor in these friendships, which foreshadows how it stops being a factor in Maya’s romance with Conor. Hazelwood invites the reader to consider how emotional compatibility often transcends conventional metrics, like age, and instead depends on shared values and self-awareness.

While the age gap is not a factor in Maya’s friendship with the rest of the wedding party, this does not mean that age doesn’t play a role. Throughout the story, Maya hides that she’s planning to turn down both the California and MIT positions because neither is what she wants. However, she struggles to stand by this decision and articulate it to the others because she doesn’t want to disappoint Eli. In this way, Maya’s age gap is very apparent: She looks up to Eli as a guardian who she fears is only proud of her accomplishments. Thus, the advice she receives from the older group, such as Tamryn telling her to trust herself in Chapter 17, highlights the greatest difference age makes—simply having more time to look back on mistakes and recognizing where self-trust was lacking. Without that kind of life experience, Maya doesn’t yet have the confidence to make a choice for herself alone and still believe everything will work out. Rather, she fears she must make the right choice now or forever be doomed to wish she’d chosen differently. 

This is especially significant for Maya as a young woman, since she has been conditioned to equate perfection with worth. Unlike Conor, who wields his privilege and experience to create distance, Maya uses her accomplishments to earn closeness and approval. This shows again that life experience is a factor in The Meaning of Age but also that there are different types of experience. Her fear of messing up her life by making the wrong choice reflects how younger women in particular are taught to map their lives in advance, while older women like Tamryn model a more iterative, flexible approach to adulthood. Academic success does not equate to emotional clarity, and Maya’s journey underscores how the pressure to impress others—especially guardian figures—can cloud one’s own desires.

Following the exploration of how Maya is both different from and similar to her older friends, her competitive nature in Chapter 18 highlights how her past affects her present. Prior to her time in Scotland, Maya acted out because she was hurting from the loss of her parents and angry about being dumped with Eli. As a result, she and Eli have a rocky past, and while they’ve mostly worked through this, moments like the soccer game highlight how the two fall back on old habits. Maya’s drive to win turns her into a version of herself she doesn’t like, but her high emotions make this difficult for her to notice. Thus, Maya reverts to past behaviors, which forces Eli to take on the role of parental figure and even disciplinarian. This makes Maya even more furious because she feels her display is only fuel for Conor’s rejection of her because her behavior proves she’s too young and immature to be with him. 

As seen by Conor’s reaction, though, this is not true, and this reveals another important aspect of age—the ability to understand that adults get emotional. Maya fears emotional outbursts because she thinks they only prove she’s childish. Instead, these moments prove she is human and, like any adult, she sometimes struggles to deal with her emotions. Maya’s journey through this understanding highlights that age and maturity are not mutually exclusive. Age does not make someone mature. Likewise, being young does not always translate to immaturity. This moment reframes Maya’s shame as part of a larger lesson in self-acceptance, including accepting that she is competitive and sometimes reactive. It also highlights the difference between personality and age. Some adults never grow out of poor emotional regulation, while Maya holds herself to a higher standard precisely because she sees herself through the distorted lens of Conor’s rejection despite the independence and success she’s maintained in the three years without him.

The romantic arc between Maya and Conor amplifies in these sections. Conor’s ability to hide his feelings for Maya is tested by their proximity to each other. This comes to a head at the end of the section when Maya intentionally flirts with someone else to make Conor jealous. Rather than casting this as purely manipulative, the novel frames Maya’s behavior as an act of emotional desperation—a way to reclaim power in a dynamic where she has otherwise been made to feel too young, too impulsive, and ultimately unwanted. This section most closely calls to the “problematic” in the book’s title. The scene aligns with the “problematic” tone suggested in the book’s title, not because the relationship itself is inappropriate, but because both characters engage in emotionally fraught behaviors when they’re unable to communicate openly. Maya’s flirtation reflects the broader theme of miscommunication and unmet desire, which are common in romantic comedies, especially those structured around slow-burn or forbidden love. 

Similarly, Conor’s level of jealousy makes him act in inappropriate ways, such as pulling her away, telling her to stop talking to other guys, and instructing her not to just sleep with whoever catches her eye. These flaws do not make them irredeemable but rather reveal the tender insecurity that often underpins deep desire. Hazelwood complicates traditional romantic tropes by showing that even characters who are positioned as mature can act immaturely when stakes feel high. Their mirrored behavior—both driven by insecurity, longing, and a lack of clear communication—ultimately proves Maya’s point: Emotional volatility is not a product of age but of vulnerability, and in this relationship, age is not the defining factor. Maya’s deal with Conor in Chapter 21 is the first time she calls his bluff to his face and thus is the catalyst for the physical intimacy the two share in future chapters. It’s also a turning point in their emotional dynamic: For the first time, Maya frames their relationship as a negotiation between equals rather than a question of permission.