The Love Hypothesis

49 pages1-hour read

Fiction

Novel

Adult

Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 4-6 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.

Chapter 4 Summary

After a frustrating morning at the lab, Olive arrives to her first fake coffee date with Adam. Adam wears a form-fitting black shirt, which brings out how his sculpted body, curly hair, and facial features fit together. Olive realizes for the first time that he is “really, really, really handsome” (69).

While they wait in line, Olive tries to engage Adam in small talk about his favorite color. Adam doesn’t understand the point of a favorite color but finally settles on black. When they order, Adam goes to pay, but Olive stops him because she doesn’t want to be in the kind of relationship where a guy pays for her stuff. Adam argues he’s paying because of her low student income. Olive doesn’t have a counter argument and adds a few sugar-filled items to her order to frustrate Adam.

The rest of their fake date is filled with learning facts about each other. Olive grew up in Toronto and has no plans to go back; Adam was born in the Netherlands because his mother was a US ambassador to the country. Shortly after, they part ways.

Olive gets an email from Tom Benton, asking to meet the following Wednesday, and as a result, she’s late to her second fake date with Adam because she stayed up late practicing her research pitch. Adam is in a bad mood because the university still refuses to release his frozen assets. With some work, he’s been able to rearrange funds to work on all the projects he wants, and Olive points out how his situation isn’t as bad as he makes it sound. Slowly but surely, she wears away at his mood until he’s cracking smiles and making jokes.

Before they part ways, a blonde man who Olive vaguely recognizes arrives at the café to chat with Adam. Adam introduces him as his “friend and collaborator. Dr. Tom Benton” (83).

Chapter 5 Summary

Taken aback that Adam and Tom know each other, Olive decides not to mention she’s dating Adam, but her plan is foiled when Tom asks if she’s Adam’s “Girlfriend [he’s] heard so much about” (85). Evidently, Olive and Adam’s relationship is news all over Harvard. Olive introduces herself as the student Tom’s supposed to meet later that day. Tom’s surprise at Olive and Adam’s relationship turns to acceptance, and he invites them both back into the coffee shop to discuss Olive’s research. Feeling awkward but not knowing what else to do, they both join him.

Tom asks Olive about her project, and Olive gets tongue-tied, unable to answer. Adam then asks more concrete questions, which help Olive organize her thoughts. She explains how she may have found a blood biomarker that would allow them to detect pancreatic cancer much earlier and improve prognosis for the disease. Tom asks why she’s studying such a unique line of research, and Olive reluctantly admits her mother died from pancreatic cancer. Tom presses for more details, but Adam threateningly tells him to “stop harassing [his] girlfriend” (91).

Tom apologizes and offers Olive two weeks to compile a report on her most recent research so he can decide about taking on her project. Though it will mean even less sleep than the very little Olive normally gets, she agrees. While Tom’s away from the table, Olive promises not to tell anyone but Malcolm and Anh if she decides to go to Harvard because if the university found out, they’d never believe Adam was staying, and they wouldn’t unfreeze his funds.

Chapter 6 Summary

Olive and Anh attend Tom’s lecture, which is ridiculously overcrowded. The crowd pushes them toward where Adam sits, and Anh proposes Olive sit on his lap to give Anh some standing room. Olive tries not to, but Adam doesn’t seem to mind. Freaking out a little, she complies, all the while thinking how she would murder Anh for this and “be jailed for bestfriendicide” (99).

The lecture is nowhere near as interesting as Olive hoped, and she finds herself drifting off. To stay awake, she talks to Adam about their fake relationship. It’s working out well for them both. Olive notices that much of the room has cleared out and that there’s plenty of room for her to stand or find another seat, but she doesn’t because she’s comfortable where she is.

After the lecture, Anh and Olive are walking to the parking lot when they notice a traffic jam. A truck is stalled in the lot exit, and the entire gathered crowd watches as Adam pushes it into an empty spot so the backup of cars can move.

Anh tells Olive to go kiss her boyfriend after such a display of strength. Olive doesn’t want to but has no reason she shouldn’t. She goes to Adam and proposes the kiss, which ends up being much more enjoyable than she anticipated. Olive reminds him about the department picnic on Monday that Adam doesn’t want to go to. Olive wisecracks that at least she’ll be there, to which Adam replies “at least there’s that” (110). The response makes Olive smile.

Chapters 4-6 Analysis

In these chapters, the introduction of Tom, the antagonist of The Love Hypothesis, advances the theme of Systemic Inequality in Academia. Olive finds him attractive and pleasant at first, illustrating how corrupt authority figures often hide their true intentions under a charismatic facade. His actions in Chapter 5 show his true nature. It is unprofessional and unnecessary for him to ask Olive personal questions about her mother’s cancer, but he only stops when Adam intercedes. Tom immediately notices how close Adam and Olive appear and sees this as an opportunity to take advantage of Adam. These early appearances establish Tom’s lack of respect for others’ boundaries and his preoccupation with his own status, foreshadowing his later threats against Olive.

This section reveals how Adam’s relationship with Olive begins to transform him. In Chapter 4, he is in a bad mood, and Olive brings him out of it. This pattern continues throughout the book. Adam acts differently around Olive, showing how love brings out the best of him. Olive disrupts his self-pity and increases his self-awareness by reminding him that his reputation and excellent research mean he has far greater access to resources than many people. As the story continues, their dynamic remains the key factor in his growth as he learns to show his softer side and recognize his privilege.