Olive Smith

Olive Smith is the main character and <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.supersummary.com/protagonist/">protagonist</a> of The Love Hypothesis. She struggles with her self-image and tends to focus on all the ways she feels messy, rather than all the accomplishments she achieves. Since her mother died 10 years ago, she’s been alone, and her professional life is driven by the desire “to be less lonely” (8). After meeting Anh at their Stanford orientation and later Malcolm, Olive feels close to people for the first time in a long time, but her years of being by herself make it difficult for her to understand that people want to be around her. By extension, she struggles with the idea of people caring, even as Anh, Malcolm, and Adam continually show their support. She attributes her difficulties to being “wrong” in some way, demonstrating how her life events have had an impact on her that make her emotions difficult for her to confront. While Olive is a genius with her work, she lacks emotional intelligence. She concocts a fake-dating scenario so Anh can date Jeremy without feeling badly, which leads to negative consequences that eventually tumble down around her. Through Olive, The Love Hypothesis shows the struggles of being out-of-touch emotionally and the consequences of emotional avoidance.

Adam Carlsen

Tom Benton

Anh Pham

Holden Rodrigues

Malcolm

Jeremy

Olive’s Mom

Dr. Aslan

Values & Ideas

Appearance Versus Reality

Society

Community

Emotions & Behavior

Fear

Relationships

Friendship

Best Sellers

New York Times Best Sellers

Sexuality

Pride Month Reads

Genres

Romance

The Best of "Best Book" Lists

Truth & Lies

Book Events

Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love

Ali Hazelwood

Adult

Novel

The Love Hypothesis

Fiction

Guide

Study Guide

Book Brief

Explore The Love Hypothesis reviews, reading age recommendations, and essential genre and thematic details before you start reading.

About The Love Hypothesis

title

content

Overview

Get ready to explore The Love Hypothesis and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

The Love Hypothesis Summary and Study Guide

chapter

chapterType

section

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

The Love Hypothesis Prologue-Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 4-6 

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 4-6  Summary & Analysis

Chapters 7-8

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 7-8 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 9-11

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 9-11 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 12-13

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 12-13 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 14-15

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 14-15 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 16-19

The Love Hypothesis Chapters 16-19 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 20-Epilogue

The Love Hypothesis Chapter 20-Epilogue Summary & Analysis

character

Character Analysis

The Love Hypothesis Character Analysis

theme

Themes

The Love Hypothesis Themes

Symbols & Motifs

The Love Hypothesis Symbols & Motifs

quote

citation

Important Quotes

The Love Hypothesis Important Quotes with Page Numbers

primaryCharacter

Essay Topics

The Love Hypothesis Essay Topics

The Love Hypothesis

Character Analysis

Related Titles

Featured Collections