Reviewed by Jo on
What I found really surprising is that The Statistical Probability is really two stories in one; the love story between Hadley and Oliver, and also the story of Hadey and her father's relationship. The story of Hadley and Oliver is really, really sweet and so very real; you can really imgine something like this actually happening. Oliver is cute and funny, and the effect he has on Hadley - both in how she feels for him, and how he helps keep her calm through her claustrophobia - is unbelievable. He is just the sweetest guy, walking into her life by offering to pull her suitcase for her as she's struggling. This chivalrous, thinking-of-her nature shows throughout the novel as he lets her vent a little about the wedding and her father. It's obvious that he has some issues of his own, but it's not until much later into the story that we get even an inkling what they could be, but when we do know, it's shown again just how lovely and selfless he was on the plane. There are some very sweet moments between the two, and it was great reading, trying to figure out what would happen with them.
When I started reading, I was itching for more of the romance whenever Hadley would think about her Dad or have memories of them together, but as the story went on, I found their relationship to be the most emotional part of the story. Hadley is on her way to London to attend her Dad's wedding to a woman she's never met. She's really not his biggest fan right now. Smith tells the story so, so well, that I was really hating this man who seemed to have written his daughter out of her life, and going through every emotion Hadley goes through as well, and seeing how she let her anger cloud reason - but kind of having it cloud my reason too, because I felt exactly as she did. I found their relationship to be the sweetest, most moving story of the two, and it broke my heart so many times. It was just beautifully sad.
There was only one problem with this book - all the hype. If there was no hype, I would have read this book and really enjoyed it, and that would be it. However, everyone has been raving about it, so I was expecting to be wowed, and I wasn't. It was a lovely story, but it didn't blow me away, so I felt slightly disappointed that it was just a nice story, rather than an amazing one. As I said, I was more interested in reading about the relationship between Hadley and her Dad; the romance was sweet, but I wouldn't say there was any love there, and it felt so normal, I didn't find much to get excited about.
I absolutely love the cover for this book! The image used is just so beautiful! And the fonts used for the title are cute. It's really gorgeous, and might be one of my favourite covers of the year.
The Statistical Probability is a very short book, so it took me just over a day to read - as I started it late at night and ended up having to put it down in order to sleep. It's very worth a read, and was such a lovely story! Despite what I've said about my disappointment, I still really enjoyed it and highly recommend it! It would make a great beach read!
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 9 February, 2012: Finished reading
- 9 February, 2012: Reviewed