The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

By Jennifer E. Smith

Hadley Sullivan lives with her Mum in America. Her Dad lives with his new fiancé in England. Right now they are not exactly the best of friends, but, after weeks of persuasion, Hadley has agreed to travel to London for her Father’s re-marriage. This story follows Hadley’s day as she misses her flight by four minutes, meets an English boy called Oliver, and falls in love over 50,000 feet up in the air. As Hadley struggles to accept her Dad’s future, Oliver has his own secrets and, not exactly by chance, they meet again in England. But will Hadley’s new found romance last or will she be left flying solo once again?

I really enjoyed this book and found it near to perfect. It is the kind of book you could read again and again and never get bored of! It follows Hadley, a normal American teenage girl, as she struggles to come to terms with her Dad’s fiancé and his new life in London. As Hadley’s day becomes a roller coaster with ups and downs, she misses her flight, landing herself into what she at first thought was trouble, but turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. She meets Oliver, a boy from London, studying at college in America and they sit next to each other on the plane. Hadley soon realises that what she feels for Oliver is not just gratitude, but love.

The characters in this book are very realistic and well formed. At first you think they sound almost too perfect but, by discovering their personalities and delving deeper into the book, you soon see they too have their faults. Smith has created Hadley, and, by giving her these everyday faults, she is easy to relate to. She seems just like a normal teenager and I believe this would connect with many readers, especially girls, and encourage them to read the novel too. Oliver is a handsome but intelligent boy and is constantly coming up with things to make Hadley smile. He has a jokey attitude but we can see that underneath he is very focussed on his studies.

My favourite character is Charlotte who, although not a main character, plays an important part in the novel, being in fact, Hadley’s Dad’s new Fiancé. Before she flies to England, Hadley has never met Charlotte, but has received numerous ‘girly’ emails from her filled with gossip and the latest trends. She immediately assumes she will hate Charlotte and that the whole classic ‘evil Stepmother’ story will commence. However, when we finally meet Charlotte, we instead find she is a kind, caring, down-to-earth woman, who is eager to meet and embrace Hadley into her family. By the end of the novel Hadley and her Dad are closer and have forgiven each other for all their misdoings. Hadley is even becoming friends with Charlotte, Smith leaves the novel open, all the loose ends are tied up, but, somehow, you’re still eager to know what is happening with Hadley and her family a few months or so later.

Another big theme in the novel is panic attacks. Hadley is scared stiff of flying in an aeroplane. She has to force herself to get on and is constantly trying to think of ways to get out of going. In the past she has had panic attacks due to pressure and worry. When this has happened her Father has always told her to look up at the clouds and feel free, she has used this trick every time, but it’s a totally different situation when the clouds are below you and you’re 50,000 feet up. When Hadley discovers her and Oliver are on the same plane she confides this fear to him and he keeps her occupied during the long flight. Coming up with crazy questions, interesting stories, and rubbish jokes. He refuses to let Hadley’s mind wander back to her fears. It’s in this way that the two main characters really get to know each other and it’s in this way they discover they have a real spark together. By adding this theme Smith has given another dimension to the book which makes it more interesting and gives the plot a new level.

Throughout the book Smith has narrated it from a third person point of view which I think also helps as it allows you to see how both characters are feeling and reacting during each chapter. It lets you get an outsiders view and think about the situation in your own way as the text is not biased to any individual point of view. Smith has been able to incorporate lots of detail for all the surroundings and characters by choosing this way of narrating as it does not leave one character, namely the person narrating, out like so many other novels do.

The other aspect of this novel which I really liked was the fact that it was set over just one day and night. It really allowed you to connect with the storyline as it felt as if it was in real time and not the make-believe time line of most fiction books. Chapters picked up after a few minutes instead of your normal few days or even weeks. This unique setting was enhanced even more by the fact that I read this book over just a couple of days as well and couldn’t wait to reach the end!

To conclude, I can safely say that I loved this book and would definitely read any more that are released by Jennifer E. Smith. The characters are really well created and you can relate to them easily. Although the plot is classic and a little predictable it is never boring as it includes the other theme of Hadley’s fear of flying. Smith has used an ingenious way of narrating giving you the outsiders view on everything meaning it is much easier to picture what is happening. Also, the description and techniques used in this book were very good and I loved the setting of just one day as it made it seem more like real life. Overall, a really fantastic read and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun, charming, light novel that will grab their attention and their heart!

By Eleanor,
Year 9