Fake-dating tropes, top-tier directing, and pure girl power!

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I read this book years ago after seeing endless #BookTok posts about Ali Hazelwood and her fresh take on STEM relationships. Once I learned the story featured a “fake-dating” trope, I was sold. I remember really enjoying it, so I was thrilled to hear it was becoming a movie!

Now, I didn’t get the chance to reread the book before watching the film (which I usually do to refresh my memory on the plot and catch any changes). But they did an incredible job capturing the book's overall vibe and translating the story to the screen!

Let’s dive into all the moments I loved and a few shocking reactions I had while watching.

This is the one part of the book I remember vividly! Ali Hazelwood’s writing about how Olive couldn’t see and her crashing around the bathroom, just trying to fix her contact lens and clean herself up for the interview, really stuck with me. She did a great job describing that entire chaos.

So I was happy that the movie opened with that exact scene, making you genuinely feel like you were in Olive’s shoes. Plus, having Tom in the scene where you CLEARLY know it’s him talking to her, without actually showing his face, was top-tier directing.

The only part I was a bit sad about was the timing of the reveal. In the book, Olive doesn’t realize it was Adam in the bathroom until the very last chapter. However, in the movie, she figures it out on the walk home from the cocktail party when Adam comments on her expired contacts. They briefly laugh it off, and that’s it. I definitely liked the reveal better in the book because it forces Olive to realize he had a crush on her long before they started fake-dating.

Now, I didn’t remember the fine details of their friendship from the book, but I knew Anh was the reason Olive chose to fake-date Adam in the first place. I just couldn’t recall the exact reason.

So I loved how the movie explains right at the beginning how Olive and Anh met, how Anh pushed Olive out of her shell, and how Anh welcomed Olive into her family. Olive says Anh is her person, and making sure Anh was happy was all that mattered: even if it meant giving up her own crush. I think that was the sweetest thing.

Plus, as an introvert myself, I have always loved it when an extrovert just decides to adopt me and pull me into their world!

When I read the book, I was not the biggest fan of Dr. Adam Carlsen. I liked the overall story, but I was not adding Adam to my list of book boyfriends anytime soon, mainly because of his overly stoic personality. Yes, he had good banter with Olive, and he explains why he is so harsh on his students, but it just didn’t do it for me.

However, casting Tom Bateman was perfection. I could tell right from his first scene that he nailed the disinterest and disdain of Adam’s outer shell. His word choice, his tone, and how he carried himself were spot-on. Then later in the film, when he starts to fall for Olive, you see the actual cracks in his exterior as he softens up!

Also, quick shout-out to Julia Michaels for the music direction, because the foreboding music playing when Adam walks to his classes... (and at the end when he confronts Benton) *Chef’s kiss*.

I instantly fell in love with Malcolm and Anh. Malcolm was cracking me up as Olive’s roommate with all his partying and dating drama. Their combined reactions when they caught Olive at the coffee shop with Adam absolutely killed me. It was such a typical friend response and really made their dynamic feel authentic and long-standing.

Plus, I was dying at Malcolm calling Adam a vampire at the picnic while Adam was standing directly behind him. Or Anh clearly knowing that Adam and Olive were faking their relationship and deliberately forcing them into awkward situations. Everything about their scenes made me miss my college friends and all their glorious wackiness.

I was dead at every single moment when Anh was yelling at McConnell to shut up or butt out. It was such a simple way to add humor to the movie and showcase Anh’s bold, ball-buster personality. I was also low-key rooting for her and McConnell to get together.

In the book, there’s a moment where Olive and Adam are forced to share a hotel room during a conference. Olive jokes that in typical romance book fashion, something will happen to leave them with only one bed. But Adam insists it’s a double room and that they are adults.

Then, to Olive’s shock, there actually ARE two beds in the room. I loved this little twist and jab at romance clichés, and I’m so happy they kept it in the adaptation. Plus, it allowed them to show Olive’s slight disappointment that she didn’t get to share a bed with Adam after all. 10/10, no notes.

I was literally SCREAMING at my TV when this happened. Dr. Benton sexually harasses Olive, telling her she has to sleep with him to be on his research team and that if she doesn’t, he will steal her research. And if she tells Adam, this will follow her around forever.

I didn’t remember the full severity of this from the book, so I was livid. The second Dr. Benton showed up at Olive’s hotel room with coffee (purposely, knowing she was alone after running into Adam leaving in the lobby), I got an immediate ick. And then for him to say ALL THAT? Absolutely not. 

I did have to look it up to see if it matched the book, and they did keep the core plotline the same. The only big difference is that in the book, Dr. Benton corners Olive right after her presentation, and she luckily catches it on tape because she was recording her talk. They take the audio evidence straight to the university administration and get Benton fired. I would have loved to see that play out on screen, as it feels a bit more satisfying than Adam just yelling at Dr. Benton in front of his class.

I have always loved Lili Reinhart, so I had no doubts that she would bring this movie to life. But since I wasn’t as familiar with Tom Bateman, I was genuinely blown away by their chemistry. They really crushed the awkwardness at the university picnic, as well as their witty banter at the faculty cocktail party. Plus, the flu shot scene was just adorable, with Adam trying to fake being brave and then grabbing Olive’s hand out of instinct. They really sold me on Adam and Olive as a couple.

Lastly, I loved the girl power in this movie! Not only was Anh and Olive’s friendship a central focal point, but in the end, Olive decides to take her life into her own hands. Instead of just running to Adam about what Dr. Benton did, she tells Anh, who helps her realize she is a total badass who can handle this on her own.

Olive then goes to Dr. Aslan, the only female scientist, and pitches herself to join Dr. Aslan’s team. Dr. Aslan welcomes her aboard and gives her a speech on how they need to stick together in these male-dominated fields. Plus, I loved the shift where Anh confronts Adam, calls him a coward, and tells him what Dr. Benton did.

It was so great to see the focus placed on the women taking control of the narrative rather than having a man swoop in to save the day!

Overall, it was a great movie and a fantastic adaptation of the book. Dare I say, I liked it even more than the book. It’s making me want to dive into Ali Hazelwood’s other novels and figure out which one deserves a screen adaptation next!

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