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Quand bien même il détesterait lire, il finirait par adorer cette bande dessinée.

Quand bien même il détesterait lire, il finirait par adorer cette bande dessinée.
Even if he hated reading, he would end up loving this comic book.
From Lesson 413:Concession and hypothesis (quand bien même)·French

Questions & Answers about Quand bien même il détesterait lire, il finirait par adorer cette bande dessinée.

Why is détesterait in the conditional mood here instead of the indicative?
The phrase quand bien même (even if) is used to express a hypothetical concession. In French, this specific phrase must always be followed by the conditional mood, which is why we use détesterait rather than the indicative you might use after a simple si (if).
Could we just use même si instead of quand bien même in this sentence?
Yes, but the grammar would change. If you use même si (even if), you must use the imperfect tense for the hypothesis: même s'il détestait lire. Quand bien même sounds a bit more formal and emphatic, and strictly requires the conditional (détesterait).
How does the phrase finirait par adorer work here?
The construction finir par followed by an infinitive (here, adorer) is the standard French way to express ending up doing something. Because the whole sentence is a hypothesis, the verb finir is conjugated in the conditional as finirait.
Why is there no preposition like à or de before the verb lire?
Verbs expressing strong likes and dislikes, such as détester, adorer, aimer, and préférer, connect directly to a following infinitive without any preposition.

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