Review | The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

By Birdie

Hating Game.jpgThe Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Standalone
Romantic Comedy
William Morrow | August 9, 2016

About the Book:

Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

amazon2 bn2

The Hating Game is a book I’ve been curious about for a couple years now.  -since it was released actually.  Everyone was raving about how fresh and funny the story was, and what romance reader doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers romance??  It’s one trope that’s sure to bring some serious chemistry!

Lucy and Josh have a LOT of chemistry.  I could tell right from the start that neither of them actually hated each other.  They were far too affected by each other for it to really be hate, and right from the first chapter I was already excited to read how these two “enemies” were going to realize how crazy about each other they actually were.

Look, I’m a firm believer that men who are mean to you are not doing so because they like you.  I do not think it’s what we should be teaching our daughters.  However, I don’t have a problem with books about enemies falling in love.  Books are my escape, and there are a lot of things I’m not okay with in our reality that I find endearing or romantic in fiction.  Josh’s initial antipathy for Lucy, and his actions, gradually changed.  Just as Lucy’s did.  It took a lot for the two of them to set aside their years of active dislike and start spending time together.  And honestly, it was really a lot of fun to read.  It’s the perfect recipe for an adorable rom-com movie, for sure.  Someone needs to get on it.  Possibly Gracie Gillam and maybe Nicholas Hoult, if he bulked up…

Anyway, I did have a few issues in the end.  There’s a moment where Lucy develops a stronger backbone and tells off a very powerful man, and he eats it.  It shuts him up.  He mumbles, and even apologizes, and I just don’t buy it.  These types of characters, cruel powerful men, don’t cower because someone talked back.  I think Sally Thorne could have shown Lucy’s strength, and still stayed true to the other character.  I also felt like the back and forth, love him/hate him, lasted too long.  It got to a point in the book, the second half, where I was just sick of both characters… Lucy mainly… and ready for them to open their freaking eyes and stop seeing what they wanted to see, because every time they did it was magical!

Still though, it was SO much fun and I’m looking forward to an eventual reread.

Rating: 4-feathers

About Birdie

Don’t look for her in any bar, club, crazy raging party, or anywhere there may be a large gathering of strangers. She’s more likely to be found tucked into the corner of the couch watching one of her favorite shows, or preferably under a comforter with her current novel.

4 Responses

  1. Bree

    I love this review (and this book) I’m glad you finally had a chance to read it.

    Side note on men in power: I (unfortunately) work with one and I’ve actually found that dealing with him like the bully he is actually does work. He’s not used to anyone (especially women) standing up for themselves and challenging him, so when I have, he has backpedaled and backed down. Maybe that’s why I didn’t have an issue with that part of the story.

    That just kind of stuck out to me, I think, because I’m right in the middle of dealing with this. >_<

    Like

    1. Birdie

      I guess for me it was that I could see him maybe getting red in the face and excusing himself, but the level of stuttering and immediate apology… I don’t know, it felt wrong. Although his wife did say he’s nicer than people think, so maybe. It was just odd.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. ~ Angie Elle ~

    Oh, man. I hate it when a character does such an about face to bring the book to climax or to resolve a story. It can ruin the entire book for me. I’m glad you enjoyed this one overall. I can’t wait to read it!

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