The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

1/5 Stars

This book has been recommended all over my For You Page on TikTok and I decided to give it a shot.

The story follows Lucy Hutton who works at a publishing firm with her nemesis, Josh Templeman. They tease each other endlessly in the office, but there is some sexual tension. Lucy is a very short 5-foot tall brunette and Josh is a 6'5 'god' with rock-hard muscles. They portray the classic, but very overused, trope of enemies to lovers. That being said, this novel was extremely predictable. The way they eventually end up making out in an elevator to where she ends up going to Joshs' brother's wedding. Everything about it was so predictable.

I am also not a fan of male characters in books (and in real life) that are 'accidental' assholes. In books, I find the explanation for their behavior even less charming. In this case, Josh is a douche to everyone around him because he didn't fulfill his father's dream of becoming a doctor. No offense, but boo hoo. I despise the constant idea in teen fiction/romance that a guy is mean and cruel to everyone because of some type of family trauma and then when he finds the right girl he changes. I'm not sure why I hate it, I just do.

Also, the fact that Lucy literally has no life outside of work and fawning over her coworker is very nerve-racking. She maybe has one conversation with her parents in the entire book and no friends.

The entire second half of the book is so smutty and for what. When I look at the cover (not that I judge books by covers), it is a cute little cartoon cover and I expect something fluffy and sweet but the second half of this book consists of Lucy and Josh just wanting to bone each other. It has me doubting whether or not they are in love or just so caught up in lust. Throughout the entire book, they did nothing to prove to me that their affections were actually those of pure love.

In spite of all of the previously mentioned things I disliked about this novel, there were many moments where I felt my heart get all mushy gushy. But still, this book was a bit of a letdown for me. It was nothing more than a cutesy, quick read.