Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Way I Hate Him

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Way I Hate Him by Meghan Quinn

21 reviews

cupidslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this as a small town romance girlie. I think Meghan Quinn has a witty, funny, cozy way she writes her characters and her setting. I could just picture almond bay in my head, and I wanted to be transported there so many times! With any small town romance, it’s important to have well rounded main characters, as well as supporting side characters that really make it feel like a town you could touch, it’s that tangible. I think I could’ve used a few more, but I adored how out there Ethel was, and I loved Haye’s gran. Both Hattie and Hayes were multi faceted characters, with their own struggles and dilemmas, that ultimately worked themselves out after finding each other. They made each other better, and I like that despite the age gap, rockstar x fan, grumpy x sunshine tropes, they both didn’t just feel like flat caricatures of these things. My only gripe was the ending was rushed and sort of smashed into the book in the last 85-90 percent, which is sort of silly considering the book was 500 pages…truthfully we didn’t need like 3 chapters of them over the clothes rubbing against each other…lol. But all in all, if was a good read, and I will be coming back for the second book!

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beebowbabe's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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jaymef's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My summary: Hattie Rowley is returning to her hometown after failing her last semester of her Master’s program. To add insult in injury, her high school sweetheart boyfriend Matt breaks up with her the moment she arrives. And he cites the reason as her being a bore since her sister died (*Gasp*). Matt works as the assistant to Hayes Farrow, another local boy turned Grammy award winning rockstar, but Hattie’s brother hates Hayes, so she does too by default. But in a rage, Hattie decides to get Matt fired by returning a collection of items Matt has stolen from Hayes over the years. When the return of the items doesn’t go as planned, Hattie finds herself forced into replacing Matt as Hayes’s assistant. She takes the offer from Hayes that she basically can’t refuse, but despite hating Hayes, she soon starts to see more to him than just her brother’s feud.

My thoughts: Hattie and Hayes have my heart. Hayes at the beginning was so crass, and I kind of loved it. I absolutely adored the first half of the book as they were falling for each other. I didn’t love, as much, the strife at the end. I felt like I would have been happy to have it ended around 75%-80% and it just be a mostly smooth-sailing, feel-good, fuzzy yet spicy romance. I enjoyed the introduction to Almond Bay and I’m excited to see some of the other characters get their own books in the rest of the series.

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hbrooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

KU. 3.5 stars. I mostly listened to this on audio. The duet style narration is my fav. Overall, a solid spicy rom com with heavier bits. But it dragged at times and had some plot holes that annoyed me. Not my favorite Meghan Quinn book, but I still enjoyed it.

TW: grief, loss of a loved one

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Ok. Wow. I don’t think Meghan Quinn has made me cry that hard before.

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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

After basically hitting rock bottom, Hattie moves back home and ends up working for Hayes, her brother's ex-best friends and world famous rockstar.

Though not my favourite book by Meghan Quinn, I did enjoy some parts, especially the banter between the two characters. Though the physical chemistry was there, I didn't really feel the emotional connection between Hayes and Hattie.

Honestly, I didn't really love any of the characters except for Hattie's best friend. Hattie was pretty immature, yes I know she is grieving, but she seems to just give up. She keeps going after Hayes even when he tells her it's not going to happen, then gets mad when he turns her down. He made his position pretty damn clear.

Hayes

has been abandoned by everyone he has loved and has major trust issues. The 3rd act breakup seems to come out of nowhere. He seems to be learning to trust again, then boom, he just pushes her away and assumes she will hurt him. He doesn't even give her a chance. His grovelling was barely grovelling IMHO.

I get that Hattie's family is grieving, but her siblings were kind of assholes to her on the beginning for no reason. They kind of redeemed themselves in the end, but they were still jerks for most of the book.

Though the ending was abrupt, I thought the Epilogue was cute.

I am glad it didn't end with a pregnancy or wedding. Hattie's sister has secretly left her the Almond Store and we see her on her first day as the owner.

Tropes: Romantic Comedy, Enemies to Lovers, Brother's (Ex) Best Friend, Grumpy Sunshine, Small Town, Workplace, Age Gap (12 Years), Rockstar

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