Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Loathe at First Sight

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Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park

10 reviews

chasingpages1's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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megs23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I read this book without knowing anything about the plot. From the title I thought this was an enemies to lovers trope and that expectation fell a little flat for me. Although there was some tension in the beginning with Nolan and Melody, the hatred between Melody and Asher was so much stronger that for a while I thought they’d end up together. I loved the representation of women, especially Melody as an Asian women, in gaming. Melody’s experience navigating a predominantly white and male industry was realistic and she faced a lot of racism, sexism, and harassment, which at times was captured in such detail that it was hard to read, even though I know this is a realistic portrayal.

I appreciated Melody’s character growth from complete aversion to getting help to practicing asking and accepting help as the book progressed. I enjoyed Nolan, Candace, and Jane’s characters too. For the bulk of the book, Melody experienced negative comments about her body from her mom, Jane, and internet trolls. Near the very end, it was revealed she was a size medium and her BMI was 23…
The passage of time in the plot was hard to follow and overall this book was a slower read for me.

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kdailyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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stasquatch's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.0

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cinderellasbookshelf's review against another edition

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funny reflective tense fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

After watching Free Guy on repeat these past few days, I wanted to read something related to gaming but set in a realistic environment. And that's how I decided to read Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park.

This book is a good fast read from start to finish. It gives an interesting look into the gaming industry, but more importantly through the perspective of its female Asian character, Melody Joo. I found myself rooting for Melody throughout all the challenges she faced while working in a fast-paced, highly male dominated, and, truthfully, toxic work environment. A lot of the conflict of the story relates to the real-life infamous Gamergate campaign that happened several years ago and are some of the hardest chapters to read because of what Melody has to endure. I thought Suzanne Park was able to show how toxic and misogynistic the gaming industry can be without it being too preachy and by balancing it well with a strong and driven character who is unwilling to be bullied, but is also still human and not immune to its effects.

Apart from this, there are a lot of lighter moments brought on by its cast of characters such as Melody’s friends, Candace and Jane. At first they felt out of place for this book, but I soon realized they give another side to showing Melody’s life outside of work. Their scenes together were funny, especially when they tried to help Melody find strippers who could promote her game at an upcoming expo.

I also liked the romance between Melody and her co-worker/intern, Nolan Mackenzie. The two characters start off on the wrong foot, but gradually become friends that could lead to something more. It’s not steamy or as tension building compared to other workplace romance set books, but I actually preferred it this way because it didn’t have to go in that direction. The friendship between the two and how it develops was perfect in my opinion and worked well with the story as a whole.

If anything, I would have liked to have seen more in-depth behind the scenes aspects of the work that goes into creating and developing a game than what was mentioned or sometimes quickly glossed over. I really liked the GameExpo scene though and thought it was one of the many funnier and lighter moments this book had. The ending was great too and felt earned.

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nemaria's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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lena_aishia's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.5

pretty bad and

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cakt1991's review against another edition

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challenging emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

Somehow, Loathe at First Sight escaped my notice when it first came out, until being approved for what I am now happy to find out is not a sequel/companion on NetGalley, and I can understand why. The cover must have skated by me as yet another indistinguishable illustrated cover (I tend to like them more than the naked men, but I admit most of these do look the same), and, having read it, it’s yet another book marketed as a rom-com when it’s actually not primarily a romance, and the cheery exterior hides serious themes only hinted at in the blurb, with no indication of their severity.

Thus, while I enjoy this book, it is with somewhat serious caveats. I did really like and root for Melody and the odds she’s up against. I could relate to feeling like an outsider in a field dominated by white men, especially as an Asian woman myself (with the disclaimer that living in Hawaii has left me fairly insulated). While I did feel like she didn’t demonstrate as much passion for the field of gaming, especially given how she entered it, she still persevered and ultimately I felt, under the right circumstances with the right environment, she was a good fit.

It’s just a shame there was almost nobody who was redeemable in the story. The colleagues, I expected, although the extent of the harassment she faces, to the point of being doxxed and stalked, is dark and relates to my aforementioned concerns about the dark content I was unprepared for. And the worst part is the perpetrators aren’t properly given their just deserts; the story ends with the main instigator being rewarded for his “hard work.”

And her parents…there are some elements that come off as funny, like Melody’s mother’s desire to see her find an Asian boyfriend. But some elements with them are just plain uncomfortable, in how they don’t take concerns about her safety seriously when she’s being targeted, being like, “we hope you’re not dating him” and “stalkers usually go after beautiful girls.” It comes off as super jarring, and it’s hard to say what the intent was.

I did kind of like the romance between Melody and Nolan, even if it wasn’t overly prominent, and it is such an interesting dynamic, because while she’s the employee and he’s just an intern, the office politics of her gender and race and the nepotism that got him the position balance it out. I did like how he tried to call out the bad behavior, and am a bit sad the story didn’t focus a bit more on that once they overcame their gripes with one another. But I was glad to see a love interest that was fairly non-toxic in the midst of all this mess.

This a book that contributes to the larger conversation in romance publishing and marketing missteps, resulting in the loss of trust in the established romance reader base. I have a feeling I could have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had gone in with the proper expectations based on the packaging and clearly defined parameters as to what’s a rom-com and what isn’t, instead of shoving almost everything in there because those are all the rage right now. Judging by how often this conversation comes up and how many books it applies to, I can imagine there are many other readers who feel the same. I won’t discourage people reading it, as it does have its good points, but definitely know what to expect going in.

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saadiasreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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megfang315's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

wow i hated this. i kept going in hopes that it would get better, but that never happened.

i didn't like melody; major red flag when you don't like the main character, wooohooo.
Spoiler
while i was sympathetic to her plight, i was speechless when she stayed at her extremely toxic company, claimed it was so much better all because she got a raise, was anointed the "diversity lead" despite how problematic that can be, and automatically was thrilled when a Black woman was named ceo of a sinking ship. there is so much wrong with the epilogue i can't deal.
i absolutely could not connect with melody's friends (even she kept referencing how much she didn't connect with or agree with jane)
i couldn't understand why melody and nolan would be a couple beyond attraction and professional respect (plus it didn't feel like a romance novel, it felt like women's fiction, so my expectation did not meet the reality of the plot)
melody's parents were one-noted, and the relationship never changed. while i could relate to some of the problems she had with them, i didn't understand what purpose or value they added to the story. on reading other reviews, i think they're supposed to be funny, but i got 0% of that.
there was a lot of good intent, but it ultimately felt like the author didn't know enough or didn't research enough to be writing about the topics she was writing about. she literally label-dropped "LGBTQ" as is multiple times (rather than saying "LGBTQ community" or "LGBTQ people"), mentioned social justice warriors multiple times and had melody shy away from that label demurely as if saying she wasn't being political, and (examples in the spoiler above) had problematic solutions to the workplace.
i didn't expect the level of harassment and toxicity in this novel, and most of it does not get resolved satisfactorily (the HEA feels fake af to me). this is not the cute, fluffy office romance you think it is from the cover.

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