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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Every character in this book was totally unlikeable. They read like caricatures instead of real people with any depth.
In many cases, it feels like the author favoured cheap jokes or punch lines over telling a complete story or creating any real layers with the characters or plot.
Nolan and Melody's relationship has no real substance and just feels like a generic office attraction (and that she's attracted to him because he's not a complete loser like every single other person she works with?).
In many cases, it feels like the author favoured cheap jokes or punch lines over telling a complete story or creating any real layers with the characters or plot.
Nolan and Melody's relationship has no real substance and just feels like a generic office attraction (and that she's attracted to him because he's not a complete loser like every single other person she works with?).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol
nemaria's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy
ratqueen's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
valeriabee's review against another edition
challenging
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-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
4.0
Well, if I'm being completely honest, I was slightly disappointed. But like, BARELY. I think, more than anything, the book is marketed so much for its romance that I got my hopes up and the romantic aspect fell flat for me. I wanted something that would give me butterflies, but it didn't. It is very much possible, but I have no way of knowing, that the progression of the romance is more real and natural. It is definitely a slow-burn, but the tension wasn't so hot and heavy. Part of the reason for this is that our main character, Melody, is a workaholic, but she also just has a lot going on in general. If I were her, I would really do anything in my power to avoid romantic relationships. It would be an added complication to everything she is already dealing with.
You see, Melody Joo (not Melanie, not Joon) recently started as a junior producer at Seventeen Studios, a gaming company. She has very little experience in gaming, but a lot in marketing and project management. Her boss is nothing short of misogynistic and in a playful banter between herself and another woman at the company, Melody comes up with a ridiculous game that flips the sexist script of most games in production. Instead of the hypersexed women, we have beefy men following the lead of strong female characters. The complete joke of a game idea is overheard by the boss, who pitches it to the board. In a lame attempt to be superficially feminist (whilst making constantly sexist jabs), they greenlight the project.
This on top of the fact that the boss's nephew, Nolan, gets hired as an intern and is now working on Melody's project. Of course, she immediately hates him because he gets to walk into a job with all of the privileges that she has to work triple time to earn because she is a junior level Korean-American woman in the gaming industry. She has to jump hurdles, whilst his track is clear of obstacles. And of course he is running the inclusivity initiative at the company: the white guy who got the job due to nepotism. Classic. I would hate him too. But it is so hard to hate him because he is just so cute, and smart, and maybe kind sometimes.
And Melody is now the maid-of-honor for one of her close friends' wedding! Talk about a full plate.
I love everything this book has to say about the gaming industry: it's sexist, it's racist, it doesn't leave room for success for anyone that isn't a cis-het white man.
I think the book would fair better if the blurb and the marketing didn't push the enemies-to-lovers romance aspect as hard as they do. At the end of the day, the romance feels so small compared to the personal issues Melody is facing. Nolan genuinely feels like an afterthought throughout the majority of the novel, much less of a major player than is implied by the cover and blurb.
The writing style is fun, the characters are complex, and the story is very healthy mix of character and plot (I prefer when I can barely tell which is doing the heavy lifting).
So, yeah, while it doesnt have much of that butterflies in the tummy, sweat inducing tension that I appreciate and looked forward to -- the story is good for what it is. A story about a woman beating the odds in an industry that doesn't want her to win.
I definitely think some of the appeal of this book is just how real and natural it is. It doesn't play up the romance, and it doesn't play down the misogyny or the stress of working in gaming. Not everyone lives a whirlwind romance, sometimes we just get a romance. Can't that be good enough? Especially when the main character is so strong willed and inspiring, you question whether she should bother with romance.
The book doesn't live up to what it claims to be, but it is good nonetheless.
I would like to add, upon further reflection, that the title is kind of clever if you think of it both from the romantic point of view, but also from the point of view that the industry Melody works in loathed her at first sight and wasn't willing to give her a chance.
I will add that there is plenty of problematic and irritating content (the parents and the whole of the gaming industry), and it is definitely hard to read at times. However, that is the point. Melody does not condone her parents' behaviors, she is ashamed of it. She has to constantly remind herself that her mom is wrong about the things she says to Melody -- about her weight and her beauty. Shit, I have to do that with my own parents all the time. They're not just mean, sometimes they're plainly hateful. The book does not condone it, it purposely sets the parents up to sound ridiculous, because that's what they are. The same goes for the sexism and the misogyny and the racism Melody faces. You get mad because it's all so real, it's shit you've heard before, it is shit you have been dealing with for so long. It's annoying. That's why Melody has to overcome all of it, rise above the hateful vitriol. Continue to love herself despite the world telling her not to. Know her own worth and make everyone else know her worth.
I will say that there was that one comment from Nolan about how Melody dismissed him because he's inexperienced and that she's being hypocritical. Except, it's not the same thing Nolan because you got the internship through nepotism. People don't dismiss Melody because she is inexperienced. People dismiss her because they don't believe that someone that looks like her could even try. Nolan was given a task despite being inexperienced, and she dismissed not because he seems like someone that wouldn't know how, but because he is someone that doesn't know how. Others wouldn't even bother to find out if Melody is inexperienced, they already "know" because they can't imagine that she could know. It is not the same to say "hey, you dismissed me because I'm not qualified" and "hey, you dismissed me because you don't think an Asian woman could, or even should be qualified. you don't want me here, you don't think i belong." One is based on fact, the other on prejudice. That was something that bothered me, and Melody doesn't question if Nolan is right in this situation. She immediately agrees that she was being a hypocrite, which no she was not.
You see, Melody Joo (not Melanie, not Joon) recently started as a junior producer at Seventeen Studios, a gaming company. She has very little experience in gaming, but a lot in marketing and project management. Her boss is nothing short of misogynistic and in a playful banter between herself and another woman at the company, Melody comes up with a ridiculous game that flips the sexist script of most games in production. Instead of the hypersexed women, we have beefy men following the lead of strong female characters. The complete joke of a game idea is overheard by the boss, who pitches it to the board. In a lame attempt to be superficially feminist (whilst making constantly sexist jabs), they greenlight the project.
This on top of the fact that the boss's nephew, Nolan, gets hired as an intern and is now working on Melody's project. Of course, she immediately hates him because he gets to walk into a job with all of the privileges that she has to work triple time to earn because she is a junior level Korean-American woman in the gaming industry. She has to jump hurdles, whilst his track is clear of obstacles. And of course he is running the inclusivity initiative at the company: the white guy who got the job due to nepotism. Classic. I would hate him too. But it is so hard to hate him because he is just so cute, and smart, and maybe kind sometimes.
And Melody is now the maid-of-honor for one of her close friends' wedding! Talk about a full plate.
I love everything this book has to say about the gaming industry: it's sexist, it's racist, it doesn't leave room for success for anyone that isn't a cis-het white man.
I think the book would fair better if the blurb and the marketing didn't push the enemies-to-lovers romance aspect as hard as they do. At the end of the day, the romance feels so small compared to the personal issues Melody is facing. Nolan genuinely feels like an afterthought throughout the majority of the novel, much less of a major player than is implied by the cover and blurb.
The writing style is fun, the characters are complex, and the story is very healthy mix of character and plot (I prefer when I can barely tell which is doing the heavy lifting).
So, yeah, while it doesnt have much of that butterflies in the tummy, sweat inducing tension that I appreciate and looked forward to -- the story is good for what it is. A story about a woman beating the odds in an industry that doesn't want her to win.
I definitely think some of the appeal of this book is just how real and natural it is. It doesn't play up the romance, and it doesn't play down the misogyny or the stress of working in gaming. Not everyone lives a whirlwind romance, sometimes we just get a romance. Can't that be good enough? Especially when the main character is so strong willed and inspiring, you question whether she should bother with romance.
The book doesn't live up to what it claims to be, but it is good nonetheless.
I would like to add, upon further reflection, that the title is kind of clever if you think of it both from the romantic point of view, but also from the point of view that the industry Melody works in loathed her at first sight and wasn't willing to give her a chance.
I will add that there is plenty of problematic and irritating content (the parents and the whole of the gaming industry), and it is definitely hard to read at times. However, that is the point. Melody does not condone her parents' behaviors, she is ashamed of it. She has to constantly remind herself that her mom is wrong about the things she says to Melody -- about her weight and her beauty. Shit, I have to do that with my own parents all the time. They're not just mean, sometimes they're plainly hateful. The book does not condone it, it purposely sets the parents up to sound ridiculous, because that's what they are. The same goes for the sexism and the misogyny and the racism Melody faces. You get mad because it's all so real, it's shit you've heard before, it is shit you have been dealing with for so long. It's annoying. That's why Melody has to overcome all of it, rise above the hateful vitriol. Continue to love herself despite the world telling her not to. Know her own worth and make everyone else know her worth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
alexsanch25's review against another edition
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Racial slurs
Moderate: Stalking
lena_aishia's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Misogyny
rrovezzi's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Medical trauma
cakt1991's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, and Stalking
Moderate: Racism
puddleshoes's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
whysomanysams's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship