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alireadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
First of all, I should note that I did enjoy the experience of reading this book. I thought the premise of a young, Asian American woman starting out in the gaming industry was done well, and overall made for a fun page turner. However, I do think this book as a whole suffered from…not really knowing what it was trying to be?
Loathe at First Sight is marketed as a romance, and its title implies an enemies-to-lovers story with a subplot of young professionals working in the video game industry. However, what I actually got from this was “book about being a BIPOC woman in an overtly sexist, racist industry, with a subplot of office romance.” And there was nothing “loathing” about it other than a brief, uncomfortable conversation between two coworkers? Again, none of this was bad, per se, it just…..wasn’t what I was expecting. In fact, I was way more interested in the workplace plot than the romance, so I guess it’s a good thing that it wasn’t what was advertised?
As an avid video game fan and as a woman who has worked in toxic office environments, I was definitely here for this feminist story about Melody Joo overcoming obstacles and doing a kick-ass job leading an underdog game through production. The ending came together really well; everyone got what they deserved, and I was left with an overall satisfied feeling.
Also, I just need to say that this book is a PERFECT example of why dating in the workplace is a horrible idea. Melody and Nolan balancing their disagreements and power imbalance at work with their budding romance made me wildly uncomfortable. Oh, and I know the men were crucial to the sexism storyline, but I really could’ve done without all of them. Even the love interest.
Overall, aside from the overall identity crisis and some awkward pacing issues, this book was a good time. I don’t know if it would’ve resonated me if I wasn’t interested in the video game industry, but it was still enjoyable.
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a free eARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
teakanimo's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
long winded--as in using too many words to restate things like dumbed down for reader. plot seemed promising and i like the author but it felt like i was playing stereotype bingo. too many mentions of Sheryl sandberg. characters are caricatures. the body shaming/mild fatphobia throughout (out of nowhere almost) and the repetitive mention of racial slurs did not add to the story.
cute story idea and main characters but it just didn't land.
cute story idea and main characters but it just didn't land.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Stalking
the body shaming/mild fatphobia throughout and the repetitive mention of racial slurs did not add much to the story.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
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
whysomanysams's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
megfang315's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
starshynebrite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I would recommend this to anyone who wants something that really gets their emotions running (especially anger, oh my goodness). If you enjoy sparking conversations about sexism and racism, a smidge of workplace romance, LOTS of drama, and a highly relatable female character that deals with all this crap way better than I could, then definitely check out this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
doxxing, stalking, harassment
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