Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Hating Game

Lucinda is so problematic! Lol.
The fact that whenever she describes Bexley’s incompetence, she speaks about him being fat and never actually mentions what really makes him incompetent. All the creepy sexual harrassy stuff? Nah. He *is* fat though and apparently that’s all that makes him terrible. She references him as such multiple times ☹️

This was made worse for me with how very often she spoke about just how small and teeny tiny she is. 💀 This book came out in 2016, right!!?? 👀👀 Sally, you ought’a know better, boo! 5 foot nothing hahahahaha 😶

There are a number of weird references that made me cringe when she said them. Comparing your somewhat messy apartment to a slum in Kolkata is so racist! 😷 What do you mean?!! I struggled to read past that. I also noticed the use of the “old” spelling of Kolkata in the book 👀👀. The name was corrected to right spelling in 2001…!

Not long after that there was a problematic reference to albinism to describe someone Lucy hated. 🫤 I hat to re read that because I honestly couldn’t believe it.

Then there were just a bunch of obtuse comments relating to mental health that seemingly messed with this lily-white world of Lucy and Josh.

Lol. What’s with the hate on blondes? 😂😂 Sending love to all the blondes tall and brown-eyed🫶🏾

Also, the ridicule of short men?? So unnecessary. Just to emphasise how big big Josh is all big and big. Urgh. Because it’s not like we had any idea how big and perfect he is.

The writing was also so sporadic. Parts of it just threw me off but I honestly didn’t care enough to try and understand it or keep track. Josh’s pining was cute until it got a bit creepy and controlly. The creepy blue-eyed fetishisation wall paint business??? Girl, run!!

Sally, girl… 👀👀👀

Content Warnings

jamespotterluv's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.75

honestly this book was so disappointing. i genuinely struggled SO MUCH to finish it. it didn't have me gripped, the "plot" was nonexistent. it felt like the writer wrote it as an excuse to j write an enemies to lovers trope and it wasn't well written. the enemies to lovers trope was generically written at best. the writing wasn't cohesive, i honestly hated the writing style. it's ableist and sanist too btw which is never a good sign. the characters were not diverse at all. every scene felt like the writer was just trying to place fillers to get to the smut (which might i say, was also terrible. i've never seen anything so badly written.) the ending seemed rushed, and honestly i j didnt like the overall book. the only likeable character was joshua which is a complete surprise considering the writer's depiction of him. lucy was bland and i didn't like her at all. there was j no substance to the book. there were some cute moments and some good dialogue that were Okay but the rest of the book was just so bland w no plot or endgame. genuinely idk how i finished it.

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

2.0

I get why people like this so much, purely from a romance standpoint. The narrative is so tightly focused on the two main characters and all of their interactions, it’s almost as if they were in their own little Romance Bubble and you know what? I’m here for it. I don’t care about side-plots, give me the two characters together on page in every scene! The dialogue and banter were cleverly written, and the sex was very, well, sexy

Spoiler

(aside from a kiss scene which is basically the hero sexually assaulting the heroine but written as if it's supposed to be sexy).

It’s a very sensual book. But sadly, these were about the only things I liked about the book.

The main reason the romance didn’t really work for me because Joshua Templeman is like, the exact opposite of what I find attractive or sexy, and the book is so focused on him and his appearance and behaviour that it's hard to forget it. He’s controlling and mean bordering on cruel to the heroine for no real reason. He’s creepy

Spoiler

(I’m sorry, who paints their bedroom walls the exact same shade as their coworker’s eye colour??).

He’s super tall and muscular and chiselled, which I know is virtually inescapable in the romance genre but incredibly unattractive to me. Not to mention his woe-is-me attitude because people use him for his looks and then leave him when they get to know his shitty personality (has he ever considered maybe possibly being nice to people? Just a thought!). I cannot imagine a man who is more likely to turn me off and leave me stone cold if I created him myself.

And then there’s Lucy. I was sympathetic to her work situation, but that’s about it. Her inner monologue is so judgemental about everyone and everything that it was hard to read at times. And really offensive — if you can think of any type of shaming, -phobia, or -ism, Lucy engaged in it. Fatphobia, racism, ableism, slut-shaming, gender essentialism, even height-shaming which is ironic considering she’s literally five feet tall herself and never shuts up about it. I’m not sure why all of these little quips are even in there because they don’t serve any real character-building purpose; all they do is make it unbearable to be in our main character’s head. And I get that it’s romance so of course our characters are going to find each other attractive, but the degree to which she objectified Josh’s body made me a bit uncomfortable.

Also, RIP to the HR department in this fictional company. I know these two were the bane of your existence.

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becausebrenna's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.5

Read this book because I enjoyed the movie. That was not the best decision, but at least it was a fairly quick read.
The plot was fine but there are numerous slurs used, fatphobia throughout, and some characterization that edged on bio essentialism. Just of the most cishet books ever created.

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marionhoney's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

Finished over two days but the off-handed ableist, anti-fat and patriarchal gender role descriptions ruined the fun for me. Also some of the behaviour of the male lead felt like the early signs of coercive and controlling partners. Worries me to think younger readers might seeing this as romantic rather than on the highway to abuse.

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battysbooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

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elyssathelibrarian's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF after 50% because I couldn't tolerate the constant harping about how Lucy is sooo tiny. The tiniest. It was becoming a little creepy, really. Plus there was quite a bit of blatant fatphobia—Lucy literally calls her boss "Fat Little Dick"—among a slew of other problematic things.

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