Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Hating Game

I made the mistake of watching the movie first. I usually like to read the book before watching the movie, but I really wanted to watch the movie & I kept putting the book off. & then the movie really made me want to read the book.
I really loved the book! The chemistry between Lucy & Josh is amazing! I really wish I didn’t know when certain scenes were coming, or what was gonna happen before I started to read it. But that’s the price i paid for watching the movie.

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psliz's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.0

thought it was okay but upon further inspection, it's terrible because its characters are horrible people

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allidone's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

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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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pattyblom's review

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emotional funny tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Slow start, but after that i couldnt put the book down. Very much an emotional rollercoaster.

Spoiler

She does talk/think a lot about him, even though they are supposed to hate eachother. Which is never really explained.

The story does lack a bit of depth, or story overall.

Content Warnings

victor200122's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

Reading this book was painful, I hated how immature and childish the characters were, they weren't convincing at all, just two grown ups behaving like toddlers. I was tired of the height comparisons (how tall and fit he was and how tiny she was) it was like every plot hole was filled with this. I think their relationship throughout the whole book was toxic and I hated that it was highly romanticised all over the book. I just enjoyed the last two chapters of the book. I can understand the hype of this book, but I reckon this is not a good book at all, there are way better books on Booktok

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jaynovara's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense 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

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kellyloubishop's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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

3.0

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