wilybooklover's review against another edition
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 It’s a very sensual book. But sadly, these were about the only things I liked about the book.
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).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 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.
Spoiler
(I’m sorry, who paints their bedroom walls the exact same shade as their coworker’s eye colour??).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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Medical content, Racism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Ableism
Minor: Eating disorder
bectothebooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, and Sexism
Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Injury/injury detail
abbrillopezz's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia
caitlincrtr's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Self harm, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse
eepemma's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism
lisaandthebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
The Hating Game is probably one of the best known romance book and for most people possibly even the first book they think of when they hear "office romance" or "rivals to lovers". Still this book was nothing special in my opinion.
I absolutely enjoyed the story but it is by no means one of the best romance books ever like some people seem to think.
The plot and reasons for their mutual dislike was intriguing enough. What I liked most about this book were the 'office games'. The chemistry between the characters was also written really well.
Still the story felt a bit flat as did the characters. I didn't feel like I actually understood them outside of their mutual obsession with each other.
Also the female MC is so oblivious which is a trope I really dislike and also the main character is basically a handsome, talented, successful white guy who gets a bad backstory in order to explain away his shitty behaviour and she is portrayed as "the right/only woman who can handle him". She is very much the quirky nice girl next door and he is the misunderstood badboy (while not being bad at all, just a bit grumpy and rude).
I also thought it was kinda ridiculous that his main issue is 'being too hot' and that people only wanted to date him for his body, not his personality.. is someone going to tell him that he can actually work on that? I hate the narrative of guys who think there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and that the women are the ones "who just can't handle it"..
Edit: I changed the rating from 4 to 3.5 stars after a month of debating it. I think I felt bad about giving this book a 'bad' rating because it's so popular.
I absolutely enjoyed the story but it is by no means one of the best romance books ever like some people seem to think.
The plot and reasons for their mutual dislike was intriguing enough. What I liked most about this book were the 'office games'. The chemistry between the characters was also written really well.
Still the story felt a bit flat as did the characters. I didn't feel like I actually understood them outside of their mutual obsession with each other.
Also the female MC is so oblivious which is a trope I really dislike and also the main character is basically a handsome, talented, successful white guy who gets a bad backstory in order to explain away his shitty behaviour and she is portrayed as "the right/only woman who can handle him". She is very much the quirky nice girl next door and he is the misunderstood badboy (while not being bad at all, just a bit grumpy and rude).
I also thought it was kinda ridiculous that his main issue is 'being too hot' and that people only wanted to date him for his body, not his personality.. is someone going to tell him that he can actually work on that? I hate the narrative of guys who think there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and that the women are the ones "who just can't handle it"..
Edit: I changed the rating from 4 to 3.5 stars after a month of debating it. I think I felt bad about giving this book a 'bad' rating because it's so popular.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
things100's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Amazing book I love Lucy and Josh 🥰. This was my second read and it was totally worth it. The way Josh called Luce shortcake a-door-a-ble 😍. One of my all time favorite office enemies to lovers. And those spicy scenes 🥵
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content and Misogyny
micaela_ru's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Toxic, sexist trash that casually includes ableist and racist slurs, jokes about the deaths of sex workers, fatphobia, toxic masculinity, rape culture and nonconsensual acts played as sexy. DNF @ 20%. The MC is an entitled childish brat who has internalized sexism and possibly homophobia and transphobia. The love interest is embodies textbook toxic masculinity. Clearly I'm not the target audience here. I don't think feeling physically threatened by a man three-times a woman's size is playful or sexy. Not to mention the stalking. They also have no chemistry and the book is boring and childish. This is the crap that is popular?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Stalking, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
victorianbsilva's review against another edition
funny
tense
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? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
capybooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.5
As far as the enemies-to-lovers trope goes, The Hating Game takes the cake. There are so many things I love about this novel - the elevator scene in chapter 6, Josh looking after Lucy when she was ill, the flowers Josh sends Lucy (THE NOTE 😭🥺), Lucy standing up for Josh against his father. All brilliant scenes! One slight issue I had was I feel like ‘hate’ is too strong a word for this story. The characters say they hate each other, but do little to actually show that, although I do understand the whole idea is them saying they hate each other as opposed to admitting the feelings they both have. The Hating Game is a lighthearted, hilarious and feel-good novel, and I can’t wait to read it again soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Abandonment, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death, Sexual assault, and Self harm