Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Hating Game

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Hating Game, by Sally Thorne

6 reviews

dawrecka412's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-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

Meh. Body type obsessions, racists comments, and poor character development.

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ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

1.5

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… 👀👀👀

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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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valyn_grebe's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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beca_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

This book lived up to the hype but I can definitely see problems with it that could easily be overlooked such as the fatphobia and ableism throughout the book. I did personally find Josh quite creepy and controlling at points, and Lucy bringing up her height every few seconds was not necessary at all. I also wish that the book had told us where it was set, I constantly was having to remind myself that it was somewhere in the U.S and not the UK.

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crabcake's review against another edition

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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

Genuinely the worst book I've ever read, and I'm an avid reader. I finished this book out of spite and to be able to fully and fairly conclude that it was awful. Get ready for poor writing, negative character development, body shaming, and thinly veiled racism. Only thinly veiled because it's hard to notice given the poor general quality of the book. I find it hard to believe people can both be literate and enjoy this; even the gratuitous sex scene is bland, has absolutely no buildup, and seem to flip a switch in the narrator's brain to just become a whiny, submissive, desperate, sex-obsessed shell of a human. And the love interest is very creepy, has zero sex or relationship appeal, and just goes from being an ass to being nice as soon as the author seems to have decided that it was time for the narrator to start falling in love. Save yourself the time and brain cells.

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