Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Hating Game

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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abbrillopezz's review against another edition

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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

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gabrielaetcc's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted

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

3.25

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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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micaela_ru's review against another edition

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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?

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rensreading's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

i read this in one sitting (5hrs and 19mins according to libby). i loved that the spice was sprinkled in so soon, it kept me interested and invested in the will-they-wont-they feeling going on for the first half of the book.

oh man so many people said josh should’ve had a restraining order put against him for how creepy and stalkerish he was, but everyone absolutely failed to mentioned that lucy matched his energy tit for tat. they’re insane4insane in such a good way too lol

idk which book came out first but since it was the last book i finished reading, i kept comparing this to the spanish love deception. the fact both books are an office rivals to lovers story where they

Spoiler

get together after attending a wedding

and mention their size difference so much while the woman is battling crippling loneliness on top of all that? that’s a little too on the nose. i will say though, the hating game did the spice scenes a lot better than the spanish love deception. definitely a 3🌶 rating from me, so pretty mild in general terms

i like that there was no third act breakup like every other rom com seems to have at the moment. i hate those with a passion. the plot was pretty good too. i liked lucy but she showed her obsessive tendencies by page 3 so josh isn’t the only weird one in their relationship and that should definitely be mentioned more. their banter was funny and natural and the flirting in the office? *chef’s kiss*

all in all, i’d rate this a 3.75 star rating (:

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forgetfulreader's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

This book came out in 2016, and you can tell by how the characters act and talk, so I kept that in mind when reading it, and I think many should do the same since lost has changed since then. But, I did like it a lot more than I thought I was; it's a very easy read and keeps you entertained on every page. I wish the ending were longer idk it felt rushed, almost like it stopped right in the middle.

*Spoiler*

I would have loved to see josh meet her parents. That's where I thought the book was going to go.

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