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A review by megatza
Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
CW: workplace harassment
Melody Joo recently left her job in marketing to join a video game production company. She’s immediately put in a position where the roomful of men won’t take her seriously because of her gender, she loses her desk space to the new intern/nephew of the CEO, and additional stress in her personal life keeps piling up (her mother wants her to get married and one best friend is pregnant and the other wants her to be her MOH and plan her bachelorette party). In an effort to appeal to the Board’s wishes for more diversity, the company CEO pitches an off-the-cuff game idea of Melody’s involving male strippers and a zombie apocalypse. Of course, the Board also wants a female team running the project, so Melody is thrust quickly in the spotlight. Unfortunately her spotlight comes with trolls bashing the yet-to-be-released game and attacking Melody personally. To add insult to injury, the intern Nolan is assigned to work directly with Melody. And she can’t stand him…Or can she?
Melody Joo recently left her job in marketing to join a video game production company. She’s immediately put in a position where the roomful of men won’t take her seriously because of her gender, she loses her desk space to the new intern/nephew of the CEO, and additional stress in her personal life keeps piling up (her mother wants her to get married and one best friend is pregnant and the other wants her to be her MOH and plan her bachelorette party). In an effort to appeal to the Board’s wishes for more diversity, the company CEO pitches an off-the-cuff game idea of Melody’s involving male strippers and a zombie apocalypse. Of course, the Board also wants a female team running the project, so Melody is thrust quickly in the spotlight. Unfortunately her spotlight comes with trolls bashing the yet-to-be-released game and attacking Melody personally. To add insult to injury, the intern Nolan is assigned to work directly with Melody. And she can’t stand him…Or can she?
First of all, I want to say that this isn’t really a rom-com; there is distinct chemistry between two leads, and it may lead to an HEA, but the romance isn’t the main focus of the book despite that being the way it’s marketed. I still really enjoyed reading this book. The HR manager in me was utterly appalled at the work environment; I cringed at just how well Suzanne Park conveys the toxic workplace. This story may be a video game company, but it could well be any company in any industry. And yet Melody endures her cringeworthy moments, balances her work pressures (with sadly very little time for herself), and has to rise above it, as we have all experienced at one time or another in our lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment