‘The Hating Game’ (2016): Book Review

by Sally Thorne

The Hating Game Synopsis from the publisher:

“Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive-aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Review:

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.”

I have a love-and-hate (haha) relationship with The Hating Game, and I’m still trying to work out in my head how I feel about it. On one hand, Sally Thorne is a talented author. I was only halfway through The Hating Game when I saw another book of hers at a used bookstore and I picked it up because I already knew I enjoyed her writing style. The Hating Game starts off very strong.

Lucy Hutton and Josh Templeton are assistants to the co-CEOs of their publishing company. Their desks face each other, and apparently, they just loathe and despise each other. Josh thinks Lucy is too nice; Lucy thinks Josh is a stuck-up d-bag, but… you guessed it, all that loathing is a mask, disguising deep-seated feelings of attraction and lust!

The Hating Game is an odd title choice because the hate doesn’t last very long. The synopsis makes it seem as though they are in a battle of oneupmanship for this promotion, that maybe their relationship is built on this game to knock the other off. Admittedly, I would have probably found that particular plot much more interesting than what I got. Frankly, the promotion seems to be the Big Obstacle we expect in rom-coms, but it’s not an obstacle. At all.

Even when Lucy and Josh fall for each other, Lucy is convinced that the relationship will end as soon as one of them gets the job because she’ll have to resign (why?), or Josh will (why?). She’s using this promotion as a be-all and end-all to their relationship, which, to me, doesn’t make much sense at all. And I won’t give any spoilers to the end, but it was incredibly frustrating because it wipes away the idea that they ever had anything at stake here. I have no issue with a happy ending, but is it wrapped up in a neat bow without any conflict? It ruins the story for me as a whole.

Lucy is a cute character. She’s short (we know this because we are reminded of it constantly), and she likes red lipstick (we know this because we are reminded of it constantly). Josh is an Adonis God. Or at least you would think he is with how Lucy views him. Almost every description of Josh that we get from Lucy is that he’s a jerk, standoffish, and unbelievably gorgeous. He bends over? Gorgeous. He scowls? Gorgeous. Josh even complains in the book that girls seem only to want him for his body but don’t find him dateable. Well, no duh. He’s a jerk?

ANYWAY! So yeah, we do get some insight into why Josh is the way he is, which is all fine and good and everything, but it’s no excuse for being an asshole. Lucy helps him become a better person, however, and Josh helps Lucy to… deal with lust. That seems to be her main focus for most of the novel.

And the entire novel is from her POV, so we never get some real insight into Josh other than what he tells Lucy. It drives me a little crazy that Lucy seems to have no friends, and Josh seems to have no friends. They exist for each other. The secondary characters have no personality or depth either, which is a shame.

I suppose this review makes it seem like I disliked the book. That’s not true! I disliked aspects of the book, but I liked some of it as well. The banter is fun and quick-witted. I did laugh out loud quite a few times, and there are some very sweet moments in the book that made my rom-com heart very happy. I would have liked to see these characters with others outside of bosses and co-workers. I would have loved to see some scenes with Josh on his own with his friends or his brother.

Obviously, with a lot of romances, the focal point is the couple, how they meet and fall in love, and how they get to happily ever after, but a lot of this book is just Josh and Lucy snarking or making out, and there’s not a lot of depth to it. All in all, it was a fun, if slightly frustrating read. But one I would recommend if you need something fluffy and quick.

The Hating Game was adapted into a movie starring Austin Stowell and Lucy Hale!