Title The Hating Game
Author Sally Thorne
Description from Amazon
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.
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.
Release Date August 9, 2016
Initial Thoughts
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book. Also, it’s a book that was not in my NetGalley queue and I didn’t own before I read it (meaning, I bought it so I could read it). So, basically, this is a book that I should have bumped to the total back burner, but I didn’t.
Some Things I Liked
- Enemies to lovers. My absolute favorite trope. I love the banter and conversations that come out of this trope and was so glad to see it used so well here.
- Pranks and games. I thought the pranks and different games that Lucy played in her head were hilarious. She was always keeping score and I loved that. It reminds me of myself and it’s always nice to connect with a main character in some way.
- First person narration. I really loved that the entire story was told from Lucy’s POV. I think Josh’s POV would have had too many spoilers and I loved that we just saw the world through Lucy’s eyes.
Series Value
As much as I loved these characters, I don’t see much sequel potential here. The ending was very satisfying and we really didn’t meet too many side characters that would be worthy of their own spin-off story. I will, however, say that I want to read more of Sally Thorne’s books if they are anything like The Hating Game.
Final Thoughts
I loved this book. It was laugh out loud funny and the characters were so much fun. I would definitely recommend it and want to read more of Sally Thorne’s writing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
- Well Met by Jen DeLuca – if you like enemies to lovers and down-to-earth quirky characters, try this series by Jen DeLuca. The second book is coming out in September.
- The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward – if you’re looking for an audio recommendation, look no further. Also, this one is holiday themed but who doesn’t love a good holiday book? Anyway, if you like that enemies to lovers vibe, try this one on Audible, it’s phenomenal and hilarious.
- You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle – if you liked the enemies to lovers vibes as well as the pranks, give this April 2020 release a try.
Books Over Everything 