
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne revolves around the workplace rivalry between Lucy and Josh, who despise each other but find themselves sharing an office after a merger. As they compete for the same promotion, their interactions are filled with witty banter, mind games, and emotional vulnerability. The story is a mix of romance, comedy, and tension, with a slow burn enemies-to-lovers plot that keeps readers engaged. Thorne's writing style is described as cute, light-hearted, and funny, making it an entertaining and enjoyable read for fans of contemporary romance and chick lit.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book may contain themes that could be triggering for some readers, such as workplace harassment and body image issues, though they are contextualized within the story's dynamics.
Has Romance?
The romance is a central element of the story, characterized by significant emotional and physical tension between the main characters.
From The Publisher:
Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture!
USA Today Bestseller
Debut author Sally Thorne bursts on the scene with a hilarious and sexy workplace comedy all about that thin, fine line between hate and love.
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.
Ratings (378)
Incredible (49) | |
Loved It (143) | |
Liked It (116) | |
It Was OK (44) | |
Did Not Like (21) | |
Hated It (5) |
Reader Stats (672):
Read It (395) | |
Want To Read (185) | |
Did Not Finish (11) | |
Not Interested (81) |
20 comment(s)
This jumped from a 2 star too 4,5 stars in my second reread. I don't how I read it last time that made me dislike it so much but I absolutely loved it this time. It was so cute and quirky, was in love with the banter and the tension was intriguing. Such a good read!
3.5 stars
This book reminded me of Practice Makes Perfect, but I liked this book slightly better due to Joshua.
reread on 4-5 november
Loved it had me laughing and interested right on page one
I didn’t realize how far this game stuff really went because I was just expecting it to be just them hating each other and that’s was it but nope
Josh and Lucy’s relationship is cute but it not like my all time favorite but I still like them together I just feels like I’m missing something but don’t know exactly what
It’s like I like them together but it wasn’t necessarily like “I can’t wait for the moment when there finally together” if that makes sense
(I wrote that before I read the epilogue and I’ve changed my mind 🥺💕)
And I absolutely adored their banter it was hilarious
And the way josh cared for Lucy was adorable and really warmed my heart 🥺
my only complaints are that it was hard for me to tell who was talking because it would just be dialogue and it wouldn’t say who said what
sometimes I would get it and then other times I would have no idea but it wasn’t to bad just a little annoying
And Lucy objectifying josh made me uncomfortable
I think the epilogue made me feel completely different about the book
Because before I very unsure and I felt like I was missing something but it was really sweet and love that they are finally together and happy 😊
But I do wish it didn’t go by so fast
four stars ⭐️
3.5
ending was lowk cringe but the rest was good
I devoured this book and was only disappointed when I reached the end and there was no more Lucy and Josh. Ultimate enemies-to-lovers story--highly recommended.
--Reread December 2021--
I didn't realize a movie was being made. Reading again before watching. <3 Josh.
The Hating Game was exactly what I needed. After reading a particularly heavy piece of literary fiction, I wanted something light and simple. This book was exactly that. It was predictable, the characters followed a stereotypical trope, but they were like-able and interesting enough to keep me reading. Is this book the next literary masterpiece, maybe not. But it was a perfectly solid piece of romantic fiction that re-sparked my dimming interest in reading this month.
The chemistry was off the charts between the two main characters. Both a slow burn and an unexpected twist at the beginning of the book. I had to force myself to put it down to go to sleep and now that I've finished it, I'm afraid I won't be able to find anything else like it again.
The characters, especially the way Josh acts with Lucy
I've heard a lot about this book and expected a lot. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. This book turned out to be really cute and has given me a lot of fun.
Josh turned out to be completely different than I expected. He is, in my opinion, the more interesting of this couple. His personality has more depth. Although it seems to me that towards the end the author has gone a bit crazy with ascribing all possible positive qualities to him. Sometimes it felt like he was a little too perfect. But it wasn't too much of a problem for me because he is really cute.
Compared to Josh, Luce is more of a typical romance character. Of course, she has a lot of personality as well, but characters like her are more common in contemporary romances that I read. My biggest problem was with her inability to get involved in a relationship which was really strange at times. Now and then I felt that I did not fully understand her. But still, I liked her.
They both make a really cute couple. I enjoyed both their banter and the more romantic moments. This introduced interesting dynamics to their relationship. I found their feelings believable. I was kind of surprised by the relatively little amount of sex. Especially since Luce and Josh's relationship is full of tension and desire.
I haven't read a lot of office romances and this is probably not my favorite place for a story like this. I also think that most of these types of romances are the story of the boss and the employee who is in love with him. It was fun to read about a completely different relationship. Much of the story takes place in the confined space of the office where Luce and Josh work. I liked the contacts with other employees of the company. I wish I could see more of them. I'm also disappointed that in the end we didn't find out if Luce got her dream job as director. Here I feel unsatisfied.
Overall it was a very enjoyable and cute story. This is probably the first book by this author that I have read. I think I'll try others too. This author can certainly create an interesting situation for her characters.
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