Name: Aisha Mahmoud's review of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Item: The Hating Game
Rating: 4.5
Author: Aisha Mahmoud

Sally Thorne

USA Today bestselling author Sally Thorne bursts on the scene with a hilarious and sexy workplace comedy all about that thin, fine line between hate and love. Lucy Hutton has always believed that the nice girl can get the corner office. She's charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone. Everyone except sarcastic, cynical, and intimidating Joshua Templeman. Her nemesis. Josh is the dark and brooding to Lucy's light and cheery, the crisp pressed suit to her retro outfits and bright red lipstick. And he gets under her skin like no one else can. Trapped in a shared office together five days a week, they've become entrenched in an addictive, never-ending game of one-upmanship. When a new executive position is announced, Josh and Lucy are top contenders for the promotion, but the idea of working for the other is so unthinkable that they strike a deal: whoever doesn't get the job will walk away. The stakes have never been higher and as the competition heats up and the barriers between them begin to fall down, Lucy starts questioning just who her opponent truly is and whether this man she's hated all this time is even the real Josh. Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn't hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn't hate her either. --Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

The Hating Game

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.

A Novel

Elizabeth

"Watching you pretend to hate that nickname is the best part of my day."

lily

"I love you, Lucy Hutton. So much, you have no idea. Please be my best friend."

"You're the girl he calls Shortcake. When I first heard your nickname, I knew. I will tell you now, he's never looked at anyone the way he looks at you."

But you know he's in love with you, right?"

"I love strawberries. So much, you have no idea." He sounds so kind that I feel a wave of emotion. 

Books were, and always would be, something a little magic and something to re- spect.

Lisa Weidacher

Breelyn Campbell

I love you, Lucy Hutton. So much, you have no idea. Please be my best friend. 

There’s a full-length mirror and I see myself, at long last sitting on the bed in his robin’s egg bedroom. His walls are the color of my eyes. 

You never have to explain your choices. Not to me, not to anyone. 

Maj ❤❤

"What? No." My stomach folds in half. And in half again. She puts one hand to her hair and smoothes the already perfect style. It’s blond. She's tall, tan and brown eyed. She's Tall Blondie.

Kayla Jardim

Ellie 

Jenna

chlo faulkner

This is the OG of all enemies to lovers books

Joshua will forever hold a special place in my heart. i re-read it and watched the movie and every now and then i miss the characters

Aisha Mahmoud

This is the OG of all enemies to lovers books

Joshua will forever hold a special place in my heart. i re-read it and watched the movie and every now and then i miss the characters

I’m gonna be honest. I think this book has irrevocably ruined me. It was THAT good. The banter the longing the anger the love. I am not only an entirely changed person after reading this book but i think i am completely obsessed. Josh and Lucy 4eva

Stella 💫

omg shes so tiny he's so large for 500 pages

Kriti Raheja

Gabriela Kondratyuk

The most boring book ever wtf. The best friend was totally put in the book as an afterthought and was so unecessary. Had so much POTENTIAL.

Sumaiya 

THE BEGINNING WAS SO GOOD I SWEAR THE FIRST HALF WAS ONE OF THE BEST FIRST HALVES OF A BOOK I'VE EVER READ. I LOVED IT. IT WAS AMAZING. THE PACING WS GREAT, THE DIAOLOGUE WAS SO GOOD AND THE BACK STORIES MADE ME CRY. Then, when Lucinda went to his apartement I just felt like a pace issue I really dont know, it just felt like the book was taking such a long time to get to the point? I was so sure I was going to give this a 5 stars at the beginning, but we fell down a pit of pacing issues, then I felt like I was getting bored, but then the wedding was such a good setting and I loved it. ALSO WHEN LUCY GOT ILL UGH OMG I LOVE THAT FAROOQING TROP DUDEEEEE. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. hello the tension between these two were so good I was acc screaming. I love the pair of them so so so much. And then Lucy and Joshua's amazing opening up to eachother 🥰 Joshua is so cute I felt so bad for him that he felt like he didn't have a personality because him and Lucy just had so much in common and they were just adorable and just ugh I loved this book until the pacing messed up and Lucy started being SO CRINGE at the end towords his dad. ALSO SHE SHOULD NOT BE CALLED LUCINDA AT ALL, HER NAME SHOULD DEFO BE LEGALLY LUCY okay bye. 

surtified™

De grote TikTok-romcomhit The Hating Game verfilmd. ‘De nieuwe Sophie Kinsella.’ Bustle. Lucy Hutton en Joshua Templeman hebben een bloedhekel aan elkaar. Het vervelende is echter dat ze de hele dag tegenover elkaar zitten, als assistenten van de twee CEO’s van een uitgeverij. Lucy vindt Joshua stijf, onuitstaanbaar en overdreven knap, eh... humorloos. Joshua is iedere dag weer verbijsterd over Lucy’s ongeschikte kledingkeuze en eigenzinnige gedrag. Beiden laten geen gelegenheid voorbijgaan om elkaar op stang te jagen met een heel arsenaal aan subtiele en minder subtiele (en oké, best kinderachtige) spelletjes. Dit wordt al bijna werkroutine, tot ze allebei hun zinnen hebben gezet op dezelfde promotie. Dan barst de strijd pas echt los!

Shannon C

why did I tear up like 3 times? 
this was so cute.

arwen

objectively i wouldn't have given this book 5 stars but joshlucy are saving my mental health
(reread)

the building up of these two dorks to the last two chapters will not disappoint you!

author you are sick for not writing a chapter on how they both go to lucy's family farm!

Hanna Rybchynska

Não digo que foi o melhor livro que li até agora, mas foi um livro muito engraçado! Foi mais adulto, talvez foi por isso que gostei mais. As personagens foram interessantes e dinâmicas, a maneira como interagiam um com o outro era engraçada e fofinha ao mesmo tempo. Achei que, no geral, a história e o desenrolar foi bastante perfeito, nem muito longo nem muito curto! Teve aquele romance e erotismo certo nos lugares certos. Gostei bastante! Acho que quem gosta dos livros no estilo odeio-te/amo-te, devia ler este livro!

Julia

I dnf-ed this book at page 300 and smth and I feel so free.

Sarah Hamrick

I have never had to DNF a book. I came so close to doing it with this one

chloe rae

I bought this to read on my kindle last night as a palate cleanser after finishing the Scythe series. I needed something fun and easy to hold my attention for the next couple days.
I was up reading to 4:00 IN THE MORNING. 
I am OBSESSED.
This may be my favorite romance novel of all time. I haven’t been sucked into a romance so completely in what feels like ages. This was THE BEST. I am IN LOVE. I am immediately purchasing a physical copy of this book so I can read it whenever I’m sad or happy or just simply existing. 
I feel like I’m glowing. I feel like I’M the one that fell in love. This was PERFECT. It was...everything. I feel like I’m floating?! Am I ok?
God, what a great book.

Marcy Pursell 

Everything about this. Enemies to lovers. Set the bar high.

Saffy

i think it is very lovely, if you’re looking for the 90s romcom vibes, i think this one is veeeerrry perrfect! i enjoy reading it but it gets kind of slow pace hence i got a lilll bit bored but i like it!

I FINISHED THIS IN ONE DAY WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK

I could not stop smiling. THE BANTER. The banter was everything. Lucy very much teetered on the edge of being annoying, but she never was, which what made her character so great. Josh was a perfect soft tall boy. And though I do wish they concentrated more on Lucy's love for his personality, they are still a great pair.

Tatiana

The Hating Game: 2/5


  “The trick is to find that one person who can give it back as good as they can take it.”

Premise:
Lucy Hutton and Josh Templeman are arch-enemies. They sit across from each other at work, and their day-to-day contact consists of games to piss each other off, competition, and pranks. The stakes increase to new levels when they're up against each other for the same promotion. As the tension skyrockets, their view of each other starts to change as well.

Writing & Plot:
The first half of this book is phenomenal! I loved the "I love to hate you" trope and the jealousy that radiated off of Lucy and Josh, even though they're enemies. It shows their internal conflict, but as the book progressed, there wasn't much development between their hate relationship and their more romantic relationship. 

If this were more of a slow-burn, it would have been easily five stars, but it went from hating each other on one page to loving each other the next. I wish their banter went on for more than.. two chapters? This got a bit confusing and just overall was weird. It finally ends with a highly sexual relationship that the plot did not introduce during the book's first half. I don't know; all the begging and groveling didn't seem totally in line with their previous characteristics. Overall, the obsession between Lucy and Josh was just not okay and seemed extremely unhealthy.

Also, the R-word is used once... Eeek...

Characters:
I think Josh was the most consistent and complex. He had reasons to back up his behavior, and I enjoyed learning more about him as the story progressed. On the other hand, though, I feel like Lucy just catered herself to Josh, and it was told from the perspective of the male gaze, even though it's Lucy's POV. Lucy was also a wild card for me. Like I mentioned above, I felt like one second she hates Josh, and the next she's suddenly in love and begging him for sex. It just felt WEIRD. Kind of like two different romance novels getting smashed together.

Also, Lucy... honey.... you gotta stop with the smelling. PLS, it's CREEPY. 


  “When you get so little of someone, you take what you can get.”

Conclusion:
First half: ok....
Second half: ..no....

I wish I liked this more. Truly. Overall the vibes were off, I wish there were more "mean" banter, and I wanted more hate. I think the book overall would have made more sense from Josh's perspective since it is told from the male gaze, and Lucy was all over the place and.. messy. 

I'll still be reading more of Sally Thorne, though.

Robi Carballo

The build up is really slow, and the plot is rushed. It's not promising but I still enjoyed it tho.

I love you, Lucy Hutton. So much you have no idea. Please be my bestfriend.

HOLY SHIT! 
The Hating Game is one of those journey. Actually, I've read this book a while ago, but I haven't reach the end so I thought I have to finish it. And no regrets. One of the best office romance I have ever read. Josh and Lucy bickering all day long... one of my favorite thing about this book. And Josh and Lucy being vulnerable and opened up to each other.... please just break my heart it would hurt less. 

Solid 4 stars!

☆ // (DNF) super agressive male, borderline stalker, and I can't stand forced kisses, especially when someone's trapped in an enclosed space like an elevator (even if she kissed him back). blergh.

This book was meh to me, i had a hard time finishing it cause i kept getting annoyed that they were making it so obvious that they loved eachother even while they were still enemies like I NEED SLOWW burn and it was just missing smth for me. ALSO IF ANYONE PAINTED THEIR BEDROOM WALLS THE COLOR OF MY EYES I WOULD FILE A RESTRAINING ORDER LIKE UHM?? PLS NO.

Daniela Castrodes

carolreadabook

no começo é blé e depois é terrivelmente ruim.

Kenzi Linton

This book has been on my list for a very long time and honestly, I’m a bit disappointed because I feel like this book was so hyped about and it really didn’t do much for me. I feel like it went from 0 to 100 real quick and then it suddenly went back to 0. It felt like every chapter the characters were either friends or hated one another. I wasn’t a fan of the whole back and forth. I thought about quitting this book so many times, but ultimately was curious enough to finish it.

honya

overrated 👍 i didn’t even read the book lmao but everyone’s been saying that the movie is the exact same thing as the book and i didn’t really love the movie so 2 stars

chlo faulkner &
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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The Hating Game by Sally Thorne