The Hating Game Review

Distiller: Hikari Loftus
4/5 Stars



The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks (August 9, 2016)

I have to admit that when this landed on my doorstep I took one look at the title and synopsis and was certain it wasn’t something that I wanted to make time for. With a synopsis like that, I was pretty sure I could tell you this story without reading it.

BUT I headed over to Goodreads to give the reviews a browse like I always do, and was surprised at how many good reviews it was getting. And almost every review said the same thing: this is cliche, you know how it’s going to end after reading the first page, but it’s so worth the read!

Well, that interested me enough that I cracked it open. Somewhere around 2:30 a.m. when I began to hit delirium, I stood up, took a stretch, splashed some water on my face, and kept going. haha.

Lucy and Josh–two co-workers that absolutely loathe each other. They are both going after the same promotion. But after one earth shattering kiss in the elevator, Lucy isn’t sure she hates him or if he hates her. Is it something more? Or just another game they are playing to take each other down before the big interview.

I loved the character and world building in this. I felt so connected to Lucy and Josh, like I knew them. I loved the tension, the funny dialogue, that one part where it felt like dialogue from a harlequin romance, the major fist pumping verbal take down…

So yeah, this is cliche. I’d say there were zero surprises or anything you can’t call in this read. But man, all the space in-between were so well done. I think if you like Colleen Hoover’s romance, characters and banter, you might enjoy this. (I’m not calling them the same thing, but it’s still a “if you like this, you might like this” type of thing.)

So glad I gave this a shot, it was perfect for my mood this week. It was a great, quick read that kept me interested. (Definitely classifying this as an adult read for mild language and sex scenes.) if you're looking for a good "chick flick", give this one a try!