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hannahwhiteyy's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was really sweet, but I thought it was WAY too fast-paced and I didn’t fall in love with it. 3 stars for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content
capybooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
As far as the enemies-to-lovers trope goes, The Hating Game takes the cake. There are so many things I love about this novel - the elevator scene in chapter 6, Josh looking after Lucy when she was ill, the flowers Josh sends Lucy (THE NOTE 😭🥺), Lucy standing up for Josh against his father. All brilliant scenes! One slight issue I had was I feel like ‘hate’ is too strong a word for this story. The characters say they hate each other, but do little to actually show that, although I do understand the whole idea is them saying they hate each other as opposed to admitting the feelings they both have. The Hating Game is a lighthearted, hilarious and feel-good novel, and I can’t wait to read it again soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death, Sexual assault, and Self harm
valyn_grebe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism and Sexism
jsfbec's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, and Vomit
angelsfw's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
“fight with me, kiss me. laugh at me. tell me if you’re sad. don’t make me go home.”
i really enjoyed this romance and had a lot of fun while reading it. i thought the banter between the two characters was so funny and it did make me laugh at times. their relationship had a very natural progression and nothing felt too rushed. the chemistry was completely believable and they both had me enraptured and rooting for them.
however, the reason this is rated 1 star and not 5 is because in the first printing of the book the author used the r-slur. On page 358, josh refers to himself as “emotionally stunted”, which was what was changed in later printings. why is that a word authors still feel the need to use in their books ? its so completely unnecessary and i would have never known if i hadn’t read reviews myself. its great that it was changed, but it shouldn’t have been used in the first place. ableism isn’t cute or quirky so stop using the r-slur. in addition to this, there was also unnecessary amounts of fatphobia. fat and ugly were essentially used interchangeably throughout the book. this outdated idea is simply not true ?!?!?!?! fat does not equal ugly and i can’t even believe the author included that ?
also, the whole “lucy being way shorter than josh” was ridiculous at times. she referred to herself as small and squishy too many times throughout the book. there are much better ways to emphasize a height difference. she also made it a point to compare her body to josh’s and how she was so “squishy” in comparison to his muscle toned figure. i just felt it was so unnecessary.
despite that, this has definitely become a comfort read for me. i feel like there’s a lot the author can learn from in this book and i encourage her to do just that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
beca_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This book lived up to the hype but I can definitely see problems with it that could easily be overlooked such as the fatphobia and ableism throughout the book. I did personally find Josh quite creepy and controlling at points, and Lucy bringing up her height every few seconds was not necessary at all. I also wish that the book had told us where it was set, I constantly was having to remind myself that it was somewhere in the U.S and not the UK.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
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