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rensreading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
i read this in one sitting (5hrs and 19mins according to libby). i loved that the spice was sprinkled in so soon, it kept me interested and invested in the will-they-wont-they feeling going on for the first half of the book.
oh man so many people said josh should’ve had a restraining order put against him for how creepy and stalkerish he was, but everyone absolutely failed to mentioned that lucy matched his energy tit for tat. they’re insane4insane in such a good way too lol
idk which book came out first but since it was the last book i finished reading, i kept comparing this to the spanish love deception. the fact both books are an office rivals to lovers story where theyget together after attending a wedding and mention their size difference so much while the woman is battling crippling loneliness on top of all that? that’s a little too on the nose. i will say though, the hating game did the spice scenes a lot better than the spanish love deception. definitely a 3🌶 rating from me, so pretty mild in general terms
i like that there was no third act breakup like every other rom com seems to have at the moment. i hate those with a passion. the plot was pretty good too. i liked lucy but she showed her obsessive tendencies by page 3 so josh isn’t the only weird one in their relationship and that should definitely be mentioned more. their banter was funny and natural and the flirting in the office? *chef’s kiss*
all in all, i’d rate this a 3.75 star rating (:
oh man so many people said josh should’ve had a restraining order put against him for how creepy and stalkerish he was, but everyone absolutely failed to mentioned that lucy matched his energy tit for tat. they’re insane4insane in such a good way too lol
idk which book came out first but since it was the last book i finished reading, i kept comparing this to the spanish love deception. the fact both books are an office rivals to lovers story where they
i like that there was no third act breakup like every other rom com seems to have at the moment. i hate those with a passion. the plot was pretty good too. i liked lucy but she showed her obsessive tendencies by page 3 so josh isn’t the only weird one in their relationship and that should definitely be mentioned more. their banter was funny and natural and the flirting in the office? *chef’s kiss*
all in all, i’d rate this a 3.75 star rating (:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
Minor: Toxic relationship
i’m merely tagging this with a minor toxic relationship because the main relationship are deranged4deranged so keep that in mind while reading!forgetfulreader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
This book came out in 2016, and you can tell by how the characters act and talk, so I kept that in mind when reading it, and I think many should do the same since lost has changed since then. But, I did like it a lot more than I thought I was; it's a very easy read and keeps you entertained on every page. I wish the ending were longer idk it felt rushed, almost like it stopped right in the middle.
*Spoiler*
I would have loved to see josh meet her parents. That's where I thought the book was going to go.
*Spoiler*
I would have loved to see josh meet her parents. That's where I thought the book was going to go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Toxic relationship and Bullying
uyeb's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
1.5/5 stars
you don’t understand the ANGER i feel at this book for so utterly disappointing me. let me go on a rant for a second.
first of all, i actually started this book liking it pretty well. then it went on and the writing style had me a bit confused, but i was still pretty into the story. then about 250 pages through i realized ‘this is bs’ and started looking at the whole book through a lens of ‘how did booktok so passionately promote something so problematic?’. yea sjm is on the list a lot and yes some of the popular books aren’t good but so far, tiktok has done a pretty good job for me. apparently it ends here?
for starters, i was pretty quickly annoyed with both the main character and the love interest. lucy is very adamant about making people know she’s short (fine for a bit but gets annoying after a while), and OBSESSIVELY talks about josh’s body and kissing him, etc. that came across like… super freaking gross to me? then josh’s whole point of existence was being tall and muscular but also mean and the ‘iceman’ that needed to be proven to be nice. first of all, overdone trope. second of all, ew. their romance was bearable for most of the book, but the make out scenes were confusing and the amount of time they spent talking about sex instead of… idk… hanging out? was frustrATING. plus the weird plot point of painting his room the color of her eyes???? no thank you. i also didn’t love the pacing but that’s a me thing not a book problem.
then there was the insanely talked about idea of masculinity? i caught somewhere between 5 and 10 really really weird things that were said, along the lines of ‘saved from femininity’, ‘his manliness’, etc. and it came across as toxic masculinity and misogyny wrapped up into one weird package. no idea if that was the intention or not, but that’s what happened. also should mention the ‘his desk was the male version of mine, with blue post it notes, while i have pink’. yep you heard it here first, blue = men and pink = women. also, not an uncommon thing in romance but i still hate it, groups of women were referred to as ‘females’ at least once in this book. and that’s not inherently problematic but it’s weird. a. vaguely derogatory and b. a little transphobic and/or trans-exclusionary.
then let’s not forget to mention the fat-phobia and strange mentions of eating/food (not even sure how to categorize them), the use of multiple literal slurs??? how have more people not talked about that. there’s also the casual mentions about wanting to die (not in reference to anything like mental health, just about kissing, sex, etc) that multiple people have pointed out are very inappropriate, ableist language that’s used very frequently, and the occasional sprinkle of implying that being a sex worker is inherently a bad thing. yeah the phrases used to describe disabled people (some of which are considered slurs to begin with) used derogatorily are too much. some other reviewers have said it more eloquently than i can but it’s not good. there’s also a blatant lack of consent- especially lacking on lucy’s part- that made me personally super uncomfy. edit: let’s also not forget the fact that josh is lowkey toxic- he was unnecessarily possessive and weird to danny when it was completely undeserved. not possessive in the way some books do it well, trust me.
all this said, the romance was fine for the most part, but the writing style and language used really ruined it for me. i’m starting to think the adult romance genre isn’t gonna do it for me (dw tho, i’m not giving up). i at least definitely should’ve listened to myself when i originally thought i wouldn’t like this. would not recommend, this is the lowest i think i’ve ever rated something even if it’s not the worst book i’ve ever read in terms of actual content. :(
you don’t understand the ANGER i feel at this book for so utterly disappointing me. let me go on a rant for a second.
first of all, i actually started this book liking it pretty well. then it went on and the writing style had me a bit confused, but i was still pretty into the story. then about 250 pages through i realized ‘this is bs’ and started looking at the whole book through a lens of ‘how did booktok so passionately promote something so problematic?’. yea sjm is on the list a lot and yes some of the popular books aren’t good but so far, tiktok has done a pretty good job for me. apparently it ends here?
for starters, i was pretty quickly annoyed with both the main character and the love interest. lucy is very adamant about making people know she’s short (fine for a bit but gets annoying after a while), and OBSESSIVELY talks about josh’s body and kissing him, etc. that came across like… super freaking gross to me? then josh’s whole point of existence was being tall and muscular but also mean and the ‘iceman’ that needed to be proven to be nice. first of all, overdone trope. second of all, ew. their romance was bearable for most of the book, but the make out scenes were confusing and the amount of time they spent talking about sex instead of… idk… hanging out? was frustrATING. plus the weird plot point of painting his room the color of her eyes???? no thank you. i also didn’t love the pacing but that’s a me thing not a book problem.
then there was the insanely talked about idea of masculinity? i caught somewhere between 5 and 10 really really weird things that were said, along the lines of ‘saved from femininity’, ‘his manliness’, etc. and it came across as toxic masculinity and misogyny wrapped up into one weird package. no idea if that was the intention or not, but that’s what happened. also should mention the ‘his desk was the male version of mine, with blue post it notes, while i have pink’. yep you heard it here first, blue = men and pink = women. also, not an uncommon thing in romance but i still hate it, groups of women were referred to as ‘females’ at least once in this book. and that’s not inherently problematic but it’s weird. a. vaguely derogatory and b. a little transphobic and/or trans-exclusionary.
then let’s not forget to mention the fat-phobia and strange mentions of eating/food (not even sure how to categorize them), the use of multiple literal slurs??? how have more people not talked about that. there’s also the casual mentions about wanting to die (not in reference to anything like mental health, just about kissing, sex, etc) that multiple people have pointed out are very inappropriate, ableist language that’s used very frequently, and the occasional sprinkle of implying that being a sex worker is inherently a bad thing. yeah the phrases used to describe disabled people (some of which are considered slurs to begin with) used derogatorily are too much. some other reviewers have said it more eloquently than i can but it’s not good. there’s also a blatant lack of consent- especially lacking on lucy’s part- that made me personally super uncomfy. edit: let’s also not forget the fact that josh is lowkey toxic- he was unnecessarily possessive and weird to danny when it was completely undeserved. not possessive in the way some books do it well, trust me.
all this said, the romance was fine for the most part, but the writing style and language used really ruined it for me. i’m starting to think the adult romance genre isn’t gonna do it for me (dw tho, i’m not giving up). i at least definitely should’ve listened to myself when i originally thought i wouldn’t like this. would not recommend, this is the lowest i think i’ve ever rated something even if it’s not the worst book i’ve ever read in terms of actual content. :(
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Racial slurs
sosierra's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment
writtenbydnicole's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
jenna36'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
4.25
I actually ended up watching the movie before I read the book, but I still really enjoyed it! In my opinion the first half of the movie is better, but the last half of the book is better. I think in the book the connection and feelings between Josh and Lucy were much stronger because we actually get to see inside Lucy's head in the book. I was surprised at how soon I could tell that Josh was in love with Lucy. And I really think that the book makes them into two puzzle pieces that fit together. Josh balances out Lucy's more annoying "nice girl" tendencies, and he pushes her to be brave with her feelings when she works herself up into a freak out. Lucy brings out the nicer tendencies in Josh as well, and she sees him clearly in a way that not a lot of people do. They are each exactly what the other person needs. I probably would have rated it five stars if it wasn't a little messy and meandering in the first 40 or 50%.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Minor: Toxic relationship
suziereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Vomit
shuelace's review against another edition
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
2.25
This book. This book. I hate to love it, so, so much because it's definitely NOT perfect. It's a whole lot of bad things and YET, I got butterflies at times? What does this say about me? I DNF'd about 25% into the book after the bratty behaviour and childish games they played with one another. The plot was slow but then took an aggressively fast turn. I don't know why this is considered a slow burn (lol), perhaps because one of the character's kept their feelings a secret for so long? But I forced myself myself to continue and finished it in a day.
The character's engage in weird, obsessive (and stalker-y, and intrusive) behaviour towards/with each other, it's a little too territorial, involves way too much objectification to the point of discomfort from the receiving character (like literally is Josh anything more tho), it's too immature at times, a little too much "oh no I completely misunderstood and now I HATE YOU and as a reader you're frustrated as hell but not is a good way", and a little tamer on the spice train than it's hyped to have had (ha). Some of the plot points were were formulaic, it frustrated me. In spite of communicating his feelings, Josh shows Lucy he loves her by picking on her like an 8 year-old boy. Which goes to show that finally when this mature girl decides decides show his feelings, the couple's "initiating" is unrealistic. But even if he was being a brat, Lucy not even CONSIDERING that Josh had feelings for her? Wat? There are so many obvious signs.
Did I absolutely love the banter? Yes. The quick retorts were 🤌, though it was difficult to track the dialogue towards the end of the book and who was saying what. I enjoyed the character's commitment to one another even if it frustrated me to no end how immature and noncommunicative they both were at times. Aka being spiteful, rude, and insulting to one another and at times, crossing the line beyond civility. But did I enjoy Josh's (obvious) secret pining? Yes 🥺. I enjoyed his sweet and tender behaviour towards her once they were together.
I give him a lot more credit for character development as he clearly had more complexity and character growth than Lucy had at all. Her plot focuses basically on her needing saving? Am I simplifying it? Maybe. Josh then confesses he's been objectiified and used in the past for just his body and Lucy immediately...does the same thing? She does a half assed job on showing him and telling him otherwise.
Also, why does he keep saying "your freakouts" to Lucy? You mean her rationality trying to understand what's happening in your relationship and your sudden change of behaviour? Is she just supposed to forgive you based on some very unclear motives and barely communicated intentions? Are you saying she's not allowed to have anxious feelings or caution around her heart? And she's just trying to process everything? Does Josh think she suddenly TRUSTS him and can confide deep, dark things to him even though he's clearly broken her trust many times? WHAT.
Finally, one last frustration. WHY is the trope of big strong man and smol little woman so, so prevalent in current population romance fiction? Like, I get it on a surface level that this could be a steamy idea to some but the fact that it's mentioned ENDLESSLY. we GET it. Lucy is SO SMALL. Josh is RIPPED AND HAS ENDLESS PENT UP SEXUAL ENERGY TO WORKOUT. omg. There's probably so much more to say but THESE ARE MY CURRENT FRUSTRATIONS.
The character's engage in weird, obsessive (and stalker-y, and intrusive) behaviour towards/with each other, it's a little too territorial, involves way too much objectification to the point of discomfort from the receiving character (like literally is Josh anything more tho), it's too immature at times, a little too much "oh no I completely misunderstood and now I HATE YOU and as a reader you're frustrated as hell but not is a good way", and a little tamer on the spice train than it's hyped to have had (ha).
Did I absolutely love the banter? Yes. The quick retorts were 🤌, though it was difficult to track the dialogue towards the end of the book and who was saying what. I enjoyed the character's commitment to one another even if it frustrated me to no end how immature and noncommunicative they both were at times. Aka being spiteful, rude, and insulting to one another and at times, crossing the line beyond civility.
I give him a lot more credit for character development as he clearly had more complexity and character growth than Lucy had at all. Her plot focuses basically on her needing saving? Am I simplifying it? Maybe. Josh then confesses he's been objectiified and used in the past for just his body and Lucy immediately...does the same thing? She does a half assed job on showing him and telling him otherwise.
Also, why does he keep saying "your freakouts" to Lucy? You mean her rationality trying to understand what's happening in your relationship and your sudden change of behaviour? Is she just supposed to forgive you based on some very unclear motives and barely communicated intentions? Are you saying she's not allowed to have anxious feelings or caution around her heart? And she's just trying to process everything? Does Josh think she suddenly TRUSTS him and can confide deep, dark things to him even though he's clearly broken her trust many times? WHAT.
Finally, one last frustration. WHY is the trope of big strong man and smol little woman so, so prevalent in current population romance fiction? Like, I get it on a surface level that this could be a steamy idea to some but the fact that it's mentioned ENDLESSLY. we GET it. Lucy is SO SMALL. Josh is RIPPED AND HAS ENDLESS PENT UP SEXUAL ENERGY TO WORKOUT. omg. There's probably so much more to say but THESE ARE MY CURRENT FRUSTRATIONS.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit and Sexual content
jmonca's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Sexism
asleepyreader's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship