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mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition
I found the characters quite irritating and found the 'games' that they played with each other petty and immature. I get the that was perhaps the point of the start of the book and was willing to keep going until I got to the elevator scene.
While some people may find this scene 'saucy' I couldn't get past that it began as sexual assault. Josh emergency stops the elevator and Lucy is clearly uncomfortable. He then picks Lucy up and when she says to put her down he proceeds to push her up against the wall and starts to kiss her. She ends up kissing him back so it is brushed off that this is okay. It is not.
I skim read through the rest of the book only to find it rather boring and also full of more problematic behaviour.
Numerous times Josh tells Danny not to talk to Lucy, or deliberately tries to distance them. Near the end he snatches Lucy's phone from her while she is talking to Danny and tells him to stop talking to her. This is very much controlling behaviour and I am unsure why this book is glorified as being a 'cute romance'. There is nothing cute about Josh's behaviour.
I really don't understand why this book is so hyped up??
I skim read through the rest of the book only to find it rather boring and also full of more problematic behaviour.
I really don't understand why this book is so hyped up??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia
_tamara_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Cursing
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Stalking
Minor: Vomit
bendersreads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Ableism
Depending on your edition of the novel, Josh calls himself 'socially retarded' as a way of apology. Lucy also makes a comment on how she's a 'gypsy'.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
miak2's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book is called The Hating Game and that's what I felt like I was playing as I read it. Whoops. Usually I put the TL;DR at the end of my reviews, but I can tell this'll be a long one, so here you go: Can we please stop putting toxic men and unhealthy relationships on a pedestal like this? And despite the fact that I found both Lucy and Josh immature and unlikeable, there were a number of problematic things about this book as well. I could recommend a number of fanfictions with this exact premise and much better execution. Just name the fandom, I guarantee I'll find one.
I do want to recognize that this type of contemporary romance just doesn't work for me. I'm sure there was a certain amount of confirmation bias as I read, ok skimmed, through it.
...That being said, a lot of my issues transcend personal preference. I'll start with the more serious offenses. There was a LOT of fat shaming played off as quirky jokes (i.e. Lucy referring to her boss as 'Fat Little Dick' and a "fat, sleazy toad.) There was the sentence: "I look like a g**** fortune-teller screaming about your imminent death" p. 27. There was also shaming of sex-workers ("The investigators will see my fishnets and heavy eye makeup and assume I'm a hooker" p. 66).
And then we get to Joshua, who was a consistently toxic person. I didn't like Lucy for a lot of reasons, but I would legitimately be scared of Josh if I worked with him (or, heaven forbid, dated him). Here's just a few (ok, many) examples:
- Page 108: Joshua is holding me by the scruff of my damp T-shirt and tells them it's fine. He has a lively debate with Danny, who keeps asking me, "Are you sure?" / "Of course she's fucking sure," Joshua thunders.
- Page 122: "The elevator," I blurt ... "You surprised me then." / He looks at me carefully. "What did you think?" / "I thought you were trying to hurt me." (This is when Joshua lifts her by the ass and kisses her without consent!)
-Page 135, Lucy to Danny: "He didn't tell me you'd tried to call. Thanks for checking on me."
- Page 141: The balance has shifted dramatically between us. I'm in his debt now. I owe him.
- Page 159: Another text. Joshua Templeman: Lucinda. I'm getting annoyed.
- Page 165: I lift one foot and begin to run. / "No you don't," he tells me. He walks into the building lobby with me under his arm like a rolled-up newspaper.
- Page 171: "I snooped through your apartment. It's your turn."
- Page 224, to Lucy and Danny: "You're working on your presentation. Right. Okay." Josh takes his coffee when his name is called and gives such an accusing look my face nearly melts off. "And we were doing that too, Lucinda? Last night on my couch?"
- Page 253: Surely he'll laugh. It's sort of funny when you think about it. "Yeah, I did lie about it." / There's a pause, and this time I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble. "Lucinda. What the fuck? Why would you do that?" His anger is visceral.
- Page 296: "How could I tell you this morning, and ruin the moment? I knew how you'd react. Just like this."
- Page 299: He takes the phone out of my hand and looks at the caller ID. "It's Joshua. Don't call her again. Yes, I'm serious." He hangs it up and slides it into his pocket. / "Hey. Give it back." / "No fucking chance."
Anywho, I'll move onto the more lighthearted things that just didn't work for me. The biggest one is Lucy. My GOD she was SO CHILDISH. Photocopying pages of Josh's planner. Making her computer password 'IHATE-JOSHUA4EV@' (I wish I were making that up. Also later she changes it to DIE-JOSH-DIE!). Not to mention her constant pity party. Seemingly every other page, she'd describe herself as a "loney loser." Let me be clear, this isn't some commentary on mental health and isolation, it's all played off as quirky character-building.
My other complaint is that it's clear that Thorne has never worked in an office, or even watched a TV show set in an office (which are usually absurd and unrealistic anyway, but somehow even less so than this book). There's this unnatural divide between the men and women in the company (where the women are all emotional and passionate and the men are cold-hearted and numbers-driven. Rolls eyes.) Also, it's a Big! Deal! apparently that Joshua uses blue post-its and Lucy uses pink ones, and later she comments on how his bedroom is too feminine. I guess we're still doing that in 2016.
The HR director literally babysat Lucy and Josh because she 'spent most of her job fielding their HR complaints about each other.' They should not have jobs, then, let alone be up for a promotion. Not to mention the casual discussions of sex and relationships with their bosses (the CEOs!) - sure, Jan. The dialogue was just... bad. The hilarious stand-out is Lucy saying "I want to know what's going on in your brain. I want to juice your head like a lemon" p. 203. I get that it's a cheesy romance, but these characters did not talk like real people. At one point, Lucy's talking to Josh's parents and refers to him as their 'offspring.' I can't 😂.
At the end of the day, they were unlikeable individually and unhealthy together, which made the book wholly unenjoyable. But let's be real, the biggest offense was Lucy's huge obsession with Smurfs.
I do want to recognize that this type of contemporary romance just doesn't work for me. I'm sure there was a certain amount of confirmation bias as I read, ok skimmed, through it.
...That being said, a lot of my issues transcend personal preference. I'll start with the more serious offenses. There was a LOT of fat shaming played off as quirky jokes (i.e. Lucy referring to her boss as 'Fat Little Dick' and a "fat, sleazy toad.) There was the sentence: "I look like a g**** fortune-teller screaming about your imminent death" p. 27. There was also shaming of sex-workers ("The investigators will see my fishnets and heavy eye makeup and assume I'm a hooker" p. 66).
And then we get to Joshua, who was a consistently toxic person. I didn't like Lucy for a lot of reasons, but I would legitimately be scared of Josh if I worked with him (or, heaven forbid, dated him). Here's just a few (ok, many) examples:
- Page 108: Joshua is holding me by the scruff of my damp T-shirt and tells them it's fine. He has a lively debate with Danny, who keeps asking me, "Are you sure?" / "Of course she's fucking sure," Joshua thunders.
- Page 122: "The elevator," I blurt ... "You surprised me then." / He looks at me carefully. "What did you think?" / "I thought you were trying to hurt me." (This is when Joshua lifts her by the ass and kisses her without consent!)
-Page 135, Lucy to Danny: "He didn't tell me you'd tried to call. Thanks for checking on me."
- Page 141: The balance has shifted dramatically between us. I'm in his debt now. I owe him.
- Page 159: Another text. Joshua Templeman: Lucinda. I'm getting annoyed.
- Page 165: I lift one foot and begin to run. / "No you don't," he tells me. He walks into the building lobby with me under his arm like a rolled-up newspaper.
- Page 171: "I snooped through your apartment. It's your turn."
- Page 224, to Lucy and Danny: "You're working on your presentation. Right. Okay." Josh takes his coffee when his name is called and gives such an accusing look my face nearly melts off. "And we were doing that too, Lucinda? Last night on my couch?"
- Page 253: Surely he'll laugh. It's sort of funny when you think about it. "Yeah, I did lie about it." / There's a pause, and this time I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble. "Lucinda. What the fuck? Why would you do that?" His anger is visceral.
- Page 296: "How could I tell you this morning, and ruin the moment? I knew how you'd react. Just like this."
- Page 299: He takes the phone out of my hand and looks at the caller ID. "It's Joshua. Don't call her again. Yes, I'm serious." He hangs it up and slides it into his pocket. / "Hey. Give it back." / "No fucking chance."
Anywho, I'll move onto the more lighthearted things that just didn't work for me. The biggest one is Lucy. My GOD she was SO CHILDISH. Photocopying pages of Josh's planner. Making her computer password 'IHATE-JOSHUA4EV@' (I wish I were making that up. Also later she changes it to DIE-JOSH-DIE!). Not to mention her constant pity party. Seemingly every other page, she'd describe herself as a "loney loser." Let me be clear, this isn't some commentary on mental health and isolation, it's all played off as quirky character-building.
My other complaint is that it's clear that Thorne has never worked in an office, or even watched a TV show set in an office (which are usually absurd and unrealistic anyway, but somehow even less so than this book). There's this unnatural divide between the men and women in the company (where the women are all emotional and passionate and the men are cold-hearted and numbers-driven. Rolls eyes.) Also, it's a Big! Deal! apparently that Joshua uses blue post-its and Lucy uses pink ones, and later she comments on how his bedroom is too feminine. I guess we're still doing that in 2016.
The HR director literally babysat Lucy and Josh because she 'spent most of her job fielding their HR complaints about each other.' They should not have jobs, then, let alone be up for a promotion. Not to mention the casual discussions of sex and relationships with their bosses (the CEOs!) - sure, Jan. The dialogue was just... bad. The hilarious stand-out is Lucy saying "I want to know what's going on in your brain. I want to juice your head like a lemon" p. 203. I get that it's a cheesy romance, but these characters did not talk like real people. At one point, Lucy's talking to Josh's parents and refers to him as their 'offspring.' I can't 😂.
At the end of the day, they were unlikeable individually and unhealthy together, which made the book wholly unenjoyable. But let's be real, the biggest offense was Lucy's huge obsession with Smurfs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Racial slurs
tayacass's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This seemed so over rated…..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Bullying
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book has been highly recommended to me by everyone who enjoys romances. Upon reading it, I completely see why.
The chemistry is great, the writing is harp and funny, the plot is engaging, and the ending is satisfying.
My biggest criticism is that Lucy does some very weird things, and I legitimately can't understand why Josh is charmed by them. Like someone obsessively going through my apartment and taking my things doesn't seem charming to me, even if I was in love with them. What's the appeal?
The chemistry is great, the writing is harp and funny, the plot is engaging, and the ending is satisfying.
My biggest criticism is that Lucy does some very weird things, and I legitimately can't understand why Josh is charmed by them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
plqnted's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
alainasanders's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Graphic: Sexism, Vomit, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
I did like the book but I do wish some things were different, almost every chapter she’s listing after him. There are also SO MANY mentions of ‘she’s small’ ‘she’s tiny’ ‘she’s so short’ that it felt like they almost were making her a damsel in distress at some points. Other than that it was cute, if you like workplace romances and enemies to lovers (even though they didn’t seem like enemies in the first place) I think you’d like it more.