Reviews

A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison

madiii_e's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

raeanne's review against another edition

4.0

I received this book for free from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.I'm such a sucker for a good rom-com, like 10 Things I Hate About You and To All The Boys I've Loved Before. Now, we've got A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison. Two childhood friend reunite under the same roof and everything seems set against them, including each other, but as they say, there's a thin line between love and hate.

About A Love Hate Thing:

IMHO: A Love Hate Thing

Ooooooo this is so good! A Love Hate Thing is a modern rom com with all the hallmarks of making a great movie.

It's also a love letter for late 90s/00s pop culture. They met as children, so a lot of their initial connection is rooted in that nostalgia and it's celebrated. I don't think it's too old or dated. The timeline works for when they were kids and it makes sense. I do think Gen Z's have more appreciation for Millenial pop culture than Millenials for Boomers, so there isn't going to as drastic a change in references yet. Plus, there's plenty of current pop culture as well so it's a good mix.
I totally got why Nandi and Tyson bumped heads and fought. I can't STAND when the conflict doesn't make sense or can be solved with a talk. They did talk. Then things changed, they fought, and talked again. It's not always smooth and easy sailing for love, which is always good to see in fiction. I'm tired of the instant clicking couple, TBH.

I looooove the supporting cast of friends. I read in the author's note my two favorites were inspired by The OC, which totally makes sense. Such a sucker for everyone in here, actaully.

When the shy girl stepped up & started dancing on Travis?? SO PROUD. Literally met her for like 5 pages, but my heart swelled. Kyle, my sweet nerdy, Kyle *squee*



I'm so down with more Pacific Hills teen drama and just more from Grandison generally.

Favorite Quotes:

Like Joseph GordonLevitt cute.

 

"The only thing worse than existing in a world of notoriety is knowing that you don't matter to the one you want the most.

 

A quote by Marianne Williamson came to mind, and I knew that I couldn't let the fear of not being good enough beat me.

 

He was risking everything he'd built to save a past he needed to escape.

 

About the Author:

 This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon

sreynaud's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

juliterario's review against another edition

1.0

¡De mis mayores decepciones literarias del año! Honestamente, le tenía muchas ganas a este libro, pero terminé sumamente decepcionada. Parecía una buena historia, un romance de lo más original que exploraba temáticas que jamás había encontrado en la literatura. Al final fue... decepcionante. Lo leí por #BlackLivesMatter, para apoyar la diversidad y representación literaria, informarme, aprender y leer autorxs de la comunidad negra. Lamentablemente, A Love Hate Thing ha sido de los peores libros que he leído en el año. Los personajes me resultaron insoportables, poco realistas y aburridos de leer, la trama me fue un gran cliché que no me interesaba leer y que no me gustaba para nada. La escritura, la idea del libro, el romance... Todo me desagradó, debo decir. No lo recomiendo :(

the_mickstape's review against another edition

4.0

Great characters and excellent world building. I felt that the book rambled a little bit and hammered in the same ideas in both narratives, but the ending was unexpected and really brought the story to a nice close. My favorite part of this book is the use of music and the playlist in the back of the book.

bookbingingbedlam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

imathew's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

booksirl's review against another edition

2.0

I don’t want to do it, but I decided to DNF the book at 52%. I really wanted to like it, but I found it hard to care about the characters or what happened to them. Didn’t understand how Nandy could be mad with Trice over something he couldn’t control, especially as a child. I soft DNF’d the book last year because I found Nandy annoying. This was my second attempt to read it and it didn’t go so well.

litloulou's review against another edition

3.0

2.5? Idk there were parts I liked... Somewhat cliche but with twists. I really liked that ultimately Trice didn't have to get in trouble to learn f on his experiences. I just could not with Nandy. I think she was very cliche and yet she didn't learn or grow like Trice did. Also I did NOT like the narration. Nandy sounded bratty and Trice idk, when he talked at the end of the recording he sounded nice, but the voice for the book was not my thing. I liked some side characters but I honestly got his old friends confused.

reneesabina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5