A review by nadichocoladi
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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? Yes

2.0

The first half of the book was a little disappointing. Yet another romance trying to gloss over SA/SH* as romantic because ✨he’s attractive✨, but in the later part and especially the last few chapters I really found the the charm in this book that people talk about. I also really liked how the writer handled the Danny thing, story wise, and that spicy reveal at the wedding had my mouth drop.
Ignoring the few tropes and flaws this book has, it was a cute, quick read.

*
The male lead stops the elevator, backs her into a corner lifts her up and kisses her “because he thought she didn’t actually have a date and is wearing that dress for him”. You could argue that she was in fact wearing it for him and she was kissing him back so it isn’t sa (yes it is),  but later he reveals that he actively records if she’s wearing a dress or a skirt since the SECOND DAY they start working together and he pays attention to what type of bras she’s wearing, before they got romantically involved. I don’t know why the author thought this was okay and romantic and not creepy and even bordering on purely perverse, when they even incorporated a character that always stares down the cleavage of the female lead and is portrayed as gross, which in my opinion is not far off from what our male lead does here.
It made me really happy when I saw the trailer for the movie after reading this and saw they changed the scene in the elevator. Glad the screenwriters recognised it for what it was and knew where to draw the line at faithful adaptation.
 
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