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A review by chelsaat
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
90% of enemies-to-lovers books are just reimaginings of the Darcy + Lizzy dynamic. (The other 10% is Beatrice + Benedick.) After an accidental misunderstanding, heroine hates the hero, who is secretly in love with her the whole time. He continues to antagonize her either out of social awkwardness/anxiety, because she’s the only one who can match wits with him, or he just wants to stay in her life by any means necessary.
This goes on until some inciting incident, where the hero makes his feelings known. Girl is shocked!! But she’s been secretly horny for him this whole time too so it doesn’t take much convincing after some hemming and hawing. Guy usually has to do some very sweet stuff to make up for earlier mishaps. Cue the happily ever after!! (I used heternormative pronouns here, but swap these around depending on the type of romance.)
All of this is to say…The Hating Game is yet another entry into this dynamic. It’s doing nothing new with the trope here. Josh and Lucy have chemistry. They’re obviously lusting after each other from the get-go, but they’re rivals at work! They’re competing for the same promotion! Quelle horreur!
Usually I’d lap this shit up with a spoon. However….I hated every character in this book, Lucy especially. She’s fatphobic as hell and looks down on basically everyone. Really, you couldn’t make ONE single friend in the years you’ve lived in this city? That speaks to you more than other people, girl.
Then there’s the moment where she compared her car to the Black struggle by using an MLK quote, and I fully lost it. Honestly shocked I kept reading on, tbh. (That MLK mention is the only mention of a non-white person in this whole book, by the way.)
Mostly I just felt tired while reading this. Maybe I need a break from rom-coms for a while. There wasn’t any joy here for me.
This goes on until some inciting incident, where the hero makes his feelings known. Girl is shocked!! But she’s been secretly horny for him this whole time too so it doesn’t take much convincing after some hemming and hawing. Guy usually has to do some very sweet stuff to make up for earlier mishaps. Cue the happily ever after!! (I used heternormative pronouns here, but swap these around depending on the type of romance.)
All of this is to say…The Hating Game is yet another entry into this dynamic. It’s doing nothing new with the trope here. Josh and Lucy have chemistry. They’re obviously lusting after each other from the get-go, but they’re rivals at work! They’re competing for the same promotion! Quelle horreur!
Usually I’d lap this shit up with a spoon. However….I hated every character in this book, Lucy especially. She’s fatphobic as hell and looks down on basically everyone. Really, you couldn’t make ONE single friend in the years you’ve lived in this city? That speaks to you more than other people, girl.
Then there’s the moment where she compared her car to the Black struggle by using an MLK quote, and I fully lost it. Honestly shocked I kept reading on, tbh. (That MLK mention is the only mention of a non-white person in this whole book, by the way.)
Mostly I just felt tired while reading this. Maybe I need a break from rom-coms for a while. There wasn’t any joy here for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia