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A review by nerdynatreads
The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel
emotional
funny
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
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5 by 5: Enemies to Lovers Trope -- Round 2!
3.5 stars~
So, this story started out a lot heavier than I was anticipating. I thought this was much more rom-com-y, but this has lots of angst that isn’t romantic.
Liya is a strong, independent woman and she will let you know that, but she’s definitely got some trauma that she should be working through in therapy, while Jai seems to be an actually sweet guy dealing with a few inner demons of his own.
I noticed that it seemed like the personalities we would see from the characters would differ depending on whose POV we were in. Liya seemed much more assertive in her own POV, and Jai seemed much cockier in Liya’s POV than in his own. This shift just felt a little odd and made it difficult to get a strong feel for the character’s personalities.
I really like when our two mcs interact. They push each other's buttons and bicker constantly, but also acknowledge that the other is attractive, which is always entertaining. I think I enjoyed the flirty enemy stage of the relationship more than the lovers aspect and I feel bad about it? When they weren’t arguing they were... kind of boring? It felt as though the chemistry had dissipated when they were happy, so I just felt kind of meh about their relationship. I’m also surprised that given the number of discussions around sex and Liya’s impurity in this book, the spice level was maybe half a chile pepper?
The cultural aspect of this story is interesting because you can see from side characters that there are some who are trying to stick to the traditional ways and others who are more progressive and blending tradition with American customs, then Liya, who is almost trying to separate herself from her culture completely. That being said, I’m not Indian or Hindi and have seen some desi reviewers saying that this isn’t the best example of an Indian American lifestyle, so maybe check out ownvoices reviews.
The feminism in this story is also so hamfisted and comes off as preachy, particularly if it’s a piece of dialogue, it’ll come across as unrealistic that anyone would talk in that sort of way. It’s cringey. It eventually calm down ****because the narrative around Liya shifted as we learned more about her past. We had a final confrontation which did give her some closure and felt much more natural. Plus, we know I love serious issues being brought up in my romances.
The third act drama made sense for the story and the characters, thankfully was not terribly drawn out, and ca
5 by 5: Enemies to Lovers Trope -- Round 2!
3.5 stars~
So, this story started out a lot heavier than I was anticipating. I thought this was much more rom-com-y, but this has lots of angst that isn’t romantic.
Liya is a strong, independent woman and she will let you know that, but she’s definitely got some trauma that she should be working through in therapy, while Jai seems to be an actually sweet guy dealing with a few inner demons of his own.
I noticed that it seemed like the personalities we would see from the characters would differ depending on whose POV we were in. Liya seemed much more assertive in her own POV, and Jai seemed much cockier in Liya’s POV than in his own. This shift just felt a little odd and made it difficult to get a strong feel for the character’s personalities.
I really like when our two mcs interact. They push each other's buttons and bicker constantly, but also acknowledge that the other is attractive, which is always entertaining. I think I enjoyed the flirty enemy stage of the relationship more than the lovers aspect and I feel bad about it? When they weren’t arguing they were... kind of boring? It felt as though the chemistry had dissipated when they were happy, so I just felt kind of meh about their relationship. I’m also surprised that given the number of discussions around sex and Liya’s impurity in this book, the spice level was maybe half a chile pepper?
The cultural aspect of this story is interesting because you can see from side characters that there are some who are trying to stick to the traditional ways and others who are more progressive and blending tradition with American customs, then Liya, who is almost trying to separate herself from her culture completely. That being said, I’m not Indian or Hindi and have seen some desi reviewers saying that this isn’t the best example of an Indian American lifestyle, so maybe check out ownvoices reviews.
The feminism in this story is also so hamfisted and comes off as preachy, particularly if it’s a piece of dialogue, it’ll come across as unrealistic that anyone would talk in that sort of way. It’s cringey. It eventually calm down ****because the narrative around Liya shifted as we learned more about her past. We had a final confrontation which did give her some closure and felt much more natural. Plus, we know I love serious issues being brought up in my romances.
The third act drama made sense for the story and the characters, thankfully was not terribly drawn out, and ca
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Toxic relationship