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reyn_reads_ 's review for:
They Hate Each Other
by Amanda Woody
funny
sad
Enemies to lovers and fake dating
Two tropes, where I love the first one and am not a big fan of the second one. It doesn't stop me from reading a book, though, and I am glad I read this one. It's not a big highlight or anything, more like a light read, but I had fun with it and even got a bit emotional.
Jonah and Dylan hate each other. Their friends, on the other hand, think that is only on the surface, and actually, they would make a great couple. The two are so annoyed by their constant nagging that they don't deny it when they think something happened between them on homecoming night when Jonah slept over at Dylans (he actually wanted to fight him and passed out on his bed, tired after being drunk). So they decide fake-dating and then breaking up in a staged fight would stop their friends' remarks.
As I already said, I am not a fan of the fake-dating trope, as it hardly ever makes sense to me. Same here. Why their friends were suddenly convinced something happened between them, just because they slept at the same house (while hating each other) is beyond me and why it bothered them so much they would go through with this. Also, why they hated each other in the first place was also a bit vague and hard to believe, being in the same friend group and all, but I guess not totally unrealistic. That's just the thing with enemies to lovers. It works best with other genres like fantasy, where they are actually enemies with reasons behind it and not just mildly annoyed with each other because of miscommunication.
That sounds all kinda negative, but I just wanted to get that all out before I talked about why I liked it anyway. I don't care much about a setup if it's well executed, and I like the characters, which I did. With Dylan, it took me a while until I warmed up to him, but he is a really sweet guy. Jonah, I loved as soon as we got to know more about his, sadly not that good, living situation. The way he took care of his sisters just melted my heart. I just love characters that take care of others (even though it's frustrating when they can't accept help for themselves) 🥺. So it was great to see them really getting to know and helping each other in the end ❤️
All in all, a book that was (besides some drama/kinda heavy topics) still more of a cozy read, at least for me. Nothing too big, but a feel-good read with no queerphobia and plenty of good representation (bi main characters, an asexual and a trans side character).
Two tropes, where I love the first one and am not a big fan of the second one. It doesn't stop me from reading a book, though, and I am glad I read this one. It's not a big highlight or anything, more like a light read, but I had fun with it and even got a bit emotional.
Jonah and Dylan hate each other. Their friends, on the other hand, think that is only on the surface, and actually, they would make a great couple. The two are so annoyed by their constant nagging that they don't deny it when they think something happened between them on homecoming night when Jonah slept over at Dylans (he actually wanted to fight him and passed out on his bed, tired after being drunk). So they decide fake-dating and then breaking up in a staged fight would stop their friends' remarks.
As I already said, I am not a fan of the fake-dating trope, as it hardly ever makes sense to me. Same here. Why their friends were suddenly convinced something happened between them, just because they slept at the same house (while hating each other) is beyond me and why it bothered them so much they would go through with this. Also, why they hated each other in the first place was also a bit vague and hard to believe, being in the same friend group and all, but I guess not totally unrealistic. That's just the thing with enemies to lovers. It works best with other genres like fantasy, where they are actually enemies with reasons behind it and not just mildly annoyed with each other because of miscommunication.
That sounds all kinda negative, but I just wanted to get that all out before I talked about why I liked it anyway. I don't care much about a setup if it's well executed, and I like the characters, which I did. With Dylan, it took me a while until I warmed up to him, but he is a really sweet guy. Jonah, I loved as soon as we got to know more about his, sadly not that good, living situation. The way he took care of his sisters just melted my heart. I just love characters that take care of others (even though it's frustrating when they can't accept help for themselves) 🥺. So it was great to see them really getting to know and helping each other in the end ❤️
All in all, a book that was (besides some drama/kinda heavy topics) still more of a cozy read, at least for me. Nothing too big, but a feel-good read with no queerphobia and plenty of good representation (bi main characters, an asexual and a trans side character).