Book Review: The Hating Game

The Hating Game
Sally Thorne
5/5

This right here is probably the peak of what I perceive as "hate to love", because Josh and Lucy very clearly hate each other and are enemies, but they're also not out here pretending. Everything about this book was just so perfect and ideal, like there's none of that bs where the characters pretend to care less about each other than they actually do, even when they hate each other they don't actively try to hurt each other beyond their games.

The games are so cute, I know that it was all fitting a little less than what would be realistic, but it was so cute that I couldn't get over it. I like finished this book two days ago and I already want to go back and reread it. I think that the best part is that they start identifying that they have romantic feelings for each other like twenty percent of the way into the book, so there was a nice natural build-up to a relationship that they had been previously interacting through for a year.

This book literally has it all. The hilarious banter back and forth, a female character who won't sell herself short for her male love interest, the obligatory scene where someone's sick and the other character has to take care of them, and the obligatory scene where someone other than the other person in the relationship tries to roast them and so the other goes off. I love it because it's not like overly done, they don't stop roasting each other once they start getting together, and there isn't as much miscommunication as what's typical of these books.

Totally would recommend if you're into these kinds of romances, because it is very well done. I like cannot get over it and I can't wait for it to become a movie so that I can obsess over it some more.