The Hating Game by Sally Thorne | Review

Title: The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Pages: 384
Publisher: Willaim Morrow
Goodreads rating: 4.26 Stars
Published:  August 9th, 2016
Source: Audiobook/Library

Description:

Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.


My Thoughts:

You know those books that everyone seems to get a hold of before you and is raving and gushing about them? That was The Hating Game for me and my bookish friends.  Everyone had read it and I was hearing so many good things about this book and just dying to read it.  Though I was warned that I would have a massive book hangover afterwards *sigh*.

I borrowed the audiobook of this from my local library, and it was more than worth the wait {though I really didn't hav eto wait very long at all}.  I blew through this book unlike any books I've read recently.  Mostly due to the stellar story, but also because the narrator was pretty perfect {she was the absolute perfect Lucy}.  I was listening to this book every second I got, including using headphones and listening in bed after both my husband and I snuggled in for the night or during my kids' nap/quiet time.

Lucy is the perfect mix of sweet and sassy, adorable and sexy.  She's like a quirky librarian, who always wanted to work in publishing and gets close to her dream job at the publishing house she works for.  She is a professional, bu also honest about her strong feeling towards Joshua.  Her strong negative feelings.

The entire office, possibly the entire company, knows about Lucy and Joshua's mutual hate.  They don't keep it a secret, and despite all the hate, they do work together rather fluidly and keep the office up and running proficiently.  Lucy and Joshua's bosses don't get along, and its almost like the two assistants are acting out all the hostility between the two companies when they merged into one.  Well, right to the brink of needing an HR intervention {or write up!}.

Joshua is written pretty dreamily.  I mean, you kind of expect that, right?  Well, he is dreamy... until he opens his mouth.  Then the banter begins, and swords {words} are flying across the office.  He evntually began to grow on me, but not before wanting to smack him upside the head.

I think it would be difficult to write a book about hating someone so much, and not completely turn off the reader to one of the characters in the hating game, but Sally Thorne knows just when to stop and how far to take the characters without swaying the reader one way or another.  I was on the fence with the characters for most of the book - no Team Lucy or Team Joshua.  I think I was honestly Team Please-Don't-Let-This-Book-End!!  It was the perfect read, and I can't wait for Sally Thorne to write some more!  *goes off to stalk her Goodreads page*