The Hating Game – audiobook review

The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
Narrator: Katie Schorr
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow
Number of Pages: 369
Contemporary Romance
Ages 15 and up
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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.

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This book has been on my radar for quite a while. It’s talked about a lot, and then they recently made a movie, so of course I’ve thought about reading it a million times. I’m not always a fan of enemies to lovers, it kind of gives me anxiety when the characters fight too much. And these characters argue a lot. While that wasn’t my favorite thing, I still think their dialogue was brilliantly written and I can completely understand why fans of this trope love this book so much.

When I first started listening to this book I was disappointed that it isn’t a dual POV story. As the story progressed it became clear that the author didn’t need to give us Josh’s POV, it was in everything he said and did to Lucy. If I have a complaint about this book it is that Lucy, for someone so smart, is completely blind to Josh’s true feelings. She misconstrues everything he says to her and every look on his face. I thought it was fantastic that Josh at one point actually asks Lucy, incredulously, if he is really that hard to read.

Lucy is such a people pleaser, I can kind of see why she missed a lot of Josh’s cues. He is the grumpy to her sunshine so she assumes he doesn’t like her from the start. Once these two finally started a precarious friendship, I loved the care and tenderness Josh showed Lucy. I felt Lucy’s comfort and security when she was with Josh in those private moments. I was rooting for Lucy to open her eyes and for Josh to be a bit more open with his feelings.

Josh and Lucy have great banter. Whether they are fighting or teasing each other, the sparks fly when they are together.

4.5 stars