‘The Hating Game’ BOOK REVIEW

Sally Thorne’s, The Hating Game surprised me, to say the least. 

The fiction novel follows the work life of our female protagonist, Lucy Hutton, and her ‘work nemesis’, Josh Templeman. 

Set prodominently in the 4 walls of their shared office at ‘Bexley and Gamin’, the story follows the pair playing games with each other. Whether it’s the HR game, the mirror game or the staring game; the sexual tension is noticed immediately by the reader within the first few chapters. 

As both characters are up for the same big promotion, the loser must resign. However, things often become complicated when feelings are involved. 

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the ‘nemesis to lovers’ story unravel-as although somewhat predictable, was a lighthearted, enjoyable, hilariously funny read with multiple twists and turns. The ‘cringy’ aspect, continuously notable in other books, was absent in The Hating Game which was extremely refreshing given my avid affection for romance novels; not to mention the immediate and continuous love I had for the leading male, Josh, who you hate to love, but also love to hate. You can certainly tell he was written by a woman!

A particular chapter I just HAVE to share my love of was the latter part of chapter 9 where Josh takes cares of Lucy as she braces herself for a long night of sickness and exposes little secrets about herself in her sweaty haze of hallucinations. We begin to see a slither of romantic affection from Josh towards Lucy, as we establish minor caring mannerisms and protectiveness from his part. It’s also one of the first times they willingly share secrets and life stories to each other as apposed to snooping through each other’s work drawers. 

However, I must share my distaste for the final chapters of the novel as not only did it become cringy, but it definitely felt more rushed and unfinished than it should have, given that the whole book was a 10/10 binge read! I didn’t like the cliffhangers that came from the final pages and the lack of clarity it gave the reader. What I was initially expecting, couldn’t be further from the truth, which i suppose gives it more of an edge of unpredictability than other books. However, I had hoped for something better- if not an epilogue, then a confirmation of things. 

Finally, to discuss the biggest disappointment for me based on one of my favourite books of 2021… The upcoming film, still titled ‘The Hating Game’ starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell. Having watched the trailer recently, I can already see myself telling friends and family to read the book, to not be as put off as they certainly will be watching the film. A lot of features in the book are completely ignored in the two minute trailer, already leaving me dissatisfied by the portrayal by director, Peter Hutchings. As a diehard Josh ‘fan girl’, I certainly didn’t picture Josh as the actor portraying him in the romcom and I’m sure fellow readers of the book can agree! I would have much rather seen Henry Cavill, who shares the same physical features, mannerisms and “superman” status as Josh did in the book, play the character. 

Nevertheless, this book is great. A soppy romance novel that provided me with hours of joy and happiness. I recommend this wholly to anyone looking to get into a good read! 

8.5/10. Funny, lovable, clever, feel good!