Book Review #116: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

 

I said this when I reviewed the film version of this book, but I started this book, put it away (for reasons I'll mention later in the post), watched and loved the film, and ended up finishing the book in two days. So I've had a lot of thoughts about this book!

Lucy and Josh hate each other. When they both decide to go for the same promotion at work, the competition reaches boiling point. But as the game starts to have real-life consequences, Lucy and Josh discover that sometimes, hate feels a lot like love.

So, when I started reading this book, I really didn't like it. 

My notes at that time include the characters feeling juvenile, childish and unlikeable.

I put it down with no real intention to finish it, and didn't even think about it again until over a year later, when I watched the film and finally decided to finish it.

The chemistry between the characters wasn't great at the beginning, but after a while, it really begins to show. There were times when it was just flying off the page!

Seeing the film beforehand really helped me know the characters, and ultimately made the book a lot more enjoyable.

There wasn't a lot to differentiate between the characters' voices. I often found myself having to go back to work out who said what.

I found myself skimming/skipping the kissing/sex scenes. Once you've read one, you've read them all, and after the first couple, they don't really add anything to the story.

The ending of the film was a lot better than the ending of the book, which felt abrupt and rushed.

There were no real stakes, no true drama, no third-act conflict. 

Overall, this book definitely wasn't as good as the film adaptation, in my opinion. I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it, and I did enjoy reading it, but it's probably not one I'll read again.

2.5/5