The Hating Game

 

Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.

2) A person’s undoing

3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth-shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.  - excerpt from Goodreads.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne is a romcom that catches you by surprise. It's funny, heartwarming and super duper cutesy. We follow our lead female character's perspective that revolves around her job and her colleague who sits across her. It is only the two of them, fighting/competing in an office war that only seems to be just between themselves. Reading her perspectives and her thoughts, you can tell her personalities shines through, as well as her flaws. Throughout the book, you'll often find yourself shaking your head because of her silliness and delusional behaviour. Although it can be toxic, but it's also those thoughts that drives her actions and making it all way too cute.

Who the male lead is and his behaviour is purely from Lucy's eyes and judgement so as readers we wouldn't know the true intentions of him. Reading through you would assume the type of person he is and his actions are always the ones that surprises you because how would Lucy know what he is doing or thinking? The enjoyment often comes from their banter, their reactions to each other and how Joshua acted towards Lucy in unknown situations. The supporting characters do play a part in nudging them both to act or change their course in life. 

This is my first time reading from this author hence I had no expectations and no guessing of how the plot would go. It was definitely a fun read with unexpected incidents happening as well as not knowing how the book ends. It is this quality that makes it a page turner. Driven by her competitive attitude, plot twists often comes from the Joshua doing something shocking, or replying a banter differently. Another thing to note of this author is her description of feelings and actions is not straight forward but through adjectives and sentences that is beautifully woven.

Overall, this book is enjoyable and I'll definitely read it again in the future because it makes you laugh, react publicly and the satisfaction of seeing Lucy grow. I would not compare it with any other romcom titles because by far this is one of a kind for me. How their past and presents is woven into the chapters seamlessly is an art, a skill like no other. If you have loved books from Helena Hunting, Helen Hoang, Lyssa Kay Adams and other authors of similar genre, this will not disappoint, I gurantee.