the hating game // sally thorne

published: 2016  

pages: 363

isbn: 978-0-06-243959-8

read from: 11/8-13/2016

rating: 1) didn't care for it 2) liked it 3) LOVED IT

SYNOPSIS (amazon) 

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.

SPOILERS

Lucy and Josh end up working together after both their companies merge together. 

she tries to be nice from day one but hes a total jerk. 

low and behold he's just ridiculously shy and doesn't know how to project it without coming off as a jerk. 

they completely hate each other until one day, Lucy decides to "sex up" her image and he completely manhandles her in the elevator. 

considering their HR reputation, that was a pretty risky move. 

eventually they start hanging out but with this new promotion over their head, Lucy is scared that she may have to lose her job which she loves or Josh which she realizes she also loves. 

in the end, they do end up together. 

and its not said who gets the position but I'm going with Lucy. 

....because Josh quits his job (and left to another publishing company) all because he doesn't want to lose Shortcake. (by the way, i love that nickname for her! 💗😊....and also that i can now add emoijis on posts!!!!) and because the other 2 or candidates don't count. to me anyway. 

but why is josh such a jerk?

he is the second child that was for the most part, a surprise so his father is a tooootal dick towards him. he was never wanted or planned so he doesn't care for him at all. he tried going to medical school to please him but nothing Josh ever did was ever up to par with his brother Patrick. so they just stop talking until the day of his brothers wedding whiiiich was a bit weird cause Pat married Josh's ex.  😡

but Lucy stands up to his father for him and its about the most awesome thing ever.

and i love how she's always eating. kinda reminded me of myself there. lol 

 

there's a buunch of other lovey dovey, highlarious bits and pieces but read the book. 

MY THOUGHTS

just thoughts on the book itself

i can definitely see why this story is very well liked and why everyone all over goodreads is team i want my own Josh Templeman. 

the one thing that i loved about this book was how dorky Lucy/Lucinda/Shortcake was. 

total babe without over doing it and without a shitty attitude. super down to earth. 

and i liked how Josh was this total hard ass but only because that's his coping mechanism. 

except for when it came to certain parts with Lucy and trying to be a total hardass. those were a little too much for me. like, calm down. it ain't THAT serious.

overall it was a funny quick read and I'm glad i got my own copy vs checking it out at the library. (i want my own library eventually but I'm trying to be mindful of the books i own. quality vs quantity ya know.)

i definitely didn't see Josh's reason for being kind of a jerk coming so that was a neat (even if messed up) twist. 

and like i mentioned above, i love how dorky Lucy was. 

but also, what the freak happened to/with Val!? 

as always, ill leave you with quotes. 

"books were, and always would be, something a little magic and something to respect." 

-Lucy Pg 2

"I'm so scared. its all going to end soon, one way or another. I'm hanging on by my fingernails. i have no idea if their investment in me will ever pay off. i lost my best friend. i spend all my time with a huge frightening man who wants to kill me, and he's probably my only friend now, even though he doesn't want to be. and it breaks my heart." -Lucy pg 127

"I've always suspected people in our lives are here to teach us a lesson." -Lucy pg 158

thanks for reading. 

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