The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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 sit across from each other every day . . . and they hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. HATE. Lucy can't understand Joshua's joyless, uptight approach to his job and refusal to smile. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy's overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and desire to be liked.

Now they're up for the same promotion and Lucy, usually a determined people-pleaser, has had enough: it's time to take him down. 

But as the tension between Lucy and Joshua reaches its boiling point, it's clear that the real battle has only just begun . . .

On a long train journey down from the middle of the UK to the bottom, I decided to start reading this book, and couldn't put it down. I ended up finishing it that night in my hotel room, not exploring outside, too eager to get to the end of the novel.

Written entirely from our heroine's point of view, the book quickly drops us into the story, smoothly flowing, leaving the reader eager to continue. We quickly begin cheering for our heroine, but, it is a rather quick turnabout attraction from both our main characters, leaving me a touch intrigued as to how mindsets were so quickly changed, but, the plot flows so well it's one of those questions asked at the conclusion, rather than during.

Ms. Thorne doesn't delve too deeply into what exactly caused the issue between our main characters, but the animosity is very quickly shown, and some might wonder if it's too antagonistic towards each other, but again, nothing too deeply noticed during. A few loose ends were still open at the end of the novel, but nothing too drastic. A few places could have been polished, but again, this story was simply too engaging to be noticed.

Overall, a fantastic, page-turning read! And, as a slight addition to the beauty of this book, it's now soon to become a major motion picture starring Lucy Hale and Robbie Amell.

Rating: 4/5

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