Disclaimer: We started this review in September. SEPTEMBER. It’s been sitting here, idling, mocking us. “Go ahead,” it kept saying, “Snark away. Try it. I DARE YOU”. We’ve had phone calls about it. We’ve tried different snark tactics. We’ve read some serious crap since, trying to recapture our inner snark bitch. All of our efforts have been for naught. We both really, really liked it. A lovely little surprise that totally threw us off our game. We blame Ms. Julien.
Intro
“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”
Katie: Two independent publishing houses have been forced to merge for financial reasons. Our fair protagonists are executive assistants to their respective CEOs. This is how Lucy and Josh end up sharing an office and the Hating Game begins. She smiles at him upon introduction, he does not. Everything after that is a game of one-upping the other. She is adored by her co-workers. He is respected at best.
He’s all
Patty: Nah, nah. She’s like:
And he’s more like:
Katie: The CEOs decide to create a COO position to manage the day to day running of things. Each wants their assistant to apply for the position. This would mean that the winner would become their rival’s boss.
Patty: You are being waaaay too kind by stating that they try to ‘one-up’ each other; they absolutely despise each other and spend most of their working hours participating in Passive-Aggressive Office Olympics. It is glorious.
The Good
Patty: The snark and the smolder, in equal measures. Sweet mother Mary… the venomous but blatantly sexually charged back-and-forth between our H/h filled my cold, dead heart with such joy.
Katie: Moving along…
You really couldn’t have two more different people if you tried. She’s flexible with deadlines and wants to be everyone’s friend. He’s the one that composed the lay-off list for his company before the merger and keeps a coded day planner. I mean, she’s OBVIOUSLY a Gryffindor and he’s obviously a Slytherin.
Patty: Anywhoodles, our couple spends 50% of the book bickering and the other 50% accidentally learning about each other, which OF COURSE leads to ~feelings~.
As big of a dick as our hero was, once we discover the root of the dickishness, it does more than just expunge his sins, it actually explains his personality and that leads to more ~feelings~.
The Bad
Patty: Um. I dunno. The dad? He was a little too… easy of a villain. Maybe? I’m grasping here because I really liked the book but I’ll throw in the (justifiable) paternal angst/trauma for shits and giggles. And man… as bad as Josh was, his dad took the asshole cake.
Katie: Except for maybe this guy right here…
Patty: Don’t ever Google images for Asshole Cake, btw. I need to bleach my eyes now.
The Argument
Patty: We suck at these reviews unless we hate the book. We enjoy making fun of bad books. We are terrible people.
Katie: You’re not wrong.
Conclusion
Katie: IF you like kissing books, read this one. READ IT.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
I know it was a harder review to write, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review. Still classic PattyKates style, but a book that people should go out and buy.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Sorry that this was so hard to write but love that I can add it to my to-read list.
No snark from your corner either?!? Sigh. So far I am the only stonehearted one with even one not-nice thing to say about this book.
By all means, share with the class! I’m all about kaleidoscope opinions – sometimes all it takes is tilting your head to see a difference. What didn’t jive for you?
Sigh… Let me first say, I 3.5 starred it, so I didn’t hate it! But I think even since I wrote my review, in which I felt very apologetic for not loving it, I’ve become even more curmudgeonly about it. The thing that bothered me most was the way the height difference was emphasized, and how that played into Lucy being the epitome of sweetness and light, all cute and bubbly and perfectly feminine. It’s a well worn trope that equates being pocket sized with femininity, while tall women are aloof and intimidating. It seemed like giant shy Joshua needed a perfectly tiny girl to complete him after his previous romantic failures with women his own size. It especially did not read well for me in the elevator scene, which was clearly meant to be romantic, but reminded me of every time I’ve been in a small space with a big guy leering at me. Thorne wrote it at first like Joshua was scaring Lucy and I was just like “this is weird.”
Also, I just thought it was generally kind of twee and disingenuous. The This Game and The That Game weren’t cute to me. Their “hate” was never believable for a second, and I don’t enjoy reading romances that rely on the protagonist being oblivious to obvious things. Joshua’s reveal that he’s “just shy” also fell flat. I was like “no shit?”
I think it might have just been really built up, and I was in a bad mood and have generally been unenthused by romance this year.
I hear ya. I haven’t been “pocket-size” since before puberty hit; since then it has been “I WILL STOMP ON YOUR VILLAGE, LITTLE PEOPLE”. I guess for those on the smaller end of the spectrum it’s the opposite: models are always Amazonian; digging through the petite section for dresses that don’t make you look like a doll sucks, limiting your shoe shopping to Stride Rite.
Not sure why the emphasis on height, but you are right, it was all over the place.
One of my best friends in the world is a tiny little thing. She complains that she has always felt “cute” and not taken seriously like a full-sized adult. Maybe the author was trying to give a shout out to those that aren’t *this* tall and cannot rode the ride.
Tee hee hee. You can’t escape the happiness that bubbles from within with this one. Sorry about that, but I totally see Lucy more as a Hufflepuff than a Gryffindor. Although that could be to my own Hufflepuff-ness talking.