The Hating Game lives up to its name.

Why does this book have so many great reviews?

I have to say up front that I'm not really into romance as a genre. Looking at my list of books I've read and enjoyed, they're mostly memoir, mystery, classics, nonfiction, and novels that aren't primarily a love story even if they include one. So maybe I'm just predisposed to not like this book?

I listened to this on audio from my library. (Shoutout to Hoopla! It's one of the best things my library does!) It was the monthly selection for my book club, and I really do try to have an open mind when I'm picking up something I didn't pick out for myself. That's the only real way to discover new genres, new authors, and new favorite books. However... it didn't take long for me to go from, <i>this should be light and fun</i> to <i>what the hell is this?</i>

If you know anything about this book, you know the entire plot. Lucy and Josh are coworkers forced to share an office despite the fact that they hate each other and keep reporting each other to HR (more on that in a second) when the book mentions more than once that <i>there is an empty office down the hall.</i> If things are serious enough for you to report your coworker to human resources, one of the first things they would do to intervene is not make you work together, facing each other, in a small office alone. If you are telling your company that you are being harassed by a coworker, it is in the company's best interest to intervene, and thus not make you continue to be glued together. Their jobs (from what you can gather... it's really vague) don't seem to require them to interact with one another. They're both a #2 person for different head honchos. The purpose of HR isn't to referee petty squabbles between coworkers. The purpose of HR is to make sure the company doesn't get sued. Ergo, they would determine if any real harassment is going on and keep the two of you apart, at least while conducting an investigation. And if it was determined that one or both employees was abusing HR by running there like a child every time someone looked at you funny, you would face consequences.

Enough about HR.

The relationship between these two wasn't a slow-boil, rivals who are into each other kind of situation. This was middle-school sniping and pettiness. When they're both up for the same promotion, Lucy goes out on a date with another man who is also going to do some freelance work that will help her with her presentation. Of course, the other man realizes that Josh is there, several tables away, while they are having their discussion. He's not there to try to learn the secrets of her presentation so he can one-up her (which would be cheating and isn't ethical). No, he's there to stalk her. He's there because he's upset that she's out with someone else, because apparently even though he's a jerk to her and is repeatedly telling HR that he wants her to leave him alone, she's his property and not allowed to have a drink with another man. (See also: toward the end of the book when he physically takes her phone out of her hand, tells the guy to never contact her again, and hangs up on him. Holy crap no.)

The big twist in the book is supposed to be (I think?) that Josh doesn't want to go to his brother's wedding because his brother is marrying his ex. This is obvious from the second Lucy overhears his brother ask him if he's coming to the wedding and Josh makes it known that he doesn't want to go.

And the grand romantic reveal at the end when Josh admits to Lucy that he painted his bedroom to be the same shade of blue as her eyes, all the while tormenting her about the fact that her parents are farmers and making fun of her mother's blog? And even though his relationship with his parents is supposedly prickly and distant, he has been telling his mother that he fell in love with Lucy the moment he saw her and gave her a silly nickname?

The guy is a psycho. Stalking is not romantic. The trope of "he's mean to you because he likes you" is harmful. Stop telling women that. And the speech that Josh's mother gives Lucy at the wedding about how Josh is difficult to love, just like his dad, because he's emotionally unavailable and passive aggressive, but he's WORTH IT is crap. Josh needs a therapist to work out his issues with his family. Josh needs to learn how to interact in the adult world. Lucy needs to recognize red flags.

While I wasn't the only one in my book club who disliked this book, enough people enjoyed it and looked at me like I had two heads to make me think that maybe all the star ratings on goodreads for this book aren't fake. Maybe my heart is cold and dead? Maybe I've just had enough of people being abusive and crappy to each other and I recognize it as unhealthy? If you need me, I'll be reading some nonfiction as a palate cleanser.