The Hating Game: A Novel

“I want to live inside Sally Thorne’s brain." —Emily Henry

Now a movie starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, USA Today bestselling author Sally Thorne’s hilarious and sexy workplace comedy all about that thin, fine line between hate and love.

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.

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Published Aug 9, 2016

384 pages

Average rating: 7.27

552 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
May 18, 2025
10/10 stars
Worth the read if you've seen the movie!

I really enjoyed the movie and was pleasantly surprised to find it was based on a book. Some of the moments left out or changed for the screen are so wonderful. Rich and tender
Mhoovs21
May 12, 2025
4/10 stars
I once heard a bookstagrammer say. "Stop making quirky female characters annoying" and I really think that applies to this book. Lucy is needy and immature. Josh's anger is boardline control-issues.

The ending didn't suck but I wouldn't read it again.
Anonymous
May 01, 2025
8/10 stars
Cute rom-com with witty banter.
Zhae
Jan 22, 2025
9/10 stars
The enemies to lovers trope was beautifully executed loved how it eventually turned into an I’ve always loved you trope. Love it!
readwithinsoul
Dec 11, 2024
4/10 stars
The story is quite predictable and it wasn't as interesting as other books I've read.

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