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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384 pages

Average rating: 7.25

543 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

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.
Anonymous
Nov 28, 2024
10/10 stars
Ohmygod. I readily give 5 stars for this book. This author is so good at making me laugh, so good at making me feel emotional. The story of Josh and Lucy is the best I've ever read in a while. There is just so much MORE than the tingly romance (and yesss it was electrifying), and all I can say is that the both of them suit each other so, so much. Cutest couple.

P.S. I'd love to see them in real life, especially to see how much height difference they have.
Anonymous
Nov 10, 2024
8/10 stars
I completely get the hype for this, and I'm honestly glad it got a movie adaptation. This was so cute and adorable that the only I really want is more from this couple. Lucy and Joshua have this insanely amazing dynamic, with the push and pull they give one another, that by the end I was literally squealing.

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