The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
Ada’s Score
Sally Thorne builds her entire novel on a single, irresistible premise: two people trapped in professional proximity, armed with wit and wounded pride, fighting feelings they refuse to name. The banter is sharp and genuinely funny, the tension expertly calibrated. Thorne understands that romantic friction works best when both parties are equally matched — Lucy and Joshua are. The prose is breezy but not shallow, carrying real emotional undercurrents beneath the comedy. Where the novel stumbles slightly is in its third act, which leans harder on melodrama than the setup earns. Still, this is a confident, propulsive debut that delivers exactly what the genre promises — and occasionally surpasses it.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence"Pure, unapologetic romantic tension done with real wit. The banter here is better than most literary dialogue. Don't be snobbish — just read it."
Video Brief
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The Art of the Perfect Literary Enemy
Sally Thorne understood something fundamental about tension: it isn't about what characters say to each other, it's about everything they're desperately trying not to say. The Hating Game turns a single elevator, a shared wall, and two desks facing each other into the most electrically charged small space in contemporary romance. If you've ever wondered why enemies-to-lovers works so reliably on readers, this book is essentially a masterclass in the answer.
Book Details
- Publisher
- PIATKUS
- Published
- January 1, 2016
- Pages
- 379
- Language
- English
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