Libri Labra Book Club discussion

I have this on audiobook so I'm hoping it keeps me engaged.

These are incomplete thoughts which may change as I get further into the book. But right now I just want to apologize. I honestly feel betrayed by the average 4.24 rating for The Hating Game. I've heard so many great things about this one. Going into it I knew that it would be about a hate to love relationship, but I expected it to be a believable one.

The set up has not been believable AT ALL. Who talks like this? Who thinks these things? Do they not WORK? I can't imagine wasting so much of my day literally playing mental games with a co-worker, especially one I supposedly disliked!

No one has commented yet. Does that mean no one's started it? or are we all just hating The Hating Game?

LOL!! I know I'm in this group but not really a part of your book club ... but I am love hearing everyone's book POVs. I have not read this novel still ... I am so backlogged and busy with clients still but it's great hearing about a different POV compared with everyone else it seems.

Was it just to cute-ish for you?

Jess wrote: "LOL!! I know I'm in this group but not really a part of your book club ... but I am love hearing everyone's book POVs. I have not read this novel still ... I am so backlogged and busy with clients ..."

No, I don't think it was too cute-ish. The beginning was just super silly and very childish. I can see why people might decide to DNF there. But, I'm glad I decided to push forward. I think I may actually go back and reread (I'm listening to the audiobook) the beginning. I feel like I might have missed something.

Yeah, I was complaining about how cheesy the setup was. I’m almost done. I’ll comment further later.

Desirai wrote: "Jess wrote: "LOL!! I know I'm in this group but not really a part of your book club ... but I am love hearing everyone's book POVs. I have not read this novel still ... I am so backlogged and busy ..."

If you reread it I hope you'll enjoy it better but that stinks you had to push yourself through it. Good luck!

I'm not great with audiobooks. I have ADD and my mind wanders. After I finished the audiobook for The Hating Game I went back and listened to the beginning again. I feel like I absorbed it better and things were clearer.

Lucy, the main character, is very self aware of the immaturity between her and her co-worker Josh. Personality wise they are opposites. They don't hate each other as much as they are slightly annoyed by each other. They both have their guard up and aren't being honest or revealing about their internal thoughts, feelings, or motives.

Reading this book was an interesting experience for me. I've never disliked a book so much in the beginning and then fallen in love with it by the end. After finishing the audiobook I picked up a hard copy at Barnes & Noble so that I could annotate it. The writer was snarky and I loved the way she described a lot of things.

If I had started the story by reading the text instead of listening I don't think I would have had the same initial reaction. I'm also thinking that perhaps some of my husband's reaction to it influenced mine.

Jess, since watching your recent video about political correctness in books, I think it's worth mentioning, there were a couple of spots that caught my attention. The main character frequently refers to one of her bosses as Fat Little Dick, fat and ugly etc. In another part Josh apologizes for his "socially retarded" behavior. These moments gave me pause but I don't feel the book should be missed out on because of it.

You'd think I'd be done thinking about this book, but I'm not. lol I'm in the process of rereading, which is something I rarely do.

I just keep thinking about Josh. Can he be real? Not that I'm wishing for him. But I mean was he written well enough to be a real person or is he just a Gary Stu?

I just thought of him as a hunk from central casting. And oh look, he's sad. That seems to add fuel to the fire.

Just came to say THEY'RE MAKING A MOVIE! https://deadline.com/2018/07/the-simp...

So freaking excited!