The Hating Game

One reviewer calls Lucy “one of the most annoying, obnoxious, and overall TERRIBLE protagonists,” and finds the whole book “bland, cringey, and EXTREMELY problematic,” pointing to how the text plays Josh's persistent, boundary-testing pursuit as swoony without questioning it, while Lucy's own unwanted advances toward him get laughed off. Pacing takes a hit too: “everything felt very disjointed the whole time,” with “some scenes were too quick,” including a rushed first kiss, and a later illness subplot that drags where the courtship should be picking up speed. The office-rivalry setup itself takes a while to click, and readers wanting more of Josh's own perspective are left with a rival-interest subplot for Lucy instead.