Initial Impressions 8/17/17 + review as posted on The Book Addict's Guide 10/16/17: 4 - 4.25 stars 
 Well, this book was so incredibly enjoyable! I haven't read an adult contemporary novel in a very long time (most of my non-YA reads tend to be fantasy or mystery) and this was so much fun! I tend to avoid adult contemporary at large because I like reading to have fun and don't particularly enjoy reading about more serious realistic topics (divorce, babies, cheating, break-ups, blah blah I know that's not all adult contemp but you know what I mean) but THE HATING GAME was on sale at Audible in a 2-for-1 sale and I had heard such great things from bookstagram that I grabbed it! Thank you, bookstagram. 
 I agree with my friend Brittany when she told me that the beginning was better than the ending (hence the four stars and not five). I LOVED the beginning of this book and the hate-fire that fueled the tension between Lucy and Joshua. It was tense, exciting, funny, and sexy. I loved those shared moments when you could tell they hated each other so much that they didn't hate each other anymore. It was absolutely perfect and I loved how this relationship developed! 
 The ending was also wonderful too. I loved how the book resolved, how both characters really grew, and how the reader learned so many different things about each character's past by the time the story concluded. It was romantic and brilliant and I could read so much more about Lucy and Josh (except for the fact that the awesome hate-tension wouldn't be there anymore). I loved their personalities, especially Lucy, and how this book really came to life. 
 Mild Spoilers: The only thing I was missing was that I wished the "Hating Game" part of the book had gone on longer. The book starts out with Lucy and Josh positively despising each other and I thought that could have gone on just a bit longer and Sally Thorne could have established their relationship (the hate side) a bit more before breaking that sexual tension. The tension was so fantastic that I just wanted it to keep going, and I thought it should have lasted just a bit longer. I enjoyed watching that hate dissolve and Lucy and Josh still spurring each other on all the while, but it almost felt like the resolution of the book started a little too early and it lost a little momentum. You want to keep reading to see when that breaking moment happens and it just broke a little too early, I thought. 
 Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book and I immediately added Sally Thorne's next book to my TBR (I actually added it before I was even done with THE HATING GAME). It's not a sequel to this book, which I'm glad this was a stand alone, but I definitely want to read her next novel! I loved the writing and the characters were so vivid and real. I'm so glad I picked this one up after seeing it everywhere!