nila's Reviews (526)

My feelings on the book hasn't quite landed yet. On one hand, it's an original and interesting story, but on the other hand there's a vagueness to the plot that I'm not sure I like... The whole book is beautifully written as well, so it's still a joy to read it, but I just wanted more answers 

I really liked Tom, the love interest. I'm a sucker for a person who's just trying their best. I really hoped I'd like Darcy eventually, but her character never seemed to learn from her mistakes or show any consideration for Tom or other characters, until the last few chapters... And by then, the development just felt rushed. The dialogue between all the characters was just repeating itself throughout the book and that was also tiring. 

I also think Thorne has tried to put all the tropes into the book, and naturally didn't have enough time to fully explore all of them satisfyingly, so there are certain things that just seemed a bit out of left field or that is was added as an afterthought... 

All in all, its a sweet and fun book, and I think it checks most of the boxes of what you want from a romance read

I'm on a romance roll here. I really enjoyed the plot and the additional relationships (friendships and sibling-relationships) in this book compared to the romance novels I've read recently. It helped flesh out the characters more, and make the romance character tropes less obvious. I thought the book was funnier too, just from the absolute absurdity of some of the situations that the characters found themselves in. However, certain details (shoutouts to a certain fantasy series and stereotypical "gay best friend") make this book seem more dated, even though it was published in 2019. 

A short and sweet story about a dog and the people whose lives he touches. I'm a sucker for "full circle" short stories like these, and this was really cute. 

It's been a while since I felt so invested in a story. I struggled through the first letters, feeling like I was reading a text for which the author had overused a Thesaurus, but it got easier as the story went on. Even though the whole plot is relayed through various letters, I found myself really attached to certain characters, particularly Ella and Tassie, and I felt the tension as the stakes got higher. 

I found Ella Minnow Pea to be a unique read, I have never read a book like it, and though it's short, it really packs a punch, and is high memorable. 

Gorgeous artwork accompanying the story. I was on the edge every time I turned the page. 

A perfectly fine, quick romance read. As always I'm a sucker for the traditional tropes, and the book checked most of the boxes that I have for contemporary romances. What I could've done without was some of the cringy dialogue, but again, it's nothing worse than what I've read in other books with the same genre. 

Another great work from Becky Chambers. I loved the dynamics between the characters, and Chambers has a unique way of making you care so deeply about people/creatures/events that were introduced only two pages earlier. The ending was also (scarily) relevant for these times, with millionaire space travels etc etc

I usually pick up contemporary romance when I'm in a reading slump or I want a fast and fun read. Given that, I find that I enjoy the regular tropes and plot devices that are regularly used in this genre. In The Hating Game, Sally Thorne employs a number of this tropes (tiny woman - giant man, enemies to lover, office romance, hard guy is actually a softie etc etc etc), but I enjoy those aspects so it was a plus for me. I also liked how they didn't dance around each other due to too many miscommunication and other temporarily love interests (though there's a bit of both). All in all, it was an enjoyable read, and I raced through it. The rating is due to the fact that it doesn't add anything new to the genre or to the tropes that were used. The "big conflict" was also incredibly predictable and the build-up was therefore understandably anticlimactic.