The Way I Hate Him by Megan Quinn Review

On August 1st I stumbled upon a post about Meghan Quinn’s new book, The Way I Hate Him. The cover had pretty colors and the review looked good, so I downloaded it and started reading. Bookstagram and Goodreads really do have a big impact on what I read!

The Way I Hate Him by Meghan Quinn

Synopsis

Hattie is absolutely screwed. She has failed out of her last semester of grad school and has nowhere to go but home, to a little town called Almond, California. When Hattie arrives, her boyfriend, who she was supposed to be living with, dumps her. When she is grabbing her things from his room, she spots a Grammy that he stole from his boss, the famous musician, Hayes Farrow.

As part of her revenge, she takes the Grammy back to Hayes in hopes of getting Matt fired. But unfortunately, Hayes has it on camera that there was a female with him as well. Hayes gives Hattie the choice between working for him--mainly going through his fan mail--or he’ll call the cops to report the theft. Hayes is Hattie’s brother's biggest enemy, and although she knows she shouldn’t make a deal with the devil, she also can’t go to jail.

Now Hattie is keeping more than one secret from her brother and sister. They can’t know that she failed out of grad school or that she is working for Hayes. But both of her siblings seem too overwhelmed to take notice and that just puts an even bigger wedge between Hattie and her siblings. Feeling alone, she begins to enjoy her talks and interactions with Hayes. He makes life feel more manageable.

Hayes is starting to enjoy his time with Hattie, too. But he knows he is no good for her, and that her family would never accept them being in each other’s lives. Not as friends, and definitely not as lovers. But as the days go by, he realizes he can’t stay away from her.

Review

When I started reading The Way I Hate Him, I was instantly hooked. Hayes was the perfect “grumpy” character, who was a little battered around the edges but with good in his heart. Hattie had a fun spirit that had been dimmed and just needed a little help to guide her on her way. Hattie and Hayes had great witty banter that danced the fine line between insults and flirtation.

After I got about halfway through, the story started to really slow down. There wasn’t really a third act break up, but more of a weird lull. Everything was going well, the drama had already happened, and almost everything had been resolved. So for the last half, I was just waiting for the other ball to drop and I found myself not quite as excited as I was the first half of the book.

I am glad that, however, because the ending tied up nicely. I wish Hayes had to do a little more groveling at the end, as he seemed to be forgiven pretty quickly for his actions. There was the perfect amount of spice and protective MMC.

I can’t wait to see what Bookstagram influences me to read next!

Read if you love:

-Grump/Sunshine

-Off Limits

-Enemies to Lovers

-Age Gap

-Brothers Enemy

The Way I Hate Him by Meghan Quinn is available on KU !