The Trouble With Hating You Book Review

The Trouble With Hating You

by Sajni Patel

Rating: 4.5/5 
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Steam: Closed Door
Publisher: Forever Romance
Pub Date: May 12, 2020
Available: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop

The Trouble With Hating You Synopsis: Liya Thakkar is not damaged goods and she does not need a husband, not matter what her family says. When her parents spring an unexpected visitor to their family dinner, Liya bolts. When the same guy, Jay, shows up at her work as the lawyer meant to save her company she finds that he’s hard to shake. Between witty banter, family dinners, and late-night convos Liya’s realizing that maybe there is someone who is good for her. The only question is, is her history too much for him?

CW: Sexual Assault, Death, Trauma, and Domestic/Verbal Abuse

Review:

This book was so good. I loved it. So much so that I gave it a 5 star rating and am debating buying it so I have a copy I can reread and give out to people to borrow. It’s a fairly heavy book that’s wrapped up in a beautiful romance. Liya’s hurt and still dealing with the after effects of being sexually assaulted and her father blaming her. Jay is still reeling from his father dying and the trauma that caused him. Like I said, it’s heavy stuff. But the dialogue and character building is phenomenal. You get a good sense of who these characters are and begin to feel for them. There aren’t enough good things that I can say about this book. I loved it so much. Yes, Liya can be a difficult character at times but it’s completely understandable why. Just read the book!

Likes:

• Liya: She is so freaking strong. Yes, she speaks before she thinks and can be rude and has a tendency for destruction, but I love her. She’s been through so much and just reading about the community that she used to have and what she deals with every time she tries to interact with it. She is strong. I wish she would have spoken to Jay about everything sooner, but I understand that when it comes to sexual assault, especially when you’re a minor, there isn’t a time line and that is made aware of in this novel.
• Jay & Family: I’m combining these two. Jay is a lovely man and I would like to find him. He sees past Liya’s walls and wants to be there for her so bad. Plus his family takes her in and makes her feel welcomed even though they’ve heard the whispers about Liya. They are outstanding humans and we all need to be like them. I love that there is a loving family representation in the book and that they understand each other’s boundaries. It’s refreshing.
• Plot: Enemies-to-Lovers is a tight rope trope to work with. But Patel did a beautiful job. Their reasons for dislike of each other were plausible as was the way past those reasons. It didn’t feel forced. The slow nature of their romance helped it. Watching them go from “enemies” to friends to lovers was one of the best ones I’ve seen. Plus all of the subplots and hidden pasts added so much to the overall story. I need to read about Preeti and I also want to know about Liya’s mom after the story ends. These are needs, not wants FYI.

Dislikes:

• Ending: I needed the book to be about 20 pages longer. Yes, things got resolved on the surface level, but I wanted more. I just felt like Liya didn’t wrap anything up and definitely didn’t get to see what happened with her mother and Jay’s mom after she left. I felt like this would have been such an important piece for her to move on in her life and accept further who she is.
• Liya’s Wealth Flaunt: This is such a minor thing in the book but it still bugged me. Liya just constantly kept showing off her Louboutin heels everywhere. Like I get where it’s coming from. She isn’t married, she lives on her own, and she has a nice, well paying job. But it still irked me that she flaunted them even in places where it didn’t make sense.

Long Story Short

Do I recommend The Trouble With Hating You? Hell yes. It is such a great read. The characters allowed to have depth to them, even the side characters. It can be a tough story to get through with all of the past traumas, but it is worth it. Just be aware of the above trigger warnings and give it a go. You won’t regret reading it!

If You Liked This One…

Need some more unresolved trauma brought to you by parents? I highly recommend Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade. This was another 5/5 book for me and covers the issues of being fat in the world, dyslexia, and being comfortable in your own skin. Read my review of it here.