The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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The Hating Game - Sally Thorne

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction/Romance

Blurb (on back of book): Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman
Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.
Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.
If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth-shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.
Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

MY OPINION: *****

I absolutely LOVED this book! Everyone seems to love this book and I completely agree with them. It's a perfect enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, workplace romance and I am completely here for it. I will say that this book is basically the exact same as another one of my absolute favorites, The Spanish Love Deception and I know this one was written way before that one but I read it in the opposite order; I found it interesting to see the parallels and the similarities/differences between the two. 

Lucy Hutton is a "nice girl" who's charming, accommodating, and sweet. She loves to be loved. She is proud of being loved by everyone in her workplace... except the one and only Joshua Templeman, the man sitting in the office across from hers, an intimidating being who's basically perfect at everything. Since they're basically trapped together for most of the week, they have come up with silly games to one-up each other over and over, such as the Staring Game or the Mirror Game. Lucy is convinced Joshua hates her and she is convinced that she hates him until she begins to realize that maybe she doesn't hate him as much as she thought. 

A workplace competition for a promotion will make either Lucy or Joshua the new boss of each other. I loved this idea because it gave the characters a motivation that propelled the plot along. I loved watching the two of them interact and compete while simultaneously falling in love. It's very clearly obvious that our man Josh is head over heels in love with Lucy but you know, the main character NEVER seems to realize what's right in front of her. I loved seeing her begin to realize his true feelings for her and I loved his frustration as she kept seeming to miss his signals and hints. 

The paintball scene was just... kiss the stars. Everything about that scene was perfect and I absolutely loved everything about it. I also adored the elevator scene and basically EVERY scene in this book. The banter between Lucy and Josh is sublime and I loved the way they matched each other blow for blow. 

The ONLY criticism I would say I had with this book was the ending. It felt very abrupt and sudden and I wanted a nice long epilogue where we got to conclude the HEA once and for all. However, I can forgive a book for a short ending if the rest of it is as perfect as this one was. 

The wedding hurt my soul. I won't say any more about it but I was expecting a happy, cute wedding and the drama did not meet those expectations. 

I would have killed to read this book completely from Josh's perspective. I said it. 

I am on a romcom binge and I can't get enough of these neon, cartoon character covered books. They're always so fun. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun romance novel. 

Main Character: Lucy
Sidekick(s): Josh, friends, family, etc
Villain(s): Josh's family, misunderstandings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.

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