Some of the reasons we didn't enjoy the most popular romance novels of today - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, and The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas.
Who does not enjoy a good old romance novel, be it historical, mystery, comedy, or fantasy? So, of course we picked up these three books (The Hating Game by Sally Throne, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, & The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas). However, and this may be an unpopular opinion given that these books are everywhere and quite well liked, they are not our favourite.
Don’t give up, here us out. Granted, there are some stand-alone interactions and moments that are enjoyable. But here are two main reasons these books are on our Not-So-Favoured list:
There is no mystery. We know from the beginning where the male lead stands. And we know this reading the story from the girl’s perspective! So how, one wonders at multiple points in the story, does the female lead miss the oh-so-obvious signs? I mean, in reality, if a person is playing The Staring Game with you, looking into your eyes without saying a word for hours at a time, it’s quite intense! Are we supposed to be thinking, “Oh, they must really hate each other?” We all know what’s going on, right? One can argue that most romcoms don’t have mystery, you know the couple is going to end up together. But the charm is in reading about two people figuring things out and finding each other, which is lost in these books. So for most part, as the Reader, it feels like you are at the finish-line with the guy waiting for the girl to catch-up.
The romance tropes were missing their usual appeal. The enemies to lovers, fake relationship setups, quirky and lively vs. the tall and handsome brood! What’s not to love, these are always fun to read. But with these books, the setups felt too forced, too far a reach that it felt a bit silly. Calling back to The Staring Game. An improper balance between a situation warranting forced proximity vs. an organic and flirty interaction means no butterflies.
We’d love to hear what you guys think!
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