Review: The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel

BOOK STATS

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Title: The Trouble with Hating You
Author: Sajni Patel
Series: The Trouble With Hating You #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audience: Adult
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Soneela Nankani
Length: 11 hours (336 pages)
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: May 12, 2020
Source: Library
Recommended for fans of: The Dating Plan
Content Warnings: sexual assault, misogyny, gaslighting, pregnancy, emotional abuse, death of a parent

SYNOPSIS

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

MY THOUGHTS

Liya and Jay’s enemies to lovers romance was full of hilarious banter, awkward situations, romantic tension, and so many emotional scenes. I was rooting for them to find happiness with each other within a strict Indian community that shunned Liya for her perceived promiscuity.

While this is a rom com, it deals with several heavy, triggering topics, particularly sexual assault and gaslighting by an emotionally abusive parent. Sometimes Liya’s sexist treatment felt a bit over the top, but I felt so much anger on her behalf that kept me rooting for her throughout the book.

This is a great book to read if you are looking for a romance that addresses deeper issues, and I preferred it to the author’s YA book.