The Way I Hate Him by Meghan Quinn

You know when you read a book and it’s simply so emotional and charming and well written that you’re nearly lost for words to describe what reading it makes you feel? It doesn’t happen often to me, but with the The Way I Hate Him (TWIHH)? I have so much to say, but I’m not certain I’m going to even scratch the surface at telling you how insanely good this book is. It’s so much more than a contemporary romantic comedy, although it is that, too. 

When the story starts, we meet Hattie, who’s just failed out of school for the semester after having lost her beloved sister, Cassidy, and who is now living back in her small hometown of Almond Bay, and Hayes, the rockstar that’s come back home to town to check in on his grandma and hopefully write some new music. Their paths cross when Hattie goes to Hayes’ house to return something that belongs to him, and he essentially blackmails her into working for him. Things grow increasingly complicated with their arrangement and even more so when feelings get involved. Between Hattie and Hayes’ own emotional pasts and tense relationships with some of the other characters, can things evolve between them, will any chance of a romance between them fizzle before it ever really gets the chance to start? 

Hattie and Hayes are quite possibly my favorite MQ characters to date. She’s funny, cheeky, and all around loveable, and he’s got broody rockstar down to a science. Each of them has had so much familial trauma growing up that informs their presents, and I really felt for them every time it was discussed. And the way that all plays into what’s brewing between Hattie and Hayes creates this complex dynamic that gets increasingly interesting as the story progresses. 

This isn’t an easy book at times to read, since there are aspects to the storyline that are heavily emotional. Issues surrounding loss and abandonment serve as a background for the relationships between all the characters we meet in this book, and the way it’s all woven together is seamless. TWIHH has a gravity to it that I didn’t expect going in, and I loved every bit of it whether it made me laugh or cry. 

Speaking of crying, I cannot recall a book in my recent memory that elicited such emotion from me. Were there a couple times that I just had to put my Kindle down to get it together? Yes. Was it worth it? 100%! Anymore for me, the hallmark of a great book is one that makes me feel, and this book made me feel ALL the things. 

I could go on and on about TWIHH, but I’ll leave you with this: if you can choose only one book right now, make it this one. Hattie and Hayes story will make you laugh, cry, swoon, and everything in between, and you won’t be disappointed.