The Hating Game Episode

[00:00:00] Speaker A: We want to hear what you think of this season's books. Comment on our socials or email [email protected] or please leave us a voicemail at 416-900-8603. We would love to hear from you. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Parental guidance is recommended because this episode has mature topics and strong language. Here are some moments you can look forward to during this episode of Book Interrupted. [00:00:33] Speaker A: I felt so bad about everything about myself. And then it clicked. I was like, oh, this guy keeps telling me I'm horrible. So that was it. [00:00:41] Speaker C: If I kiss better, then you never kiss him again. What the what? [00:00:45] Speaker D: No, I just want a little bit of kissing. Maybe an elevator scene, Maybe a little bit heavy petting. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Who knows? [00:00:51] Speaker E: Probably a woman out there for you if you were willing to try instead of fucking pouting about your involuntary celibacy. [00:00:57] Speaker A: That's what I mean. [00:00:58] Speaker E: No. You hate me. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Great. [00:00:59] Speaker C: Let's stay forever. [00:01:02] Speaker E: Well, even when you were saying that too, I was like, what about Twilight? [00:01:04] Speaker D: We can't do this on this podcast. We've already. We've already done it. [00:01:08] Speaker C: Not to circle it back to the. [00:01:09] Speaker A: Hunger Games, but the other person obsessed. Crimes. [00:01:14] Speaker E: Throw in some crime. Let's get some crimes in there. My body has soul. The inflammation is the goal. Try to learn something new without. My body is information is with us. Trying to learn something without being disrupted. Mind, body and soul. Inspiration is with all. And we're going to talk it out. Book Interrupted. [00:01:55] Speaker B: Welcome to Book Interrupted, a book club for busy people to connect and one that celebrates life's interruptions during this book cycle, we're reading Lindsay's book, the Hating Game by Sally Throne. This book was made into a movie in 2021 and stars Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell. Lucy and Joshua hate each other, and they have no problem displaying their feelings as they sit across from each other. Now both up for the same promotion, their battle of wills will come to a head. But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point. And Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn't hate Joshua and maybe he doesn't hate her either. Or is it just another game? Let's listen in to this episode's group discussion. [00:02:40] Speaker A: I guess I'll start. [00:02:41] Speaker E: Take it away, Lindsay. [00:02:42] Speaker A: Okay, wonderful. Well, Sarah's having some issues with her Internet, so she will be joining us hopefully shortly. [00:02:49] Speaker E: She's here in spirit. [00:02:50] Speaker A: She's here in spirits. Yes. And we can kind of see her looking frustrated, but she can't see us. [00:02:56] Speaker D: She might be frozen or hear us. [00:02:58] Speaker A: Or hear us. [00:02:59] Speaker E: Yeah, she might be frozen. [00:03:01] Speaker A: She's not even frozen. [00:03:02] Speaker E: Oh, she moves. She moves just what she looks like an angry statuary. [00:03:07] Speaker D: Angry. Sarah could be together. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so I chose the Hating Game, a novel by Sally Thorne. This is her first novel, I believe. Actually, I was going to double check that, but now I didn't. So I think it's her first novel and I chose it because I don't think that we've done anything like this on Book Interrupted. And I thought it would just be fun and light. I read the book ages ago when I decided one time that I was going to write romance novels. So I decided to read a whole bunch. I bought a whole bunch of romance novels and I read them all. And this was the best of the bunch. But when I reread it, it was still pretty cheesy, but that was the very, very best of the bunch. Some of them were so bad, I tell you. But anyways, and I just thought it would be a challenge because, you know, the whole idea, remember the whole I love self help thing that I went through at the beginning? I thought this might be a challenge for some of you. So I thought it would be fun to do. And yeah, so what everybody think first? [00:04:09] Speaker D: I'm going to say for a first novel, I'd say it was really good for a post novel. But this was not my book. [00:04:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know. [00:04:15] Speaker D: I found it very boring, which is weird, right? I listened to the audiobook, which. Don't recommend the audiobook Lady. No, I think it's fine. It's supposed to be steamy and she's got that like steamy voice that you might expect a corny porn. [00:04:29] Speaker C: I don't know. [00:04:30] Speaker E: Or like corny porn. [00:04:32] Speaker C: Is that a brand? [00:04:33] Speaker A: Corny Corn. [00:04:35] Speaker E: Corn porn. [00:04:35] Speaker C: A corn. [00:04:36] Speaker D: Trying to sound sexy. Everything they said was said in like a kind of sexy way or. But it was just too much. It just made it boring because it was just like so. A lot of the same. But it was like, oh my God, we know what I do when I. When I get through a book. I like listen to it. [00:04:53] Speaker E: Listen to like a chipmunk. So chipmunk, corny porn. That was fun. [00:04:58] Speaker D: I mean, I've read erotica, especially in my youth. I got like a hold of some erotica books. I was like, ooh, these are steamy. And that was fine. But this is not that. It's like not erotica. There's steamy bits. But I don't think that I'm a fan of the enemies become Lovers storyline as much. Although I like Pride and Prejudice, I. [00:05:20] Speaker E: Didn'T feel like they were, like, actually enemies. [00:05:23] Speaker C: Thank you. I agree. I completely agree on that. [00:05:25] Speaker E: Yeah. The lot of the plot was like, in her head. [00:05:28] Speaker D: That's the problem. Yeah. [00:05:30] Speaker E: And she was all like, ooh, Joshua. [00:05:31] Speaker C: Ooh. [00:05:32] Speaker E: I listened to the audiobook, too. I didn't like the girl. That's why I think maybe I didn't like the book. Like, I wonder if I had read the book, if I would have somehow created a situation where it was more a palatable. Is that the right word? [00:05:47] Speaker D: Like, you insert your own voice into the. [00:05:50] Speaker E: And somehow, like, made it make sense. Right. But like. [00:05:53] Speaker D: And then you insert Josh, your own Joshua, my actual husband. [00:05:57] Speaker E: Your own Joshua. [00:05:58] Speaker C: Weird. [00:05:59] Speaker E: I hate him too. No, just kidding. Yeah, that was part of my frustration was she. The character seemed, like, super immature and, like, made up half of the bullshit. And it was boring because it was a formul. That was like a one note kind of story. It took so long to get to that elevator scene, which is what the whole thing was about. And that was the only good part. Three paragraphs of elevator. And then it went back to the same old stupid story. [00:06:27] Speaker D: So just read the elevator over and over. [00:06:28] Speaker E: Totally. Like, just read, like, chapter four, paragraph seven through 12. [00:06:33] Speaker A: Like, when I reread it, I obviously read it so long ago. But the first part is really boring. I was like. I thought it got, like, steamier, better, faster. And I'm like, oh, my God. Like, when are they gonna get there? When are they gonna get there? So sorry, guys. [00:06:48] Speaker E: But also like, oh, this is the game we play. This is the guess my T shirt game. And, like, the whole thing was just like, who is this chick? What is wrong with this girl? [00:06:57] Speaker D: And, like, why is she such a good employee? Why do they think she's so good? She doesn't even be working ever. [00:07:02] Speaker E: She's just constantly playing weird games inside her head with a guy across the desk. [00:07:07] Speaker A: She's not from Ontario. [00:07:09] Speaker E: This is a story from bc. [00:07:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I did an audiobook too, and I hated this book so much. [00:07:19] Speaker D: The Real Hating Game. [00:07:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Seriously. From the get go, I did not like the book I tried to get. I was like, I'm gonna give it at least 50% of the book. As soon as I reached 50%, I shut it off. [00:07:35] Speaker E: Did you make it to the elevator scene? Was that 50% of the. [00:07:39] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's only like 17th percent or something. Like, okay. [00:07:43] Speaker E: If you're talking percentages. Okay. [00:07:45] Speaker C: So absolutely hated it. I did not like the audiobook I don't like. I think enemies to lovers, especially. They're not enemies. [00:07:53] Speaker D: They're not real enemies. [00:07:55] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:07:55] Speaker C: And I agree. I feel they seem so immature. Even he seems immature, in my opinion. And it reminded me of middle school. And I feel like I could tell. I didn't really do any research on the book. And without knowing who the author really was, like, I could tell they were white and not that that's, like, a bad thing. [00:08:15] Speaker E: Very obvious. [00:08:16] Speaker C: You could tell that. Yes. And I feel like you could tell that this was also their first book, and I hope it's their last. [00:08:23] Speaker B: Wow. [00:08:26] Speaker C: Sorry. I hated this. But. No, seriously, the whole time I was reading it, I would go to work and I'd be like, guys, I hate this book. [00:08:34] Speaker D: They're like, why are you reading it? [00:08:37] Speaker C: Seriously? They're like, why don't you just quit? No, because I have to talk about it. [00:08:41] Speaker D: I've been talking to about at least half of it. That's what I committed myself. [00:08:45] Speaker C: At least half. [00:08:45] Speaker E: Yeah, totally. [00:08:46] Speaker C: I couldn't bring myself to watch the movie. [00:08:49] Speaker E: There's a. I didn't even. [00:08:51] Speaker A: Oh, the movie. [00:08:52] Speaker E: I keep forgetting that the whole point of this season is books and movies. [00:08:55] Speaker A: Don't watch the movie. [00:08:57] Speaker D: If you didn't like the book, you're not gonna like the movie. [00:09:00] Speaker A: You're really not gonna like the movie. [00:09:02] Speaker E: Okay. [00:09:02] Speaker C: Way worse stars Lucy, and I feel like she's a good pick for the character, but the character's gotta go. You're gonna try and be this big boss at this huge fur or whatever. [00:09:15] Speaker D: You're being so immature the whole time. [00:09:17] Speaker C: So immature. I couldn't even know. [00:09:21] Speaker D: Like, I think neither of them should be promoted because they're not. [00:09:24] Speaker C: They're very emotional too. Yeah. I agree. Their. Their decisions are so emotional. Yeah. It's so strange to me to, like, hate someone so much like that at work. Move on. You know, there's. Do something outside of work. Possibly get a life. Yeah. But I will say I'm so glad it was chosen because I would have never picked the book myself. It could have been one of my favorite books. It wasn't, but it could have been, so. [00:09:55] Speaker E: It could have been. [00:09:56] Speaker C: It could have been. [00:09:58] Speaker D: The thing is, I wonder what other of these light romance, steamy romance levels are like. Lindsay, like, was researching and reading a bunch, and she's like, this is the best of it. And she remember. I remember. That was the best one. Like, imagine what the rest of them are like. I don't know. [00:10:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:11] Speaker D: I read this a while back, and Dan watched The movie with me. And he was like, oh, my God. Not, oh, my God. Yay. [00:10:17] Speaker E: Like, oh, my God. [00:10:18] Speaker C: Like, this is just so hard to get through. What was the elevator scene like in the movie? [00:10:24] Speaker A: Well, she kissed him. Everything was different. Oh, hi, Sarah. [00:10:32] Speaker B: I'm probably frozen. [00:10:33] Speaker E: You better get in, and we can see you moving. [00:10:37] Speaker B: Okay, so the elevator scene in the book was kind of like 50 shades of gray elevator scene. It was, like, super steamy. He was like, I can't take it anymore. Like, I can't restrict myself anymore. I have to kiss her. You know what I mean? Because the whole Pride and Prejudice thing is, I don't want to like you, but I. I'm in love with you. Like, I don't want to. Like, that's the theme that this woman was going for. And the elevator kind of was hot. And the movie was horrible. I couldn't even believe it. I'm like, well, at least the elevator scene will be good. And I feel like the casting of the guy was horrible. [00:11:13] Speaker D: They had no chemistry. There's no chemistry. [00:11:16] Speaker B: He was the worst caster. [00:11:17] Speaker C: Well, they didn't have chemistry in the. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Book, but a little bit more. [00:11:22] Speaker A: They did. If you read the book more. I think in the reading, I think true. [00:11:27] Speaker D: In the movie, he was smiling the entire movie. [00:11:32] Speaker B: Thing. [00:11:33] Speaker C: In the book that. Oh, I finally got to see him smile. [00:11:36] Speaker B: Yes. [00:11:37] Speaker D: Thank you, Ashley. [00:11:38] Speaker C: Yes. [00:11:39] Speaker D: Like, he was smiling and smirking the whole time. I was like, oh, my gosh. [00:11:44] Speaker E: In the. [00:11:44] Speaker B: In the movie, they casted, like, the all American boy. That wasn't the guy. It was like, Edward from Twilight was a good casting. Christian Gray in Fifty Shades is a good casting. Like, Mr. Darcy is perfect. Almost amused by the girl being so inappropriate for him. He doesn't smile. He almost smiles with his eyes. It's mysterious. That guy was not mysterious at all. It was the worst casting ever. I was like, who is this guy? I don't feel like he's gonna be like, I can't take it anymore. I have to, like, take you in the elevator. Even though I've been mean to you for a year. It was not the vibe at all. I was iffy on the book, too. I've actually read way more steamier books. Schwaitz. [00:12:30] Speaker A: I'm sure. [00:12:31] Speaker C: Like, she's blushing, I'm sure. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure you have. Sarah loves that kind of. I thought you might, like. [00:12:39] Speaker E: You don't tell everybody. Not publicly. [00:12:44] Speaker A: No. I think the book's got a bit of that kind of twilighty, 50 shades of grey thing, too, going Which I don't know if I love the idea of the man, like, following her and I don't know, like that kind of. With fifth shades grey and all of those things. I don't really love that idea. I'm my own person. [00:13:02] Speaker B: They're all spin offs and Pride and Prejudice, but they made the Mr. Darcy character darker. But I. I'm not into that either. And I think the movie tried to make him nicer, but that wasn't the character they were playing. He wasn't playing this nice guy. He was playing kind of like the asshole going after a girl he would normally not go after. [00:13:22] Speaker C: Yeah. And he was so jealous. One of the scenes was like, you go on this date with the other guy or I forget his name. Go on the date with the other guy. And Danny, thank you. And if I kiss better, then you never kiss him again. What the f. What? [00:13:40] Speaker B: No. [00:13:40] Speaker C: I would have quit and. [00:13:41] Speaker D: Wait, you're giving me a kissing ultimatum? I'll go kiss everybody I want. Thank you very much. [00:13:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And I would have been like, you didn't even kiss that the. No, I couldn't deal with a guy like that. [00:13:52] Speaker E: You didn't even kiss. Great. [00:13:53] Speaker D: No. [00:13:54] Speaker C: You've been mean to me for a year and you're just gonna. Absolutely not. The type of romance where a guy has to be mean to you first to like, like you and then is still kind of mean to you. It's over. You know, we. What happened to, like, the really sweet men? What happened to, like, actual romance? [00:14:12] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:14:12] Speaker C: You know, not just like, men are already so mean to women in general. And now we're gonna. [00:14:16] Speaker D: Now we're gonna. Roman. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Literally. Yes. Like the. Everything he was doing. I rolled my eyes so hard and I was like, passed. I would just laugh at a guy's face if he was like that. Especially at work. Nah. [00:14:29] Speaker D: At work. [00:14:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:31] Speaker B: It was a bit weird that it was at work. [00:14:33] Speaker C: Super weird. [00:14:34] Speaker A: HR kept having to get involved because they were fighting so much. [00:14:38] Speaker D: That's what I don't get. And they're both going to have a promotion. Be like, no, you guys are. Deal with your HR problems. [00:14:43] Speaker C: It's such a fairy tale world. Which obviously it's a story. So. I know not everything's supposed to be realistic. I don't want to live in that world. It's just. Yeah. I don't want to work at a company where those two goofs would be in charge. Like, I would be an employee there and be like, how did they get the promotion? [00:15:04] Speaker D: When I'm right there fighting in Front of everybody again. Because I read this so long ago, I tried to refresh my memory, and I was, like, looking up to see if somebody had some kind of a review, like a video review or whatever. And I'd say, first of all, this movie got like, 71 on Rotten Tomatoes, which is crazy. [00:15:24] Speaker B: That's really high. [00:15:26] Speaker D: I couldn't really find very many bad reviews. I mean, if I looked, a lot of them were like, I love this book so much. I keep it. I reread it. I've read it so many times, and I love the movie. And I've watched the movie 10 times. I go on about, oh, I love this part and that part. And it's so weird. There were so many things where I'm like, this just is too much. Also, Danny, I think in the book he was supposed to be somebody that you would be jealous of. And in the movie, they made it a thank you. They made it, like, very, oh, I'm okay that I'm in the friend zone now. Let's go for a coffee and talk about your romance with that jerk. [00:16:03] Speaker C: You're attracted to self respect. [00:16:08] Speaker B: I felt like Danny was, like, super cool, artistic type, and he's going off to do his own thing because he wasn't feeling the vibe of that company anymore. Like, I felt like he was a real. I felt while I was reading the book, I'm like, she actually should just go, that guy. [00:16:22] Speaker D: He's not hitting on her at work until he decides to leave because it's inappropriate to date somebody at work. You know, Wonderful. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Like, listened to her, was genuinely interested. [00:16:32] Speaker C: In her real romance. Yeah. [00:16:35] Speaker B: Like, it seemed like legit. Said she was beautiful. I had a different image. And then in the movie, I was like, oh, they made him really dorky, really good. Yeah. So in the book, if he's like, kiss him and decide if who you like better. Danny was a nice guy, but just because he's a nice guy doesn't mean he wasn't a real threat. And in the movie, it made it look like he wasn't a threat at all. [00:16:58] Speaker D: Yeah, I think in the book it was more like, he was a great guy and she should like him because he's wonderful. But the kiss was. There was no chemistry. It was like kissing your brother. It wasn't because he was bad at it. It was because she didn't have the chemistry. I think that was the point of the book. And in the movie, they're just like, wow, he's probably never kissed a girl. That's like, kind of the Implication they're giving. [00:17:21] Speaker B: In the book, it was supposed to be like, she was secretly in love with him. So of course she wasn't going to go for this other amazing guy because she was secretly in love with the jerk. [00:17:28] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:29] Speaker A: And the end of the movie was different. I didn't like the way that. Yeah, they were supposed to fight in the. The one bit, but they fought late. I don't know. I thought the movie was atrociously bad. Like, did not represent the book at all. Yeah, it was. It was bad. I mean, my partner sat through it too, and he was like, oh, my. [00:17:48] Speaker D: God, when is it going to be done? It's one of those where you're like, when is this movie going to be over? [00:17:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:52] Speaker C: Oh, rough. And it's on Netflix. You can watch it at 1.5 speed. You can watch it. [00:17:57] Speaker A: 1.5. You can do it and tell us. [00:17:59] Speaker D: You should do it. [00:18:00] Speaker C: Oh, oh. And then. Yeah, then I'll do my book report for it. I'll be like, so that was even worse than I thought. [00:18:07] Speaker D: You do it faster than 1.5. [00:18:10] Speaker C: I don't. [00:18:11] Speaker A: You. [00:18:11] Speaker C: You might be able to. I don't know. [00:18:15] Speaker D: It read way too fast. [00:18:18] Speaker B: I was trying to think about other movies, romantic movies that I've watched with the hate turn to love thing, and one that's amazing is Leap Year. Do you guys know that movie Leap Year? [00:18:29] Speaker D: I've heard of it. I can't even picture who's in it. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Okay, so it's the girl that's in Enchanted. I don't know anybody's name on the wall. [00:18:36] Speaker E: I love this game, though. I love this game. Keep going. [00:18:39] Speaker D: I don't know Enchanted either. [00:18:41] Speaker E: What? [00:18:41] Speaker C: El. [00:18:41] Speaker D: Is she in? [00:18:41] Speaker B: Yeah, she's in that Arrival movie where she is the linguistic girl for the aliens. [00:18:47] Speaker E: Yes. Oh, yeah. [00:18:48] Speaker D: She's got red hair. [00:18:49] Speaker B: He's a red hair. Yes. I have no idea who. [00:18:52] Speaker D: He's in the magic one. Or she looks like the girl that's in the magic one. [00:18:55] Speaker E: Is she in Jurassic World? Is it Bryce? [00:18:59] Speaker A: I know. [00:19:01] Speaker E: Okay. I looked it up. [00:19:02] Speaker A: Can I tell you? Amy Adams. [00:19:03] Speaker D: Yes. [00:19:04] Speaker E: Amy Adams. [00:19:05] Speaker C: Yes. [00:19:05] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:19:06] Speaker C: Yes, yes. [00:19:07] Speaker E: And who. Who's her love interest? [00:19:09] Speaker A: Let's play that. [00:19:09] Speaker B: And he's that British guy. [00:19:12] Speaker E: Is he British? [00:19:13] Speaker C: Really? [00:19:13] Speaker D: One of those. Eh, there's only, like, Jude Law. [00:19:17] Speaker B: No. And he's in. [00:19:19] Speaker E: He's British. [00:19:20] Speaker B: He's in. He plays an Irish guy in this movie. I think it's maybe. First name's Matthew something. [00:19:26] Speaker A: It is. [00:19:26] Speaker B: I looked good. [00:19:28] Speaker E: Oh, nice. [00:19:30] Speaker C: Nice. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Good job. [00:19:32] Speaker E: Isn't That a singer band? [00:19:34] Speaker B: That's a baker. [00:19:34] Speaker D: But okay. But there's two goods is what you're trying to tell me. [00:19:37] Speaker E: I guess there's probably at least two. [00:19:40] Speaker B: Anyway, he's this Irish guy who owns a pub, and she's comes from Boston, America. America. To propose to her fiance on a leap year. Because women can propose to men on leap year, which is a weird thing. Anyway. Women can propose to men anytime they want to, but that's fine. [00:19:58] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:59] Speaker B: Anyway, and then they come and they kind of hate each other, but that was perfectly played out. He is the perfect. He's not an asshole. He's just kind of grumpy. [00:20:08] Speaker D: And he's maybe making fun of her for, like, why did you wait to leap? [00:20:11] Speaker C: You're like, yeah, like, could have been any day. [00:20:13] Speaker B: Like, he thinks it's so stupid that she's gonna propose. Like, if your boyfriend wanted to marry you, he probably would have asked. [00:20:19] Speaker D: I don't like that either. Like, who needs to get married? [00:20:21] Speaker E: I don't know. [00:20:22] Speaker A: You're married. [00:20:24] Speaker E: I know. I was like, hold on. [00:20:25] Speaker D: I know you. [00:20:27] Speaker C: You're married. Who needs to get married? Oh, my God. [00:20:30] Speaker A: I know you do. Maybe I can say that. But you're already married, so I feel. [00:20:35] Speaker E: Like she's obviously having second thoughts. [00:20:40] Speaker D: You guys have been together. [00:20:41] Speaker C: Listen to this episode. [00:20:42] Speaker B: 20 years you've been together. [00:20:44] Speaker D: Yeah. 20 years. [00:20:46] Speaker C: Can you believe it? This year? Oh, my God. That's exciting. Wow. [00:20:51] Speaker D: Two decades. Yeah, I guess it's just like. Like, it's so funny. I was like, maybe we should celebrate or something. He's like, maybe, I don't know. [00:20:58] Speaker C: We like to celebrate stuff. [00:20:59] Speaker D: I don't know. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Maybe that's why you're contemplating not being married anymore. [00:21:03] Speaker A: Should we celebrate or something? I don't know. [00:21:06] Speaker D: I'm not saying I don't want to be married. I'm saying it's. It's not that important to me. It's nice that my kids have my last name. It makes travel and forms and everything like that easier. [00:21:15] Speaker B: Totally. [00:21:15] Speaker D: But honestly, it's a really long name. Sometimes I would think, like, I should have just kept my other name short. It's only six letters, and my other. [00:21:24] Speaker C: One is get married. You can change your last name to whatever you love. [00:21:28] Speaker D: You can change your last name to whatever you want anytime. [00:21:30] Speaker C: You know what? I guess that's true. That's okay. [00:21:33] Speaker B: You can. [00:21:33] Speaker C: Yeah, true. Never mind. You can do that anytime. [00:21:36] Speaker D: So Sarah's had many names? [00:21:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:38] Speaker C: Really? Like legally? [00:21:40] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:21:40] Speaker C: Four. Oh, you just go, oh, my gosh. [00:21:43] Speaker E: All sorts of things. That's a whole lot. You should change your last name to Vicious Man. Meredith. [00:21:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:53] Speaker D: Vicious Man. [00:21:55] Speaker E: The Vicious Hibernated. [00:21:58] Speaker D: No, I really like Ill Novicious. That's right. [00:22:00] Speaker E: Ill Novicious isn't bad. [00:22:01] Speaker D: Sounds really cool. Yeah, but it's also still long, so it should just be two letters or one letter. [00:22:08] Speaker E: Just change it to K. Totally. Same as now. [00:22:12] Speaker A: Meredith K. Sounds like you're a pop star or something. [00:22:16] Speaker E: Totally. [00:22:17] Speaker A: A rapper. I don't know. Something. [00:22:19] Speaker E: A rapper. Meredith K. That'd be quite the turn. [00:22:22] Speaker D: In my career path. [00:22:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:25] Speaker E: You could call yourself a lyrical engineer. [00:22:28] Speaker C: Oh, that's good on the resume. [00:22:31] Speaker E: That would be your thing. [00:22:35] Speaker D: They'd be like, what happened to Meredith? She needs help. I think it would lead to interventions. [00:22:41] Speaker A: Okay, I have a question for everyone. [00:22:43] Speaker E: Talk about the book. [00:22:45] Speaker A: It's kind of about the book, but I feel like, you know, that idea of the. The guy that you hate and that is the bad guy kind of thing. I feel like most people have dated somebody like that at some point in their life. Have you all dated somebody like that? I know Sarah has, for sure. Sarah's probably had a few of those. [00:23:09] Speaker D: We've talked about that before. [00:23:10] Speaker A: I blame Pride and Prejudice, but that's what I mean. [00:23:13] Speaker E: Oh, you hate me. [00:23:14] Speaker B: Great. Let's date forever. [00:23:16] Speaker D: You hate me. Let's go on a date. [00:23:18] Speaker A: I blame Pride, but I think it's pop culture sometimes that, like, tries to teach you. But don't you think. [00:23:26] Speaker C: I don't know if I dated someone who was, like, the bad guy, but I've dated guys that were mean to me. And maybe that's why I have such angst against the enemies to lover thing. I'm just like, if you like someone, you should be nice to them. Yeah. You know, also, I want. Yeah, I also want someone who's nice to other people. [00:23:47] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:23:48] Speaker C: So, yeah. So you can't be a jerk to me or to other people. And so I think that's where I'm getting this trope is, like, not for me because I don't like mean people. [00:23:57] Speaker A: Yeah. I do think pop culture's done that. Ideas like, you know, Pride and Prejudice or all those movies or all. Is that idea of, oh, well, the bad guy's the guy that you should go for because he's going to love you the hardest. [00:24:10] Speaker E: Or there's actually, like a. [00:24:12] Speaker D: The kid pulled your hair on the playground because he likes you. [00:24:14] Speaker C: Yes. [00:24:14] Speaker E: Maybe there's like, a movement that is, like, taught to guys if they want to be a player. I can't remember what it's called, but it's like, be nice and then like, be mean twice. [00:24:26] Speaker A: Negging. [00:24:27] Speaker E: What's it called? [00:24:28] Speaker A: I think it's called. Oh, negging. Negging is when you. You're like, give a compliment, but it's a backhanded. Yeah. [00:24:35] Speaker E: Legs are short or whatever. Right. [00:24:38] Speaker A: It's in the, like, Pickup Artist handbook. [00:24:40] Speaker D: Yes, it's in the Pickup artist. [00:24:42] Speaker A: Yes. There's a thing, a whole movement called Pickup Artist, and I've met one before that they study, and I've read books about it, too, because I just found it fascinating. [00:24:51] Speaker D: We should read one of these books on the podcast and we learn all the things and then warn ladies about it. [00:24:57] Speaker C: Like, we should try it on men. [00:24:59] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. But there's things called. Maybe there's called peacocking, where men will wear brightly colored things in order to stand out. There's negging, where they give a compliment. Yeah. Like, your hair looks really cute because it covers your big ears. You just complimented me. But you said my ears were big. So, like, I don't know, picking, like, if there's three or two girls, you go and give attention to the less hot one so that the hot one feels jealous because they always get the attention and then they want you even more. It's gross. It's like, there's so much. But a lot of men prescribe to it, go to classes, and, like, there's a whole thing. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Are you serious? [00:25:36] Speaker D: These are called lonely men because they will never have a real relationship. [00:25:40] Speaker C: Yeah, these are men that don't get women. [00:25:43] Speaker A: They pick women up. [00:25:45] Speaker C: It's giving. Like Andrew Tate. It's. That's. I hope there are any men listening to this. Please don't do that. You're not gonna be successful. [00:25:54] Speaker E: Aren't there also men, like, I can't remember what the acronym is for guys that want girlfriends but can't have them, and so they call themselves incel. It's in involuntary celibacy. [00:26:06] Speaker D: There you go. [00:26:07] Speaker E: Yes. He was in there. [00:26:10] Speaker D: One of those guys, and they blame ladies for. [00:26:12] Speaker E: Yeah, they get all mad. Probably a woman out there for you if you were willing to try instead of fucking pouting about your involuntary celibacy. [00:26:20] Speaker A: I think the guy who ran over a lot of people in Toronto with a car, truck or something was an incel. And he was blaming women. And so he, like, killed a whole bunch of people by taking a car and killing them. Because he said it was women's faults. He couldn't have. Yeah, he didn't have a girlfriend. [00:26:36] Speaker D: Their fault. For not having sex with me. [00:26:38] Speaker E: Big blue balls. Those big blue balls took the wheel. [00:26:42] Speaker C: Like, get a flashlight. [00:26:43] Speaker D: It's kind of. Yeah. Women don't want to have sex with you. [00:26:46] Speaker A: Right? [00:26:46] Speaker D: I mean, there's two parts of this. [00:26:48] Speaker E: Story also, like, wonder why. That's how you handle your disappointment. You know, kill people, Vehicular manslaughter. Like, no, thank you. I don't want to join in a partnership with you. [00:26:58] Speaker B: Yeah, you don't seem like a great catch. [00:27:01] Speaker E: What if I upset you? [00:27:02] Speaker B: Like. [00:27:05] Speaker D: The hell. [00:27:07] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I didn't know about any of this. [00:27:10] Speaker D: We should do this. What. What's it called? What's the book? We need a book that's about this. [00:27:15] Speaker E: The Pickup Artists. [00:27:16] Speaker A: I read a book about a journalist. I forget what it was called. I'll look it up. But a journalist who decided he was going to learn about pickup artists. And so he, like, dived into the. Pretended he was part of the culture, but actually fell deep and ended up being part of the culture for a. Yeah. And, like, end up living with them and doing the things. And then he wrote in the book, he's like, actually, I realized that that was wrong and that he got out of it and whatever, but. [00:27:41] Speaker D: And now I'm reading a book about it. [00:27:43] Speaker C: Well, it's like, mob mentality. Right. You know, it's so easy to judge when you're not part of the mob and then you're in the mob and it's like, oh, my God. Well, maybe I am like, these people and yada, yada. And then you just get, you know, real sucked in. [00:27:55] Speaker A: Yeah. You feel accepted. [00:27:59] Speaker C: Yep. Absolutely. [00:28:00] Speaker D: Anything can seem normal if you do it all the time. I mean, like, that's. You see it all the time. [00:28:04] Speaker C: You're like, that's why normal is normal. [00:28:06] Speaker D: Everybody does that. [00:28:06] Speaker A: Yep. [00:28:07] Speaker C: Yep. [00:28:08] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:28:08] Speaker A: Yeah. That's why on, like, social media, if you see the same things all the time, people start believing in lies or fake news or whatever. [00:28:15] Speaker C: Oh, for sure. [00:28:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:16] Speaker D: Crazy. [00:28:17] Speaker A: Anyway, Sarah, want to tell us about your bad relationships? [00:28:20] Speaker D: Let's. Let's dive in. Wait, Lindsay, you have to tell us. You asked the question. But let's hear yours. [00:28:28] Speaker B: Yeah, we've already done mine. [00:28:30] Speaker A: I generally tend to go for nice people. Generally. But I. There was this guy once who was really beautiful, and I, like. He was so handsome and, like, bright colors. [00:28:44] Speaker E: He peacocked the. Out of me. [00:28:46] Speaker A: No, I think he did. I really did. He was a pickup artist. He did learn all that stuff. And we dated for a bit, but he did a lot of Things like negging. And I think I maybe was living with Sarah at the time, or I knew Sarah. No, it would have been after that, but for some reason, I feel like Sarah is the one that told me, you got to get out of this relationship. She really doesn't remember the guy with the weird. [00:29:06] Speaker D: With the apartment. The, like, sparse apartment. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Yeah, the sparse apartment was my. [00:29:12] Speaker A: One of my guys. [00:29:13] Speaker D: But did yours also have a sparse apartment? [00:29:15] Speaker A: Yeah, he had a pretty sparse apartment, actually. [00:29:17] Speaker C: Most guys have a sparse apartment. [00:29:20] Speaker D: Yeah. Second apartment, maybe married. I'm just saying. [00:29:25] Speaker A: No, this guy wasn't married. [00:29:27] Speaker B: This guy wasn't either. [00:29:28] Speaker E: I was like, why the sparse apartment of Red Flag? I was like. Like American Psycho. Like, what are we thinking about here? [00:29:35] Speaker D: Or doesn't want you at his real house. So you don't know where he really lives if you want to go see him again. [00:29:41] Speaker E: No. [00:29:41] Speaker D: No. [00:29:42] Speaker E: Well, that could be protective. That's. Again, that's against the crazy girls. Well, I don't like how many of you are going back to someone's house unwanted. [00:29:49] Speaker C: Just Airbnb. [00:29:51] Speaker D: Well, I'm still here. [00:29:53] Speaker C: You're still here. It's worked out every time since 20 years. [00:29:57] Speaker D: 20 years. [00:29:58] Speaker E: 20 years later. 20 years. [00:29:59] Speaker D: Can't get rid of it. He's trying to be as nice as he can, and it's not working. He's like, romance movies are telling me the wrong thing. That's a nice guy thing. It's not working at all. Sorry. [00:30:13] Speaker E: Go on. [00:30:14] Speaker B: Anyway, Lindsay, that's it. [00:30:16] Speaker A: That's all. He was just. He'd put me down and stuff and make me feel bad, but he was so subtle about it that I didn't. It was over months and months where I was like. All of a sudden, I'm like, why do I feel so bad about myself? All this because I'm a pretty confident person, but I felt so bad about everything about myself. And then it clicked. I was like, oh, this guy keeps telling me I'm horrible. So that was it. So peace out. [00:30:36] Speaker D: Oh, I don't have to change. [00:30:38] Speaker B: No. [00:30:39] Speaker D: For some reason, trying to change me. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Change me into, like, something else. And I'm like, no. [00:30:44] Speaker D: So weird. [00:30:44] Speaker A: Get out of here. So, yeah. But generally, my partners have been. I like nice people. I agree with Ashley there. I think kindness is the most important thing and, you know, and for others. [00:30:54] Speaker C: And it's attractive. [00:30:56] Speaker A: It is attractive. [00:30:57] Speaker C: When I see mean people being mean, I'm like, ugh. You know, like, I just don't even want to be in their presence. And then you're around someone who's so kind. You want to continuously be like, you're just drawn to them and you want to be kinder. Yeah. Absolutely infectious. It really is. It's like a smile or a yawn. [00:31:14] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, yeah. [00:31:16] Speaker D: It's like a smile or a yawn. [00:31:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:18] Speaker D: I think great if you just told somebody, but, like, you know, you're just like, a smile or a yawn, and they're like, does that mean I'm bored? I don't get it. I think that before, I mean, obviously I've been with somebody for 20 years, but before that, I was usually very fast to drop somebody who started acting mean. This is not good. I'm out of here. [00:31:38] Speaker C: But I also really love being to be mean for. [00:31:41] Speaker D: Right? And you're like, I don't understand these mind games. Are you being jealous? I also hated jealousy. If something's jealous, I'm like, are you being jealous? If I wanted to date somebody else, I would just end this and go date. I would be doing something with someone else and being with you. [00:31:54] Speaker C: But, yeah, that was my biggest issue. I think with the guy in the book, the jealousy is too much. It's just like you bullied this girl for a year at work, and now she's. She's talking to someone, and all of a sudden you're gung ho. You're gonna go shoot him in a paintball arena for what? That is just so. That, to me, is so unattractive. Deal with your emotions in a better way. [00:32:21] Speaker D: Or ask her on the date first. [00:32:23] Speaker B: And guess what? [00:32:24] Speaker D: She wouldn't be going on a date with somebody else if she was going on a date with you. [00:32:28] Speaker C: So, yeah, I'm getting incel vibes from him. That's just, you know, keep him away from the vans. [00:32:35] Speaker D: That's probably not. That's prob. Poor taste joke. I retract. [00:32:38] Speaker C: I retract. [00:32:40] Speaker E: I was going to say earlier about the following girls around. Obviously, in real life, major problem, right? But like, in the story, when I don't even want to say this because it's a major part of my personal journal, but, like, what I will say is that if something like that happened, it would at least become interesting. Do you know what I mean? Like, ooh, is she in danger? Of course I don't. You know, I'm not promoting violence against women, right? But, like, I do listen to true crime all the time. Why? Because it's interesting. [00:33:10] Speaker D: Do you know what I mean? [00:33:10] Speaker E: To be like, wow, I can't believe that those people decided to do that to those Other people or whatever. Right. So if we're talking about this story and it's not very interesting, I'm kind of pro. Let's get some crimes in there. [00:33:29] Speaker C: Let's go steal something. Break in like anything. Go through his phone, do something. [00:33:36] Speaker B: Or maybe he saves her from somebody, something. Or Danny actually the secret bad guy and he has to swoop in. Something. I would love that something. [00:33:47] Speaker E: Yeah, I went with the main character being a secret bad guy. [00:33:51] Speaker A: I know you. [00:33:52] Speaker E: Did you listen to my personal journal already? [00:33:55] Speaker A: No. [00:33:56] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't. [00:33:57] Speaker E: Oh. [00:33:58] Speaker B: I just mean I knew what you were saying. I was like, he can't be the bad guy. I have to turn this around. Danny is the bad guy. [00:34:04] Speaker E: He could have been the bad guy and it would have been a whole different book and that would have been fine. [00:34:08] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I would have loved if Danny was a bad guy. Yeah, absolutely. [00:34:12] Speaker D: I think it would have betrayed the audience though, because people like get these kind of books to have some kind of a safe escape that has romance or whatever that. [00:34:21] Speaker E: No, because Danny could have been the good guys. [00:34:24] Speaker D: But like we're saying this guy has insulted her for years and treated her poorly. Now she's gonna dm. [00:34:28] Speaker E: So it might have been doing a service to the audience, not a betrayal. [00:34:32] Speaker D: If you're picking up a romance novel, you don't want a predator scene that forms. [00:34:37] Speaker E: If he's a predator, then Danny could be the good guy. Right. It would probably be short lived. I agree with you, Mayor, because people are not looking for a psychological thriller. They're not looking for any kind of. [00:34:48] Speaker D: Thriller or something that's going to trigger some trauma memory like they're just looking for. I just want a little bit of kissing, maybe an elevator scene, maybe a little bit heavy petting. [00:34:59] Speaker B: Who knows? [00:35:00] Speaker E: I don't know. 180 pages of immature back and forth, imaginary fighting. [00:35:05] Speaker D: I just want to be reminded of my for elementary school crush where we made fun of each other and held hands that one time. And then what would happen if we were adults? [00:35:14] Speaker E: Did you guys read anything by Emily? I think it's Geffen. [00:35:18] Speaker B: Oh, I know I haven't. [00:35:20] Speaker D: I don't know, anything borrowed or something. [00:35:22] Speaker B: Right? [00:35:22] Speaker E: That's right. So there's like something borrowed and then the next one might be like something blue like she wrote. And anyways it's like this, but better. And I don't know if she's also the one that's. Can you keep a secret? That was also a pretty good one. Anyways, so they have the same kind of similar Formula. But, like, I was really surprised, Schweitz, that you dove deep into romance novels and this was the best one. Well, I. Even when you were saying that too. [00:35:45] Speaker A: I was like, what about Twilight? [00:35:47] Speaker D: We can't do this on this podcast. We've already. We've already done it. What we do is we should do, like an April Fool's. Pretend we did Twilight and just piece together all of the episodes with us talking about Twilight, and people just think we read it. [00:36:00] Speaker C: It's just hilarious. [00:36:02] Speaker E: All it is is that Twilight crosses boundaries. Twilight is so applicable in all conversations. [00:36:08] Speaker D: Right. [00:36:08] Speaker E: That's how great Twilight is. Is that you can. [00:36:11] Speaker D: You're gonna get her started. [00:36:12] Speaker E: She's gonna be like, exactly. [00:36:15] Speaker B: We talked about Twilight the most in. [00:36:18] Speaker D: The hands made tale. [00:36:19] Speaker C: Like, it's so. [00:36:21] Speaker E: It's not even about the Handmaid's Tale. It's just about Twilight. [00:36:26] Speaker B: We talked about the most during that book cycle. And it's just like, I must have been just so in it at the. [00:36:31] Speaker D: Time because there's nothing. Like, there's no similarities whatsoever. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Sarah is obsessed with Twilight. Like, obsessed. [00:36:40] Speaker D: Should not take a drink when we start talking about Twilight. I can't handle it. [00:36:44] Speaker B: Sorry. [00:36:44] Speaker D: I wonder if I'll ever read it. [00:36:46] Speaker E: Well, we've talked about what should the next season be about? I'm like, it has to be about something where we can actually read Twilight. Like, we have to just read Twilight. [00:36:53] Speaker D: Twilight. [00:36:53] Speaker C: Everyone just has to pick the first, second, third, and fourth book. [00:36:56] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:36:57] Speaker B: I was gonna ask you what you guys thought. Both in the book and in the movie. The dad scene where she defended him was the most, as my daughter would say, cringy part for me. Super cringy in the book. And then even worse in the movie because it just didn't feel like it. The opportunity didn't actually seem like that would happen. Did anyone else have an opinion about that? [00:37:20] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:37:20] Speaker C: Can someone talk about what happened with the dad? I feel like the dad, like, treats. [00:37:24] Speaker E: The son kind of bad, but really it's a misunderstanding in some way, shape or form because the dad's, like, disappointed that the son's not a doctor, but. [00:37:33] Speaker D: He thinks he's the failure. [00:37:34] Speaker E: Yeah, but the son's actually the doctor of journalism or whatever the fuck he does. And, like, so seem to work at all to me. [00:37:41] Speaker D: I've been like, yeah, he's not working. He's just playing around with this lady. [00:37:46] Speaker E: And then so she said, she was like, you don't even know your son. He's so impressive. [00:37:50] Speaker D: He's brilliant. [00:37:51] Speaker E: He's Brilliant. Like, said how great he is. [00:37:53] Speaker B: Like, she defends him. [00:37:55] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:37:56] Speaker C: So I don't think I read that at. [00:37:58] Speaker E: Yeah, at the breakfast for his ex fiance's wedding to his brother. Like, what was with that subplot? [00:38:04] Speaker C: Okay, okay. So I stopped reading before the wedding happened. Oh. [00:38:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know. I think it's kind of like they built it up of being like, he's this broody guy. His father's broody too. They need the woman who's going to stand up for them. Oh, totally for them and all this stuff. Right. So I felt like that scene kind of made sense. It was like, well, she's kind of showing that she is like the mom and she is going to stand up. And then the mom's like, yeah, you go, girl. You are. Exactly. So. But Sarah would never do that. So that's probably why the idea of like talking back to a father in. [00:38:39] Speaker D: Law and that you just met, like. [00:38:42] Speaker E: If she just met him at like. [00:38:44] Speaker B: A wedding breakfast with all the people at someone's wedding. [00:38:47] Speaker D: And it wasn't about either of them. It's about the wedding couple. [00:38:50] Speaker B: And it's a very new relationship. [00:38:53] Speaker D: This is more of a Thanksgiving conversation. Thanks. [00:38:56] Speaker A: Hey, I stood up for laird before then. Said stuff. So maybe not like that. I make them jokes or like say things, whatever. But yeah, I wouldn't say it like that, but I would be feisty, kind of like her. So. [00:39:09] Speaker B: Oh, well, there you go. It's just me because I'm just like, oh, horrible. What are you doing? [00:39:14] Speaker E: It was conflict. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Very not people pleasing. [00:39:17] Speaker E: It was conflict. [00:39:18] Speaker C: Yeah, let's just skip that chapter. [00:39:21] Speaker A: That's too much conflict for Sarah. [00:39:23] Speaker D: Yeah, that's like Pride and Prejudice level conflict where everyone's like, says something like, oh, then they weren't proper. They didn't. [00:39:31] Speaker B: And then it's over. [00:39:32] Speaker D: Say goodbye properly. They just got into the carriage and walked away. Oh, my God. I can't believe you talked to a person with a higher status than you do. [00:39:41] Speaker C: You guys typically like reading romance? Because for myself I've tried and I don't think I do because I don't personally like books that are predictable, I guess. And I think a lot of romance books can be predictable. So I find I have a hard time reading them. So I feel like that might also be one of the issues I had with the book is that it kind of was a little predictable in some ways. What about you guys? [00:40:08] Speaker E: I feel that exact. I think that's right. Because when Mara was like, oh, that would be a betrayal to the audience, I was kind of like, well, if I'm the audience, I want a twist. But back to the point of what the audience is looking for, potentially that predictability. They want to know. Happy ending is coming and I'm with you, Ashley. I don't want to be able to foretell the end of the book, otherwise, why am I reading it, like, if I know what's gonna happen kind of thing. So I think that's a great way to put it. [00:40:35] Speaker A: I don't know. I like the. I mean, I'm not a huge romance. I mean, I've read enough of them now. But when I do, if I'm going to pick up this book, I want to know that I don't have to think about it, that I'm sitting on a beach, that there's no plot twist, that I know that he is gonna end up with her and they're gonna be happy in the end. There's gonna be a conflict in the middle, there's going to be some sexy scenes, and then everyone's going to be go off their merry way, formula complete. Like, if I'm going to pick up something like that, that's what I want. And I think that's why this book's probably so popular too, is that it kind of fills that bad guy fantasy and the, you know, predictability and a little bit of conflict, but nothing that's going to, you know, cause you drama or stress or anything while you're, you know, escaping because you've had a really hard day at work or, you know, whatever it is. So. [00:41:24] Speaker C: Right. [00:41:24] Speaker D: It doesn't raise any, like, existential questions. It's like watching a rom com. You're like, yeah, I could go for, like, the intense documentary about some wrong in the world. Or maybe I want to watch a rom com today because I just need to laugh and not worry about something that I'm worried about. [00:41:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:41] Speaker B: So, yeah, that's. I've read a lot of romance, but that's not my number one. I only read romance as, like, a palate cleanser. So if I read a really heavy book or a thriller or sometimes a murder mystery, I like cozy murder mystery, too. [00:41:53] Speaker E: So if cozy murder. [00:41:56] Speaker B: If I read a. Like, if I read a thriller or something more heavy, more dense topics, then I either want a cozy murder mystery or a romance just to get space. So for me, I have a whole bunch on my library app of either romance or cozy ones just ready to go, just in case I've read something. [00:42:15] Speaker D: That I'm like, oh, the World's a horrible place. [00:42:18] Speaker A: I'm like, oh, great. [00:42:20] Speaker C: Aw, that's. That's sweet. [00:42:22] Speaker B: And usually cozy. Murder mysteries also have a little romance in them. [00:42:25] Speaker C: Always. [00:42:26] Speaker B: I prefer them because they have a little bit of romance, but there's still like a fun murder mystery happening on the side. But other romance ones are not very good. [00:42:34] Speaker D: Fun murder, a little murder on the side. Nobody's really getting murdered in these. [00:42:41] Speaker B: But then, like, you know, beach read book lovers, they all have the same formula. They'll have some sort of conflict within the characters, but the romance is there. So, you know, it's all gonna work out, man. So I kind of like that. But. But this one, I feel like there was some things missing for me in this one. There wasn't enough. I got problems with Lucy. Like I needed her to have more issues or something to. And him's issue to be more obvious for it to feel interesting for me. [00:43:09] Speaker D: I guess for a romance. [00:43:11] Speaker B: I guess I like romances between people that are a little bit broken. [00:43:14] Speaker D: That's terrible. [00:43:16] Speaker B: Yeah, More human, more like with real issues. Like, my favorite ones are the Brown sisters. I mentioned this in my personal journal, so I won't talk too much, but the Brown sister books are amazing and they're very steamy. They made me blush when I read them. But the. Both the male character and the female character, both are like real people with all their anxieties and problems and maybe health problems or whatever. And that makes it more enjoyable for me for some reason. [00:43:43] Speaker E: But I think it's the eroticism. There is only one elevator scene in this movie, and you're like, these are steamy and they have problems. I think you're under highlighted. [00:43:53] Speaker A: It's a steamy bit. [00:43:54] Speaker E: The steaminess that's keeping you engaged. But that's also like, that's what I wanted more of, truly, from this book. I was like, okay, if these guys are stupid, fine, but I need an elevator scene every fucking 30 pages. Then, like, let's get on. Like, I remember there being more. [00:44:12] Speaker A: I don't know. Yeah, I thought there was more steaminess too. I obviously did not remember. It was so long ago. [00:44:17] Speaker D: I don't. [00:44:17] Speaker E: You were reading a lot of romance. I was integrated. [00:44:21] Speaker A: I might have. [00:44:22] Speaker D: Maybe you were looking for a break from so much steaminess and you're like, oh, thank gosh. This was a little bit. Yeah, I. I remember it being too stressful. [00:44:30] Speaker E: My poor heart. [00:44:31] Speaker A: I still think it was like light and fluffy and cute. [00:44:34] Speaker E: It wasn't like the worst thing ever. [00:44:36] Speaker A: Yeah, it wasn't. [00:44:37] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:44:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:38] Speaker E: People love this book. [00:44:39] Speaker D: I'm telling you. [00:44:40] Speaker C: People love this book. So many people do. Yeah. I was reading a lot of reviews on Goodreads and it was almost all positive. [00:44:49] Speaker D: Like maybe we're just not the audience for this book. [00:44:52] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. Yeah. [00:44:54] Speaker D: Like there's an audience and if you're in that audience, you might even want to buy the book and read it over and over and over. Many people do. I wonder what that demographic is. [00:45:03] Speaker E: Younger. [00:45:04] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:45:04] Speaker C: I feel like. Yeah. Still in high school? [00:45:07] Speaker A: No. [00:45:08] Speaker E: Older. [00:45:08] Speaker D: You don't think so. Older than high school. [00:45:10] Speaker E: Keep guessing. I think younger. Older. Moderately. [00:45:13] Speaker D: College in between. University. [00:45:16] Speaker B: University. Started their first job maybe. You know what I mean? [00:45:20] Speaker D: Like that. [00:45:20] Speaker A: I don't know. I think someone older might be treaty kind of read it on the beach kind of thing. No, Maybe me maybe. I remember. I'll tell you guys, I did just read this book called Fourth Wing. Have you guys heard about it? [00:45:39] Speaker C: It's not a book but I've heard of them. Yeah, I've heard of them. [00:45:42] Speaker A: It's a huge thing. There's three books now and it's about this. This sounds really cheesy but it's about kind of like Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and then I have heard them. Yeah. So I love them. Yeah. You know it's kind of about this like Dragon Riders and this sounds really weird but if you just dive into the. There is some like sexy scenes. Not super sexy bits. So it's not for kids. Yeah. It was actually quite entertaining and it's like a full story and there's conflict and drama and wars and like all that stuff. I would recommend trying it. See. Yeah. It really reminded me a bit of the hunger because it's like students have to pass all these tests to be able to become a Dragon Rider. So it's got that like Hunger Gamesy. They're all dying. Like all the kids are dying from the school in order to pass to become. [00:46:26] Speaker E: We love a good dying kids book. [00:46:29] Speaker A: Exactly. So there you go. [00:46:36] Speaker C: And each book more and more kids die. [00:46:40] Speaker D: This one, only two children died. It's a reimagining of Hansel and Gretel. [00:46:47] Speaker E: No, Sarah's is like uptick in romance palette cleansers. Should every other book she'd have to be reading a romance. [00:46:56] Speaker B: Another romance constantly. [00:46:58] Speaker D: Oh my God. [00:46:58] Speaker B: The scene was killing me. [00:47:03] Speaker D: I have to believe more children will. [00:47:04] Speaker A: Be born. [00:47:08] Speaker C: Just so they can be murdered. Baby making books. [00:47:12] Speaker D: Oh my God. [00:47:13] Speaker C: Wow. [00:47:13] Speaker B: But that. It's called fantasy romance genre new category. Yeah. Genre fantasy romance is huge right now. [00:47:20] Speaker D: Massive. [00:47:21] Speaker B: Like all the people are talking about it. Publishers are looking for people writing fantasy romance specifically because it's blown up. People are crazy about it. [00:47:29] Speaker C: That's the next big thing, I guess. [00:47:31] Speaker E: Well, that's what I feel like. I feel like that was what Twilight had. I feel like Hunger Games. [00:47:36] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:47:36] Speaker E: Saying. Right. And I think that that's kind of. I don't know how to describe the reader that wants that. I feel like it's an added layer into. Onto the romance. Like just the romance is like a little bit for me personally. Too formulaic. [00:47:50] Speaker D: Fine. [00:47:51] Speaker E: But throw in some weird utopia or dystopia and a romance, then. Okay, I can stick with this. You know what I mean? Right. And so maybe anything. [00:48:02] Speaker C: Not to circle it back to the. [00:48:04] Speaker A: Hunger Games, but the other person obsessed. [00:48:07] Speaker E: We got a Hunger Games freak and a Twilight freak here. [00:48:10] Speaker C: But a direct quote from the first one. Snow says, like. [00:48:19] Speaker E: You know, I've 12. [00:48:21] Speaker C: Snow says, Hope it's dangerous because it's what keeps people going. And I feel like in a dystopian type of war setting or action type of thing, that romance added to it is that hope that gets you through the, like, it's for you to hold on to kind of thing. And it humanizes it. And I think that's why it's so popular. Like, it's. [00:48:42] Speaker E: And it helps compel the story. [00:48:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:48:44] Speaker D: Broadens the audience too, because part of the audience is going to be more wanting the romance. And one more wants to know what's going to happen in this dystopia or utopia or whatever. [00:48:55] Speaker B: Or a murder mystery. [00:48:56] Speaker D: Yeah, murder. [00:48:57] Speaker B: The B story as a romance works. I'm in. [00:49:00] Speaker D: I'm all in. [00:49:01] Speaker E: It's not my A storyline. That's a good way to put it. So Hating Game. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was missing the A storyline. [00:49:09] Speaker B: I'm storyline. [00:49:10] Speaker E: I could take that B storyline, but it needs to be mixed with some vampires or a tournament of death. [00:49:18] Speaker D: Like, one of them will get the job and the other one will be publicly executed. [00:49:21] Speaker E: Totally better. [00:49:24] Speaker C: Damn it. [00:49:25] Speaker A: Rewriting that. That's what I should do instead of romance novels. Rewrite Norman's novels to add the elements. [00:49:34] Speaker E: Please do. That would be so amazing. [00:49:36] Speaker D: This needs more dead children. [00:49:39] Speaker E: Introduce a new character just to kill them off. [00:49:43] Speaker A: The page boy or the. [00:49:44] Speaker C: No, I don't know. [00:49:45] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:49:45] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:49:46] Speaker A: Aaron boy. [00:49:48] Speaker C: The intern. [00:49:50] Speaker A: The intern. [00:49:53] Speaker D: Okay. [00:49:54] Speaker C: So would you guys recommend the book and. Or the movie? [00:49:58] Speaker E: I never watched the movie, so I can't say about that. [00:50:01] Speaker B: Oh, did you not watch it? [00:50:02] Speaker E: I Am an idiot. I forgot even, like what the theme of the season is. We came, like when you were in your freezing stages. I was like, yeah, there was a movie. And then I was like, oh, wait, like that's the whole point of what we're doing this year. Like a big brain. [00:50:15] Speaker A: So that's okay. [00:50:16] Speaker E: No, I did not watch the movie. [00:50:18] Speaker B: It's not worth it. Don't watch the movie. [00:50:20] Speaker C: Okay, good. [00:50:20] Speaker E: That's also what everybody else said. [00:50:22] Speaker B: The book was better. Yeah, I probably wouldn't recommend it. [00:50:25] Speaker D: It was fine. [00:50:26] Speaker E: I would recommend it as a one note pony. [00:50:30] Speaker D: Like a singing pony. [00:50:31] Speaker E: That's the saying, right? Singing pony, one note. [00:50:35] Speaker C: One note. [00:50:35] Speaker E: More like a mooing po. [00:50:37] Speaker B: Or like a donkey. [00:50:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:44] Speaker D: Otherwise known as a donkey. [00:50:49] Speaker C: He's an ass book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:50:52] Speaker D: But aren't donkeys famously known for going two notes? [00:50:57] Speaker E: It's true. That's why I said a one note. Otherwise known as a cat. [00:51:06] Speaker D: Famously, donkeys are known for this. [00:51:09] Speaker E: Eos out. Either or. [00:51:14] Speaker D: Okay, Ashley, I have enough notes for. [00:51:15] Speaker E: Me is the summary to congratulate. I need more notes. [00:51:19] Speaker C: Yeah. No, I have not recommended this to anyone. I've very much been advocating to not read it. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:51:28] Speaker E: Like, I started to go fund me. [00:51:31] Speaker C: Yeah, seriously, like, you should see my Snapchats from like the last month or so. I'm just like, I fucking hate this book. I don't know why I'm reading it. I'm struggling. But like, I really, to my core, did not like this book. I will say though, there are people out there who would like it. I'm just personally not recommending it. Much love to everyone else who likes it. [00:51:56] Speaker A: That was very diplomatic of you. [00:51:59] Speaker D: I hated it. [00:52:00] Speaker A: But it's okay if you like it. [00:52:02] Speaker C: You do? Yeah, I just. Don't talk to me about it. I already talked about it and I'm good. [00:52:08] Speaker E: It's over now. [00:52:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:10] Speaker E: I finally made it. [00:52:14] Speaker D: I wouldn't recommend the booker movie. It wasn't for me. But I am very curious about who the people who do love it. It'd be nice to have a survey. Did you love this book? And tell me a little bit more about yourself. [00:52:25] Speaker E: What kind of a person are you? [00:52:27] Speaker D: Who is this audience? [00:52:29] Speaker E: What other things make you happy? [00:52:31] Speaker D: Then I can be like, hey. I mean, if I meet somebody like that, I could be like, hey, I have a book for you. [00:52:36] Speaker C: I don't know who 100%. Yeah. [00:52:39] Speaker E: I would love to make up a checklist like the ideal reader of this book likes. [00:52:44] Speaker A: We should do that. [00:52:45] Speaker E: That would be impossible. [00:52:46] Speaker C: That would be for fun. [00:52:48] Speaker E: Yeah. We'll make a little list, and then one day we'll meet that person, the personification of our list, and we'll be like, I got a book for you. [00:52:54] Speaker A: We have a quiz. [00:52:55] Speaker E: There you go. [00:52:56] Speaker D: The book Interrupted quiz. [00:52:57] Speaker B: No dead children. [00:52:58] Speaker D: You take the quiz, Children. No dead children in this one. Got an A plot. No, B plot. Goodness, that'd be interesting, though. Do the book Interrupted quiz and then say, here's your book recommendations from our podcast. [00:53:11] Speaker E: Yeah, that's a good thing to work on. [00:53:13] Speaker D: But first thing you need to know is who likes this book. We have to find somebody who loved it so we can ask them questions about what kind of. [00:53:21] Speaker C: Well, we do have crowd research. [00:53:23] Speaker E: A couple different ways that people could get a hold of us if they weren't so damn bashful. We should call our listeners the dwarfs or something. But only seven. Seven bashfuls. Because they never want to talk to us. They don't email us. They don't leave us voicemails. They don't comment. They don't rate. [00:53:42] Speaker C: People can leave voicemails for us. [00:53:44] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:44] Speaker E: Yes. [00:53:45] Speaker D: I'll get the phone number. [00:53:46] Speaker A: What's the phone number you. Sarah, I'll get it. [00:53:49] Speaker B: I don't even know it off by. [00:53:50] Speaker D: Heart because no one calls us. [00:53:51] Speaker C: That is so fun. Yes. That is cool. [00:53:54] Speaker A: I did. [00:53:55] Speaker E: Right? And nobody's even crank calling us. Except for Lindsey one time. [00:53:58] Speaker D: Okay. [00:53:58] Speaker E: Like, she's part of the group. [00:54:00] Speaker A: I did do it. [00:54:02] Speaker C: I just start leaving my thoughts on every chapter. [00:54:04] Speaker E: Totally. You should do that. That would be so great if you started, like, being like, I hate this fucking book. [00:54:09] Speaker C: Yes. [00:54:10] Speaker D: Do it. I can look it up. Oh, good. [00:54:12] Speaker B: Look it up. Because I was trying to. [00:54:14] Speaker D: If you go to the website, booker.com, it's like, right all the way at the bottom. Bottom, there's the email, which is connect book interrupted dot com. And then there's the phone number, which is a real phone number. It's a Canadian one. So our International number is what, 001? [00:54:28] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:54:29] Speaker B: 0, 01. [00:54:30] Speaker A: Yep. [00:54:31] Speaker D: It's 4 1. [00:54:34] Speaker E: Everyone's got to stop saying numbers. [00:54:40] Speaker D: 1749. Okay, so the phone number is 416. 9008603. [00:54:48] Speaker E: Please call us, tell us if you like the Hating Game. [00:54:51] Speaker D: But also, you could. If you wanted to send something and you don't want to phone a real phone number, which some people don't, you can just like, record a voice memo on your. On your phone and email it to us. [00:55:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:55:00] Speaker E: Oh, just literally send an email. [00:55:03] Speaker A: Your mom did that. My mom, KJ's mom did that. [00:55:07] Speaker E: Remember, I recorded. [00:55:07] Speaker D: Yeah, you. [00:55:08] Speaker B: You did a voice. It was her voice. [00:55:11] Speaker D: Well, kind of. [00:55:12] Speaker A: And with our email again. [00:55:14] Speaker D: Okay, it's Connect Bookinterrupted.com. that's Connect Bookinterrupted.com to the point about the reviews. If people leave reviews, probably higher star ratings would be nice. But it does go towards making us more visible out there. So if you like the show, just. Yeah, give us a review. If you comment on the review, maybe we'll read it on. On air. But if you don't want to comment, just click those stars. That kind of help us because yeah, we do all this. Sarah does most of the work. [00:55:42] Speaker C: Yes, thank you, Sarah. [00:55:43] Speaker B: No, but everybody helps. [00:55:45] Speaker D: That's nice of you. That's nice of you. We're independent. [00:55:48] Speaker B: We're independent. Yeah. [00:55:49] Speaker D: Other people help here and there. The way that children help bake a cake. [00:55:56] Speaker C: We're here for the. We're here for the content. [00:55:59] Speaker D: Just joking. Well, I feel like I'm not helping very much so I'm like the child spilling the flower the floor Is Kim. [00:56:05] Speaker B: Calling the book interrupted number. Oh, I thought she was calling right now. [00:56:08] Speaker C: I was like, don't do that. [00:56:09] Speaker E: No, my stupid son is trying to call me and hanging up on me. So I'm just trying to answer the phone. [00:56:13] Speaker B: Oh, well, okay. [00:56:14] Speaker D: That's okay. [00:56:15] Speaker A: Okay, well, I'm gonna finish it off. I didn't say if I want recommended the book. Nobody knows. [00:56:21] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. [00:56:21] Speaker D: Well, you did choose your book. [00:56:24] Speaker A: I recommended the book to everybody. But when I reread it, you know what? I think there's a time and place for it. Obviously when I read it before I liked it and if that was the time and place, obviously now I'm in a different place or a different person. I found once you got past the first boring part, once the elevator scene hit, I liked the rest of the book. And yeah, it's not a thinker, it's. You're not going to remember this forever obviously, because I didn't. But. But if you're on. I don't know if you want a light read that's you're going to escape and a very, very soft, soft core light romance y thing then you know, I think this book could be for you. [00:57:02] Speaker B: Cool. Yeah. [00:57:03] Speaker E: Great. [00:57:03] Speaker A: And not the movie. Right. [00:57:07] Speaker E: Especially if you read the book because the movie's different. So it's another case of that. So if you really like the book, don't watch the movie. [00:57:14] Speaker D: And if you really like the movie, maybe you'll really, really like the book. [00:57:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:19] Speaker A: True. [00:57:20] Speaker B: You'll love the book. [00:57:22] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:57:22] Speaker A: And tell us if you liked the movie so we can understand. [00:57:26] Speaker D: We want to know what kind of. [00:57:27] Speaker A: Pie you like to eat and your. [00:57:29] Speaker D: Favorite pastime, how old you are, your favorite color, where you were, your job. [00:57:34] Speaker C: What'S your hair color, eye color, age, height, weight? [00:57:37] Speaker D: If you were an animal, what would it be? [00:57:39] Speaker E: Are you. [00:57:39] Speaker A: What's your mother's maiden name? [00:57:41] Speaker D: Oh, no. [00:57:42] Speaker E: Maiden name. [00:57:43] Speaker D: And your social insurance number, credit card. [00:57:46] Speaker C: And the security number. [00:57:48] Speaker E: What a fraud. [00:57:50] Speaker C: What a fraud. [00:57:51] Speaker D: I hope everybody knows that's a joke. [00:57:54] Speaker B: Don't send that to me, please. [00:57:56] Speaker D: Danger. Danger. I can't resist. [00:57:59] Speaker B: I don't want it. I gotta steal your identity. [00:58:02] Speaker D: I can't stop myself. [00:58:03] Speaker E: Danger. You've been warned. [00:58:05] Speaker B: No, but if they send it to me, how many other people did they send it to? And all of a sudden I'm being accused of something. [00:58:12] Speaker D: Yeah, but also, you have a history of changing your name, Sarah. So redeeming identities, stealing identities, bringing it back all around. [00:58:24] Speaker C: Connecting it. [00:58:25] Speaker E: All right. [00:58:25] Speaker A: That was my book, the Hating Game. [00:58:27] Speaker B: That was your book. [00:58:28] Speaker D: I did not hate this recording, though. This was fun. [00:58:31] Speaker C: Yes, I agree. [00:58:33] Speaker E: Yeah, it was fun. Yeah. [00:58:34] Speaker A: We don't have to love the book to have fun. [00:58:36] Speaker E: That's true. [00:58:37] Speaker A: Talking about it. [00:58:39] Speaker B: No. This interruption is brought to you by our affiliate partners, Libro fm. Libro FM lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore. Book Interrupted has a special offer. Use the promotional code Interruption to get two audiobooks for the price of one. And help your local bookstore while you're at it. [00:58:58] Speaker E: Book Interrupted. [00:59:01] Speaker B: This interruption is brought to you by Perimenopause. I don't know if you've listened to this episode, but we had Kirsten Karchmer on in our season one for her book, Books Seeing Red. And at the time, I was having so many migraines and I was having something where I described it was like I was being hit by a tranquilizer gun. She basically explained it's like perimenopause and what have you. So since that episode, I have been taking a supplement. We're not being paid. It's not a pain, sponsorship or anything, but I use something called Can Prev Memory and mood. And I just started taking that and my migraines depleted. And I've been taking it for a couple years now. And occasionally I'd be out and it would be a few weeks and I'd get it again. And then I have been out for almost two months now, and it is A wild ride. Not only do I have more migraines, I am also being hit by tranquilizer guns. And on top of that, my brain fog is out of control. I literally walk into a room and just stare into space because I have no idea why I am there. I can't remember words, and I already have issues with that. Another thing is, like, my hips are incredibly achy, and I've never had that before either. And I think it's from this. From talking to the other members of Book Interrupted who are doing other things like hormone replacement. I don't know if they call that anymore hormone treatment. I can't remember what they call it now, but they're taking hormones. They have also indicated to me that these symptoms have gone away once they got some treatment. It just blows my mind that more people aren't talking about it and that so many friends and family members I know go to doctors and they're like, well, you haven't stopped your period, so. Or you're too young. But we're all having the same symptoms. So my pills are on their way. I ordered them a bit too late, and the shipment's on its way and it should be coming in the next couple days. And I can't wait because I am so over these symptoms anyway, so that's my big interruption. It's really disrupting my life. [01:01:15] Speaker E: Book Interrupted. [01:01:18] Speaker B: It's book report time. We're gonna find out from each member their final thoughts and do they recommend the book? Let's listen. [01:01:26] Speaker A: All right. It's my book. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I picked this book because I wanted everybody to do a book that was different because I don't think we've done a kind of romance y sexy rom com y book on Book Interrupted yet. And I saw that there was a movie made, was on maybe on Netflix. And so which I hadn't seen. And I thought, you know what? Let's just go for it and make everyone read a really cheesy Rami Kami book. So, yeah, I'd read it before. I was doing a stint where I decided I was going to write a bunch of romance novels because I thought that that would make me money. But then I read a bunch of romance novels and this was the best of the bunch. But I reread it and it was still pretty damn cheesy. And so I'm really interested to see what everybody thinks about it. And then I watched the movie, which I'm sure maybe people liked it, but it was definitely not like the book. So I Definitely wouldn't recommend the movie, but the book was, like, light and cheesy and fun, and there's lots of sexy scenes in it. So if you like that or if you don't like that, then stay away from this book. But, yeah, this is my book and I'm so excited to hear what everyone has to say. [01:02:46] Speaker E: Okay, I'm taking my own advice. I am doing my Hating Game book report before the group discussion. So hopefully now the challenge will become not saying what I've already said here in the group discussion. Maybe I will anyway, to see what they have to say about it. Because what I want to say here, I feel like would be interesting to say to the other people to hear what they have to say about it. Did I just say that? I think I did. Anyway. The Hating Game. Good name. Because I hated it. What a stupid book. It was a brutal. Do not recommend. Do not read. Garbage, garbage, garbage. Hopefully the author doesn't come on being very passionate. Let me get more specific. It felt like. Or. And I never read Fifty Shades of Grey. So a lot of the feedback or criticism about those books was the writing and how kind of poor it was, I imagine. I think that the Hating Game has a similar. I want to say structure, but that's not the right word. But I. A style, whatever. Like, I think that the writing was poor and I didn't read it. I listened to it on audio. So I may have been influenced by, like, the voice of the character. That could have had an effect on whether or how much I enjoyed it or not. It was just like, fluff is too flattering. Like, it was just so vapid. I don't even know what to say. It was just boring. And I just didn't like the character. That's what it was. Like, the characters. I guess it was told from the girl's point of view. And so I didn't like how stupid she was. Like, she was just stupid. There would be signs that the guy liked her and then she would dismiss them. Like, it was just. I can't. I'll have to get back into it in the group discussion because I can't really remember now because I've. I read it quite a while ago, but it was awful. Like, I didn't even want to finish it. I did finish it. So I'll tell you two things. Number one, the scene when they finally make out in the elevator, that was good. But that was like, the whole story. Like, that's it. It's over. Good. They did it. Great. The end. Just stop it there then there was a point when I can't even remember the characters names now, but the girl went to the guy's house and then she saw him come out and she described him as like stalking through the night or something like that. And I had like a whiff of a thought that maybe he's a serial killer and this book will actually get good. That's what would have actually saved this book was if there was a gigantic left turn super twist. And as she is going and thinking that she's going to do whatever she's going to do. His name was Joshua. I can remember that as she was going up, like maybe starting a relationship with him. Like, the book was predictable, right? So she was going to go over and they were going to whatever, but she saw him outside and he was quote, unquote, stalking. That made me think, oh, serial killer. Like, imagine that she followed him, he didn't realize, and she watches him like stock down and kill someone. Now we're talking. Like, that would have made the book better. That's how bad it was. It was so bad that it needed to be rewritten into a dramatically different story in order to even gain any freaking credit for being readable. It was just. What does it remind me of? Like, it was just like fluff. Like it was. There was nothing there. I guess I'm just saying the same things over and over again. But that was my main point. That was the thing I might say in the group discussion. And I wanted to say here was if Joshua was actually a stalker serial killer, the story would have been better, but he wasn't. And so we just got to follow them around. Why they liked each other but didn't like each other because the girl's too stupid. And like, it just reminded me of a person I used to know and the kind of like, unhealthy ways she would relate to men. And maybe that's why I don't like it too. I just did not like it. Hating Game. Ha da da. [01:07:02] Speaker B: The hating game. So Lindsay mentioned before she picked this book because she wanted me to read a steamy romance and be embarrassed. And to be honest, it's not as steamy as some books ever before, so it wasn't as shocking. So there. Lindsay. Apparently I can read even more shocking books in this, but it is a steamy romance. All right, into the book. So this whole concept of this book is kind of like hate turned to love. It's very Pride and Prejudice. He's kind of a stuffy guy who's like super proud. And she. She doesn't really fit in Elizabeth Bennet's shoes. Let's just say that. So in the book, I liked Lucy less. But in the movie I thought she was cast other than she wasn't a redhead because he calls her shortcake for strawberry shortcake. And they changed. Her eyes were the wrong colors. They had to change all that thing in the book versus the movie. But I thought the actress that played her kind of really embodied the girl in this book who was. I was okay. That she didn't really understand her feelings because that's very Pride and Prejudice. But she also. [01:08:14] Speaker A: I don't know. [01:08:14] Speaker B: Not that she wasn't as confident, but maybe. And she's a really smart girl, but I feel like she. I don't know. Maybe she's too insecure. I don't know. [01:08:22] Speaker C: I don't know what it is. [01:08:23] Speaker D: She just. [01:08:23] Speaker B: There's something missing in I think Lucy's character for me. Now for Josh in the book, I thought he was. He played that role very well. And then in the movie, I really feel like they missed it with his casting that lead that's kind of stoic and trying not to make a move. And I want to say cold, but like, you know, Pride and prejudice, Mr. Darcy, that was the guy in the book. But it did not translate to the guy they picked for the movie at all. I felt like they really missed the mark on him. He was too wholesome. When I think of movies that. That lead that played that kind of guy in the romance made sense, you think of like. I think they cast really well. Twilight again, Edward's character in Twilight, that was a good casting because they're kind of mysterious and get a sense they don't need you. Or like in the movie Fifty Shades of Grey, he played Christian's character really well. And I think this guy Josh was supposed to be meant to be that kind of a character. So they didn't really get it. I thought also Danny, I should save some for the episode. But I think the casting for Dany was bad too. But I'll get into that because I probably already talked about it in the episode. And there's lots of other romantic comedies that do the hate and to love way better. I think movie wise, even book wise, actually. So this was just like a. For me, I didn't love the book. I've read other romance books that were steamy, even with the same theme that I enjoyed more. I really like the Brown Sister books. They're super steamy. I'm warning you, but the characters had more development. They were more real people. Get a Life. Chloe Brown's the first one. Excellent. And then it goes to Eve, and then it goes to her other sister. What's her other sister? I can't remember. But she's the best. Dani. Dani's my favorite one. And I love all the leads in them, but they're not the Love to Hate. Well, actually, Get a Life. Chloe Brown is Hate to Love. Kind of. Kind of. Anyway, so I'm going to say the book is a. So so. And I'm gonna say the movie. I hate hated it. So that's that. And I'll talk with everyone else in the group, all the other things I have to say about it. Okay, bye. [01:10:38] Speaker C: Hey, everyone, this is Ashley and this is my book report for the Hating Game. This is my second rendition of this because I somehow deleted the audio for the first one. But that's okay because my feelings are the exact same about this book. I think the Hating Game is a fitting title because I absolutely hated this book. I don't know if it's because I went into it kind of already not liking the genre or what the summary of the book was, or if it's because I listened to it through audiobook and the voices were a little annoying, but I really dreaded this whole book. I was just dying to get to the 50% mark so that I could say I at least gave it a pretty good try. And as soon as I got to 50%, I shut it off. I could not listen to it anymore. I couldn't bring myself to watch the movie. And I'm so sorry for any of the people who really love this book, but it is not for me at all. I feel this was a very juvenile book in the way that it was written. It reminds me a lot of how I thought boys liked girls or vice versa in elementary school and middle school. I'm a little shocked that an adult wrote this, to be honest. I had a hard time just getting into it. There was too much focus on this one relationship. And I understand that was the point of the book. I cared so much more about literally everyone else other than these two main characters. And yeah, so I would not recommend this book. Unfortunately, I can't say whether I would recommend the movie because I have not watched watched it. I know a lot of people out there love it. There was tons of good reviews, but this is not the type of genre for me. The writing, again, it felt very immature. I did not like it and I hate. I hate to dislike A book so much I appreciate that it was picked and that I got to read it. But I would save your time. Thanks everyone. Bye. [01:12:45] Speaker D: This book is essentially a supposedly a very late read. And it's a romantic, kind of steamy romance novel of two people who work together who supposedly hate each other. They work in this hostile workplace because they don't get along. And then I guess they're secretly in love. They fall in love and steaminess ensues. This isn't really a book for me. And part of it is because I don't enjoy watching or reading fights. I don't like watching TV shows where people are fighting. A lot of the reality TV shows out there, there's a lot of conflict. Verbal fighting or physical I guess as well. And for me that's just too stressful. That's not light. For me, that's actually the opposite. It's heavy. And I mean, chalk that up to past trauma perhaps, but anything with a lot of fighting is not really great for me. And also maybe that's why this book isn't really for me. It's supposed to be light and relaxing and it's a romance. But that's also not my idea of romance. If I was with somebody, I was fighting with them all the time. I would just leave because that sounds unenjoyable. The opposite of what I would be looking for in a relationship. So I also think I would have liked this book maybe a little bit better if I hadn't gone with the audiobook time and time again. I don't enjoy the person who's narrating it because it's just different than my inner voice. A lot of people might feel the same way. So shame on me, I guess, for doing that again and again. But it was easier to get this book through my library as an audiobook than as a physical book. Which is why I did it because I get most of her books to the library now. Let's see. Yeah, my idea of a light read is not this. If I want to relax, I prefer to get some kind of a science or math book, a non fiction. And I find something like that is very relaxing because I get to use my brain and in a way where I can check out and not think about kind of like the everyday conflicts and worries of normal life. So that's what I would be looking for for a light read. Not something that's escapism into somebody else's life that is full of conflict. So a book, emotional, physical conflict. And I think part of that is like When I read a book and there's a lot of feelings going about, I sometimes take on the feelings of the characters in the book. So I'm usually very careful to avoid books where people are maybe fighting over petty things that just don't seem important but also makes them very upset. Because I don't want to feel very upset. I want to feel calm. So ironically, I really like dystopian novels and perhaps it's because, I don't know, if you're a main character in a dystopian novel, maybe you're full of hope rather than just the petty conflicts that you would find in something like in office romance where they're fighting all the time over things that are unimportant because they're secretly in love. That's okay. I'm sure some people would like this story, particularly if you happen to be secretly in love with somebody you work with who seems to hate you. Maybe you would love this book. I don't know. I don't know why you would want to date somebody who hates you. I digress. Would I recommend the book? Well, you'll have to listen to the group discussion to find out, although you may have also already listened to the group discussion. I'm not sure how this is going to be edited. So that's it for me. [01:16:08] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us on this episode of Book Interrupted. If you'd like to see the video highlights from this episode, please go to our YouTube channel, book interrupted. You can also find our videos on ww bookinterrupted.com shout out to all creatives. [01:16:25] Speaker A: Thought leaders, visionaries, artists. I know you're sitting on a gold mine. I know that you have a piece of writing within you or already on the page that you're just dying to share with the world and we want to help you. At Book Interrupted, we are looking at self published authors and how we can lend a hand in sharing your voice, your thoughts, your ideas with a wider audience. Check us out at www.bookinterrupted.com sponsors we'd love to hear from you if you're a self published author or considering becoming one. We're here to lend a hand. [01:17:06] Speaker E: Book Interrupted Never forget Every child matters.