Review: Office Hate by Rachel Van Dyken
SYNOPSIS:
Have you ever hated someone so much that you actually wondered if prison would be worth it?
I have.
And I had to bear witness to Mark’s cocky smile for four miserable years watching girl after girl tumble in and out of his bed while he had nothing but scorn for me.
After we graduated college and, thank God, finally parted ways, I thought that I was done having to deal with the enemy. And then I got fired, sending me careening right into a local bar—and Mark’s bed.
My nightmare came true as we both soon realized that we would be fighting for the same job at Emory Enterprises.
We had to live together under the same roof, and as the challenges got weirder and weirder, we got closer and closer—united by the trauma that is CEO Max Emory.
When I signed up for this internship, I envisioned coffee runs, not gecko sitting—long story.
Soon one thing led to another, and somehow my enemy quickly turned into my best friend.
But what happens when the games are over? Furthermore, how do I tell the guy I used to hate that he owns my heart when I wasn’t even aware I’d given it away?
Prison time or Mark?
A few days ago, I would have chosen prison.
Now? He’s all I see.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
I have a love-hate relationship with this book. There were things I absolutely loved and things that had me seeing red in my anger. The cover and synopsis are an easy selling point, they promise shenanigans and hilarity. And there were definitely those things, but Mark and Olivia’s relationship is plagued with problems and pet-peeves I can’t get over.
So I’ll start with what I loved about this story, Max Emory. Max is unhinged, crazy, unconventional, and had me laughing-out-loud with his antics and knowledge. His blunt, sometimes brutal, honesty and his high-maintenance pet gecko brought so much random humor to the story. Honestly, I want Max for a boss, there would never be a boring day at work, that’s for sure.
Now to Mark and Olivia, their animosity and rivalry throughout school sets the stage for the story. But my issue lies within when these two finally give into their attraction. They have unprotected sex, no mention of condoms or birth control. Okay, I can let a one-off moment of foolishness slide. Cue several chapters later to Olivia’s inner monologue joking about how she doesn’t make a habit of having unprotected sex. *side-eye, deep breaths*
Then Mark and Olivia proceed to have unprotected sex a handful more times…with Olivia eventually realizing ‘OMG we’ve been having unprotected sex’. I hated this, everything about it. No one is consumed by passion for a month straight that you can’t even be bothered to bring up protecting yourself. Rage, rage, rage. How is the year 2021 and we still have a plot line revolving around unprotected sex?! Do better characters, you are worth more than and STD or something worse…
As the story reached its climax, the ending felt very abrupt and a little rushed. I was kind of surprised by how everything played out. And while I don’t want to spoil anything, I wanted a little bit more closure. But the hint that Max has potentially more chaos up his sleeves had me smiling.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
