(Audio)Book Review: Loathe at First Sight

Loathe at First Sight 
Suzanne Park 
Great Jung (Narrator)

Release Date: August 18, 2020

Book Description:
Melody Joo is thrilled to land her dream job as a video game producer, but her new position comes with challenges: an insufferable CEO; sexist male coworkers; and an infuriating - yet distractingly handsome - intern, Nolan MacKenzie, aka “the guy who got hired because his uncle is the boss.”

Just when Melody thinks she’s made the worst career move of her life, her luck changes. While joking with a friend, she creates a mobile game that has male strippers fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Suddenly Melody’s “joke” is her studio’s most high-profile project - and Melody’s running the show.

When Nolan is assigned to Melody’s team, she’s sure he’ll be useless. But as they grow closer, she realizes he’s smart and sexy, which makes Melody want to forget he’s her intern. As their attraction deepens, she knows it’s time to pump the brakes, even with her Korean parents breathing down her neck to hurry up and find a man.

With her project about to launch, Melody suddenly faces a slew of complications, including a devastating trolling scandal. Could the man she’s falling hard for help her play the game to win - in work and in love?

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
3 stars

This book was not what I expected. It was more about perception and hardship of working in a male-driven industry for an Asian-American woman, which I guess is one of those "it" topics these days. But the description of this novel sells at as romance, that basically is an afterthought here. I'm not mad about reading (or rather listening to) this book, but I wasn't thrilled with the presentation and execution.

Suzanne Park definitely highlights the areas of issue in the industry, the sexism and perhaps racism as well. But along with that, the characters who experience these issues often act in similarly problematic way themselves. To me this feels duplicitous.

Getting back to romance - it's not well developed, the characters felt forced together for the sake of checking the box. I couldn't honestly tell who was the "Loathe"- love interest until at least halfway through. And ultimately, I didn't feel this book needed the romance aspect at all. Perhaps my thoughts were also colored by the narrator whose whole presentation felt robotic, at times unnecessarily exaggerated, and whose male (and most female for that matter) voices left much to be desired.

Overall: "meh"