They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody

"Whether we’re young, naïve, wearing rose-colored glasses, or whatever . . . I think people should love at whatever pace suits them."

Synopsis: Jonah and Dylan get along like oil and water. Until a fake dating ploy gives them new perspective, and they realize that “falling for your enemy” isn’t as impossible as it seems.

There are plenty of words Jonah Collins could use to describe Dylan Ramírez. “Arrogant,” “spoiled,” and “golden boy” to name a few. Likewise, Dylan thinks he has Jonah accurately labeled as an attention-seeking asshat who never shuts his filthy mouth. Their friends are convinced Jonah’s and Dylan’s disdain for one another is just thinly veiled lust—a rumor that surges like wildfire when the two wake up in one bed after homecoming.

Mutually horrified, Dylan and Jonah agree to use the faux pas to their advantage by fake dating. If they can stay convincing long enough to end their “relationship” in a massive staged fight, they can prove their incompatibility to their friends once and for all. But the more time they spend together, the more their plan begins to fall apart—and the closer they come to seeing each other clearly for the first time.

There will be mild spoilers throughout this review. If you have not read They Hate Each Other, please proceed with caution!

To put it mildly, this was one of the most lovely reads I have had in quite a while.

Granted, this is not a light-hearted book. It has several darker elements scattered throughout it, but it made the tender moments so much more impactful for both the reader and the characters themselves. And I'm not complaining about the presence of heavy topics. In fact, I prefer books that tackle the less pleasant parts of life. The stories and the characters are more human, more believable, and they can bring awareness and representation that is severely lacking. And I believe this book does an incredible job of it.

To start, They Hate Each Other is quite possibly one of the best enemies-to-lovers plotlines I have ever read, challenged only by Aelin and Rowan in the Throne of Glass series. Jonah and Dylan despise each other, and it doesn't immediately get resolved the moment that they kiss. There's an abundance of insults and resentful thoughts, and they even nearly fight each other. The reason they find themselves in a fake relationship in the first place is to convince their friends of just how incompatible they are. I normally would be the type to get a little impatient for the 'lovers' part to begin, but that was not the case here. I bought their hatred, and seeing the many humorous situations it brought along with it (such as Jonah's inability to act natural any time that they touched), was very entertaining to read. But it was watching that hatred slowly be unraveled that really had me hooked.

And when the 'lovers' part actually does happen? It's so moving. I've never read a YA romance with such a focus on consent and taking care of each other the way they each deserve to be. When Jonah is nervous about physical affection and kissing early on in their fake dating relationship, Dylan is patient and makes sure he feels safe, and that's while they still despise each other. Of course, seeing a character being so conscious of consent and the state of the person they're being intimate with shouldn't be abnormal. However, this is a quality that is often severely lacking in fiction, and I appreciate the message it sends to readers.

In addition to their shared respect for each other, panic attacks were a repeated focus throughout the book, and I have to draw attention to it. As someone with an anxiety disorder, I found them to be incredibly realistic, and the way both characters responded to each other when they happened really touched my heart. Mental health representation is something that is deeply important to me, and I appreciated the gentle care that was used in writing these scenes. As much as I loved the parts where they confessed their feelings and were finally together officially, in my opinion, these were the scenes that spoke volumes about their relationship and how much they cared for each other.

I won't go too deeply into it, but both Jonah and Dylan's home lives are a primary focus of the plot. Dylan experiences trauma and PTSD symptoms surrounding an incident from his childhood that involved his older brother, while Jonah experiences severe neglect from his alcoholic father and is forced to provide for and raise his little sisters alone. Jonah's story, in particular, is especially grueling to read, as he has to act as an adult while still trying to function as a teenager. He works full-time at a restaurant where he experiences sexual harassment from his manager, is financially responsible for himself and his sisters, and has to act as a parental figure while his own well-being is rapidly slipping through his fingers. I adored his character, but he shattered my heart.

These situations both dictate the way that each of them acts and cause several conflicts throughout the story, leading to an especially explosive series of events toward the end, but the role they each played in each other's healing was so powerful. Love doesn't fix our problems, but it can help us heal, and I felt that Amanda Woody captured this truth beautifully. It felt healthy and real, and it serves as an example of what genuine love can look like.

Overall, this was a raw story that was both heartbreaking and comforting to read. The anxiety representation was spot-on and handled wonderfully, and Jonah and Dylan's relationship was captivating to follow, both the beyond-rocky start and the deeply loving finish. This is one that I will revisit again and again, and it has raised my standards for YA contemporaries. And if They Hate Each Other ever has a follow-up, I will be first in line to get my hands on it.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars