The Hate Project

The Hate Project cover

Oscar is a grouch.

That’s a well-established fact among his tight-knit friend group, and they love him anyway.

Jack is an ass.

Jack, who’s always ready with a sly insult, who can’t have a conversation without arguing, and
who Oscar may or may not have hooked up with on a strict no-commitment one-time-only basis.
Even if it was extremely hot.

Together, they’re a bickering, combative mess.

When Oscar is fired (answering phones is not for the anxiety-ridden), he somehow ends up
working for Jack. Maybe while cleaning out Jack’s grandmother’s house they can stop fighting
long enough to turn a one-night stand into a frenemies-with-benefits situation.

The house is an archaeological dig of love and dysfunction, and while Oscar thought he was
prepared–he wasn’t. It’s impossible to delve so deeply into someone’s past without coming to
understand them at least a little, but Oscar has boundaries for a reason—even if sometimes Jack
makes him want to break them all down.

After all, hating Jack is less of a risk than loving him…

Oscar’s got anxiety, y’all. And Oscar’s anxiety is not messing around. While this depiction of anxiety is true to my experience of it, it’s not universal. He’s not cured by the end of the book, because that’s not how mental health works. He does use his coping strategies more towards the end of it than he does at the beginning, which is basically the trajectory of my journey as well–you get a little bit better at coping and you celebrate the small wins.

  • depictions of anxiety, including a panic attack here or there
  • mentions of anxiety, panic attacks, and triggers
  • depiction of changing meds (but it’s not super awful or anything, the meds definitely help more than hurt in Oscar’s case)
  • and also, not related, Jack’s late grandpa was a hoarder, so a lot of the de-cluttering is his hoard, but it’s not…a show, it’s just a facet of Jack and his grandma’s life, but it is present!

Okay, now it looks like this is not a good book to read SORRY, EVERYONE. It’s really mostly about a grumpy grump who falls in love with a grumpy grump. One of those grumps? Has anxiety.

Ebook

Amazon – Apple – Barnes and Noble – Google Play – Kobo

Paperback

Amazon US – Amazon UK – BAM – Barnes and Noble – Bookshop – IndieBound – Target

Audiobook

Audible – Kobo Audiobooks – Libro.fm – Chirp