When I first heard about this book I was excited. The cover was beautiful and I was on the prowl for a YA contemporary romance featuring black teens. I thought I would adore this book but it might be my biggest disappointment of 2019.

As I read I was transported to those Kimani Tru books(also published by Harlequin) of my young teen years. This book had all the same dated slang and similar trite writing. Except this book is set in 2020. You'd never be able to tell with all the references to the early 2000s from movies to tv to music. People who are 17 in 2020 were not jamming to B2K as kids, watching You Got Served, or The Proud Family and Static Shock. All of that was popular when they were too young to be tuned in to pop culture. It's like the author wrote this book back when she was a teen and used this story to try and relive her glory days. Has she spoken to teens in 2019? This book needed a black editor or at least black beta readers so badly!

Dated dialogue and pop culture references aside this book was simply not entertaining. It floundered on and on with no real purpose and more than halfway through this lengthy story I found myself skimming to the end. Tyson was so laughable. One minute he's a wannabe thug. He's a bad boy but not really bad. His friends are the bad ones and he just tags along with no refusal but he's not really into what they do. At one point he talks about an annoying neighbor he had as a child. And his friends going out of their way to set her off. Then he says one night she was robbed and killed. He wondered if his friends did it. But he just let it go.

He's also a hotep who reads Roots and The Color Purple for fun, preaches about back when black people were kings and queens, and tries to school Nandy in black culture. Why is he is the first one to introduce Nandy to the origin of her name instead of her parents?

Nandy is a prissy rich girl who is supposed to be root worthy. She's more annoying than anything else. She spends a chunk of the time looking down on Tyson until she decides she's in love with him. Then despite having a boyfriend acts possessive over Tyson. Even to the point of being rude to her best friend who is showing an interest in him. Why did this black love book have me almost rooting for the white girl to take him away?

Our author keeps trying to sell this idea of Nandy and Trice having been in love since 7 years old. At one point Nandy reflects on Trice being her first kiss and heartbreak back when they were 7. It's a little creepy. And this idea that they held a flame for each other despite not seeing each other in 10 years is ridiculous.

One minute there would be meaningful dialogue and discussion like Tyson and Nandy expressing their thoughts on the term African-American and their feelings as black Americans. The next we got nonsense like this,

"This ain't the hood, Tyson We do not braid hair on the front step," I said."


This story had potential since it put black teens in an environment we usually don't read about them in but unfortunately it just fell flat.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Love Hate Thing drew me in right from the start. Nandy is a "princess" of sorts. Her family has money and she doesn't seem to have a trouble in the world. Trice leads an opposite life and due to his situation finds himself living with Nandy's family.

Nandy and Trice knew each other from back in the day but things don't start off well between them. They have a lot of banter, and I loved every minute. They are such opposites, but you can see the attraction that they're are hiding.

A Love Hate Thing is a wild ride, there's a lot of drama but that's what made it good for me. Relationship issues, old hometown issues, friend issues, murder, stealing, etc. All of it was wonderfully put together and it made it hard to put down.

A Love Hate Thing also has plenty of feelings, so be prepared!

I might just be exhausted by the YA soap opera genre, but I found myself tempted to skim a lot of this, especially toward the end. I didn't find the characters particularly interesting, original, or appealing and didn't particularly understand why Trice and Nandy kept being so elevated by the other characters for kindness, talent, being special, when they mostly seemed somewhere between average and insufferable depending on the chapter. I also found the writing somewhat stilted for much of the book, and the examination of raised issues (e.g. faith, racialized neighborhood segregation, illegality vs. lack of opportunity) to be incomplete. It's an okay read, but doesn't really stand out in my mind.

Heartfelt and thought-provoking, A Love Hate Thing is a solid debut. Haters-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope, and I appreciated seeing it used here amongst other, deeper themes. This book tackles trauma, manipulative significant others, personal growth, and other relevant topics! It most certainly have been a 5 star read if it were 100 pages shorter. It's a pretty dense YA romance at nearly 500 pages, and little happens in the first 20% of the book. Regardless, A Love Hate Thing is a great romance with some depth.

**Thank you to Inkyard Press, Netgalley, and Whitney D. Grandison for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**

Tyson Trice recently underwent a terrible family tragedy, which has left him broken and confused living with the family of a childhood friend he hasn't seen in 10 years. He is from Lindenwood, a notoriously dangerous area of town, and is now living in Pacific Hills - the rich area. He sticks out like a sore thumb, and he knows it. Nandy is not happy her parents decided to take Tyson in after 10 years, she has perfected her Pacific Hills Queen image and wants nothing that will tarnish that. Also, Tyson is not the 7 year old boy she remembers, this Tyson is hard and scary - and she wants none of that in her life.

Tyson and Nandy go through a whole lot in this novel, and it really is a tale of learning to look past prejudice and bias while recovering from personal loss. This story is not simple or easy, but it's theirs. It is important to see how far Tyson is able to come back from the brink, and what Nandy can do to grow past her misconceptions. Both learn from each other throughout the novel, even if they aren't on good terms.

A Love Hate Thing reminded me of the movie The Blind Side. Rich family takes in an underprivileged boy from a rough background. It's not exactly a 1:1 comparison because there's no sports involved and the family knew Tyson before he was taken in - but the gist of it was similar. Similar acceptance themes in the affluent community is seen, and I almost think the side character's interactions with Tyson were more important that Nandy's. It's easy to assume Nandy will come around and break barriers (because she's a MC) but to have the side character's also noticeably learn from the experience was fun.

This book is LONG. Almost 500 pages focused on Tyson and Nandy's summer before senior year of high school. There were times that I felt the book continued on past what it needed to, or parts of it could be cut out. It just felt like too much. The story is told in alternating chapters between Tyson and Nandy's POV - so you get different side characters depending on who's POV you're reading at the time - but they do all overlap. I love contemporaries that have a romance component, and especially love when part of it is told from the male (or alternate) partner's perspective. I feel like it rounds out the book to get both sides.

Go check out A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison, her debut novel!

A contemporary throwback to an age old romantic tale. I was so engrossed. It was genuinely fun and enjoyable to read A Love Hate Thing. I laughed out loud and that isn't an easy feat! Wonderfully cute story.

This book is intended for a YA audience and I think YA readers that enjoy a hate to love romance with lots of drama will have fun with this story. For adults that enjoy reading YA, you may want to skip this one.

I really wanted to like this book, and to me it fell a little bit flat. The writing was good I just couldn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to!

Unfortunately the format of this text in epub format didn't show up on my kindle correctly, so I didn't get very far to the difficulty of reading -- however, I'm eager to check it out once it publishes.

I really enjoyed this debut YA novel by Whitney Grandison. I thought the chemistry between Tyson Trice and Nandy Smith was captivating. I felt like the book centered more around Tyson's story and how he came to live with the Smiths; the author really dives in to his character, whereas I felt like Nandy just remained a self-centered teenager the entire time. She just wanted what she wanted and didn't care about anyone else; she really only "cared" when she felt like she had to. Although I felt like there were a lot of little discrepancies in the timeline and the back and forth between Nancy and Tyson's perspective, the story was cute and a very good first novel.

I love a good romance I love the hate to love trope but there was something missing for me in this book, maybe it was connection? or something. But it was still pretty cute!

This was a fun read! Great for fans of The Hating Game or the enemies-to-lovers trope in general. Tyson and Nandy have a cute dynamic that develops slowly but I enjoyed it. I also felt like Grandison handled some heavier topics well without coming on too strong or feeling unbalanced with the romance. Overall I enjoyed and look forward to more from this author!

"It was eminent. It stood against time. The love I felt for Queen was the closest I would ever feel for another person next to my mother. Looking into Queen's dark eyes, I felt peace and calm. I had found my kingdom. I was home." - Tyson Trice

Wow. It's been a while since I read a teen romance that connected with me and touched me on such a deeply emotional level. I not only felt the love the leading characters, Tyson (aka Trice) and Nandy felt for one another, but I felt rooted in their core selves. A Love Hate Thing follows the story of Tyson Trice, a 17 year-old black teen from Lindenwood, California (often stereotypically viewed by outsiders as "the hood"). Tyson is sent to live with the family of his childhood friend, Nandy Smith, after surviving a shooting. Nandy, also 17, is a black teen from Pacific Hills, California (a suburb like Bel-Air or Beverly Hills aka where rich folk live).

I grew to love Nandy's character. Although she was extremely classist toward Tyson in the beginning, as the story progressed you see where her actions stemmed from. She was rich and spoiled but was often described by other characters as kind, friendly and welcoming (she reminded me of a more clever version of Hilary Banks from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Whitley from A Different World ). These traits become more visible to the reader as her character grows throughout the novel. I loved that Nandy was described as dark-skinned with dark eyes and was often regarded as the "most beautiful" and "popular girl" in Pacific Hills. While beauty and popularity are obviously not character traits, it's so rare that a black girl (and a dark-skinned black girl at that) is described in such a way. Nandy also had a pretty diverse and amazing group of friends. The girl power and female empowerment among her friends was so strong and it felt like they were my own group of friends!

I absolutely LOVED Tyson. There's one description of him from Nandy that really resonated with me and summed him up perfectly:

"His strength and gentleness were two contrasts that made me admire him to my core"
.
Tyson was, indeed, strength and gentleness wrapped into one. He didn't always recognize his true strength but instead masked his deeply ingrained grief with indifference and a hard exterior. Tyson was a beautifully crafted character - he was incredibly intelligent, honest, respectful and loyal. I loved the author for writing Tyson as basically the opposite of every stereotype associated with the black man. He wasn't a "baller", a "gangsta" or a "thug" - he was a survivor.

Nandy and Tyson both struggled with their vulnerabilities and letting their guard down with each other (and even themselves) and it was beautiful to watch those walls crumble as the book progressed. Nandy became humbled and a pillar (but not a savior) for Tyson and Tyson became more open with his feelings, emotions, and grief.

The element of friendship was also strong throughout this novel. Nandy's relationship with her friends was honest and un-sugarcoated, albeit strong and understanding. There was a part where Nandy and her friend, Shayne, were on the outs but I admired the way they were able to resolve the issue and still stuck by one another. Nandy tried to get Tyson to be a part of her "in" crowd in Pacific Hills, but Tyson marched to the beat of his own drum and befriended the less "cool" guy, Kyle, and the "trouble-maker", Travis. The growth among these characters and their friendships (especially with Tyson and his friends) was incredibly strong and heartwarming to witness. We also see the element and hard lesson of letting go of old friendships and loyalties in order for one's self to grow and become a better person.

From start to finish, I found myself extremely connected to this novel. From the language throughout, Nandy and Tyson's relationship with one another and their personal growth, to the mention of music sprinkled throughout - I almost felt like I knew the author (I don't lol), through her characters and writing.

Nandy and Tyson's story (especially Tyson's) is one that I'm so honoured to have had the privilege of reading and will stay in my heart for a long time <3. Thank you, Ms. Grandison, for writing a story about our people with so much heart and growth and including our rich history - I very much look forward to your future works!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin TEEN for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Review
What happens when the poor kid finds himself living the dream?

When Tyson Trice’s father killed his mother, injured Trice, and turned the gun on himself, it rocked the foundation of Trice’s world. Suddenly he found himself staying with a family in an expensive subdivision at his dying grandfather’s bequest.

The Smiths are good people, but they can’t possibly understand what it was like to grow up in an abusive household on the wrong side of the tracks. Trice tries to fit in, for the sake of the daughter, Nandy, who he’d played with as a child, but when the past comes calling, he realises he’s been dreaming-there’s only one way out for a guy like him.

Nandy remembers the kid their gardener used to bring with him, but Tyson has changed. He’s handsome, for one thing, but cynical and hard to reach now. She’s also worried he might reflect badly on her hard-won popularity- this was cotillion year, after all. But the bond they shared as children draws these two vastly different personalities together and creates issues neither could have foreseen.

This is a coming of age story filled with interesting characters and plenty of angst (which I loved!).


What didn’t ring true for me was Nandy. She’s supposedly a sweet, kind girl who does all kinds of charity work in the community, but she came off as a spoiled, rich girl worried more about her image than the real-life issues Trice faced.

Other than that, this is an easy 4 lovely kisses read for me!

I love a good romance and if it is a hate to love trope then sign me the hell up. Grandison did a fantastic job of incorporating all the things we love about these stories while still making her characters feel fresh and new. I don't want to spoil the story, but if you like Sally Thorne or Samantha Young I think you will love this book!

<i> I received an ARC from Netgalley and Harlequin TEEN in exchange for an honest review. </i>

wow whitney grandison, way to come out swingin' with your debut! this was an absolute roller-coaster ride start to finish, and lowkey felt like i was watching a season of a delicious teen drama (and now reading the acknowledgements and seeing grandison was greatly inspired by the OC, it totally clicks!)

this love story is about two teenagers from completely opposite worlds. trice was born and raised in lindenwood, the place where boys like him are destined to die. but trice isn't like the others; after getting shot by his father and almost dying, he gets a second chance to escape fate by living with a wealthy family in pacific hills, and reconnect with a girl who he thought lost to him almost ten years prior. nandy is said girl, and she's everything trice is not. obsessed with looking right in front of her peers and dating the most popular guy in school, nandy is less than pleased to be letting a lindenwood boy into her preciously upkept life, even if said boy is her first love from years ago.

the title <i> a love hate thing </i> perfectly sums up their relationship. they hate each other. they love each other. they hate each other again. the cycle continues, on and on and on, until eventually walls break down, revelations are found, and a long-lost love can't stay hidden any longer. grandinson perfectly takes the love-hate trope and pulls the best aspects from it, leaving you on the edge of your seat as you wonder if trice and nandy will ever get their acts together. put that against the luscious backdrop of a california summer, and you've got yourself one hell of a story.

even though i absolutely adored this though (the character work is truly amazing, and the side characters are equally as loveable as the main ones), my one gripe is that this is about 100 pages too long. the story easily could've been told in a shorter amount of time, and when half of the action is kids partying at nightclubs, it can get old fast. but, that's literally the only thing i was annoyed with. everything else was amazing, and i can't wait to have everyone else read this when it releases.

pick it up if you like enemies to friends to lover romances, teen drama, and steamy romance.

I wanted to love this book. I really really did but I just couldn’t and it sucks. Nandy’s character is embarrassingly awful. Never have I hated anybody as much and the writing is pretty up and down.

I wish there was more character development overall and depth to the plot. The author is phenomenal at writing and I’m looking forward to seeing more from her!

Thank you very from to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.

Whitney D. Grandison’s ‘A Love Hate Thing’ is a coming-of-age tale revolving around a girl named Nandy and a boy named Trice. Childhood playmates, Nandy and Trice haven’t seen each other for ten years. When Trice suddenly moves in with Nandy’s family, he’s changed, and so has Nandy. As they both try to adjust to their new normal, they’ll rediscover the friendship they once had, plus a whole lot more.

There are a lot of things I liked about this novel, one of which is how it takes on socioeconomic issues, domestic violence, trauma, and the importance of family. That said, I just did not understand the flip-flopping of Nandy’s behavior. She was so hot and cold with Trice, and there wasn’t enough exposition to help me understand her motivations and feelings. In fact, because of this, I found myself rooting for Trice and Shayne more than I did for Trice and Nandy. There were also a few time jumps between chapters that left me feeling confused as to where the characters were at emotionally. In my opinion, sometimes there needed to be a Trice chapter instead of a Nandy chapter, and vice versa.

It’s a good story, I just was left wanting more character development and more depth. There are some really beautiful moments in the book, and I would have liked to see more moments like that.

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

This book captures the reader and take you into a world filled with angst and forbidden love. Teenagers on the cusp of adulthood battling with life and relationships. Can Ty and Nandy overcome gunshots wounds, parents, and mixed emotions? I loved this story. It was well developed and I felt right there with them. It is refreshing to read characters that seem so real.

Plot: After experiencing the loss of those he loves, Tyson Trice, is sent to live with a family he knew ten years ago. He doesn't care. He doesn't care about much anymore. But once he is transplanted into the wealthy neighborhood of Pacific Hills he is reunited with his childhood friend, Nandy Smith. But in their decade apart they have become very different people and now they have to figure out a way to live together.

I am so sad that this book just did not work for me. It had everything going for it: beautiful cover, enemies-to-lovers, young adult. However, in spite of all of that, it felt like a chore to finish this.

But I did like several things from this book. Parts of the writing were done well. I loved that the author touched on boys dealing with their emotions, loss, and abuse. I also really enjoyed Trice's character. Learning about his past and watching him grow and heal was done very well. I loved his appreciation for his heritage and sharing that with the Smith's.

However, Nandy is one of the worst characters I have ever read. She is an entitled, little, rich girl and I never really came around to liking her. The reader is told many times that Nandy is actually very sweet and welcoming and incredibly involved in her school and her neighborhood - but we never see that. We only see her whine about things that don't go exactly her way. She does become slightly more tolerable after the first half of the book, but she never lives up to this character she was painted to be. If she has all these amazing qualities, as I reader, I want to see her exhibiting them.

The writing also felt a little inconsistent to me. Several times the author wrote absolutely beautiful paragraphs about race, adoption, and friendships. Then on the same page would have her seventeen year old characters say things like "jump street" or complain about being embarrassed because Trice was having his hair braided outside and her house "ain't the hood."

Plus, the actual plot if the book was unoriginal and pretty bland in a majority of the book. The minor conflicts were incredibly repetitive and the major conflict was just glossed over quickly.

There is also a lot of mentions of religion, but for no real purpose. It doesn't play a real role in the story, but is referenced many times. I kept expecting it to mean something in the end... but, no.