The Hating Game

Lucy describes the tenth-floor office as “[a] cube of glass, chrome, and black tile. You could pluck your eyebrows using any surface as a mirror—walls, floors, ceiling” (3). Reflections are everywhere. Lucy uses them to see what she looks like or spy on Joshua without him knowing. She describes Joshua’s desk as a mirror, “the male version of mine” (15).

The novel opens with Joshua and Lucy playing the Mirror Game, where they mimic one another’s movements. This sets up the idea that Josh and Lucy are going to be mirrors for each other throughout the book. They see each other clearly in ways others don’t. Joshua tells her: “You’re chronically addicted to making people adore you” (22). Lucy is embarrassed he notices this. She narrates: “His words sting. Joshua is like a mirror that shows me the bad parts of myself” (22). She considers that she’s kept herself small to avoid having to make mistakes.

When Joshua changes into casual clothes for the paintball game, she observes herself honestly: “I caught my reflection on the wall diagonal to him; a slack-jawed mask of idiotic lust” (89). As much as she hates him, she’s incredibly attracted. In the hotel room: “We make eye contact in the mirror and I let out a broken breath…I want to tell him, yes, rent this room for the rest of our lives.