Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

17 reviews

clara01's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book got me out of a book slump. It's a calming, lightheaded easy read and I recommend it.

I loved the parts about Korean culture and the quirkiness of the FMC (without being unbelievably weird and clingy). I think it's so important to see characters being accepted as themselves even if they're not *normal*

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tyras_bookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Friends to lovers, yaayyy! But such a quirky random friendship that starts out slow and unsuspecting and quickly becomes central to Josh and Hazel’s life when they reconnect at a party later in the life.

I love Hazel. She’s ridiculous and kinda manic and a bit much but so fun to read. And I love she didn’t have to learn a lesson. She was already great and knew it and confident in herself.

Maybe her lesson was just learning that she’s in love with Josh.

Josh was kinda giving wet paper bag most times but he was cool too; handsome, protective, but hidden behind a facade of “perfect” and most of his personality was hidden by heartache.

Hazel wants o help him overcome that heartache and does but of course they have a drunken one-night stand that turns into something more.

After a while it was very clear that they both loved each other and might have for a while

but the whole “double date” scheme situation was funny. They were both always there when the other needed them and that’s good friendship.

So there scheme and spicy things and love declarations and a sweet HEA. The subtle reference to their timeline is interesting. The ending kinda dumps all their life stuff on us at the end but not like in a rushed, bad way

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jessicabearbooks's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"Love is messy, complicated, and unpredictable. But it’s also the most beautiful thing in the world".

I'll be honest, I'm writing this review a month late but these are the main points I remember:

I enjoyed the plot and thought most of the story was pretty sweet. Friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes and Josh and Hazel didn't disappoint. I thought the pacing was pretty good and allowed for that tension build up as well as the opportunity to bang my head against the wall waiting for certain people to realise how badly they both wanted each other.

The spice scenes were pretty detailed and a nice length. If you're looking for a book that focuses on the story and meaning of each scene as well as just raw physical description, then this is a good one.

I actually really didn't like Hazel and found her annoying! Which did make me feel guilty as this is one of the main character points that she struggles with anyway. She seemed like a lovely girl and it was easy to want the best for her, but yeah... I adored Emily and Dave though, and Josh was alright - a real gentleman so that's always a plus.

I wasn't a huge fan of the pacing at the end of the book. To me it felt as though Christina Lauren was trying to get in one more trope just for the sake of it. But I think it was a nice, unexpected twist that wasn't too foreshadowed throughout. However, I'm not sure how realistic the emotions and general happenings were, hence why the whole last 70 or so pages just felt rushed.

Maybe it's because I read this on holiday in the sunshine, but this book did have a really nice vibe. Would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, relaxed read with a nice amount of depth and a low level of craziness.

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mrsherrera's review against another edition

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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gracemullender's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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frantically's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Absolute feel-good book! Josh & Hazel are so oblivious to their obvious feelings for each other that I'd be simply annoyed if it was anyone else — but it's Josh & Hazel (and I love them as much as they love each other <3) I wasn't the biggest fan of the pacing at the end of the book but other than that, I really enjoyed every part of it!

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lazybooklover's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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maggies's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

This book totally struck out for me. Hazel sure was quirky, but she was also a bit of a pick-me-girl, which I found unappealing. There's also a really fine line between appreciating/celebrating vs. fetishizing a different culture, and Hazel flirted with that line throughout the book, so be forewarned. The timeline went way too fast to be believable—Hazel met Emily like nine months before the start of the book and they were already best friends, and then within two weeks of re-meeting Josh, he was her best friend? Plus the trope at the end was a big nope for me. The dual POV might have actually been the only good thing about the book because I found both Josh and Hazel annoying enough that I couldn't have handled a whole book from just one of their perspectives.

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cerilouisereads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jamiebrito's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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