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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*
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*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
alyssamhartley's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.5
The book is written for the weird girls and I loved that about it! As a fellow weird girl, it made me feel seen when Hazel was quirky and fully herself. Seeing Josh embrace and love that made me melt. His favorite parts of her are the ones others consider weird and that makes them a perfect match. I was so shocked by the pregnancy plot at the end! I truly was not expecting it at all and normally I don’t like that in books, but I loved it in this one! This book will forever hold a special place in my heart❤️
My only gripe was the narrator for Josh literally drove me crazy!!! I got used to him towards the end, but definitely not my fav narrator especially compared to the one for Hazel who I adored!!!
My only gripe was the narrator for Josh literally drove me crazy!!! I got used to him towards the end, but definitely not my fav narrator especially compared to the one for Hazel who I adored!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent
heftsi's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit and Medical content
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I had really mixed feelings about this one. First, just speaking to the audiobook - the male narrator did just the most unrealistic women's voice for Hazel. Like a weird mouse on helium. It drove me nuts. Hazel was written as a Manic Pixie Dream Not-Like-Other-Girl, and it was tiring. Also, the character trait of like having zero self-control was kind of ugh too. I also hated the whole surprise pregnancy thing. Why the hell did Hazel tell Josh that she was "covered" when it came to birth control when she absolutely was not?? I also felt like the dropping of the towel thing was I guess supposed to be sexy, but since there was no communication really about intentions, it could have been a really not great reaction for anyone. But the sexy scenes were fun. ALTHOUGH. I would really like an expert to explain to me what are ACTUALLY the possibilities of starting to have sex when you are sleeping. It seems like quite a stretch and an excuse that someone could use to get around consent. God dammit. We have to model consent in these sexy books! I guess I didn't have terribly mixed feelings about this haha I didn't really like it, but the writing was fine and the story was fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood and Vomit
jessicabearbooks's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood and Vomit
leahfoko's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Ok I have a couple issues with this book that brought down my rating of it so far. The first, non-spoiler one, is that Hazel has such manic-pixie-dream girl energy and I just don’t love that. I mean I think the book does it better than most in that she isn’t meant to be a vehicle for the male lead to learn something about himself etc, if anything it goes against that trope by bringing that concept to the forefront and making fun of the characters in the book who treat her that way, so it does that well. But I just find that kind of character sort of annoying because the whole character is that they’re so quirky and weird and omg they have no filter they’re just so weird and I just feel like when that’s basically all the character is and they’re just constantly commenting on how quirky she is it gets kind of annoying after awhile. Like we get it, but what else is there? So I just find that kind of irritating.
Second, and this is spoiler territory and something I have seen as a common complaint in the reviews I have read:
Accidental pregnancy is not a fun sexy time to me. Once that plot line showed up I wasn’t able to enjoy any of the romance culmination that took place because I was just stressed™️ about the fact that she hadn’t told Josh about it yet. Like I get why she didn’t right away and it worked out fine because it happened to be something that he also really wanted with her, but what if it hadn’t? Like if we hadn’t had his POV or if circumstances hadn’t been exactly the way that they were then things could’ve been very bad and stressful. I know they decided to be together without any sort of pressure from the pregnancy angle even if they hadn’t explicitly discussed it beforehand so that’s good at least. But I was just so stressed that she hadn’t told him because like, you need to communicate about stuff like that pretty immediately in my opinion. I understood her logic that she didn’t want to get his hopes up before that second appointment but he wanted to be there for her and she wasn’t giving him the opportunity to be. So I just felt like they weren’t working through that big thing together as a team, but they should’ve been given their relationship. I just wish that she had told him when he first got to her apartment that day and the drawing it out bothered me and detracted from the whole rest of the scene for me. I just kind of felt like that plot line took me out of the relationship and the story. That said though, the epilogue was adorable and the way that it resolved itself was adorable, I just really feel like there were lots of conversations that they should’ve had before then.
Overall the book was fun, I just felt like those two aspects were big drawbacks for me and made my reading less enjoyable. I will say though, that this is probably the only friends to lovers type story that I have ever enjoyed, so that is a big plus for this book. The fact that they became friends in the beginning of the book and you saw their friendship develop and then develop into something more was a way to do that trip that I really liked. I don’t usually like it when they’ve been best friends their whole lives and then suddenly decide they like each other romantically, and this book didn’t do that but did something different with that trope and so I really liked that about it.
TL;DR Excellent friends to lovers, but I had some issues with a certain plot line and the manic-pixie energy of Hazel. Otherwise, a fun romance.
Second, and this is spoiler territory and something I have seen as a common complaint in the reviews I have read:
Accidental pregnancy is not a fun sexy time to me. Once that plot line showed up I wasn’t able to enjoy any of the romance culmination that took place because I was just stressed™️ about the fact that she hadn’t told Josh about it yet. Like I get why she didn’t right away and it worked out fine because it happened to be something that he also really wanted with her, but what if it hadn’t? Like if we hadn’t had his POV or if circumstances hadn’t been exactly the way that they were then things could’ve been very bad and stressful. I know they decided to be together without any sort of pressure from the pregnancy angle even if they hadn’t explicitly discussed it beforehand so that’s good at least. But I was just so stressed that she hadn’t told him because like, you need to communicate about stuff like that pretty immediately in my opinion. I understood her logic that she didn’t want to get his hopes up before that second appointment but he wanted to be there for her and she wasn’t giving him the opportunity to be. So I just felt like they weren’t working through that big thing together as a team, but they should’ve been given their relationship. I just wish that she had told him when he first got to her apartment that day and the drawing it out bothered me and detracted from the whole rest of the scene for me. I just kind of felt like that plot line took me out of the relationship and the story. That said though, the epilogue was adorable and the way that it resolved itself was adorable, I just really feel like there were lots of conversations that they should’ve had before then.
Overall the book was fun, I just felt like those two aspects were big drawbacks for me and made my reading less enjoyable. I will say though, that this is probably the only friends to lovers type story that I have ever enjoyed, so that is a big plus for this book. The fact that they became friends in the beginning of the book and you saw their friendship develop and then develop into something more was a way to do that trip that I really liked. I don’t usually like it when they’ve been best friends their whole lives and then suddenly decide they like each other romantically, and this book didn’t do that but did something different with that trope and so I really liked that about it.
TL;DR Excellent friends to lovers, but I had some issues with a certain plot line and the manic-pixie energy of Hazel. Otherwise, a fun romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit
booksndboba's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
maggies's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
jamiebrito's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent