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

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

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

10 reviews

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.

Content Warnings

booksndboba's review

Go to review page

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

maggies's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

cerilouisereads's review

Go to review page

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

jamiebrito's review

Go to review page

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

5.0

Content Warnings

cluckieduck's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Well, this was absolutely delightful and lovely. I’m not usually enamoured with the “quirky girl” trope, but this toed the line well and I really enjoyed Hazel and her ‘Hazel-ness’. I also found this was one of the better friends-to-lovers tropes I’ve read. The relationship that develops between Josh & Hazel seems so genuine and their opposite personalities meshed into great chemistry. And the epilogue?? One of my favourites ♥️

Content Warnings