Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Friend Zone

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

36 reviews

annahamburger's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book deals with heavy topics and I highly recommend checking the content warnings.

That being said I do feel the topics of infertility, mental illness, toxic parent child relationships, death, and grief were dealt with and presented gracefully, yet raw.

Infertility is discussed frequently and in detail with a variety of emotions and projected outcomes in this story.

I really enjoyed this book, and the writing was visceral and raw. Kristen was layered and real.

I wish Josh had had more layers to him, as his POV helped flesh out Kristen more than himself.

A thing I could have gone without was Josh's inner thoughts regarding Kristen as "not like other girls" and "cool and probably dated a college guy in high school".

I wish we could have spent more time in the "after" portion of the couples lives. I am hopeful to get glimpses of it in the sequels.

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rebeccap's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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meredithsaffairs's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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c45p1n's review

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

ORIGINAL RATE: 3.5

NEW RATE: 4 ~~(im giving this 4 stars bc kf how much i loved reading it and how much it resonated witb me. NOT because its a 5-star-worthy plot or writing.)~~

This whole review is going to be one big fat spoiler so, word to the wise, i guess.

[irritated groaning] ok. This book started off cheesy and cliche (it ended that way too but also very upsetting), Josh was fun, Kris was elusive, the dual POVs gave so much whiplash tbh. They were hot and cold. Time was not a factor in this book--quite the opposite.
And because i can't express what I want to say into sentences, I'm making a pro/con list.

PROS:

~~Sloan<333~~ RR: she was a meh character, same with brandon. didnt really feel as much impact from them
josh ~~in the beginning and the end~~ period. Josh.
free of a lot of the typical stigma around infertility/menstruation
WHEN JOSH WAS LISTING WAYS OF HOW HE KNEW HER OH MY GOD
~~sloan again<3 bc i love sloan<33~~
whenever there was a sliver of healthy romance those scenes were so cute
stuntman mike
JOSH MAKING THE BINDER FOR KRIS AND LIKE THAT SCENE
~~kristen's vows~~
it was an exciting read, very fun--albeit frustrating--but after the initial giddiness of it all wore off and I finished the book it was really... just... not, good. It kinda left you with a bittersweet feeling (more bitter than sweet on my part tbh)

CONS:

MISCOMMUNICATION AT EVERY TURN
~~Josh in the middle of the book~~ RR: i actyally thought josh was an amazing character throughout EXCEPT the moment right after vegas where he was a douche and jumped to conclusions
kristen. ~~the. entire, fucking time.~~ Especially after the karaoke night, the phone call from vegas night, and every other night after that RR: i do think kristen wasnt the best character, but i did understand where she was coming from and her logic. it was just an awful execution/portrayal
BRANDONS FUCKING DEATH. WHY THE FUCK. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUKC WHAT THE FUCK
they were so obviously in love with each other the entire time it was painful literally why
tyler and seafood
LITERALLY THE MISSCOMUNICATION
kristen's vows
kris not coming clean to josh after she said she loved him. what the fuck. like i get it's a personal thing but admitting you love him TO HIM and then constantly pushing him away and ignoring him and ghosting him (only to show up at his work, or his house a week later) is selfish. especially if it makes him think he's the problem when you knew damn well he wasn't
KRIS WAS SO HYPOCRITICAL THE ENTIRE TIME LIKE "i'm not settling for tyler. i love tyler" (which we all knew wasn't entirely true) and then telling josh to "move on, screw other women, date other women. don't settle for me" bullcrap. AND THEN SLOAN FINALLY WHACKED SOME FREAKING SENSE INTO HER WHILE SHE WAS FRICKN MOURNING
EVELYN. she didn't deserve the epilogue scene. RR: THIS THIS THIS. THIS. THIS. THIS. SHE DOES NOT DESERVE ANY TYPE OF REDEMPTION.
why the fuck did
Brandon
die??? what was the point of that? I was genuinely so upset they died.
all the poc were written off???? or given very gross/womanizer and minimal lines???? there was no diversity for them or at all in this book??
~~why am i giving this book 4 stars??~~
it was a lot of rinse/reuse/recycle throughout the entire book. The characters only had one thought, one argument point, one problem. Every argument circled back to the "I love you, I wanna be with you" and the entire time Kristen was just really immature and inconsiderate and rude.
- the same things were happening the entire time and provided no sense of change or dynamic.

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midnightbelles's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I accidentally read the Happy Ever After Playlist first thinking it was a stand alone so a few events were spoiled for me. Despite that however this was a decent read. (Not my favorite in the series though). The story focuses on Kristen who is unable to have children due to fibroids in her uterus and Josh who wants a big family. They quickly fall for each other but Kristen holds back from officially dating him because she knows she can’t give him what he wants.

Since I already knew generally what happened between them the end wasn’t a big surprise to me but I did enjoy getting to see their relationship develop before the events of the second book.

I didn’t however like the fact that the end events did happen after reading chapters and chapters of Kristen clearly explaining why it shouldn’t have happened. I mean, she’s been technically trying for 8 years and one night with Josh supposedly fixes all her problems???

I also didn’t like the way that some things were portrayed. Despite the fact that I think their relationship issues could’ve been solved quickly by an open and honest conversation I do like the way that Josh went about the situation in the end. I probably won’t read this again if I’m completely honest, just because it’s really not worth rereading. I didn’t hate it but it’s not my favorite.

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