Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Friend Zone

I genuinely am SHOCKED by how much I HATED this book. Especially after LOVING the author’s latest books. But THIS book?!? It REEKED of misogyny — both from the heroine and love interest. The heroine was “not like the other girls” and it was brought up all the freaking time. Honestly they were both kind of assholes. I’m all for women being overly honest and blunt and to not care what other people think of them, but she showed no compassion (other than to Sloane — their loyal friendship was probably the best part of the book), had an emotional affair despite claiming to be someone with values and caring and loyal, refused to take care of herself (shown be her getting hangry every 5 minutes), and was such a pick-me. I was excited to read a book about a woman struggling with infertility and a life without children — I think that would be a great addition to the romance genre — but instead it was filled with comments about how she wasn’t a real woman and didn’t deserve love because of her condition.

And then for her to end up miraculously pregnant?!? I saw it coming and was so annoyed and then was disgusted when my predication proved true. Even more disgusting though was when the love interest said his sisters would be happy to be the surrogate … I know that’s not how it happens but that struck me as SO GROSS. Plus it seemed to add to the fact that Josh only saw women as vessels for carrying children.

Speaking of Josh: I also was excited to see that the love interest was a firefighter — I was like ok hot — but he was constantly complaining about his job and saying that people didn’t actually need their services (I can understand this happening once but again and again??). And then the ending?!?

Killing off his best friend … for what?! I literally do not understand the point of that. Like yes it was used as a plot device to bring the love interests closer, but beyond that?? I have no clue. Sloane and Brandon were better characters and they deserved better.

There were also so many other scenes where I was just confused as to why the happened: her “ice queen” mother showing up out of nowhere, despite never being mentioned before; all of their comments about homeless people being “dangerous” and something that Josh needed to “protect her” from .. I was horrified to read it; the book started with Josh being stressed about money and then never mentioned it again; Kristen being insecure about her uterus being bloated … and then comparing her body to her “beautiful, hourglass” best friend whose “worst nightmare” would be being bloated … I can’t.

Overall, I was BEYOND disappointed with this book. Maybe the author went through some serious life changes because her latest books are seriously amazing and showcase independent women who embrace and celebrate their friends … but this I cannot rate it lower and I am an overly generous rater usually.

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cady_sass's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Tears. Pain. My heart is exploding. I love everything about this except for the title - calling this “the friend zone” is SUCH a disservice! This is so much more than that. A rom com at the core, but, just like every other novel I’ve read by this author, there is so much nuance and depth in the character work and the representation.

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bookbuyingwithkatie's review

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emotional 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

5.0

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nicolewithbooks's review against another edition

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2.0

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zalouis's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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rachrreads's review

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emotional funny inspiring sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Kristen made me want to throw my phone across the room on multiple occasions. Also ending seemed a little too convenient

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Kristen meets the perfect man, but there’s one problem—he wants a huge family, and she cannot have children.

This book had SO much potential—I thought the premise and the chronic illness/infertility representation was excellent and so important. But unfortunately, the book itself didn’t fully land for me—I was really frustrated with a number of plot points (which I can’t really name because of spoilers). I also really hate the “she’s not like other girls, she’s a cool girl” trope (which is super sexist) and didn’t love that this was a big part of the MMC’s inner monologue in the first half of the book.

I do think that part of my issue with The Friend Zone may have also been that I’m not a big fan of either love triangle or miscommunication/lack of communication tropes, and this novel had both in spades. If you enjoy either, you might have a better time with this one!

All of the above said, I liked the characters Jimenez created, there was a lot of great emotion (and some truly heartbreaking moments) and I really am looking forward to continuing the series (I’ve heard great things about the second and third books!)

Recommended if you like: rom-coms with a lot of emotional weight; he-falls-first + pining; love triangle vibes

CW: Infertility/chronic illness; grief/death; injury/medical emergency

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annahamburger's review against another edition

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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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