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A review by keliterate
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
1.0
i finished this last night and really dreaded having to write a mini review of this, mostly because i knew it was going to be… all negative, but here goes.
this was… no. i don’t know if i’m missing the point or something, because i kind of don’t understand why this is loved the way it is. the only character i liked was josh, and even then, the ending ruined everything for me. i just couldn’t get with the characters. i know hazel is supposed to be quirky and carefree and wild, but i feel like she was written so cartoonishly that i couldn’t take her seriously. it was just… too much? i feel like there’s a much better way to write these out of pocket characters without making them cringe-inducing (see: the hating game by sally thorne, which does it right).
i have no issues with how the romance developed, but i do have issues with how josh and hazel’s friendship started. it just felt so strange to see them fall into patterns like that when they hadn’t exactly started as friends? i mean, i get the whole explainer on hazel’s tendency to swallow up would be best friends, but i think this was just too much. even the whole premise of her not knowing josh was emily’s brother? that was just kind of weird. like, wouldn’t you recognize him in the pictures if she was your ultimate best friend? wouldn’t you have pieced the pieces together? (aka normal conversations that involve knowing someone’s family, where they went for college? hello?)
i hated the ending. i really dislike having to use such a strong word, but i hate that they did that. it felt like josh was trapped in it, mostly because we never see them having the actual conversation regarding what to do after? it would’ve been great to see hazel and josh talk it through—maybe to highlight how responsible hazel can be in spite of her out-there personality? but, i don’t know—i hated the twist. it didn’t make sense, even if they alluded to it sometime in the middle.
honestly, i had to force myself to soldier on through this book (mostly because i already shot my may wrap up ahead lol). hazel’s pick-me attitude really ruined the start for me, and this is coming from someone who tends to love the characters a lot of people find annoying. big miss for me. 1/5 (it is what it is).
this was… no. i don’t know if i’m missing the point or something, because i kind of don’t understand why this is loved the way it is. the only character i liked was josh, and even then, the ending ruined everything for me. i just couldn’t get with the characters. i know hazel is supposed to be quirky and carefree and wild, but i feel like she was written so cartoonishly that i couldn’t take her seriously. it was just… too much? i feel like there’s a much better way to write these out of pocket characters without making them cringe-inducing (see: the hating game by sally thorne, which does it right).
i have no issues with how the romance developed, but i do have issues with how josh and hazel’s friendship started. it just felt so strange to see them fall into patterns like that when they hadn’t exactly started as friends? i mean, i get the whole explainer on hazel’s tendency to swallow up would be best friends, but i think this was just too much. even the whole premise of her not knowing josh was emily’s brother? that was just kind of weird. like, wouldn’t you recognize him in the pictures if she was your ultimate best friend? wouldn’t you have pieced the pieces together? (aka normal conversations that involve knowing someone’s family, where they went for college? hello?)
i hated the ending. i really dislike having to use such a strong word, but i hate that they did that. it felt like josh was trapped in it, mostly because we never see them having the actual conversation regarding what to do after? it would’ve been great to see hazel and josh talk it through—maybe to highlight how responsible hazel can be in spite of her out-there personality? but, i don’t know—i hated the twist. it didn’t make sense, even if they alluded to it sometime in the middle.
honestly, i had to force myself to soldier on through this book (mostly because i already shot my may wrap up ahead lol). hazel’s pick-me attitude really ruined the start for me, and this is coming from someone who tends to love the characters a lot of people find annoying. big miss for me. 1/5 (it is what it is).