[Book Review] Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

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After reading The UnHoneymooners last year and loving it, I knew I wanted to give Christina Lauren's other books a try. I have been trying to read romance and lighter plot stories before bed and this was a perfect pick in that aspect. I honestly think I am falling in love with the romance genre as a whole. 

"I learned a very important thing that day: my mom would never try to change for a man, and I wouldn't either."

I loved Hazel so much as one of our main characters. At first in the first couple chapters I thought maybe I was going to dislike her because originally she felt like a weird caricature of the stereotypical "quirky but relatable" type of girl character that never feels like a real person. But honestly, I think her more eccentric personality really fit not only the character but the story, and it never felt over the top or too much. As I continued to read I warmed up to Hazel and enjoyed that he never let anyone who tried to change her stay in her life. Josh, our second main character and Hazel's love interest. He's incredibly sweet and kind. I love his acceptance of Hazel as she is and never thinks about changing her. Even when she is a lot sometimes, he loves her and not in a fake way like, "I'm so brave for dealing with her" but genuinely finding her to be funny and loving her. They have fantastic chemistry before romance or sex being seriously considered. They were just so good to each other. I also really like his relationship with his family. I would have loved to know more about his parents who seemed so cute. I love our two side characters as well, Emily and Dave. Emily is not only Hazel's best friend, but Josh's sister. And Dave is Emily's husband along with her and Hazel's boss because they are all educators. I really loved both of Emily and Dave and would have loved to see more of them because often they would pop up to help Josh and Hazel go through their emotions and then they disappear until they're needed again.

There are two plot points I felt frustrated about while reading and one I genuinely hated so much that I knew my rating of the book was going to be substantially lower because of it. The two plot points that I was frustrated about are smaller and aren't the biggest of deals compared to the big one. One is that I don't like the "oh my god do they like me for real?" trope that happens in more younger relationships. Hazel and Josh are both obviously into each other by the time this trope appears, and instead of communicating (another trope I hate: refusing to communicate) with each other, they as Emily and Dave for advice. It seemed juvenile and annoyed me because it felt like a plot device to give the story more drama. The second thing is also not the biggest deal, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Josh and Emily are having a meal together and talking about Josh and Hazel's friendship possibly becoming more, and Emily makes a few comments that make Hazel into this delicate creature and if Josh says or does anything wrong, he could "take the dust from her wings" and it felt overly cheesy. It made Hazel out as this delicate character when she has been proven herself as anything than delicate or easily breakable. 

"I realize I should be mortified that Past Hazel was so dramatically inappropriate, but it's not like I'm that much better now, and regret isn't my speed anyway." 

The thing I genuinely disliked was the ending. I don't plan on spoiling it for anyone, so there is no worries there. But it was the most cheesy, ridiculous, unnecessary thing. I cannot explain how much I hated it and how disappointed I felt while reading. This book could have easily been a go-to feel good book for me to re-read when I'm in the mood for some heartwarming romance. And now, I don't think I'll ever read it again. It's one of those endings you expect from a really bad lifetime movie. Which is fine, but the rest of the book before this has a completely different vibe and when the ending happened it felt like a complete tonal shift. I know two writers are behind the author "Christina Lauren" but their writing styles seem to seamlessly work together. 

Overall, If the rest of the book wasn't so good, I'd easily give it a lower rating. However, I'm not sure how popular my opinion is about the ending. For all I know, it's a popular ending and most readers enjoyed it. So with that, I do recommend this book to readers who are interested or want to read more Christina Lauren or just romance in general. I think the majority of the book is incredibly well written and the characters are so sweet. If it wasn't for that ending, this would be a new favorite of mine. Hopefully my next Christina Lauren book has less disappointments. 

"The world seems full of men who are initially infatuated by our eccentricities but who ultimately expect them to be temporary."

Thanks for reading!