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A review by naomichantal
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
2.0
1,5/5 stars
I... was not pleased, to say the least lol
I dont think I’ll be able to keep this review spoiler free so be warned!
So, the beginning of this book put me in a sour mood already, I did not appreciate Josh’s perspective it just rubbed me the wrong way AND we find out Kristen is in an actual relationship?? Turns out Josh wanting a big family isn’t the /only/ catch of why they cant be together. At least I found out I’m not a fan of the “the other woman” trope.
Other than that I didnt even really mind Kristen’s “I’m not like other girls” personality, despite the awful continuous mentions of being hangry, I wasnt bothered I actually quite liked her fierceness and blunt personality. I liked most of the characters they all felt pretty real and alright to me. Howeverrrrrr, I dont know how to form an opinion on Josh, he is such an unnatural, forced character to me.. Like the whole book is surrounded around making Josh look like THE picture perfect ideal man which makes his good traits seem forced, as if the author was screaming “LOVE THIS CHARACTER, SWOON OVER THIS MAN” to me and to be frank, despite seeing the appeal of him I dont like it when I’m ‘forced’ to like something.
Talking about using the plot and characters (and the fact that josh had his own pov, like what was that about?? What other reason than making Josh look good was that for?? Anyway) to make a character look good... What the fffff (massive spoiler) was Brandon’s death about???? Like did I just imagine things or did the author literally use a very intense and triggering death of a character as a tool to get the two main characters together??? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was reading it. I was beyond pissed off. The hospital scenes were quite intense and we as a reader didnt even get any closure on the whole situation. We just jumped straight into “oh lets use his death as an excuse to finally stop being stupid and get together” and I found that I missed that element of closure. Also, I can think of a million other ways of creating a dramatic hospital scene that’d bring the characters clarity without killing off a character.
And then the ending... This book had such a massive potential of being this empowering book about infertile women, and eventho the author based Kristen’s situation on a real life story, I would’ve loved this book to show women with fertility issues and a wish for children that you can become happy with yourself and your life in different ways. Unfortunately that was not the case and I think it was a missed opportunity.
I was promised a funny and emotional read. Was it funny? Meh not my kind of humour, I felt like the book was trying too hard to try to be funny. Was it emotional? Hmm I did cry but that sadness turned into anger reeeeaal quick once I realised what exaxtly was happening. And I mean, the book was entertaining and it kept me engaged, but other than that I just don’t think this book was for me to enjoy.
I... was not pleased, to say the least lol
I dont think I’ll be able to keep this review spoiler free so be warned!
So, the beginning of this book put me in a sour mood already, I did not appreciate Josh’s perspective it just rubbed me the wrong way AND we find out Kristen is in an actual relationship?? Turns out Josh wanting a big family isn’t the /only/ catch of why they cant be together. At least I found out I’m not a fan of the “the other woman” trope.
Other than that I didnt even really mind Kristen’s “I’m not like other girls” personality, despite the awful continuous mentions of being hangry, I wasnt bothered I actually quite liked her fierceness and blunt personality. I liked most of the characters they all felt pretty real and alright to me. Howeverrrrrr, I dont know how to form an opinion on Josh, he is such an unnatural, forced character to me.. Like the whole book is surrounded around making Josh look like THE picture perfect ideal man which makes his good traits seem forced, as if the author was screaming “LOVE THIS CHARACTER, SWOON OVER THIS MAN” to me and to be frank, despite seeing the appeal of him I dont like it when I’m ‘forced’ to like something.
Talking about using the plot and characters (and the fact that josh had his own pov, like what was that about?? What other reason than making Josh look good was that for?? Anyway) to make a character look good... What the fffff (massive spoiler) was Brandon’s death about???? Like did I just imagine things or did the author literally use a very intense and triggering death of a character as a tool to get the two main characters together??? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was reading it. I was beyond pissed off. The hospital scenes were quite intense and we as a reader didnt even get any closure on the whole situation. We just jumped straight into “oh lets use his death as an excuse to finally stop being stupid and get together” and I found that I missed that element of closure. Also, I can think of a million other ways of creating a dramatic hospital scene that’d bring the characters clarity without killing off a character.
And then the ending... This book had such a massive potential of being this empowering book about infertile women, and eventho the author based Kristen’s situation on a real life story, I would’ve loved this book to show women with fertility issues and a wish for children that you can become happy with yourself and your life in different ways. Unfortunately that was not the case and I think it was a missed opportunity.
I was promised a funny and emotional read. Was it funny? Meh not my kind of humour, I felt like the book was trying too hard to try to be funny. Was it emotional? Hmm I did cry but that sadness turned into anger reeeeaal quick once I realised what exaxtly was happening. And I mean, the book was entertaining and it kept me engaged, but other than that I just don’t think this book was for me to enjoy.