The Friend Zone
Ratings114
Average rating3.5
See this (spoiler-heavy) review for why this is a hard pass: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2850791694
dnf'ing at 8% bc i wasn't vibing with it and then read reviews and read something that i know would trigger me.
not a bad book, just not for me, mentally. 🫶🏻
I initially rated this 4/5 because I found myself frustrated with a recurring theme in the story but I've had a change of heart. If that exasperation I felt was intended by the author, and this story was simply performing upon its intended function for the reader, then this is a 5/5. A deceptivley layered novel for what is categorized as a rom com/romance novel.
DNF@28%
First disappointment from Abby but there were already 4 “not like other girls” lines and that's 4 too many.
Wow, what the heck did I just read? So disappointing after Just for the Summer was one of my faves this year.
My gripes include: Unnecessary character death, bizarre depiction of infertility, unfair treatment of a seemingly pretty harmless boyfriend/ex, “not like other girls” syndrome in full effect, and the minor scene with a gun was a big turn-off. I thought some aspects of the MMC and FMC relationship were cute at the beginning, but pretty quickly this turned into a book I just had to finish because I couldn't quite believe the direction it was taking. Think I'll skip the rest of the series!
I was reading the end of this book on my phone in the doctor's office this morning and trying not to sob. I'm wearing my bookshelf earrings today, so the doc asked what I was reading, and I mentioned that I've read most of Jimenez's books and also that she's the worst because she breaks your heart and makes you cry, then fixes it and makes you cry AGAIN when everything is better.
I did not see the third act of this coming AT ALL, and it was DEVASTATING.
I'm docking a star because Kristen's refusal to Have a Conversation went on and on and on and on. It's not even that the Conversation would have solved things, necessarily, but I'm always on the side of more conversations. And then at least she and Josh would have been on the same page.
CW: infertility and treatment related to infertility, obsessive compulsive disorder, medical trauma, death, alcohol, grief, pregnancy (uneventful)
Rounding up to a 4. The male man character gave me the ick but a fast and easy read despite the traumatic themes.
3/5 – This book should've been titled “Mixed Signals” because that's all the FMC (Kristen) gave. The FMC was not likeable at all to me. She was very entitled, erratic and insensitive to everyone around her. The tug and pull she did with the MMC (Josh) was infuriating. And Josh was just as irritating because if I were him, I would've stopped speaking to her altogether as she was not worth it. I wish Kristen's fiancé' played a bigger role in the story and stayed around longer, as it would've made the situation more interesting. I like Abby's writing and enjoy reading her books even though most of the character's she writes irritate me.
3.5 Let's start with the good things. This couple had great chemistry and the dual povs were great. The way this book approached infertility and chronic pain felt nuanced and compelling, addressing the physical and psychological impacts of them. The side characters felt a bit half-baked, but I know the rest of the series will expand on them.
The reason this was held back from a higher rating is because of specific issues with each main character. Kristen's refusal to just communicate with Josh about why they couldn't be together was infuriating and confusing; it's not like I can't sympathize with the situation, but it felt so out of character for her that it mostly annoyed me. Not to mention the issue being revealed earlier on, when they were just friends, could've prevented him from falling for her (which at the time is what she wanted!).
With Josh, I am conflicted. When we're in Kristen's POV, I like him and I'm rooting for him. When we would switch to his POV, I mostly just got the ick. I'm so sorry, but we spent too many chapters hearing his inner and outer monologue about how she's a unicorn, a cool girl, a “not like other girls” girl; Honestly, props to Abby because I feel like she captured how a lot of men think and act when they're down bad, I just hated being a part of it for so many chapters.
Long story short, I was rooting for them, but this conflict felt avoidable. I am not against the miscommunication trope per se, but wow sometimes it really wants to make you shake the characters and slap some sense into them. This doesn't feel like a must-read series (as opposed to her newer series which is 5 stars all around), but if I can borrow the other books from the library, maybe I will.
My goshhhhhh Abby Jimenez does it AGAIN!!!!
This is my third AJ book I've read and they have all been 5/5 for me every. Single. Time!!!!!!
Please go read this yall. Definitely read the TWs before diving in but just go read it nowwww!!!
Was not expecting the “not like other girls” trope, but I will forgive it because of how wonderful Josh is. lol I loved everything about Josh. He was compassionate, funny, and patient, but not overbearing. I mostly loved Kristen, though her self-sacrificing almost ruined it for me. I love the wit of the fmc's that Jimenez writes. I always catch myself smiling while reading the dialogue between her characters. I loved Sloan and Brandon and I was so shocked, but secretly so sucked in after the motorcycle accident. That was wild. I'm usually not into the pregnancy ending of romance novels, but because of the subject matter, I loved and teared up with this one. I really like the start of this series and I look forward to continuing.
kicsit koszosnak érzem magam, hogy egyes részeken jól szórakoztam, miközben összességében masszívan nőgyűlölő, bunkó és ostoba ez a könyv. aszitted, végre egy sztori, amiben menstruációs problémákról van szó, aztán valahogy mégis sikerült kb. minden irányból belerúgni a nőkbe. de a legvisszataszítóbb azoknak a jó vaskos turhával való szembe köpése, akiknek nem lehet gyerekük.
I mean I was already having some Problems with the characterization here but then that ending... hoo boy.
Dnf @ 81%
2.5
Was going so well until kristen wouldn't just stop acting immature and have the conversation with josh and then when she finally does, she's made the decision that they cant be together. I had high hopes for this because my last abby jimminez book was a 5 star but extremely disappointed. The banter and the chemistry was great between the mcs but the lack of proper communication really put me off
Este libro es problemático a muchíiiiiiiiiiiiisimos niveles.
Trigger Warning: problemas de fertilidad, concepción, problemas con el ciclo menstrual.
I like to pick up books my normal self would never read, and i only chose this one cause i follow the writer's dog on tiktok (and he's in the book so that was a pleasant surprise).
Main issue with the book is, the main 3 men in the book are US military and i would not like to read anything about the love life of the people bombing us. Other than that it was a fun read, it has all the good tropes, just the ex-marines could've had any other past really.
“Shawn, I want you to know that if I needed mouth to mouth, and you were the last paramedic on Earth, I prefer donations made to the ASPCA in lieu of flowers at my funeral.”
I'm not even going to sit here and try pretend that I didn't laugh out loud at this. Sassy and funny main characters are my bread and butter so the minute I read this in the second chapter I knew I was going to enjoy this book. The fact that there were firefighters included in this just made everything ten times better.
As someone who has suffered a miscarriage and recently realised that I have an infertility it actually meant a lot to me to actually see it portrayed in a story as I haven't seen it done yet. It's a topic that needs to be shown in so many more books so that people like me can see main protagonists going through the same things.
“Love is for better or worse. It's always and no matter what. The no-matter-what just happened first for us.”
This book made me cry, it made me laugh. I became so attached to the characters and what happened to them. It explores heavy issues that I don't read in other books very often. This holds a very special place in my heart.
I really want to give it 2 stars because I'm so annoyed, but the writing made the book really easy to read through. It is just everything that happens in this book is everything I dislike. Josh is amazing, I love Sloane, but everything else annoyed me to no end.
“I'd found my person.She was the foundation. She was the thing that all other things are built on. Everything was secondary to being with her. It didn't matter where I worked or if I liked my job, where I lived or how many kids I had. My happiness, my sanity, my well-being – it all started with her. And now that I knew that, I didn't want to just be her boyfriend – I wanted everything.”
On top of Kristen and Josh being special snowflakes and not like other peers of their gender as way to explain what's so great about them, their relationship moved too fast. They went from having a scuffle about the accident to supposedly being best buds because of so many convenient plot devices. Their interactions are always superficial at best but somehow we're supposed to believe they would die for each other in a matter of weeks? And how convenient that Tyler broke up with her in a voice message even though he didn't actually do it? He said he reenlisted and she said in the past that's a no go for her but they didn't actually have a conversation to discuss it and make things clear. And this whole time she was emotionally cheating on Tyler until the point of even ignoring his calls to hang out with Josh. In what world this constitutes being loyal?
Then what she does next is despicable. She's hot, then cold with Josh. Pushing and pulling, jerking him around without any explanation. I'm not a fan of Josh but it's not ok how she treated him. He basically used him because she was attracted to him while refusing to acknowledge how he feels when she keeps rejecting him, then reeling him in, then it's off again. Sadist move. If it were a guy doing this to a woman y'all be up in arms about what a douchebag he is.
No matter how hard it was for her to talk about it, she should have told him from the begining that she thinks she can't have kids. It's not up for debate. You don't hold critical information from someone you're involved with if it concerns them, even if it's just a hook-up.
Another thing that was absolutely icky was when Brandon got into the accident and died they still made it about them. I could not have it in my heart to be cheesy and spew declarations of love when my best friend is in the hospital between life or death. And then they got married when his body was barely cold.
The cherry on top, Kristen, who's womb was supposedly distended from the fibroids, who bled non-stop got miraculously pregnant and carries it full-term? What a slap in the face to all the women out there who have infertility issues. I have a friend who has one fibroid, 7 cm, and she's had 4 miscarriages because of it. Yes, miracles do happen, it's not the norm. This book is an F-u to so many women out there who will never be biological mothers because they either can't or they chose not to have kids.
Very readable book, FABULOUS writing (reminds me of Meg Cabot, who I LOVE), laugh out loud funny, and over all engaging.
A few issues with the plot that wasn't my favorite but overall this book completely captivated me.