Who'd have thought a Josh could be this sweet?

I'm going to have a hard time rating this one, but I'll try. 

The first 80% of The Friend Zone was very much like your standard romance book. A stubborn FMC, a persistent alpha male MMC, and some issues and misunderstandings preventing them from being together.

This part was pretty frustrating at times. If these two could've just sat down and had a frank conversation like adults, they could've been together so much sooner. I understand not wanting to share this kind of thing firsthand, but personally, I felt this book went a bit too far with it. 

I did love Josh, though. He was sweet and thoughtful. A bit overly alpha male bordering on stalkerish at times, but that's pretty standard for a book boyfriend

Then, the last 20% of this book happened, and honestly, it hit too close to home for me personally. My own fault, I should've looked closer at the trigger warnings than I did. 

Objectively, it was well written, pretty close to accurate, and it definitely gave me feels. 

Overall, I did enjoy The Friend Zone. I may not read the rest, but if this was before my sister had her stroke, I probably would've really enjoyed it and continued 

➛ 𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

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. 

This book is layered with internalized misogyny and the praising of the "cool girl" over all other women (while shaming those other  women for daring to exist and/or interact with the men of the novel). The main character is also emotionally unfaithful, because she meets a hot guy and likes him better than her partner. Monogamy isn't for everyone, but cheating on your partner (even if not physically) is immoral and cruel. There is also a huge focus on being a successful woman only if you're able to have kids biologically.

There are more interesting romance books that don't rely on such obvious and disappointing tropes.