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

This book is so so so hilarious. If I could only use one word to describe it, it’d be just that: hilarious. Okay maybe that’s a lie because there are honestly so many positive adjectives that could be used to describe this book, but let’s stick with that one for now.

Hazel is one of, if not, my favourite standalone romance protagonists of all time. She’s just so herself, and proud to be, in a way that’s honestly inspiring. She’s quirky and bizarre, and not in that I’m-not-like-other-girls way, but in the way that she’s proud to be who she is and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. And I love her for that.

“But at the end of the day", she says, and puts her hand outside the open window, letting the wind pass through her fingers, "being myself is enough. I'm enough.”

This is definitely one of my favourite friends-to-lovers of all time. It’s perfectly written and plotted out, from the cohabitation trope to the hilarious dates, to their relationship becoming something more. Seeing them slowly realize that they were destined to be more than friends warms my heart every time. And seeing the people around them trying to convince them of that was just the icing on the cake.

“I know I’m like Pig-Pen in Charlie Brown, and I have chaos around me, but it’s like he doesn’t even care. He doesn’t need me to change or pretend to be someone else. He’s my person. He’s my best friend.”

And I just love Hazel and Josh as a couple so much. Since they started off as friends who had known each other casually, we got to see a side of their relationship that wouldn’t often make an appearance in a romance novel, and is one of the things that makes this book so extraordinary.

“I saw it and I thought it would make you laugh.” Josh’s eyes soften, and he gives me such an adoring smile, it’s nearly painful. “You look ridiculous in that. I hope you wear it all day.”

My Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating Playlist:
Groceries by Mallrat
Sunflower by Post Malone, Swae Lee
Sunflower by Rex Orange County

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