Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren Narrator: Jayme Mattler, Todd Haberkorn
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on September 4, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 7 hours, 16 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Audiobook, Barnes & Noble
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?
Robin did a review of Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating earlier this fall on the digital book version. Her review made it sound so amazing; I couldn’t pass up the audio. I’m a real fan of Christina Lauren. They do an excellent job at capturing people in their funny, unique ways with authentic emotions and issues. The people and their relationships are so plausible, so real. Josh and Hazel met in college but weren’t involved. We are now years later and they meet again.
I agree with Robin’s review completely. Hazel is an awesome, bursting with life character. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with her in real life? She may have a filter issue, at times saying the most true and cringe-worthy or hilarious thing, but she’s so real. I hate the way people have tried and sometimes succeeded in making her feel insecure or undateable.
Josh is the perfect sort of regular, upper middle class guy. There are a few interesting twists in his Korean heritage. He has just ended a relationship where he found out his girlfriend was cheating on him. So Hazel steps in to be his best friend. They start setting up each other on blind dates and go as double dates.
Yeah, this is going to go well. NOT. ROFL. But as Robin points out, nothing goes wrong for us readers because it is crazy, wonderful fun. We do get both Josh and Hazel’s point of view in alternating chapters which is the best since you know where each person is emotionally. I have to really feel for them when they are wrong about how the other person feels. Communication is so difficult and so important. Timing is an important issue in communication, also.
So with the realistic feels, this is an amazing, outlandish, amusing, brilliant adventure.
Narration:
This was such a fun and fast listen at my usual 1.25x speed. I enjoyed the story and the dual narration was great. Jayme Mattler did a superb job on Hazel chapters. Todd Haberkorn was perfect as Josh, but I confess I really dislike his voice for Hazel. Fortunately, it wasn’t part of the story too often. The performance overall was a joy with the hilarious dialogue and quirky characters.
Listen to a clip:
About Christina Lauren
Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in September, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December, and their first Women’s Fiction, Love and Other Words in April.
Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She grew up in Utah and is absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 17 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Writing |
|
| Characters |
|
| Dialogue |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- Sunday Post –4 June 2023 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - June 4, 2023
- 🎧 Series review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson @HoJay92 @BaileyCarrVOICE @LLAudiobooks @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM #COYER #ReadASeriesinaMonth - June 3, 2023
- Read-along & #Giveaway: Tricked by Kevin Hearne @KevinHearne @luckylukeekul @DelReyBooks @PRHAudio#Read-along #GIVEAWAY #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM - June 2, 2023
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2018 Audiobook Challenge
- 2018 New Release Challenge
This one looked fun to me, too, when I saw Lorna’s review of it. Glad you had a good time with it and seeing them come to the realization of their feelings. I need to try my first Christina Lauren book still (gasp, I know). 😉
Christina Lauren is an amazing author with good character development and humor. You really should try this or anything they write.
Yay! I’ve got the audio on my plan for this month (probably next month, though). Great review, Anne!
Thanks This one is SO much fun! Enjoy!
I’ve been thinking about reading this. Your review has me thinking audible might be the way to go.
I think either can work for this one. The audio was great. The story is so good reading would be great also. This author’s books are at my libraries but there is a wait list.
I was debating this one for audio, but I think I will read it. Great review Anne!
Thanks! I think it would be awesome no matter what.
I read this one and loved it, too. That’s a bummer about the male narrator doing the female lead voice – that can ruin an audiobook (been there!). So luckily it didn’t impact your enjoyment too much.
Yes it was such a great book. It was lucky it was a small impact.
I loved this one. It had everything I love about romance. It was fun and romantic with two awesome characters.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I really enjoyed this story and the characters too. I’m glad you enjoyed it!