[Review] The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Rating: 2 stars

Published: June 11th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kristen Petersen doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.

Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.

Sigh. 

This book made me tired. Here's why.

On a superficial level, The Friend Zone is about Kristen Peterson, who must fight off a growing attraction to Josh Copeland, who will be the best man at her best friend's wedding. She's in a long-distance relationship with Tyler, who works in the military overseas and who will be coming home soon. Kristen also believes that she and Josh would never work out, because, in the long-run, Josh wants a large family, and Kristen cannot do that, with her big secret: after years of painful, almost life-threatening periods, she's about to have a procedure that will prevent her from having children.

She and Josh become the next best thing: friends! With obvious complications. 

So, the premise is the setup of what could have been a slow-burn romance between two friends who can't be together until the world works in their favor. But underneath all the cuteness and smoldering smirks, is the promotion of many unhealthy messages. 

First, the misogyny and the ideation of a woman who is not like other women. This women-shaming, manic pixie dream girl-type nonsense is stale and overused. Instead of uplifting other women, we're elevating types like Kristen on a pedestal. 

What I had sitting next to me was the "cool girl." That rare woman who was gorgeous without being nuts. The girl in high school who hung out with all the guys, but she never dated any of them because none of them were mature enough for her. That girl who had a boyfriend who went to college and picked her up in his car after school. She could beat you at beer pong and had a football team who would kick your ass for saying one wrong word to her, but she'd never let them because she could handle herself. - p. 53

She was like a unicorn. A mythical creature. An honest, no-drama woman who didn't bullshit and drank beer and cussed and didn't care about what people thought of her. She was a unicorn, tucked in the body of an attractive woman with a great ass. -  p. 99

I could go on. In spite of what Josh thought about Kristen, there was drama! So much unnecessary drama of should they, or shouldn't they be together, all because no one was completely honest with what was going on. It's cute for a few pages, but not for a whole book. 

I put my face into my hands. "I like him so much. So much, Sloan. And he's all sweet and wants to hang out with me. He asked me if we could be exclusive. I told him no, that it's purely a sex thing for me, which it's totally not. But what else can it be?" - p. 138

And yes, though we have the boyfriend (Tyler) that stands in between Josh and Kristen's lust/love, he really becomes insignificant halfway through the book. He proposes to her!? And nothing happens of it. She's given a deadline to respond, but he's never brought up again. 

All that really was just plot-related issues that happened in the first portion of the novel. The latter half of this novel became a train wreck of conveniences and [spoilers ahead]. I don't think characters had to die for the sake of furthering a romance. I don't think a magical pregnancy will somehow save anything. If this is a book about Kristen accepting who she is and not letting her health problems define her, then this book went in the opposite direction. 

Of course, someone (the fiancé of Kristen's best friend Sloan) had to die in order for Kristen and Josh to put away their stupidity and finally get together. I felt so bad for Sloan because the poor woman did not deserve this nonsense. Kristen and Josh literally get together and get some on-the-spot wedding while Sloan is still mourning! Talk about terrible friends and being terribly disrespectful (can you at least wait?).

Even more than that is the idea that pregnancy will save everything! Kristen spent most of the book thinking about what she could give to a relationship if her health problems prevented her from having children. I really wish her character developed instead to be one that thought of what was best for her, as opposed to constantly thinking of what was best for her partner. She delayed having the hysterectomy (and didn't have one in the end)! That's just super unhealthy! 

 I couldn't love Tyler the way he deserved, and I couldn't give Josh a family. I could never give either man what he really wanted. - p. 216

How could I tell him that my body could never do the one thing he needed it to? I couldn't. I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't bear to see my value drop in his eyes, to see him realize I wasn't actually what he wanted. Less of a woman. Damaged goods.  Barren. Sterile. - p. 262

Please, Kristen! Give yourself what you want! This is too much. She is practically reducing herself to an object of value to Josh, and she deserves better. She does not need to be seen as something of value to him when instead she should value herself! This book does not promote this AT ALL.  

Kristen thought she was less of a woman for not being able to have children and magically ends up having a child anyway. I don't think that is a good message to send to women who are going through issues of infertility and menstruation. These can be life-threatening issues. Having a magical pregnancy will not solve this. 

If this book was supposed to be empowering to women, it wasn't. Instead, we got the message that pregnancy and children will save you from your issues with infertility and make you 'more of a woman', and you should think about what your partner wants as opposed to what is best for you. Also, women who drink and curse are rare Pokémon, the 'cool girls' who just want to be made into "honest women" (p. 355). 

Ugh.