Lenore Kosinski
4.5 stars — Wow, I have another girl crush. Which is probably a bit weird, because I see bits of myself in Hazel, so does that mean I have a crush on myself? But she was just so extra in the best ways possible!!! I mean, don’t get me wrong, Josh Im was no slouch either, but…Hazel was just so Hazel. OK, narrators first. Jayme Mettler was freaking awesome. I adored her voice, it was perfect for Hazel. I loved her pacing, her range of emotions, her other voices were always consistent. And OMG, her Josh voice was swoony! I often get a bit embarrassed listening to sex scenes on audiobook, but Ms. Mettler just made me blush… Todd Haberkorn on the other hand was…not my favourite. The funny thing is, it wasn’t his normal narration — his voice for Josh was actually great, his pacing was fantastic, his emotions were great, and his voices were consistent. The problem for me was his Hazel voice…also a few other characters, but mostly Hazel. I…just…did not like it. It felt like how guys mock girls voices. It felt like a child’s voice. It irked me. Which is SUCH a shame, because I really did enjoy his Josh voice and his normal narration. But unless he’s narrating an M/M, I doubt I will pick up another by him…or at the very least I’d need to hear a snippet of how he does the heroine’s voice to decide (because Emily’s voice wasn’t too bad). His Hazel voice is the only reason I’m rounding down instead of up. OK, now back to my girl crush. I ADORED Hazel. She was unapologetically herself, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still hurt by people who couldn’t handle who she was. I get that. I mean, I’m not at Hazel level, but I definitely march to my own drum, and I LOVE that about myself, but it doesn’t mean I’m not affected by what others think. I actually wish I could be a bit more Hazel and not worry so much about other’s opinions. She was HILARIOUS, and fun, and her heart was SO BIG. She was inappropriate, and bold, and…I don’t know. I just loved everything about her. She made me laugh, she made my heart ache, she *made* this book. But she wasn’t alone in the super character stardom. Josh Im was the perfect counterpoint to Hazel. I adored the way they were so different, but he NEVER wished for her to be someone she wasn’t. He thought her odd at times, but he accepted her as she was, and loved her because of who she was. *swoon* I mean, can you get a better hero to love?? I think not! He’s even a little bit of a beta hero, which as you know is my kryptonite! He was sweet, easygoing, with a fabulous dry sense of humour. He was the epitome of down to earth, not really ever considering his own attractiveness, almost oblivious to it. But the two of them together was the real treat in this book. They had the BEST rapport, from bantering and teasing to genuine caring and support. I wondered how their friendship was going to play out, but it just settled in so naturally. And while it frustrated me how they couldn’t get around themselves to get together, I understood it to some extent. And when they did get together? Holy wow. There were some fantastic secondary characters in this one, both human and animal. I loved both Josh’s family (and everything we learned about being a Korean American) and Hazel’s eccentric mother. I loved how Emily and Dave flitted in and out of the story, and showed another great example of a successful marriage. And then there was Winnie. OMG, Winnie was awesome. I mean, her other pets were great, but we got the most time with Winnie. I loved the love affair that developed between Winnie and Josh. *snort* So yeah. Total freaking treat of a book. I adored it. May we all be just a bit more Hazel-y in our day to day lives.
Ashley Williams
I enjoyed this book just as much as others by this author. My only disappointment with listening to the audiobook was the mispronunciation of Khia (pronounced like Kya), who is an actual music artist, not a fictional character. I think it's important that narrators get that part right when a real person's work is referenced. Hearing Kia after Khia's lyrics were sung, I was annoyed for her lol.