I purchased Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren back in February for my trip to Orlando. Whenever I fly, I don’t like to pack books because they’re heavy and take up too much space in my luggage. While I purchased this book eight months ago, I finally finished it this month. Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating is one of the best romance / contemporary novels I have read and is a contender for being the best book I read in 2019.

Hazel Bradford is an eccentric elementary school teacher. She has a variety of pets living in her one-bedroom apartment in Portland, including a fish named Daniel Craig. Many men Hazel has dated feel she’s a little much for them. Hazel reconnects with Josh Im, whom she originally met in college by puking on his shoes. Josh is the brother of Hazel’s best friend, and he’s more mellow than Hazel. After Josh finds out his girlfriend is cheating on him, Hazel sets him up on a date. This leads to both Josh and Hazel double-dating with the people they set each other up with. Hazel and Josh start to build a friendship, but are they meant to be together?

One reason I instantly became attached to this book is that it reminds me of my relationship. I’m the one who has my head in the clouds. I talk about all the traveling I want to do in my lifetime, whereas my fiancé is the rational one. Can I afford to travel? How much do I have in my 401k? I believe this is the reason we work well together. I lift my fiancé up in the air with me, but he brings me down to earth. Hazel and Josh’s relationship is similar to my relationship in real life.

Hazel is a character I want to be best friends with in real life. Hazel doesn’t conform or change her personality for any of her romantic partners. In one instance, Hazel goes on a date wearing a cow print tank top, a denim skirt, and green cowboy boots. This is an outfit I would never wear, but I think it’s endearing how Hazel is who she is. Josh is the complete opposite of Hazel as he’s quiet, resolved, and put together. He’s a genuinely great guy and deserves to feel appreciated in any relationship he’s in.

In the last quarter of the book, the plot takes a personal turn. I’m not going to reveal what this is because it would be a huge spoiler. Many reviews I read toward Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating are that this plot twist is unnecessary and dramatic. I personally disagree. I believe the book does a beautiful job of highlighting this personal experience that many women have gone through. My spoiler-filled review of this book is on my Goodreads account if you feel inclined to read what this event happens to be.

Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating is an adorable, personal contemporary novel. Hazel and Josh are well-crafted characters, and their dating experiences are awkward yet realistic. This book warrants a re-read for me, and I wish Christina Lauren would write a sequel all about Hazel & Josh raising their kids. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

I’m close to meeting my Goodreads goal of having read fifty books in 2019. This is a superb reading year for me. It’s become difficult to write book reviews on this site because I read faster than I can type reviews. I wanted to write a review for Wildcard by Marie Lu because it’s the second book in the Warcross series. Warcross was one of my favorite series I read in 2018, so it holds a special place in my bibliophile heart.  Despite Warcross’s strong start, Wildcard is a weaker addition to the series.

*spoilers from Warcross & Wildcard down below, be aware*

Wildcard begins immediately after Warcross with Hideo Tanaka’s neurolink going online. This neurolink forces anyone who has committed a crime or thought about committing a crime to turn themselves in to the police. Emika feels betrayed by Hideo because she feels no one should have this type of power, even if Hideo’s intentions are good. Emika is contacted by Zero, who is revealed at the end of Warcross to be Hideo’s missing brother, Sasuke. Zero gives Emika a way to shut down the neurolink by being recruited by Zero’s group, the Blackcoats. As Emika investigates further into Sasuke’s past, she uncovers a shocking horror into what happened with Sasuke and how this leads to the Blackcoats’ true intentions.

Sasuke’s backstory is tragic. I’m not going to reveal any of it because I don’t want to give massive spoilers in this review. I wouldn’t say I shed any tears for Sasuke, but his backstory allowed him to be manipulated by high-ranking individuals who weren’t looking out for his best interests.

Marie Lu excels at crafting morally complex characters. The villain’s methodology is completely wrong, but their intentions are good. This type of character creation enables open discussion about the implications of Wildcard in our current society. Hideo can be considered a villain as well because even though he has good intentions in trying to decrease crime, he has also caused mass suicides of criminals and innocent people. In my opinion, Hideo is more of an anti-hero because his intentions are good, but the outcome is severe.

Wildcard builds off of my OTPs, including Hammie & Asher and Roshan & Tremaine. I don’t ship Emika with Hideo because Emika is fiercely intelligent, and she deserves someone who will listen to her, and Hideo doesn’t.

As I mentioned, Wildcard is a weaker addition in the series because the final battle drags on forever. I found myself losing focus while reading because the virtual elements were confusing to picture in my mind. I never lost my focus reading Warcross, whereas Wildcard felt too long.

Wildcard isn’t terrible, but could be better. I initially gave this book three stars on Goodreads, but seeing the return of the Phoenix Riders along with the addition of new characters allowed me to give this book four stars. It’s not as great as Warcross, but it’s still a worthy sequel to this neon gaming world.

The Half Blood Prince is my favorite Harry Potter novel. It’s the book that sets up the massive battle at Hogwarts and reveals how Voldemort has survived all these years. When my dad read the book to me, I was able to connect all the details established in earlier books. This is one of the reasons I adore the series because of how each book builds upon it’s predecessor. As always, I wanted to share all the details I had forgotten about as I re-read this book.

• The Half Blood Prince book opens with the current British Prime Minister speaking to Fudge through a permanent portrait stuck on the wall.
• Fudge has been updating the Prime Minister about the tragedies throughout the books including Black’s Prison Break, the Triwizard Cup and Voldemort’s Return.
• Fudge does address Black’s death not being regretful, but knowing he made a mistake… GROSS.
• Dementors are reproducing which is causing all the mist in Britain. I wonder how Dementor’s reproduce..?
• Fudge was blackmailed by Voldemort to not interfere with the bridge collapsing. Definitely forgot about this small detail.
• As Bellatrix and Narcissa go to Snape’s, Bellatrix kills a fox because she’s evil.
• Dumbledore picks Harry up at Privet Drive versus at the train station in the movies.
• Voldemort is practicing Occlumency against Harry, so he isn’t having any bad dreams.
• Most wizard homes are protected against unwanted apparators.
• Arthur got a promotion at the Ministry, he’s now the head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects.
• Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley aren’t hugely fond of Fleur and Bill’s relationship at first.
• Hearing how Harry feels after he tells Hermione and Ron about the prophecy and how they will stand by him is heartwarming.
• Both Ollivander and Florean who sold ice cream in Diagon Alley were kidnapped.
• Diagon Alley isn’t as colorful and everyone shopping there seemed very anxious.
• Fred and George made shield spell clothing that even the Ministry bought for protection.
• Ginny bought a pygmy puff and named it Arnold, how cute.
• Tonks is the first one who finds Harry and not Luna like in the movie. This is after Draco curses Harry on the Hogwarts Express. Both Tonks and Harry have to leap off the moving train back onto Hogwarts property.
• Quote from McGonagall, “it’s high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she’s got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have.” YESSS!
• I love that Dumbledore’s passwords are all candy. Acid Pops.
• The first memory they look at is from Bob Ogden, an employee at the Magical Law Enforcement office at the Ministry of Magic. Tracked down by Dumbledore, he received Bob’s memories.
• Ogden is attacked by Morfin, where his father, Mr. Gaunt, comes out and tells his son via parsel tongue to go back into the home.
• Merlope is the daughter and she’s consistently abused by her father. She’s also a squib.
• Gaunt shows Ogden a family ring referencing the Peverell coat (Deathly Hallows foreshadowing?) (Tales of Beetle and the Bard).
• Gaunt is the last living relatives of Salazar Slytherin.
• Morfin cast a spell on a muggle which caused painful hives on his skin.
• Merlope likes the man named Tom, that’s why Morfin cursed that particular muggle.
• Marvolo was Voldemort’s grandfather. Both Marvolo and Morfin spent time in Azkaban for the muggle attack and fighting the Ministry as they were being arrested.
• Merlope gave a love potion to Tom Riddle, became pregnant with his child and then stopped giving him the love potion. Tom left her never to be seen by Merope again.
• Marvolo was never the same after Azkaban and died after being released.
• Stan Shunpike was arrested after being suspected as a Death Eater (this might be Rufus Scrimgeour’s idea of trying to attempt to fix the situation, Stan may not be a Death Eater).
• Harry accidentally casts Levicorpus non-verbally on Ron which caused him to lift Ron upside down in the air.
• Ron is insecure in his lack of experience with girls. I think it’s interesting as he’s only 16 in this book and how these stereotypes are presented in Wizarding society.
• Ron became aggressive to Hermione because of knowing that she had experience with Krum. This might be good social commentary about how when women “have experience” they are ostracized for it even from Ron.
• Hermione sent her “birds” after Ron which actually left Ron injured with cuts and bruises.
• Ron did a really cruel impression of Hermione in front of their Transfiguration class. I have to say book Ron is a huge jerk.
• Hermione saying she’s taking Cormac to Slughorn’s party. She says she dates good Quidditch players. SAVAGE.
• Rufus Scrimgeour is a vampire apparently? Luna tells Harry this before Slughorn’s party.
• Lupin was bitten by Greyback after his father offended Greyback.
• Lupin is undercover with werewolves to try and get them on the side of the Order.
• Kreacher gives Harry maggots for Christmas.
• Scrimgeour wants Harry wandering around the Ministry so everyone can see that he’s on their side. As an exchange, Harry could meet Gawain Robards, the head of the Auror office. How rich.
• Harry is so salty with his convo page 346.
• When Tom Riddle came to Hogwarts, the staff was impressed by him. He was talented, eager for knowledge and he seemed polite.
• Dumbledore always mistrusted Tom (this can be seen by the diary Tom kept).
• Riddle’s friends at Hogwarts were the first Death Eaters in his command.
• Tom tried to find more of his family, but as he searched the trophy room, there was no record of his father. This allowed him to find out that his father was never a wizard. He also tried to trace his relatives through his Marvolo name given by the orphanage through Merlope Gaunt.
• As Voldemort found Morfin, he took Morfin’s wand to kill the Riddle Family including Tom Riddle senior (Voldemort’s father and grand parents).
• Morfin was accused of the crime and confessed to it. Morfin died in Azkaban mourning the loss of his father’s ring.
• Dumbledore believes Tom planted a false memory in Morfin’s mind to make him believe he killed the family.
• The Ministry can detect underage magic, but not the perpetrator.
• If Slughorn’s memory of talking with Riddle, he’s already wearing the ring. Meaning he committed those murders while attending Hogwarts.
• Tom Riddle was a prefect at Hogwarts.
• Ron’s birthday is March 1^st.
• Harry falls off his broom during the Hufflepuff game (isn’t this the 2^nd loss to Hufflepuff the first time being in the third book) Cormac kept shouting orders and taking the beaters bat to hit a bludger… what a jack ass.
• Harry calls for Kreacher to spy on Malfoy. When he calls for him, Dobby appears. When Kreacher insults Harry, Dobby punches him. Dobby is much more vital in the books than the movies.
• Voldemort after completing his 7^th year at Hogwarts began working at Borgin & Burkes.
• Voldemort wanted to teach at Hogwarts because it was his home, although there was magic along with influence among the staff.
• As an employee of Borgin and Burkes, this allowed Voldemort to find Helga Hufflepuff’s goblet.
• Voldemort also gets Salazar Slytherin’s locket from Hepzibah Smith (an old witch lady)
• Two days after Voldemort met with Smith, she was found dead. The house elf, Hokey was accused of the crime.
• By the time Voldemort appeared before Dumbledore for the job interview, Voldemort already had a sickly appearance, not quite snake like and he abandoned his muggle name.
• Ron is the one who thinks Harry should use Felix on Slughorn.
• Fenir Greyback is attacking more kids especially if their parents don’t help the Death Eaters. This happened to the Montgomery family, their little brother died after the attack.
• Hermione passed her apparition test while Ron failed because he left half an eyebrow behind.
• During the burial of Aragog, Slughorn brings down booze to drink. He had house elves taste it first to make sure it wasn’t poison.
• The careless act of not concealing the diary showed to Dumbledore that Voldemort had created more than one horcrux. If he hadn’t he would have protected the diary better.
• When counting horcruxes, Voldemort has 6 with the 7^th being his soul in his body.
• Dumbledore believes Voldemort wanted a position at the school for recruitment, but also to find more horcruxes.
• Throughout the memories, Harry feels the locket and the goblet are horcruxes while Dumbledore gives Harry the impression Nagini is a horcrux too.
• Voldemort was going to use the murder of Harry and his family as a horcrux.
• Lucius, believing Voldemort to be dead, used the diary for his own political gain. He didn’t recognize that he was holding a part of his master’s soul. It’s also why in the later movies, Voldemort seems to be consistently punishing Lucius because of his failure at the ministry, but for also allowing his diary to be destroyed so mercilessly.
• Voldemort singled out Harry because of the prophecy, but if he would have done nothing, the prophecy wouldn’t have come true.
• The reason Voldemort couldn’t possess Harry is because of his love inflicted by his mother when she died to save him.
• As Harry understands the prophecy, Harry realizes he doesn’t have to kill Voldemort. It’s because Voldemort will stop at nothing to kill Harry that if Harry wants to live, he has to stop Voldemort in the end.
• Malfoy is seen crying in Myrtle’s Bathroom fear of failing Voldemort.
• Harry was forced to copy records of old Hogwarts punishments which included transgressions from James and Sirius while they were at Hogwarts.
• Harry and Ginny’s first kiss was after Gryffindor won the house cup with Ginny playing as seeker. Score was 450 to 140.
• The night Dumbledore hired Trelawny was the night she made the prophecy regarding Harry.
• On the night Snape heard Trelawny, he told Voldemort originally about the prophecy. Snape had no idea that it would be Harry and his parents who were being targeted.
• “It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” Page 566.
• The liquid potion is emerald in the books versus in the movie it’s clear.
• In the book, Dumbledore responds to the Inferi rather quickly where Harry isn’t pulled into the water versus in the movie, Harry is dragged into the water.
• Harry apparated Dumbledore back, that’s quite an achievement.
• The Dark Mark appears in the sky when Harry gets back with Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore tells Malfoy to not use the term mud blood, Go Dumbledore fighting against slurs.
• Dumbledore never approached Malfoy, because if he did Malfoy would have failed and Voldemort would have killed him (regarding Malfoy’s involvement in the necklace and for giving the poison to Ron accidentally). Also since Voldemort is great at Legilimency, he would have been able to tell Malfoy was lying.
• Dumbledore offers Malfoy and his mother protection if Draco comes to the Order.
• Draco is surprised Greyback came. It seems Malfoy has empathy and didn’t want to bring Greyback with.
• Greyback, Amycus, Alecto and Malfoy are with Dumbledore that night.
• As Harry leaves the tower, he stuns two Death Eaters one was Greyback. The other was unnamed.
• Ginny was dueling Amycus, the brother when Harry stuns him.
• McGonagal causes Alecto to run off.
• Buckbeak attacks Snape in the book, why wasn’t this included in the movie???????
• Harry straightens Dumbledore’s spectacles on his nostrils when he approaches his body after it fell off the tower.
• The body referenced by Malfoy (in the tower Malfoy says someone died), is Bill Weasley as this was the moment he was attacked by Greyback.
• THEY USED THE LAST OF THE FELIX POTION IN THE FIGHT!? Why is this not in the movie.
• Harry tells everyone what he knows about Snape and how he told Voldemort about the prophecy.
• Hermione and Luna were outside Snape’s door when Snape urged them to check on Flitwick because he collapsed when in actuality he jinxed him.
• Almost immediately, Dumbledore appeared in his own portrait in his old office.
• Dumbledore’s death is hitting me more than I thought, “The phoenix had gone, had left Hogwarts for good, just as Dumbledore had left the school, the world. . . had left Harry” 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦
• EWWW Umbridge is at Dumbledore’s funeral.
• Ginny always loved Harry, but she dated other people to get away from him.

One of my favorite facts I wrote in this list is the one I made bold. During the battle near the tower, I believe it’s Ginny who mentions the reason they’re all alive is because they took the rest of Harry’s Felix potion. This isn’t mentioned at all in the movie, but I feel this allows Harry’s main group of friends to survive and fight at the tower.

My Harry Potter re-read is coming to a close. Onto The Deathly Hallows.