Review : Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Better Off Friends
Author : Elizabeth Eulberg
Publication Date : February 25th 2014
Publisher : Scholastic
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

Personal Thoughts

MY FEELS!! They were all over the place after I finished reading Better Off Friends. This is the kind of book that made me want to go onto my rooftop and scream out my love for it at the top of my lungs. I haven't felt this happy after reading book ever since Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. Beware, this review will not be very eloquent. Expect tons of gushing!

I've always loved books with best-friends romances and Better Off Friends was so perfect in that department. In fact, it might actually be my all-time favorite book with a best-friends romance in it. We are introduced to Macallan and Levi when they first meet in 7th grade. They instantly click together and what follows is a beautiful friendship between a boy and a girl. The book is told in both Macallan and Levi's POVs, so you are privy to both their thoughts. It was such a wonderful experience being inside their heads and these two were so genuine, so likeable. What I truly loved about them was how realistic they were with all their flaws and their strengths. Elizabeth Eulberg developed them intensely, making Macallan and Levi seem like real teenagers instead of fictional characters. I also liked how distinguishable their voices were. They might have had similar personalities, but Elizabeth Eulberg developed them in such a way that they stood as individuals. Another thing I adored about the characters in Better Off Friends was the involvement of the family. Levi's mom and Macallan's father and her sweet uncle Adam who had speech difficulty formed a huge part of Better Off Friends. I think by now everyone knows how much I love it when books have such positive themes in books, so I was beyond pleased that these teenagers shared a deep bond with their families.

The best part about the romance in Better Off Friends is its slow development. Because Macallan and Levi start off as friends, we get to watch their friendship blossom and eventually bloom into this wonderful romance that made me feel like I was on clouds, as cliched as that might sound. The build-up of their romance was what made this book such a great experience. You watch Macallan and Levi overcome obstacles in their relationships and their friendships, you watch them grow into more mature individuals and you watch them realize that they are in love with each other. This was all so adorable. I honestly don't have the words to express my love for these two characters and their story. Macallan and Levi's relationship was in no way perfect. There were plenty of hurdles and difficulties that they faced, but at the end of the day, these two would support each other no matter what the situation was. Their friendship was just so damn beautiful. It made me wish I had something so deep when I was growing up. By the end of the book, I was not ready to say goodbye to these characters. I've already decided to buy a copy of the book when it releases so it can grace my favorites shelf.

Touching, beautiful and heart-warming, Better Off Friends is a book that everyone who loves a good friends to more relationship should read. This is one of those books that people are going to want to read over and over again just so it can bring a smile on their faces. I know I will be, because Better Off Friends is going to make my top reads of 2014.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5


Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for the e-ARC of Better off Friends.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In My Mailbox (8)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Touch (Denazen #1) by Jus Accorda Summary (from Goodreads) When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home. Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized. Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking dow
Read more

In My Mailbox (3)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer Summary (from Goodreads) Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. The Alchemy Of Forever (Incarnation #1) by Avery Williams Summary (from Goodreads) Seraphina's first love made her immortal...her second might get her
Read more

In My Mailbox (10)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Don't You Wish (Obtained From Net Galley - Big Thanks To Random House Children's Books for the ARC) by Roxanne St Claire Summary (from Goodreads) When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.  In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen. But on the insde, Ayla is still Annie. So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life a
Read more