Tori's Review: Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ♚♚♚♚½
Pages: 288
Published by Point on February 25, 2014
Amazon | B&N

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?

NOTE: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. 

First off, let me tell you that you need this book in your life. Lately, I've really been digging contemporaries, and that's why I requested this book on NetGalley. I don't think I've ever been so grateful that I requested on NetGalley. This book was hilarious, cute, and everything good in life. It pained me to read about Levi and Macallan not being a couple.

One of the best aspects of Better off Friends is that Levi and Macallan are characters that you can relate to. They make stupid, rash decisions in the story and in real life people make stupid, rash decisions. Eulberg makes middle school and high school sound real rather than the fake cliche stuff most of the contemporaries I've read are all about.

Macallan and Levi's relationship together—their friendship and their love for one another—makes the entire novel. Surprisingly, it's not boring. In fact, this book is actually quite entertaining. I read it in one sitting, on the way home from my out-of-town tournament, and it's honestly the best road trip book. It's light and cute, which is what I just need some days. The writing is simple and to-the-point, which I love.

Each character goes through a hardship in life that is reasonable and realistic with reasonable and realistic responses. It's interesting to see how each characters deals with each event in their life differently.

I especially loved the double POV. Lately, I've been loving split POVs. Levi and Macallan have such interesting voices, and I love them both. Levi is a meat-head—a typical boy—and Macallan is bordering on needy—a typical girl. I love how the two feed off each other and seem to be better people with one another.

But let me say that the tension between the two is sky-high, and it made me want to toss my phone out the window at one point or another. It was amazing how blind they were toward each other's feelings throughout the entire novel.

Honestly, like I said before, the entire novel is their relationship with one another. There's nothing I can really say about this novel without repeating myself. If you're not going to read the novel, you're mistaken, because you are going to read Better off Friends. It's simply amazing, and I loved it. Everybody needs this book in their life, because it might just teach them a thing or two about making stupid decisions and moving past them. Plus, Levi and Macallan are hilarious.