Name: Ana Hein's review of Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Item: Better Off Friends
Rating: 4
Author: Ana Hein

Elizabeth Eulberg

Macallan and Levi are best friends from the first day they meet in seventh grade, but over the years their close friendship keeps interfering with their dating life because everyone else regards them as a couple.

Better Off Friends

Ana Hein

I LOVED THIS BOOK !! Need More!!! I laughed, I cried, so many feels. After reading the sample on Amazon, I literally rushed to Barnes and Noble for it. Wished there was more chapters !! Or like an epilogue

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?

Nicole

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if they had gotten together earlier instead of running around in circles for the majority of the book.

Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Find out in Elizabeth Eulberg's romantic comedy, now in paperback! 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 Mac'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 Mac out because they think she's with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Mac, 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?

Alyssa Huffman

I hated the way this story was told. It could have been a really cute best friends to lovers story but I was bored practically the whole time.

Jaclyn

4.5! (But more on the five side!)
So cute and so much fun! Really really enjoyed this and I couldn't put it down! It was light, very quick, and had such a sweet romance! I loved the dual POV and I loved how strong Macallan was after everything she went through and her family was so great. I liked how in between chapters we had commentary from Levi and Macallan now that made the book so much more fun with all the drama happening. It was also wonderful to see the character development since this goes from 7th grade to the end of Junior year & the slow build from friendship to romance was so tender and very cute to watch! I just wish it was longer!!! I wanted to know what happened after & I loved the characters so much I just wanted more and at least one more chapter after everything would have been nice!! Overall I loved it & highly recommend for a fun short and sweet read! So good!!! 
"This entire time I'd been thinking about where my home was. At first it was California then Wisconsin. But in truth, home isn't necessarily where you sleep at night. It's where you feel yourself. Where you're most comfortable. Where you don't have to pretend, where you can just be you."

Destiny J Tamayo

It was okay. I wasn’t a fan of the characters. If I wasn’t annoyed with Levi I was annoyed with Macallan. Overall it fell a bit flat for me.

laura

This was adorable and such a quick read. I literally read it in about a day. I loved both main characters so much and how the story was structured. It reminded me so much of my own high school experience having a best friend who was a guy. I just enjoyed the drama that came with because to me it was real life. I want to read more by this author soon. The end was a tad predictable towards the end but the structure made me love this book a lot. It was very fun read that want to read again. I also love it handed many different type of friendships and relationships in the book.

Berry Smoothy

Best friends since they were little, a books I read 3 times... A books about friendship and how it can evolve, nothing is perfect but at the same time it can be. 

b.andherbooks

When Levi's family leaves California and moves to Wisconsin before he starts the 7th grade, he immediately hits it off fellow classmate Macallen, bonding over their obsession with an obscure Irish comedy show. They soon are best friends, but can a boy and a girl really be just best friends, especially when everyone always assumes they are together?

Very sweet, but very by the book romance. I had fun alternating between Levi and Macallen's POVs and giggling over the Wisconsin references, but there was really nothing in this book that made me doubt the ending (the flash-forward sections where Levi and Macallen banter about their path to love pretty much give it away from the start) but it was fun ride. This book also did nothing to challenge the assertion that boys and girls can actually be just friends. Actually, it really just proved that blanket statement right. Oh well, still cute.

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Better Off Friends was a wonderfully charming, light and fluffy new adult contemporary read. It was the first of Elizabeth Eulberg's novels that I've read, but it definitely won't be the last.

Macallan and Levi were great characters. They had a strong friendship and were insistent it was nothing more, despite what everyone around them seemed to think. It was hard for people to swallow that though, because they were so close. This book follows them through their first meeting at eleven and through their teenage years as feelings start to get confusing and things get complicated. But, through it all the story was upbeat and sweet – and thankfully not too angsty. Sure there was drama. There were plenty of bumps along the way as they navigated their way through relationships with new people and tried to figure out how to maintain their friendship while not alienating the other's partner, all the while fighting the feelings that were starting to develop for each other.

Better Off Friends had humor and heart and I loved every minute of it. It was easy to get caught up in all the feelings in the book. I won't tell you how it ends because honestly, I would have been fine with whatever ending occurred. Had they gotten together, I would have cheered them because the best relationships start as friendships. If they stayed friends, I would have been thrilled because boys and girls, in fact, can be just friends. There was no way to lose with this one, as long as Macallan and Levi stayed close.

One of my favorite things about this book was the cutaway "interview" scenes with Macallan and Levi. Their interaction and dialogue left me with a huge goofy grin on my face. I thought this was a very unique way to showcase their friendship and the chemistry between them. This book is told from both Macallan and Levi's POV, so readers get a good look at what's going on with each character, through their own eyes and thoughts. It was all very well executed.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Ahhhhhh. Do you ever start reading a book, immediately feel an immense love for it, and you find that that love never sways even in the slightest? Well, that was how I felt about this book. Love at first sight, I guess you could say.

The format of this book was so incredible. Each chapter begins with a short dialog between our two main characters, Macallan and Levi. After that show conversation between the two, which often has to do with whatever just happened previously, we have alternating POVs for each chapter. There are the most adorable little pictures at the start of each chapter as well: one of a boy on a swing and one of a girl on a swing. (When you read the story, you will understand the swing significance. ) So cute!! Also the fonts change between characters, so you’re always well aware of who is speaking. I love alternating POVs when done right, and this one was perfect.

I’m such an old sap when it comes to romances involving friends. There’s just something about it that completely melts my heart. Macallan and Levi meet on the first day of school. Macallan is recovering after the loss of her mother, which has really taken a toll on her. Levi is the new guy who recently moved from California, and is introduced to Macallan to show him around school. At first Macallan has no interest in getting to know Levi. Then he busts out with a quote from a tv show he loves… and it just happens to be Macallan’s favorite tv show too!! Instant friendship.

Though at first there’s nothing other than a strong friendship between the two, once they hit high school age things start getting a little weird. And it all comes down to the question we all wonder: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends?

Elizabeth Eulberg’s writing style is incredible. The way she tells a sweet, simple story such that you have no idea how it is going to turn out is really remarkable. I am so impressed with authors that have such a talent. I would have read this entire story in one sitting if I had the chance. (If I didn’t have my two-year-old home with me. LOL) I was so eager to see how it would end. I had no idea until the very last page. What a well-written, beautiful story. I would definitely recommend this book to all contemporary YA fans. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this story on some level.

(Thanks to Scholastic for the review copy!)

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