Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg Release Date: February 25, 2014
Format: ARC, 288 pages
Publisher: Point
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review
Description from Goodreads:
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?
I've read a couple of other book by Elizabeth Eulberg, and I highly enjoyed them both. They both sort of stuck with me in a way, too--I now have an even larger appreciation for the Beatles, and Take a Bow...I can actually think of more than one here. But that was the first book with more than just two POVs that I loved. And now we have Better Off Friends. I was all kinds of excited from the moment I heard about this book, because it SOUNDED cute. And you know what? It was. And it is also my new favorite friends-to-more-than-friends YA book. And goodness knows I've read my fair share of those.
The absolute first thing I love about this book is how completely adorable it is. The story starts from where Levi and Macallan become friends, which was fantastic. I liked being able to see their relationship from the very beginning and how it grew throughout the years to the end of the story--from both of their POVs. And these two...they are just so perfectly cute, I cannot even. I loved it.
I LOVED IT.
And then we have Macallan who I flipping adored. She was kind and sweet, but then she had CLAWS, man. You try to bully anyone around that girl and you have a slim chance of making it out the way you went it. I think that was awesome. A great trait to have. She had her problems and bad days, and parts where I wanted her to just NOT. But she still impressed me, and if she were an actual human being on this earth, I'd totally be best friends with that chick.
Macallan's best friend is Levi. First of all, I love the name Levi. So he already had that going for him. But beyond that, he was a wonderful character. Elizabeth Eulberg wrote him super well--he WAS a guy. Have you ever read a book where you could in no way believe that the character that is SUPPOSED to be male sounds pretty....you know...FEMALE? That is not an issue here. Levi is a total boy. A very nice, cute, lovable boy who I would also be best friends with, no doubt about it.
As I said, we get to see the story of Levi and Macallan from the day they meet. I loved that. It was awesome to watch their story unfold from the very beginning, and to get to see such an ending that made me at least twelve levels of happy. I also liked how in between each chapter, there were little conversation breaks where Levi and Macallan talk about the events we just read. I liked that it gave the feel of the characters both actually going back and recollecting their little Story of Us and I LOVE that. LOVE IT.
Overall, Elizabeth Eulberg has written another book that has definitely been added to my favorites list. Better Off Friends is cute, funny, and everything I could ask for in a story of best friends blossoming into more. I am way more than excited to read whatever comes next from Elizabeth Eulberg (and hopefully catch up on those couple of titles that I haven't gotten my hands on yet)!
