Review: Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

ADORABLE! This book was completely and totally adorable. I was grinning through practically the entire book. JUST SO MANY FEELS! Okay, first off, the characters: Macallan and Levi. Macallan is witty, sarcastic, and judgemental, but she’s also loyal, caring, and an awesome cook. Levi is sweet, funny, and dorky, but he’s not always dependable and can be a bit of an idiot. Together, they were perfect.

Better Off Friends starts with Levi moving to Macallan’s town and school and they meet on his first day at school. At first, Macallan doesn’t take much notice of Levi, that is, until they find that they have one passion in common: their favorite TV show. Macallan is having a hard time because her mom just passed away, and Levi has trouble fitting in, and they find friendship together and with their close-knit group of friends. 

Soon, they’re best friends and struggling with their growing feelings for each other, and can I just say how much I wanted them to end up together?! Of course, you’ll have to read the book to find out if they do (or find a review with spoilers, whatever) end up together.

I loved how the romance was so slow and how it was built up slowly and beautifully. My main problem with romance in YA fiction is how so many books have characters that meet and instantly fall passionately in love with each other because that is so unrealistic, but Better Off Friends wasn’t like that. This book showed Macallan’s and Levi’s relationship growing from strangers to friends to best friends to possibly something more. It was slow and sweet and innocent and very swoon-worthy!

Even better? The book wasn’t solely about the romance. It was about family, loss, friendship (not only between Macallan and Levi) and growing up while surviving high school. The family element of the book was strong, since Macallan bonded with Levi’s mom and both their families became incredibly close because of their friendship, and I loved that.

Of course, I did have a few small issues with this book and that’s why I gave it four stars rather than five. First, the drama and the number of times they could have done something or said something to move forward yet did nothing was very annoying. It worked, but it was annoying. I’m not really going to expand on that, though. Also, the mini love-triangles with Macallan or Levi’s girlfriend/boyfriends. Again, it worked, but it drove me insane. Also, the fact that they’re in love with each other and using other people as distractions? Rude and cruel and noooo. I didn’t like that part, but whatever.

Also, and this wasn’t a huge problem at all, and I’m not sure if it was the formatting of the ARC or what, but the POV’s switching was sometimes confusing. Like, both POV’s are in the first person, which is fine, but sometimes it switches with no indication of the switch of who’s POV it is. I think it was just a formatting issue, and I was able to figure out what was what after a little while, but it was confusing and annoying anyway.

As of the POV’s themselves, I enjoyed both viewpoints and I think they’re both well written and realistic, and I could sense the difference in voices, despite my issues above.

Let me just saying it one more time, this book was so adorable. I’d recommend it for all ages because I think everyone can relate to at least one element of this book.

4 thoughts on “Review: Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

  1. I also liked this one! I think my main issue with it was that the actual book’s content went against the title and synopsis of them being better of friends or whatever. Because how many books do we have where the best friends get together? Countless. I guess I just would have preferred them actually being friends. Sounds weird, I know haha.


    1. I see what you mean, but I think I saw the title as more of a question, like “Are we better off friends?” or something, so it didn’t really bother me. Plus, the title fits in that they both wondered if they were better off friends throughout the book, but it did send the idea that they would probably not end up together. I’m glad they did, though. I’m a sucker for best friends ending up together. Mostly because I think relationships work better if the two characters have a friendship-like bond before things become romantic. I think it just feels more authentic and with the the “friends ending up together” storyline it rules out the possibility of insta-love which usually drives me insane! xD

      (I hope no one reads this comment without having read the book because spoilers. Oops. :D)


  2. I want to read this book. I waited and waited for it to come out and what happens? A book buying ban… so sad. It’s definitely going on my wishlist though!


    1. I hope you get to read it, and enjoy as much as I did! 🙂 I’ve managed to avoid book buying bans, sort of. I just have this mental checklist I go through before buying any books, like how long I’ve been looking forward to it, if I recognize the author, etc, so I don’t just end up buying every book with an interesting cover/synopsis that I haven’t even heard of before. Thanks for stopping by!


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