Cute, some witty banter but overall didn't really grab my attention.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fun and quick ya contemporary. A new to me author, and I did enjoy. At times the writing felt basic, but it was still a wonderful story!

This was good! The unlikely love story between two people. The friendship that develops is sweet and the story was a quick read. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a cute and quick read.

I was really hoping for a little more in this novel, but it just fell flat for me. The characters were a little stereotypical and the plot didn't have any exciting twists or turns.

I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through
Netgalley. This was a fun story.

1.5 Stars - Light and Easy to Read, but Disappointingly Lackluster

I love cutesy rom-coms and Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon seemed like something I would enjoy. Unfortunately, it was a disappointingly lackluster read. The concept seemed really intriguing, but it just didn’t work for me.

I took such a long time to read this cause I didn’t expect to get approved for so many books on Netgalley. Well, I hate to say this but maybe I should have just left it unread. I wasn’t really a fan of the writing style. It was easy to read, but just felt like it kept going and going and never getting anywhere. While some parts were kind of amusing and witty, the plot just wasn’t that interesting to me. The characters were also annoyingly stereotypical and unlikable. Josh and his friends were somewhat okay sometimes, but Jena and her clique – totally did not like them. I couldn’t figure out what Josh saw in Jena, but she was a big NOPE for me. The ending for me was just mehhh. I didn’t hate it, but it was rushed and just not that believable. I guess it could happen, but it needed more build-up and to play out.

This book was sadly not for me. I actually speed read through about 75% of the book and I rarely do that. There were so just many things I didn’t like and maybe that distracted me. At least I didn’t DNF and still gave it a chance.

I really hate writing bad reviews, but just because I didn’t like this book, doesn’t mean it was horrible. There were a few fun moments and I liked some of the friendships. Ramona was pretty awesome and the one part about this book I did enjoy.

I can’t say I recommend this book, but if you feel like reading a light, easy, and somewhat fun unrequited love story, then give it a go.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sheldon writes this age range so good. I've been a fan since Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. I must admit, I didn't like how the Jena and Josh storyline evolves, but the friend equation is always a good one in teen novels.

I've read Dyan Sheldon's books before, and enjoyed them, however I definitely feel like I've grown out of them. A lot of the time, I can read books aimed at 'younger teens' no problem and enjoy them but all the characters in this were very one dimensional, flat and stereotypical. Plus, all the clichés and the typical - I like them but we're friends so we can't date - really annoyed me.

A great story about first loves, unrequited love, and the awkwardness of growing up. The angst of the characters comes through loud and clear through the voice of the narrator.

I’m all about the friends to more trope in fiction, and initially, this book seemed to fit right into that.
But I found a caveat of the trop I don’t especially care for. The “let’s become friends and hope for something more and ignore my other friends” plot line. Or at least that’s the case with Dyan Sheldon’s newest book.
I didn’t care for the way Jena used Josh or how he was completely oblivious to it—even when his friends pointed it out. And really, I didn’t care for Jena much at all despite the fact Sheldon attempted to garner sympathy for her in a couple ways. None worked for me.
Josh is likable with his self-deprecating sense of humor and sarcasm. He knows he’s not a great boyfriend catch and is aware of his deficiencies when held up to the mirror of his peers. Yet he makes no excuses for who he is.
And even though it takes too long to get there, I was pleased with the ending of this tory. Overall, there were more cons than pros for me.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

If I had to describe this book, I would say it's a pretty laid back and slice of life kind of read. If you're not into a slow pace plot then this might not be the book for you. It's character driven to the extreme which means that not much happens plot wise. Josh (boy) meets Jena (girl) and gets severely friend zoned. Add in his group of friends for a few other POVs and insight and voila, that's the entire book. I didn't love this book, but I will say that this gave me deep nostalgia for my experiences of unrequited love.

The reason for this is the strong writing that is witty, sweet and easy to read. The cast of characters is small and so each person is fleshed out properly. You could tell immediately which POV you were reading by the tone once you become familiar with each of the characters. These teens have their quirks, strengths and insecurities perfected. Josh and his friends are unapologetically themselves which is great, but sometimes they put themselves down a lot with the 'nerd' label and its' restrictions. It demonstrates the ugly side of high school with its' archaic hierarchy of cool kids vs. nerds. Don't get me wrong though. Josh and his friends  have their shallow moments. But Jena takes the cake and you'll love to hate her (I know I did!) Sheldon had a great knack of conveying their awkwardness in the quietest of moments. In terms of diversity, nothing is determined and is left ambiguous for the reader to decide upon.

The crush cycle is viciously portrayed in all its' perfection. When Josh and Jena's friendship first blooms, you really get strung along with him. There's also some unrequited crushing going on within Josh's friend circle (unbeknownst to him). This made the book highly relatable but it gets frustrating rather quickly. The anticipation of waiting for Josh and a few others to proclaim their undying love is dragged out. On one hand, this is realistic but on the other hand it makes it difficult to keep interested. It takes too long for them all to have their epiphany moment so patience is a definite requirement for this book.

My favourite character of this book would be Ramona, the designated unappreciated BFF. She's the knight in shining armour and steals the show without any hesitations. However, I will say, if I was Ramona, I would have moved on from my crush because she honestly deserves better.

Overall, a sweet and fast read for the Valentine season for the tortured soul of unrequited love.

I'm a sucker for unrequited love, so I couldn't resist requesting a copy from NetGalley. Sadly, it fell short of my expectations. The flow of the book is odd; it is like reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Series.

Jena is immensely unlikeable, and I couldn't understand while Josh continues to be her doormat. Furthermore, he treats his life long friends horribly. I adored Romana and the quirky friends that should have been Josh's focus. They are the only enjoyable moments in the book. The ending is abrupt and left me feeling completed cheated.

This isn't one I recommend to my YA friends.

This book was a DNF for me. I liked the premis of this novel,a nice,sweet romance but the writing style didn’t resonate with me.

I know other readers will find this book engaging and I wish this author every success.

This book is short and sweet, but it’s also filled with clichés. I’m not even talking about the obvious “are we more than friends?” cliché, which I actually kind of like. I just think that many characters seemed very stereotypical, which made it hard for me to relate to them. The narration is a bit weird, too, because it’s not quite omniscient but it also gives insight on a few of the characters’ thoughts. I would have preferred a more typical type of narration. Overall, this isn’t a bad novel, but it wasn’t my favourite.

A spot-on depiction of all the confusion, self-doubt and angst of teen-agers in this delightful book. It's first love for the somewhat dorky (but enormously appealing) Josh and he's playing the "she-loves-me, she-loves-me-not": game over and over in his head. He finally decides there's only one way to see if his love is reciprocated and he takes the plunge. Witty dialogue and engaging characters make this an excellent read.

This is a book filled with unrequited love. You see, A liked B, but B liked C, however C liked D, and D had no interest in any of them. Yes, broken hearts all around.

What I liked:
• Josh was adorable. Jena had invaded his heart, but he was firmly friend-zoned. Math, music, chess, the kid was interesting, and I liked all these different attributes Sheldon gave him.
• Josh had a pretty great squad. Yes, they were quirky, but they were genuine, which is an adjective I would not attach to Jena and her friends.
• The writing was quite amusing and witty, and filled with many comedic moments.
• Josh's friends were patient and supportive, even when he wasn't being a very good friend. He should be grateful to have such a fine group of friends.

What I didn't like
• I did not like Jena. She wasn't a good friend and she was shallow. It was hard for me to understand what Josh saw in her, but I guess that was the point.
• I would have liked a little more from the ending. It was fine. I definitively knew which direction the story was going, but I would have liked to have seen a little more of it play out.
• The story seemed to meander a little in the beginning (though still amusing), but eventually got on track.

Overall: A fun and cute story of unrequited love, was light, breezy, and quite amusing.

I was captivated by this book when I read the synopsis, but the unfortunate reality is that I wasn't able to finish it. I found Josh to be quirky and awkward - I like awkward - but the present tense third person narration made the story flow slow and choppy. I never was able to get a feel for Ramona or Jena. The inability to connect with neither the characters nor the plot sadly led to the decision to declare DNF.

Because the premise is interesting to me, I may try to pick up the book when I have finished my TBR, but for now, I need to part ways with Josh.

It was a book about a boy who thought he knew what he wanted but really what he wanted all along was right in front of him. There's girls involved so of course he'd get confused by them. Anyways, all in all it wasn't really a book i liked as much as i thought i would but my opinion is different from everyone else so you should decide if it's good or not.

I personally could not really get through this book. I had trouble finishing it, and did not like the plot at all. The story was slightly confusing, and it was very repetitive. Honestly, nothing really happens in this book, and it was pretty boring to me.

I was really interested in reading this book, but I have a thing for PDF books and I tend to not read them because of formatting issues. I might return to this in the future when it comes out, but for now it's a no for me. I couldn't really get into the plot at the time either, but I did like the cover and the description for the book at first, those were what drew me at first.