i really enjoyed getting to read this book early. it was so much fun and such a sweet little romance. it made me feel good and that's something i really enjoy in my books. a lovely escape!

I want to start by thanking @netgalley and @wattpadbooks for giving me and advanced copy of this book.

The story follows Lara and her group of friends as they navigate through their senior year in high school. They all had planned to spend their last summer going on adventures and doing all sorts of activities, but there’s only one problem, after Lara comes back from her trip, she finds her three friends are now in relationships, all with the the best friends of her number one nemesis who she has known since childhood…and whom she has also grown to hate.

I’ll admit this story had quite a few stereotypes in terms of the relationship between the main characters and the way some of the characters acted, however, there was one thing I truly did not expect to see as the story progressed and that was how much I related to Lara. I know people will see her reactions and feeling as exaggerated and maybe even childish (which, if you do, please remember this is a YA book), but the truth is that at some point or another, I too felt like an outsider and had trouble finding where I belonged and whether it was just me making things up.
I applaud the journey that we follow with Lara and also the diverse characters that are present in it. It also has a very realistic ending which I also didn’t expect but I am actually thankful that the author decided to end it that way. Overall, a quick romance that explores strong friendships and the doubts and internal conflicts that come when you’re trying to find your place in the world at a young age.

How to be the best third wheel by Loridee De Villa

From the get-go this book was fun and enjoyable. I loved Lara’s character, because she describes how so many teenagers feel about so many things: Changing friendships, new-found relationships, indecisiveness about the future and so much more. I also loved how the author made Lara’s culture a significant part of her life. I think that’s why I enjoyed the book as much as I did because a lot of it relates to me now.

Even though it was definitely a very cliché book, with a lot of repeated ideas you can’t help smiling. There was also the friends-to-strangers-to-enemies-to-lovers trope I loved. There were parts that were cute, heart-breaking, frustrating and very honest which I loved. The writing was not forced (which I found a major problem in a lot of Romance books) and everything flowed naturally.

And I honestly don’t know if I was just feeling overly emotional or I grew a serious attachment to the characters but towards the end I actually had tears in my eyes. The realism of the ending was something I also really appreciated, where the characters learn to put themselves before others.

I will definitely be purchasing this book because it was both enjoyable and reminded me why I love high-school, teenage-drama books. I would definitely recommend this to YA readers who like those cute, cliché romance books.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for the eARC!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
3.7/5

You get exactly what you get with this one.

It seemed cute. The cover is nice. I really liked the description as someone who is always the third wheel I felt I could relate. However, this wasn’t what I hoped it would be. There’s nothing particularly unique about the story. It’s fun and light to read sure but the lead and the love interest aren’t very likable. To be frank, none of the cast was very likable to me.

But most of all James was the worst. I couldn’t get behind his character at all, even in his sweet moments. Their relationship wasn’t developed enough for me to put aside his behavior.

Thanks to NetGally for this arc in exchange for my unbiased review.

3.5 ⭐

How to Be The Best Third Wheel is a friends to enemies to frenemies to lovers, YA romantic comedy.
It follows Lara, coming back from a 2 month vaycay to find that her three best friends have each found themselves in a relationship. Quite distraught by the news, Lara now has to handle being "alone", feeling left out and being the third wheel alongside childhood best friend - now enemy - James, who does everything to annoy her yet seems to be the only one there for her (even through all his torturing digs).

Let me just start off by saying the absolute pure torture of the frustration i felt while reading this! This was that typical YA high schoolers being oblivious for their actions towards their best friend. I highly sympathized with Lara, and i think that's why i found it so frustrating but yet...i couldn't put it down.

It did read like wattpad writing, quite amateurish but personally i liked that because it was easy to get through. there were some childish actions happening (for example gripping a guy by his shirt, and a character dropping down into a fetal position out of fear...). easily able to overlook those things when the story picked up.

when it came to Lara's friendships, i was quite happy with how that went. Did i want more groveling? Absolutely! but they pulled through in the end.
the second part of the story just created emotional havoc. i found myself heavily frustrated towards a guy i was rooting for. his reasoning for certain actions was absolute bullsh*t and so male typical that he just couldn't redeem himself to me fully.

classifying the ending...it's definitely a HFN. I'm satisfied with the ending but yet also sad because it's still two people who shared a childhood together and the endind just screamed FINAL.
It's a very realistic ending, romantics (like myself) may not like it but in reality it was just the perfect ending for those two...for now

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘢𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

"How to Be the Best Third Wheel" by Loridee De Villa was a quick, fun read that hit on a lot of different topics and themes. Lara was a very relatable and likable protagonist, and I enjoyed watching her mature throughout the story. Having perviously read this book on Wattpad, it was exciting to see how far the story has come. That being said, I did find the plot a bit simplistic and the writing style a little stilted.

Lara reminded me a lot of myself when I was a teenager in high school, and her gang of friends and their "boyfries" were hilarious to read about. Her love interest, however, was more of a mixed bag. There were times when I liked James, and others when I wanted to join Lara's friend Carol in punching him. James hurt Lara time and again, and I wished Lara had enough confidence to stand up for herself. I also feel like a lot the the issues Lara had with her friends, James, and family could have been resolved through better communication. I know it wouldn't have made for as good of a story, but it was frustrating to watch the drama unfold and know it could be resolved if people sat down and actually talked about it.

I enjoyed the amount of humor worked into this story, and it was fun to watch some of the interactions between Lara and James. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else about this book that made it stand out. The positive representation was nice to see, and the realistic setting helped add credibility to the story, but ultimately this book wasn't for me. I know others will enjoy this story, and I hope "How to Be the Best Third Wheel" finds a home on many reader's shelves.

I received an ARC of this book curtesy of NetGalley and the publisher; all opinions are my own.

3.75 stars
How to be the Best Third Wheel is a cutesy rom-com. It was a quick read for me and I managed to finish it in a day. I loved the representation in this book; it had a very diverse cast which made me really happy. The humor in the book is also written really and there were moments where I burst out laughing. The main character, Lara was so relatable and kind of reminded me of myself back in high school.
Unfortunately though, the writing style used felt a little strange and kinda stilted. Some of the dialogue was a little unrealistic, especially for high schoolers. And also, the story kind of reminded me of early 2015 YA contemporaries with some of the plotlines. While the book does have some issues, I think it captures the uncertainty of deciding your future really well and as someone who is in the middle of that, it just hit home.

Teenage years are hard, and much harder when you feel you are tackling them on your own. Lara comes back after spending the summer visiting her family in the Philippines.
When she comes back to start her last year of high school, she learns that her three best friends are now in relationships. This book follows Lara as she navigates a messy senior year that is turning out to be nothing like what she expected.
Besides a few cringe worthy moments, this was an enjoyable, easy, and cute read.

I have never wanted to throw a book across the room before, but I seriously felt the urge while reading this one…which is bad because I was reading it as a digital galley on my iPad. The author delivers as promised with her warning on the first page that she cannot be held responsible for damage from face palms and book throwing. This story has all the angst of a kDrama. Just when you think it is done, you get pulled in again. I really hope there is a book two in the works.

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read, it wasn’t long and it was cute. It wasn’t my typical story but, I enjoyed reading it. The writing and the overall story was adorable.

*3.5 stars rounded down

This book pleasantly surprised me. I expected it to be entertaining at the very least, but I really liked it!
While I did think the characters were very “over the top teen,” I did think that they were relatable besides that. I liked Lara’s inner turmoil over knowing exactly what she wanted but not knowing if she could do it. There was some great development between the various friendships and relationships, but they did all start at ROCK BOTTOM. I was so surprised at how mature and healthy the ending of the book was since I rarely see anything like that in romance novels, but I liked it!
For the bad, it was really just that I thought it was cringy. Do I relate to James using Desmos instead of learning graph patterns? Hell yeah. But most of the other teen stuff was kind of weird. They were all so enthusiastic, but in a romcom way, not a passionate teen way. I also HATED the way everyone treated Lara. I understand that it was the point, but her friends were horrible in ditching her at every turn to be with their boyfriends, and I feel like while they were better later, nothing could make that up to me. The same was true for Lara’s family excluding her, but they didn’t even notice.
Overall, I really liked this! I’d recommend it to people who want a very quick, readable romcom with a lot of cringy yet funny characters. I personally relate to Carol with her violent tendencies.

Okayyy so where do we even begin with this one!?
I guess we'll start with the starting itself, it was disastrous... I'm fully aware that what I'm initiating seems ominous but bare with me here. So yes, it didn't start out well. With certain very cringe scenes, stereotypical subplots, some highly questionable teachers, (the teacher legit said that she sensed sexual tension between two students????? and further kept pestering then about their relationship status?) a couple of almost (keyword) cheating accidents and countless betrayals, everything made me want to curl into myself like a hermit.

Now the blatant question arises, why did I continue reading? Was it because of the adorable grandma dynamics or perhaps the bickering between the protagonist and the love interest... No it was because I could relate to Lara's aspirations and hopes about her future, her career and the obvious worries that come with it. We see the characters struggling with the age old dilemma of choosing professions, and wondering when one slips out of childhood into adulthood or if they ever? Further we get to meet Lara's vulnerable side, the one where her anxiety spirals, her jealousy flares and her loneliness even in her own relationship, gains sympathy from me.

The ending was mostly the only redeeming bit about the plot because never have I read a more realistic and perfect ending for a YA novel, where the characters recognise their own flaws and choose sense above all and most importantly choose their future before anything else.

I'd like to say that even though, there are many many improvement opportunities, I'd still recommend it only because it's a roller coaster ride of emotions, we see genuine character improvement, a love that does make you coo at points and as I mentioned above the ending.
To conclude I want to tell you that in no way is this a bad attempt at a debut, it just belongs to someone with a different taste to savour this, infact I'd like to point out that the author is only nineteen so this is most definitely a great attempt perhaps just not for me but I'd still give her future works a try.

3.47/5✩

A big thanks to Wattpad Books & Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book, which I voluntarily read & reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is tough, the novel sits on a great foundation and has the premise of most young adult novels. But the writing was amateur (though I do give some slack here since this is a debut novel and we have all to start somewhere) and the stereotypes were overwhelming.

Predictability to not always a bad thing, if we compare plots in young adult novels they tend to follow a pattern with an ending that we can more of less see coming. Like I said, this is not the issue. However the characters were written with basic cliches and lacked originality to the point the dialogue seemed overwhelming scripted and immature.

While the novel incorporated some important aspects such a diversity it also included some harmful stereotypes such as flirting that borders on bullying, something I had hoped we had evolved from.

This novel wasn’t my favorite, but I do think it gives the author a chance to grow.

Thank you Netgalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me to read and review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is definitely geared towards the young adult audience and has all the elements of a fun and cute YA read. I did enjoy Lara's relationships with her friends and how hard it is to be that third wheel in a group of couples. I totally understand that feeling and I think many teenagers will get a kick out of how relatable Lara is and her story. Dealing with a beautiful cousin and annoyingly cute boy who you start to have a crush on makes for an interesting, fun, fluffy YA read I think 13-17 year olds will enjoy.

3.5 stars

I read this book in a day. I couldn't put it down or be so good. The absolute accuracy of the third wheel is highly heart. As much as friends say things will be the same once they couple up. For the single one, it's NEVER the same. and to say something automatically means jealousy. Lara is was losing her friends to their boyfriend. They've already started to cancel things, their boyfriends are always invited to their events and she's doesn't know what to do about it. James her enemy is the other single one and she's wrangled into spending every day with him helping with math. I just loved this book and the ending was perfectly reflective of two people in grade 12, just starting z new life and relationship. Just great!

Lara de la Cruz is excited to be back home and ready for her Senior year of High School and get all scoope from her three besties since she was away in the Philippines all summer. To her surprise she is shocked to discover that all three of her friends are in relationships. Carol, Jasmine, and Kiera have been busy over the summer. And it has
Lara feeling a certain way.
Lara’s long time frenemy, James has also become the third wheel in his friend group.
So why is he asking her to tutor him? He is so annoying, so why is she starting to notice how cute he is?
Lara must learn to accept that some change is inevitable, love is messy, and being the odd one out is sometimes where inner power is found.

This heartwarming story filled me with joy.
I loved these characters and how real they felt.
I laughed, cried, and just couldn't put this novel down.
The story felt real and sincere I enjoyed how the main character felt as I know alot of times in HS I felt this same way.
But they way Lara handles it with grace is amazing!
A well crafted, wonderful and heartwarming story filled with friends, family, and feels that left me walking on sunshine. But other times I wish I could grab a few of these characters and scream.... Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop.
I really enjoyed this story. It's a heart-felt romance which light and easy chemistry and just enough adventure to keep you intrigued without the drama being too forced
This is one heck of a cute read. I loved everything about it!

Wattpad Books and NetGalley,
Thank You for this eARC!
I will post to my platforms closer to pub day!