Thank you to the author & publisher for sending this book to me in exchange for my honest review.

This book Is very cute and comforting read, It does have a silly feel to it, probably more suited to teenagers and younger. And it is also set in school which I have read a lot about over time, so with that you always expect some kind of teenage drama. This only occurs in the beginning of the story as the writer is setting up the story. With some adjustments it could be even better!

However, as you read more and uncover more about the story the books gets better and less cheesy.
I would rate it 3.5 stars overall, the message at the end is very realistic and important.

There were some minor mistakes; misspellings, incorrect grammar in places and one or two parts that still need to be written.
I love all the small film and book references throughout (Stranger Things, Hunger Games, etc.)

Overall such a pleasant enjoyable read, I look forward to reading it again once its published and I can add it to my book collection.

Thank you so much to Wattpad Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are entirely my own. This book was so fun! It made me constantly laugh and swoon! I love how every character, even side ones, played a part in the book and had a big personality. If you are looking for an adorable and fun book with a great plot look no further! I couldn't put this book down!

Who better to write a teenage drama, then a teenager herself, as this author was when she wrote this cringy, cliched novel.

The basic story is that Lara comes back from a summer visiting relatives in the Philippines to find that her three best friends all have clingy boyfriends, and all they want to do is suck face, and ignore her.

And then, James, the boy she hates, starts to pursue her, and because he is the son of her mother's best friend, she ends up tutoring him in math.

The problem with James is that even though he seems to be pursuing Lara, she does it clumsily, and annoyingly, and so much drama.

I hated the best friends. I thought Lara was a little over the top discribing kissing as making babies, and I'm sort of surprised that this enemies to lovers worked at all.

I am not the target audience, by any shot.

I did like that not only did we get whole dialogues in Filipino, but we got translations as well.

Other than that, I would say that the target audience is young YA. Cute cover too.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This book has quite literally started my healing process. I felt so seen by this book and i was shocked by all the commentary it had because I entered this book thinking it would be a fun quick cute romcom and boy was I wrong. A warning to everyone who picks up this book: it had me SOBBING in the middle of the night because the writing just hit me and I was relating to the characters so hard. I loved this book so much. I already want to have a physical copy to reread and annotate. 4.5 stars.

Spoiler Free Review

How to be the best third wheel is a cute contemporary novel that follows the main character Lara who is a high school girl that will be going into her senior year. When her and her family take a trip to the Philippines, Lara doesn’t expect any changes when she comes back. Little did she know, while she was on vacation her 3 best friends had all gotten boyfriends. When Lara got back she soon realized how much of a third wheel she was when all of her friends tried their best to include her during their dates. We meet a character James who in a way, is also a third wheel. Lara finds herself getting interested in him by the day, though she resents the idea of herself liking him. Continue reading the book to read about the interesting ways Lara will deal with third wheeling.

To me, this book was an easy short read. There was typical teenage drama & emotion. What I did like about this book was that it was relatable. I could relate to Lara’s worries & hopes. I liked the filipino culture representation in the book too. Similarly, another thing I had liked was how each chapters title was a tip on “How to be the best third wheel”. My reasoning for 3 stars was due to how I found parts of the book to be cringe and predictable. Finally, there was much character improvement through out the book which I had liked.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, to those who are looking for a nice YA novel.
Overall, this book was good, just didn’t capture my attention as much as I hoped.

e-ARC provided By Netgalley and Publisher. (Thank you!)
I received a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are mine.
EXPECTED RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2022
REVIEWED: 1/7/2021

This book was pretty solid. It was amusing and pretty much nailed the whole third wheel thing. The only thing is that I'm a high schooler, so the high school parts felt a little less accurate. All that being said, this was a good read. Check it out, and thank you to Loridee De Villa and NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest and constructive review!

I requested this one purely on the blurb. Don’t get me wrong. I do like the cover too! It’s just the blurb kept screaming at me. I wasn’t even going to request it because it was being published by Wattpad, but I really wanted to give it a try regardless of that. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up working for me.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Lara. Her story is essentially a guide for the person who is the third wheel of their friend group. It kind of reads this way when it comes to the titles that are in the book. There is an introduction as well that explains her definitions. She wasn’t a bad character or anything but some of her antics were childish and felt below her age.

The plot is filled with a lot of tropes and I wouldn’t say that it brought anything new to the table. It does have tropes that I enjoy which is a plus, but I didn’t like her love interest. He was a dillweed and I honestly wouldn’t have forgiven him as much as she did. She should have just cut her losses. Because of that, the plot is filled with a lot of drama. You could say that it is overly dramatic. Sadly, that’s something I don’t like to see. It takes me out of the story and just feels too unbelievable. I just don’t enjoy it.

Overall, this was just an okay book. Others may enjoy it more than me. I also didn’t mesh with the writing style and that’s definitely a me thing.

“Why is it so hard for us to spend time together now? Are they simply tired of our group? Do they laugh more with their boyfriends than they do when we’re together? Is our friendship not interesting enough for them?”

Thank you, Netgalley, for the arc!

Filipino MCs always get bonus points. So do Canadian MCs. So this book scored those right off the bat. Lara is like me for other reasons so I appreciate being attacked. (Fictional men are better, though). I related to her struggles with being a third-wheel and her imposter syndrome. I wish we got more on the latter.

I do like the format of the story with all the tips, but the flow was off. Nothing was cohesive and the parts felt choppy. A lot of the dialogue was cringey, especially with some of the teachers.

Lara, girl, you need new friends. You too, James, but mostly Lara. I know they were there for you in the end, but seriously. And their boyfriends were the same dude in different fonts.

Possible but I hate how it was very obvious that she’d end up with James from the start. Although it was super cute how they were both third-wheels. They were really cute and I like how they developed through the story. I think this could’ve been a cool fake dating story. But was all the cheating drama necessary? I mean, sure but why? I wanted to like the dude. I do appreciate how this book didn’t make them ultimately end up together by the end. It was different and bittersweet, and I respect that.

But overall, it was a nice and enjoyable book.

After a summer spent in the Philippines with her family, Lara de la Cruz is eager to start her senior year and, most importantly, reunite with her three besties, Carol, Jasmine, and Kiera. Of course summer is the season of change, and Lara knew she’d have to get caught up on the major updates, hot gossip, and other shenanigans she may have missed. But what she did not expect was to show up on the first day of school to all three of her friends now in relationships.

Warning you are not going to want to step away from this book! It will go with you everywhere for the day. I would say that you should enjoy this lovely little story. Carol is a firecracker watch out for her! There's a couple of times you may cringe in your skin but that's high school (well for most of us anyway). All in all I liked the book and would rec.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Lara spent the summer before senior year visiting family in the Philippines, and expected that nothing much would have changed when she returned. So it's a shock when her three best friends all have found boyfriends over the summer, and she's the third wheel - or more like the seventh wheel. And what makes it even worse is that the boyfriends are all friends with her arch nemesis, James, who is third wheeling too. Now that the two groups are mixed, Lara can't escape James, and the feeling she pushed aside when she was younger are coming back.

I was really surprised by this book. I was expecting it to be a decent contemporary, probably a little cringy in places, and though that did happen at times, I also couldn't put the book down once I started it. I really enjoyed all of the characters in the book. Lara was a little abrasive at times, but she was dealing with a lot of change, and she wanted to keep the status quo. However, it read like a real book, with real characters and scenarios. Okay, it was cringy at times, and a bit over the top at others, but all in all, it really suited the characters and the setting of it. The only real thing I disliked was the ending, though I think it was probably included to make the book feel more realistic, rather than fiction? I don't know, but it was a solid debut in any case.

I loved the premise of the book, but in the end, the writing was just too dramatic for me. (Which totally makes sense given that it's YA -- I probably would have loved it more when I was a teen.) So while it wasn't a fit for this reader, I think if polished up, it could be a really cute story.

This was... interesting. I'm not quite sure what I had in mind when I asked for this ARC, but I didn't anticipate the level of drama in this. (I think I selected this book because the character on the cover looked Indian? But of course, now I know that it's actually Filipino)

Lara's mortal enemy is James, which is terrible considering that their mothers are the biggest best friends - and even planned thier pregnancies together. James is constantly harassing Lara, and Lara obviously cannot let it go, so when James' mom pleads with her to please tutor James in math, Lara's first instinct is no. But of course, because their mothers are the best friends they are, Lara reluctantly admits to the task. It's not like she can go to any of her three friends for support though because, coincidentally, they're dating James' three friends. And while, yes, being in a new relationship can be busy, they almost completely ignore Lara, and it seems that no one is there for her at all - except James. And the more her friends seem to ignore her, the more Lara seems to realize... maybe James isn't so bad after all.

I just felt like this book was so cliche, over-the-top, and dramatic, but then again, I also really hate enemies-to-lovers tropes and everyone is clearly obsesssed with that, so... I have a feeling that most people will like this book though. Its clearly not meant for me because of the amount of drama (and how Lara "supposedly" intimidates her friends' boyfriends to the point where they are constantly curling up into a fetal position and addressing her as a military general *eyeroll*), but I'm sure this is what most people love, so I won't dissuade them if this becomes the next Twilight or something.

(I will confess though, I really liked how they had entire conversations in Fillipino but had the translations in paranthesis for non-speakers. I really like cultural threads through a book.)

While not my favorite YA read but it was a cute quick read and sometimes that's all you need at the time.

This book centres around a teenage highschooler, who comes back from her summer holiday in the Philippines and discovers her three best friends have boyfriends. The story centres around her relationship with her childhood nemesis, her friends, and coping with the changes around her.

This story is cliche, cringy, and gave me so much second hand embarrassement that I physically couldn't read another page of it.
The book is unoriginal, and just plain bad. But I will say the writing, for a wattpad story, is good. The plot line and story although unbelievably overused and cringe worthy, it's still has the good classic trope of enemies to lovers.

13 year old me would have ate this up, rated it at 5 stars, and loved every minute of it. Which is why overall I give it a 1.5 star rating because although I personally disliked this book, I know a lot of younger readers will love this.

'How to Be the Best Third Wheel' is honestly the best book I've read in a long while. I laughed out loud through 3/4 of the book, I was also sad at times but most of all I totally related to the main characters. Lara and James have known each other all their lives, first they were best friends, then enemies to lovers. The book shows how much we get attached to people, how much they mean to us and how really important are relationships betweem friends and family members. I loved the book for hilarious dialogues between Lara and James but also for the very real representation of teenagers' lives. The book focuses on how we make mistakes just because something stops us from proper communication, how we support our friends no matter what, how forgiveness works and how our family can understand us without words. I loved it for the ultimte warmth, wit and being true to life. I rarely give 5 stars out of 5, but this book deserves them all and more!

What an emotional rollercoaster! An outstanding book and I'm out of words to appreciate the author and this wonderful book. I never expected the author to pick up a simple topic of teenage love, crush and friendships and plot them so well. Every character had the simplicity yet their importance wasn't diminished. The flow of writing was brilliant and every scene was so beautiful emoted. The depth of the writing was great and the humor wasn't overstuffed. I could relate to almost all the characters and their reactions in every chapter. Hats off to the author. A well deserved 5 star.

DNF @ 45%
Man, I am so sad that this one didn't click with me. I have been trying for a few weeks now to finish it, but I just can't bring myself to. Lara, her friends, and her friends' boyfriends are all so extremely childish, and I couldn't handle it anymore; they are supposed to be 17, but they read more like 13-14. I also, unfortunately, could not connect with the writing style.

Being that this began as a Wattpad story written by the author when she was 14, and even she says there are a lot of changes she is going to make before the final cut, I am not writing this book off entirely. Depending on how it looks when it is published, I might pick it up again in its more polished form. I do want to see Lara happy and was beginning to feel invested in the fledgling relationship I saw blossoming, so it was not necessarily the overarching story that turned me off.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.75 stars ⭐️.
First of all the book has many hilarious moments and I loved both the friendship and familial bonds in this. This book is a cultural delight and written beautifully. Also the third wheel scenarios are spot on.
But..
There is a reason I stay away from YA romance, I have both a teenage brother and a sister at home so almost all the problems faced in the book is what I face in my everyday life at home. Having reached a certain age I now find it silly (sorry in advance to whichever teens who are going to read this.) it doesn’t help that we have significant age gap. So this book didn’t resonate with me that much.
Also I hate the trope heroine secretly in love with hero but he dates many girls and have fling etc. it also didn’t help that heroine witnesses him kissing two different OW’s. Technically it’s not cheating here as they were not dating at the time but both had feelings for each other and heroine was so hurt. I HATED THAT PART.
Do you know what I hated more? THE ENDING.

And no freaking epilogue! may be there will be a part two. But doubtful if I’ll be reading it or not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for letting me review this book!
4 stars
Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions!
Honestly, I was intrigued by the cover and premise of the book and it seriously did not fail, at least for me. This was super cute YA rom-com following our mc Lara who becomes the third wheel of her friend group as they all decide to get into relationships as if not having one friend being in relationship is bad enough and having to third wheel in that relationship she has third wheel for her other two friends. UGH! I felt for our mc being the "third wheel" and it was perfectly described. The romance between Lara and James was a cute enemies to lovers but there were times where I wanted to pull my hair but that's what makes it good book, when I have the urge to scream or pull my hair.

Lara is coming back to school after a long holiday in the Philippines, unaware that her three best friends have secured boyfriends over the holidays. Life isn't easy for Lara — she's now the odd one out, often left with James, who she definitely doesn't have feelings for. Nope. Not at all.

I first read this book when it was up on Wattpad, and I'm happy to say that the quality of the manuscript has much improved since then. This book was such a fun read — I loved Lara and her struggles (she felt like such a real and relatable character) and I loved the ending. It was bittersweet but realistic, and added another layer of charm to this book.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the weaving of Filipino culture into the book. It wasn't at all forced and flowed so naturally; I was so intrigued by all the traditions and names (Lolo, Lola, etc) and their tight-knit community which is so different to my own.

Despite all these pros, there were a few cons in the book — some of the side characters were really similar to one another, so much so that if their names weren't mentioned I would have mistaken them for one another... however there was a large cast of characters so this wasn't a big issue, especially as the main focus was on Lara and James. The romance between them was believable and cute, but there was one thing that happened that I really didn't like and didn't think was necessary to the plot (which is a spoiler, so I'll be leaving it out of my review. Rest assured that it happens near the ending of the novel, and the ending saved that part of the book for me). I hate books that use that as a plot point, but I still decided to give this book 4 stars because of how much fun I had reading it. I read it all in one sitting and was on the verge of tears at the end. I also thought the pacing of this book was excellent.

Loridee De Villa has come so far as an author, and you can really see her own unique style when reading this. It's much more polished and effective than it used to be, and even though she remains in the constraints of the YA Genre (shorter sentences, fast pace, lots of dialogue and internal monologue) her style still shines through.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I would definitely read another novel by Loridee.