Review Detail

‘How to Be the Best Third Wheel’ by Loridee De Villa throws a wrench into main character Lara’s plans when her three best friends—Kiera, Jasmine, and Carol—all start senior year with boyfriends, while Lara has been in the Philippines visiting family and is boyfriend-less. Add to the trouble that her best friends’ three new boyfriends are the best guy friends of the guy she has made it her mission to hate—James. Never mind that she and James used to be best friends and have known each other their whole lives. Ever since high school started, not only have they drifted apart, but they have made it their personal goal to prank and annoy each other to no end.

When James trips Lara on the first day of school, she vows revenge. Little does she know that her revenge will turn into full-on study sessions with James when their moms—who so happen to be best friends—set Lara up as James’ tutor. Before long, they begin to see subtle moments that make them remember the past, when things were good between them. While James is a flirt, Lara sees him doing it more and more with her, and she begins to wonder if there is something between them, all the while hoping that she’s wrong. She wants to be wrong, but she also doesn’t want to be wrong. Developing feelings for James is not something she wanted or expected, but little by little, it starts to happen, and she doesn’t know quite what she should do about it.

Exacerbating the problem is how James seems to be into her, too. When something seems to be happening between them, Lara takes steps to nip it in the bud, and James begins to act more aloof after that point. She fears she’s risked everything, even the “frenemy-ship” they had agreed on, one step beyond enemies but before friendship.

She questions how their relationship came back into play, and it all revolves around how she became the seventh wheel to her three best friends and their boyfriends, while James is her equal on that front with his three guy friends. They had to be there for each other. There was no other choice. Maybe that’s all it was, she reasons. But she knows better. And any reader can see the spark between them. Watching them go through their ups and downs is exciting, relatable, and thoroughly enjoyable, with some sweet, sad, and extremely happy moments in between.