Review: More than Friends

Title: More than Friends by Monica Murphy
Pages: 320
Rating: 3.5 stars

This is the kind of book I loved as a teen. The hot main characters made me day dream endlessly after finishing the book. The angst and drama made me feel like I was missing out on something. You see, I went to an all girls school and as a result never even came close to experiencing the kind of things written in this book.

 Predictably, I have grown less tolerant of these books now that I am in my twenties. Nowadays I just can’t stand this kind of writing anymore. It’s like eating something that is too sugary sweet. This is why I no longer read many books by Jennifer L. Armentrout and believe me, this is the kind of book that she would write.

More than Friends is book two in the Friends series with our main characters being in the background of the first book. It is the sequel to Just Friends which was mostly about Livvy who is Mandy's BFF in this book. Not to worry though, you really don’t need to read the first book in order to get what’s happening in this one. You will get hints of the first book and what happened in it here but this book is mostly about Amanda and Jordan.

This particular book was filled with endless teenage drama, complimented by an unhealthy amount of clichés commonly found in YA books.
The hot quarterback, Jordan Tuttle is in love with the nerdy but so beautiful Amanda. She obviously doesn’t know how beautiful she is and therefore can’t understand why the most perfect guy in school wants her. He is rich, with family issues (read daddy issues) and the only good thing that he sees in his life is this girl he has always liked. For most of the book, there is a back and forth thing going on especially with Amanda. She wants him, but she can’t let it show because she is not sure if he really likes her. Mind you, he’s said it and showed it so many times throughout the book. They eventually become partners for a class assignment which brings them even closer than ever.

Haven't I read this book before? 

The story is told through the alternating perspectives of both Tuttle and Amanda. It was interesting to read what they each thought of each other and how they always misread what the other person was feeling.

 I didn’t have a favorite character in this one mainly because I had read too many characters like the ones in this book. Nothing stood out for me when it came to Tuttle and Mandy or their story.

Clichés aside, this was actually not a bad book. In fact I really enjoyed some parts of it. I think the problem is that I am no longer the target audience for this kind of book anymore. The ending was the best part of the story. I wish we could have more endings like that.  I recommend this book to those who love YA Romance and books by Jennifer Armentrout.