Just Friends: A Novel
4.5 | 71 ratings
Price: 13.87
Last update: 03-08-2026
Product details
- Publisher : Atria Books
- Publication date : March 3, 2026
- Language : English
- Print length : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1668095181
- ISBN-13 : 978-1668095188
- Item Weight : 8.7 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank:#65 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Clean & Wholesome Romance (Books)
- New Adult & College Romance (Books)
- Contemporary Romance (Books)
- Customer Reviews:3.73.7 out of 5 stars(5)
Top reviews from the United States
- Gavyn TraderGreatAmazing book
- A. WigginsA Great Summer ReadI really enjoyed reading Just Friends! It was such a sweet read that was filled with a whole lot of heart with all the Hallmark vibes. It wasn’t all fluff or surface level though, because I could feel Blair’s grief for her great-aunt like I was right there with her. Blair and Declan’s relationship didn’t feel like it was rushed or forced and I thought it flowed really well. There were some parts that felt kind of predictable, but I happen to really like that. I thought it was such a fun book and would be a great beach read!
I was given an advanced copy of Just Friends. All opinions expressed above are my own. - Raegan SchickJust Friends ????????????????it really does pain me to write this review because i absolutely love Haley Pham, but i pride myself on honesty so here we go. now i think it’s important to give grace where grace is due… this is a DEBUT romance book!! it was never going to be perfect and i never anticipated it being perfect; however, i still wanted to enjoy it much more than i did. the premise and plot were fine, nothing super unique but intriguing enough to keep me reading. where it really lost me, unfortunately, was the writing. the timeline was all over the place, making the storyline feel clunky with very little flow. the writing itself lacked power… like i could tell she was trying for some hard hitting lines, but the word choices and dialogue were just not as impactful as i would have liked them to be. the two man characters, Blair and Declan, were fine but nothing special. both the characters and plot had zero depth, and i didn’t find myself caring all that much about how their stories ended. i didn’t really feel any true chemistry between them... their connection felt very surface level. the third act breakup was random and useless… the characters had already been through a lot together, so the it just felt redundant. the one true plot point with potential within this book was the grief storyline, and unfortunately the portrayal was so unrealistic. it felt as though it took the back burner, which was not at all in alignment with Blair’s feelings, creating a lot of confusion for me as a reader. the story itself just lacked soooo much context. there were so many small details that were unclear and loose ends that weren’t tied up; although not a big deal to the story, they added up to contribute to a not so great reading experience. nothing about this book was memorable, and i will probably never think about it again. overall, sadly disappointed in this one and probably wouldn’t recommend.
- HannahA perfect romance for teens3 Stars.
The vibes:
- Second chance
- Grief journey
- Dual timeline
- NA but feels YA
- Closed door
My thoughts:
This story was a bit heavier than I expected. There’s cancer as a theme throughout, and I won’t say anything else but I think it’s important to know that going in.
There’s a second chance plot line that I thought was cute, and the grief journey definitely added depth to the story. After all was said and done, I wanted to see more work put into the second chance and see them getting to know eachother and still find themselves compatible on page. I felt like a lot of those moments were glossed over or happened off page.
While I had some issues connecting with the characters -especially Declan- there were still a lot of elements here that were cute.
I loved the coffee shop setting especially, and I really enjoyed the high school chapters in the dual timeline. I was intrigued to discover what caused these two to separate. And the letter at the end - 10/10. It got me good.
The vibes of this book felt reminiscent of The Summer I Turned Pretty. The themes of young love, cancer, grief, and second chances with the backdrop of a beach town are found in both books.
The style of writing felt a bit ongoing and more of a stream of consciousness. We would be in the middle of a scene, and then we would get a long backstory interjection side moment. Eventually we would continue on in the scene, and sometimes I forgot that’s where we were at because the side rabbit holes went on for so long.
There were some words that were used that hindered the readability for me (“hah-gah”; “GAHOH-Oh-gosh.”; “Ha-uhm”.
Note- closed door; Cancer, dying, and death are main themes in this book. Check further CW if concerned.
Release date: March 3, 2026.
Thank you so much to Haley Pham, Atria Books , and NetGalley for the gifted copy. - Brody gasserAmazing bookI love this book so much and I’m so proud of Haley.