TLDR: I wanted to like this book so badly, but it felt like an extended Reddit AITAH story in which the only acceptable response is ESH (everyone sucks here).

2.25 rounded up to 2.5

This book certainly had its bright moments and despite my low rating, I can't say I didn't enjoy many parts of it. I enjoyed that the characters were allowed to be messy and I adored Delilah's every interaction with Ruby. Also, let's be for real here, Delilah was just straight up hot a lot of the time and I can't pretend I wasn't into it. The levity that her banter with Iris brought definitely amused me and, unusually, I liked every outfit that AHB put her in. I love a character with style. On top of that, while I didn't fully read the sex scenes as I don't enjoy explicit content, what I did read was well-written and deliciously sapphic.

All of that said, the bright moments of this book were sabotaged by equally dark moments. For example, though I said that Delilah was hot, I was very turned off by her lack of maturity. She's not alone in that insufficiency as, frankly, none of the characters in this book were emotional adults. They shifted between characters who had a real shot at growth and caricatures who continually chose not to do emotional work. Astrid's reasons for being with Spencer were never fully explored, Claire never reached a satisfying resolution with Josh (yes, he did some work at the end, but he also used manipulative language throughout the book that wasn't addressed whatsoever), Delilah couldn't separate the trauma of losing her parents from the common experience of childhood bullying (though it really wasn't full-on, hardcore bullying. I think her self-consciousness and lack of emotional support as a child exacerbated what is a pretty common childhood experience then her complete lack of self-awareness and willingness to take responsibility for her own emotional well being turned her into a childish adult.), and Iris was literally just there for levity with a side of childish pranks and sex obsession.

The plot also suffered from a lack of focus. Astrid's wedding and relationship are central, but they don't get much air time because we're focused on Claire and Delilah who are each dealing with their own sets of problems including parenting and coparenting which are sidelined every time the group comes together because of their childhood issues. Unfortunately, AHB didn't manage to satisfyingly wrap up any of these sub-plots for me. On top of that, while is was intended to be an adult-toned book, AHB unintentionally blended YA into all of the rom-com parts and some of the more serious ones. Of course, even the most serious of books require a bit of levity, but the childish pranks and the lack of adult level emotional depth outside of it left me feeling like I was reading a first-year college romance.

All in all, I did enjoy this book at times, but I was left incredibly unsatisfied. I may try to read one of the sequels as I could see potential and I've heard that they are better, but I would not recommend this book if you're picky with character likability, adults acting like adults, and fully fleshed-out plots. If you're in it just for a few vibes and hot sex scenes, you might like this.