クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった

It's a very slow and wholesome burn. It left me guessing the whole time about whether it actually was a romance or not. (It is, especially as the series progresses, but it's also very much a story about friendships). For the series overall, the characters, relationships, families, settings, etc are very organic and believable. They're very self-aware, respectful, levelheaded, and caring, while still making mistakes, having challenges, etc. Overall, it's a very refreshing read that avoids cliches. It also has lots of healthy relationships. (Though some less healthy ones too).

The story of volume 1 revolves around Maki Maehara (main character), Umi Asanagi (main heroine), and Yuu Amami (Umi's best friend). Umi and Yuu (on the cover) are the two cutest girls in the class. While the main focus of the story is Maki & Umi (who are trying to keep their friendship(?) a secret), a prominent portion is about Umi & Yuu, and how Maki coming into their lives affects and challenges their friendship.

Linguistically, I found it very accessible, especially after having read/tried fantasy LNs like SAO, 灰と幻想のグリムガル, and 本好きの下剋上, or even a yuri novel like やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について. The characters aren't too slangy, and you can usually tell who's speaking, based on different speech styles, how they refer to each other, etc. There's furigana for names and uncommon words, but only once per chapter. Would definitely be a struggle for a first time reader, but not an unreachable one.