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It is one of the best shoujo manga I have ever read, because it is incredibly realistic.
It conveys the thrill of being young, with which a very young reader can empathise and for which a slightly older one can feel an incredible nostalgia. However, it also does not neglect to deal with the anxieties of first relationships, such as fear of new things and of losing something precious to a mistake. Serina and Mizukawa-senpai's choices, although not always agreeable or perfectly logical, make it all the more realistic, because in the end teenagers need to experiment and it is OK for them to do so. ... No other manga I have read has ever done such justice to the power of teenage love as this one, for which one is prepared to risk everything. It does not tell the story of a love that blossoms, but of the commitment of two teenagers and then young adults to nurture it over time, even when the elements seem to conspire against it.

First loves surely are a very intense, yet delicate experience: one day it feels like no one will ever experience something as strongly as you do, the next you're heartbroken and you'd resort to anything to get rid of your unbearable pain.
It's been ten years since I myself was sixteen like the characters and, with the mentality of an adult, sometimes I roll my eyes at the excessive drama of shoujo mangas and think "come on, it's no big deal... just grow up". But the thing is... the characters are not grown-ups. They're kids and they're trying to make sense of a whole new world. ... I keep forgetting that I was like that too once, and I don't think I'd ever be able to revert to that mindset now. Somehow, though, Kumaoka-sensei is perfecly able to convey the desperation of teenagers who try to hold on to their first love and, reading about it, it feels like I'm sixteen again.
The story is great. It has unrequited love, thrill, heartbreak, insecurity. It basically explores the emotional spectrum of a dating experience from the perspective of goody-two-shoes Nanase, who happens to fall in love with "delinquent" Hana-kun. The two come from very different backgrounds, which could potentially put a strain on any relationship, nevermind on inexperienced teenagers. The characters are well rounded and their actions are backed up by solid reasoning.
Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi is overall a great read, with its good amount of genre-typical tropes, but nicely embedded in the story, in a way that makes it flow naturally and without "hiccups". The only "flaw" is the uncertainty of the status of the series, as it is in hiatus, with no (as of today) official statement that confirms author Fuyu Kumaoka will get back to it. Let's hope for it!