Page count: 256 pages
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Releaste Date: November 13th, 2012
Book: E-book ARC. (Thanks for the copy, Random House.)
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins.
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
From Goodreads:
Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.
It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").
But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.
Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.
Review:
Let's just take a look at the cover for a second, shall we? How pretty is it?! I'd frame it and put it on my wall, for sure!
What a fantastic debut from Lauren Morrill! Such a lovely, cute book. It's set in London, and Morrill describes the city so well and vividly that you feel as if you're really there (and anyone who knows me in real life knows how much I drone on about wanting to go to London, so I definitely loved that). The writing is fantastic, descriptive and flows really well. The plot is a little predictable, but there are twists and turns, and somethings I didn't see coming -- especially near the end.
I loved the characters! I predict that some people won't like Julia or Jason, because they're not made to be exactly likable, in my opinion. They're very real characters with surprising depth. I know that some people have found they could not connect to Julia, but for me at least,Julia is extremely easy to relate to. She follows the rules, gets straight A's, over-thinks things constantly and at times (even though she probably wouldn't admit it) she thought she was better than everyone else, smarter than everyone else. She also has the urge to correct people when they get something wrong. Sometimes, I swear she was me. Jason, on the other hand, is that rude, obnoxious guy that you loathe who is always vying for attention, but all of a sudden he says something sweet and you can't help but like him. I adored how their relationship developed throughout this book and how much they developed as characters as well. They brought out the best (and sometimes the worst) in each other. The supporting characters don't really appear much in the book, so you don't really care for them at all.
Meant To Be has a lot of witty banter, which is always a good thing. It also has a lot of references to The Beatles and Shakespeare, which I'm sure people will like. But with all that said, it didn't wow me as much as Anna and the French Kiss did, but I did enjoy reading it, and I'm excited to see what Lauren Morrill writes next.
Overall, Meant To Be is a light and fun romantic read, with lots of witty banter and hilarious moments. Definitely one to put on your "To-Read" list.
What a fantastic debut from Lauren Morrill! Such a lovely, cute book. It's set in London, and Morrill describes the city so well and vividly that you feel as if you're really there (and anyone who knows me in real life knows how much I drone on about wanting to go to London, so I definitely loved that). The writing is fantastic, descriptive and flows really well. The plot is a little predictable, but there are twists and turns, and somethings I didn't see coming -- especially near the end.
I loved the characters! I predict that some people won't like Julia or Jason, because they're not made to be exactly likable, in my opinion. They're very real characters with surprising depth. I know that some people have found they could not connect to Julia, but for me at least,Julia is extremely easy to relate to. She follows the rules, gets straight A's, over-thinks things constantly and at times (even though she probably wouldn't admit it) she thought she was better than everyone else, smarter than everyone else. She also has the urge to correct people when they get something wrong. Sometimes, I swear she was me. Jason, on the other hand, is that rude, obnoxious guy that you loathe who is always vying for attention, but all of a sudden he says something sweet and you can't help but like him. I adored how their relationship developed throughout this book and how much they developed as characters as well. They brought out the best (and sometimes the worst) in each other. The supporting characters don't really appear much in the book, so you don't really care for them at all.
Meant To Be has a lot of witty banter, which is always a good thing. It also has a lot of references to The Beatles and Shakespeare, which I'm sure people will like. But with all that said, it didn't wow me as much as Anna and the French Kiss did, but I did enjoy reading it, and I'm excited to see what Lauren Morrill writes next.
Overall, Meant To Be is a light and fun romantic read, with lots of witty banter and hilarious moments. Definitely one to put on your "To-Read" list.
First of all: I really like the cover! It's really eye-catching :D And the fact that the characters are real - and have depth - is something I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing your wonderful review! :)
ReplyDeleteSame! It looks like a painting. So gorgeous.
Delete& So glad you like my review! Thanks!