Title: Meant to Be
Author: Lauren Morrill
Publish Date: November 13th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: NetGalley provided by the publisher
Buy it from: Amazon
Goodreads summary:
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:
Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill was one of those titles that was on the tip of everyone’s tongue this year, whispered alongside Stephanie Perkins and the famed Anna and the French Kiss.
While I can’t say that Meant to Be toppled Anna at the top of my list, it was a novel that I greatly enjoyed.
This was largely due to the connection I felt to the main character, Julia. Because for real, Julia is now on my fictional BFFs list. That may be a little narcissistic of me because when I tell you that Julia is like… a magnified version of me (especially teen me), I speak the truth. It was a refreshing change to read a book and see a character behaving so much like I would in her situations.
There’s also the bonus factor of an English setting. With Julia and Jason, I got to go romping about the country and historical sites. I got the thrill of rule-breaking without actually having to break any rules as I ground my teeth with worry that they’d get into trouble with their teacher.
Jason was an ultimately loveable character and certainly managed to make me swoon in spades, even if I began the novel loathing him as much as Julia initially did.
And by the time the novel came to a close, I was grinning from ear to ear at it.
To sum up: If, like I did, you keenly felt the absence of a Stephanie Perkins swoonfest this year, Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill may help you ease the pain.
