Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

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.

My thoughts

I was very excited to start this one, because it sounded very good and funny, and I'd read some great reviews of it. And I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed, though the book turned out to be a bit different than I expected. Meant to Be was a lot of fun and I had a hard time putting it down, and when I finally put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. At the same time I started dragging it out when there wasn't much left of it, because I wasn't ready for it to end and leave the characters. 

One of the things I loved about this book was the setting. London!! I think Morrill did a great job of portraying the city, and it felt like you were there along with the characters. I could easily picture the streets, the Thames, the parks, everything. I liked how London became a part of the story and not just a setting.

Another thing I loved about this book was that it was unpredictable. Yes, you might guess who she ends up with, but the road was not clear. I never knew what was going to happen next, and I certainly never knew what Julia was going to do next; was she going to be obsessive Book Licker (that's her nickname) or rule-breaking, daring über-Julia. Just as I thought I had figured her out she does something completely different, and it was actually really nice to read a book where you couldn't predict everything. 

There was also a bit of a mystery as to who is texting her, and I absolutely loved her and Jason's hunt through London trying to find out who it is. Julia and Jason were so fun together, their banter was hilarious and believable, and they simply drove each other nuts most of the time.   

I really liked Julia, she was a totally obssesive control-freak that would much rather keep back and live in her books and guides, than look up and experience the world as it is - unplanned. So imagine her distress when all her perfect plans fall apart and everything gets kind of messy and not orderly! I didn't always understand her actions and I think she was a bit irrational at times. On the other hand this was such a huge step for her, changing like that, and I think she was brave for doing so. She learnt a lot about herself, life, love, relationships, and that sometimes your impression of people is not who they really are - at all. 

Jason was a great character, and he was definitely not your average romantic hero. Throughout the book I felt about him like Julia did; constantly changing my feelings about him. Somethimes he was immensely annoying, at other times quite charming. In the beginning I had to agree with Julia a bit about him behaving like a immature seven year old, but as you put the pieces together he turned out to be a much deeper person and there was a lot more to him than I initally thought. I liked all the things he did for Julia along the way, and I've gotta say that Julia was really oblivious, but that actually made the story even better. 

Also, one of the best things about this book was that there was no insta-love. Whaaat? Is that even possible in books these day? Yeah, I was starting to wonder the same thing. But it's true. The attraction slowly builts, starting from non-existent and then growing into something more as the story progress. It doesn't suddenly overwhelm you; you're are there with Julia, experiencing her falling in love, and not just being in love.

Overall, Meant to Be was a sweet, funny and light read. I loved every minute of it and it had me laughing out loud several times. It's a book I'll absolutely recommend. 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆