Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill | REVIEW

Series: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Published: November 13, 2012
Pages: 304
Links to buy: | Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository (For International Buyers.) |

RATING: ❤❤❤❤❤





SYNOPSIS:
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.

"If you're into swoony romances with a little bit of history thrown in, you'll love Meant to Be."--HelloGiggles.com

"Fun, fresh and irresistibly romantic. STB (SURE to be) loved!"--Sarah Mlynowski


"Readers of Jennifer E. Smith and Stephanie Perkins will revel in this debate about love ruled by the stars or as a matter of the heart."--Shelf Awareness

(From Goodreads)

REVIEW:

I've been putting off reading this book for months as it is my roommate's favorite book of all time. Normally, I don't want to take recommendations from close friends as I don't want to hurt their feelings if I don't like it. However, that was not the case at all for this book.

I really connected with Julia's character, the rule following, London loving character. She was very strong, and very involved in her love of literature. She was essentially me when I was in high school. Her attitude throughout the book, and the situations she got herself in were my favorites. She was partnered with Jason, who is this obnoxious, sexual innuendo charged student.

I think Jason was my favorite character in the whole of the novel. Beneath his obnoxious behavior, I found him really amusing, but also very caring. I could see that he was someone who was very reserved with who he revealed his true self with. He was a very complex character who could be seen as misunderstood, and judged heavily.

The characters and the setting is what drives the story I think. They work hand in hand because most of the scenes that I loved took place in a city I adore, and the characters reactions to those specific places made me so excited. Some of the places I never knew existed of course, but the whole feel of the story made it so much more lovable. I feel as if Lauren Morrill knew exactly how to drive the "feels" in a story. She knows how to hit contemporary/romance loving readers in the right places.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, and vice versa if you liked this book and want to read more like it.

Reading Goal Update!

Hey Everyone!

So I have finally finished reading After We Fell by Anna Todd. It took me FOREVER because (if you look a the photo) it is 834 pages! It's crazy how long it is, but so good!

In the past few weeks of me not posting, I have changed my goodreads goal to 30 books. This is because of After. I also don't think I will be buying books as often as I have the past two years.

So, I am one book behind schedule right now. I've read two books this year (pathetic I know). But I am reading short books until After Ever Happy comes out in 16 days! I am so elated to read the newly revised conclusion to Hardin and Tessa's story. It's an addicting one. I'll be doing a review when I finish that!

Right now, I'm reading my roommate Hannah's favorite book. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill is what I am reading, and it's already so captivating. I think I may go read some more of that as soon as I finish writing a chapter of a story I'm working on.

I just wanted to update you on my progress!
~Amanda .xx

Currently Reading: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
Reading Next: Bared to You by Sylvia Day (Crossfire #1)

One Book Down, 39 to Go!

Hey Everyone!

Here is a reading update for my goodreads! The photos are self explanatory!

The signs were made by me in about 5 minutes. I had ordered what I thought was brown cardboard looking paper, but instead I got essentially what was the backs of picture frames. I took two of these and folded them. They cracked when I folded them (this is seen in the "Currently Reading" portion) but they worked for these kinds of things. Since I attached post-it notes on the "Books Read This Year" sign, I decided to take some white duct tape and secure it. I drew a squiggly line to make it look better than it does. It looks okay, but it works! If you make these, I suggest maybe cutting out a small square of cardboard and getting some chalkboard paint and painting that section. It would be lighter weight and you would not have to duct tape it to the cardboard!

Books Read in 2015: 1. The first book was After We Collided by Anna Todd (After #2)

Currently Reading: After We Fell by Anna Todd (After #3)

I'll be updating this as often as I read!!! So expect one quite a bit! I'm not completely sure how I am doing the "Books Read this Year!" I am still figuring that out!

Until Next Time Everyone!
~Amanda .xx

First Post of the Year!

This is my computer named Jem. He's awesome.

Hey Everyone!

Well, it is nine days into the new year and it dawned on me that I should start a blog. I have done blogs before, but I wanted to do something completely different from previous ones.

This blog, I decided, would be about me and my love for books. These "books" would be either books I am reading or writing! I am an aspiring author and this year will be filled with plenty of editing. That is something I can guarantee.

The book I will be editing this year (since I am a mere two chapters from being done) is called The Prince. In its original form, it is a fanfiction found on wattpad. It's about, you guessed it, Harry Styles. I've always written fanfiction, it's not something I can get away from easily because it helps my characters come to life. I do change their personalities, but writing to these people helps me get a sense of who they are. Writing on Wattpad is also a great platform for this style of writing. Look at New  York Times bestselling author Anna Todd, she had over one billion reads by the time she was published. That amount of success is not common, but it is something I can only dream of.

Something I will also be doing this year is a reading goal on Goodreads. Now, I attempted this last year (I probably passed), but I did a lot of rereads. My goal for this year is to read 52 books in total. However, on my goodreads, you will probably notice that it says 40. Basically, I want to read 40 new books this year and 12 can be rereads. Complicated, I know. I love reading and to be the best writer I can be, I have to read. It is my life.

I will see you all tomorrow with a new blog post. Resolution: blog every day of 2015, you did a shit job last year.

See you all tomorrow!
~Amanda .xx