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.
This was a cute, entertaining read that I had fun with. It had it’s moments, and I can definitely recognize Morrill’s style in the writing. However, it’s characters felt a little bit off. In this case, the only person I really enjoyed was Jason, whereas with BSJ, I enjoyed all the characters immensely.
Julia wasn’t all bad. At times she was funny, at times she was annoying, then she would be judgy, and then she would be fussy. But then she would be fun again. It was an okay experience getting to know her, and I suppose she did change in the end, but really–sometimes I just cringed because of her actions and the change didn’t feel natural. It felt forced, almost. She acted like a grandma instead of a teenager.
And then there was Mark. The thing is, Julia loves Mark. It’s like something out of a Taylor Swift music video.
{insert-music-video-with-little-kids-who-are-love-written-by-a-girl-who-is-a-jerk-to-all-her-boyfriends-and-then-writes-annoyingly-catchy-songs-about-how-they’re-all-HORRIBLE.}
But really.
Julia and Mark are apparently MTB. But really, as soon as he arrives in London Julia sees what a jerk of a guy he is. AND THOSE THINGS ARE OBVIOUS. There’s little to no comparison to Jason, so it wasn’t all his influence. So really, the minute he came back–she should’ve sensed a change. Especially if she pays oh-so-much attention to him.
Now I sound like I hate the book.
I don’t, honest. Really, the characters just weren’t doing it for me in this story. And the texts make absolutely no sense until you reach the end of the book. It was a nice little twist there, and I enjoyed rereading it with fresh eyes because of it–but I can’t say I didn’t see an inkling of it coming.
Overall, the plot and pacing wasn’t too bad. Plot was fun and I’m glad all the ends were tied up nicely. Chris and Chris were a nice couple and I’m glad the way things turned out. This was a cute story, and even though I didn’t enjoy the characters too much, I still like this book. 2.5 stars.
pg count for the hardback: 304
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