Review: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Title: Meant to Be

Author: Lauren Morrill

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November 13th, 2012.
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

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.

Meant to Be is one of those fun and sweet contemporaries that has the power to break you out of a reading slump. It isn't one of those extremely deep and life-changing contemporaries, but it is a really heartwarming and adorable experience with some hilarious main characters.

Our main character, Julia Lichtenstein, is a type A personality as well as an obsessive compulsive control freak, but she's not the arrogant and snobbish kind, she is absolutely hilarious! Boy does she have a sense of humour. I found her to be incredibly relatable because I too have been known to have a few little obsessive compulsive tendencies. I saw a little bit of myself in her and I really connected to her because we share a little bit of a similar thought process. Julia's character development over the course of the novel was beautiful. It's a little bit of the typical: uptight-girl-meets-rebellious-boy-and-learns-to-loosen-up-a-little, but it is so much more interesting. 

Julia goes on a class trip to London and is stuck with a bunch of classmates with whom she shares no common interests. While they're all consumed with drinking and shopping, Julia can is the type of girl who has a pocket Shakespeare and a pencil sharpener in her purse. Julia gets paired up with Jason, the popular and slightly obnoxious boy with whom she's never gotten along as her trip buddy. Can you see where this is going? Oh yes, it is a hate-to-love romance, and a brilliant one at that! 

Julia is on a quest to find her MTB, her "Meant To Be" and Jason decides to lend her a hand. Cue the shenanigans and mishap. Jason forces Julia out of her comfort zone and together they experience the non-guidebook version of London.

I absolutely adored Jason. He made me giggle out loud on numerous occasions. He was hilarious, but even more so when paired with Julia. He is a totally normal seventeen year old boy who can at times be slightly cocky, but is also capable of being romantic and sweet. He starts off as a bit of a class-clown. He and Julia live on opposite sides of the spectrum and their interactions were so amusing. 

That plot twist at the end though. Oh my gosh, it had me yelling "WHAT? NO WAY!" at three in the morning. 

Meant to Be was a stellar debut from Lauren Morrill. This book was an incredibly amusing and enjoyable journey that carried so many laugh-out-loud moments! It's perfect for fans of contemporary novels such as Anna and the French Kiss!