Review : Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Mean To Be
Author : Lauren Morrill
Publisher : Delacorte Books
Publication Date : November 13th 2012
Goodreads - The Book Depository

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.

Personal Thoughts

There was no doubt that Meant To Be was going to be a book that I was going to immediately purchase when I saw that it was being described as similar to Anna and the French Kiss. Plus, it has an incredibly attractive cover that simply dazzles. You can probably guess that I went into the book expecting a lot. Fortunately, I was very satisfied with the story of Meant To Be.

Julia is on a field trip to London along with her classmates. A straight A student and a Shakespeare buff, Julia has her trip all planned out. But her plans go awry, when Jason, the red-headed class clown is assigned her buddy. The girl who follows every single rule finds herself breaking rules. Soon, she's receiving mysterious romantic text from a hot Brit, but deep down she still thinks of Max, her childhood crush as her meant to be. However, she doesn't expect London to change her perspective of love and meant to be!

Julia was the sort of girl who always has her nose in a book and was very much studious, which is most definitely a description of me. That was why I found it easy to connect with her character. Her enthusiasm for Shakespeare's work and anything romantic was simply contagious. I loved seeing her character grow throughout the story from this bookish young girl to this slightly wild character (not in a bad way) who learns to have fun. But Julia wasn't likeable at all times. In fact, I thought she came off as cold, rude and sometimes very bitchy, especially when it came to Jason and her other classmates. She had an attitude to her that screamed "I'm better than everyone", like Jason pointed out. Although, those personality traits of her annoyed me to no ends, I managed to disregard it since she was being that way unknowingly. Jason was a very lovable guy. Mischief, pranks and dirty jokes seemed to be the only words in his vocabulary, but I found his character to be entirely too cute. In a way, I saw him as a very realistic character. Sure, at times, his childish behavior could be frustrating, but it was never overwhelming. Behind the prankster, lay a guy who had gone through his fair share of family problems. Needless to say, Julia hated his guts initially. But when they start to hang out, she got to know more about him and realizes that there was more to Jason. What ensues is a sweet romance between two completely opposite characters.

I will admit that the plot is extremely predictable. In fact, I spotted the love interest of the book from the very first chapter. But there were a couple parts that did take me by surprise. The thing is Meant To Be was a purely entertaining read for me. With its gorgeous and rich setting, I knew I was in for a treat. London is described vividly and beautifully in the book. I've never been to London before, but I felt like, in a certain way, I got the opportunity through Julia's eyes. The book was peppered with descriptions of the culture and background of London and I absolutely loved it! The trips that Jason and Julia take were the highlights of Meant To Be, at least for me. I thought that Lauren Morrill's writing was absolutely perfect for illustrating the beauty and magic of London. Her writing was gorgeous and hooking! The next best thing of Meant To Be was the sweet romance. It grew from this dislike between the two characters to a heart-warming friendship and eventually into a heart-racing romance. I adored the interactions between the Jason and Julia. They could at the same time be hilarious and adorable! I loved how they had prejudices against each other and how they slowly shed these very prejudices once they started to really get to know each other. What pleased me even more was there was nothing instant about the romance in Meant To Be. However, I should warn you that the path to Jason's and Julia's HEA wasn't all about smooth-sailing. Instead, they had to overcome so many frustrating obstacles. I won't lie, Jason's hot and cold attitude towards Julia irked me very much, but I don't think the book would have had much of a plot without the obstacles.

For a debut novel, Meant To Be was great. It wasn't without its flaws, but it was indeed highly enjoyable. If you're looking for a book to read when you're down or on a sunny day outside, Meant To Be is perfect since it's a book that will cheer you up and will keep you grinning at its cuteness from start to finish!

Rating

Cover : 5/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5