My second Morgan Matson book!
Rating: 3 stars
The Unexpected Everything was everything except unexpected. Let me start off with my expectations:
I thought it would be as epic as this:
But it was more like this:
Harsh I know, but it was simply too predictable.The Unexpected Everything follows Andie - a girl just trying to make the most of her summer when certain plans fall through. The main issue (SPOILER ALERT: i.e. Wyatt and Bri) was hinted at subtly at the beginning of the book, but was only more explicitly mentioned well past the halfway mark. It then took about 100 pages or so for it to fully come to light. That is the problem with this book - the pacing. It took quite a while for the story to be established and afterwards it seemed to not really move anywhere.
Overlooking these major disappointments, there were some great things about this book. The relationship between Andie and her Dad grows to something much more profound than what we saw at the beginning of the book. In the words of John Green, their connection formed “slowly, and then all at once”. But even then, the major problem between them (SPOILER ALERT: i.e. Andie's dad possibly going back to his job) was not really a problem at all because I already knew how it was going to be resolved! I do however concede that I did not ...SPOILER ALERT.... figure out that Clark was C.B. McCallister from the get go – so that was unexpected ...SPOILER FINISHED.... .
It was great to see that the side-characters weren't so much on the sidelines. They all felt real and three-dimensional. In fact, Toby’s obsession with rom-coms, Bri’s love of films and Palmer’s fierceness helped me to persist with the book. I also thought the use of text messages throughout the book was a nice addition that helped break up the long chapters. The main reason why I gave this book 3 stars as opposed to 2, is because ...SPOILER ALERT..... Bri and Toby don’t have a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for happy endings, but I enjoy it more when it’s messy, unfinished, complicated – realistic. I also liked how Andie grew throughout the novel and how her dreams changed ...SPOILER FINISHED.... .
Matson writes beautifully too and is almost poetic at times (e.g. “I could see that he had two deep dimples, like parentheses around his smile"; “So I nodded and let silence fall again. But it no longer felt oppressive and horrible…Now it felt like a pause in a longer conversation). The mirroring and symbolism was perfectly executed too (who knew laundry rooms could be so romantic?!).
Overall, this is a story of friendship, romance and taking chances. Although it is predictable, it will leave you feeling pleased nonetheless.
Most Memorable Quote
“I went to the library..got some books I’d been wanting to read for, oh, the last decade or so. And then proceeded not to read any of them.”
(relatable, especially if you’ve been in a reading slump like me!)
Leave me a comment readers because I'd love to hear what you think!
Love,
