Cathy Reviews: The Unexpected Everything

My amazing mother in law Cathy is back today with her latest review!

THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING
Morgan Matson
Contemporary YA
Simon & Schuster
519 Pages
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Andie had it all planned out.

When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.

Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.

And where’s the fun in that?

CATHY'S THOUGHTS
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson lives up to its name. In Ms. Matson's newest YA romance, Andie thinks she has her life planned out and she likes it that way. Then her politician father gets caught up in a scandal and Andie's plans–and world–are turned upside down. Not only is her father home all summer, but Andie's camp plans fall through and she has to find a job. I was laughing out loud while reading about Andie's job search. It was treated with such humor. I could especially relate to when she was learning to be a dog walker. Her initial ineptness reminded me of me when I would try and walk Jenny's two boxers! It was all a little chaotic. (Jenny interjects - NONSENSE! They were low-energy, perfectly behaved dogs at all times. ALL TIMES! ;-)

Since this is a romance–meet Clark. He is the exact opposite of Andie and this adds some depth to the story. We get to enjoy a slow build up in the relationship. It's endearing reading about all the longing looks and early yearnings of young love. There was a nice natural progression to the romance. As with most YA novels, there is some teenage angst, but I found all the emotions to be real and not over exaggerated. It was a storyline that kept you turning the pages to see how the relationship was progressing. I do want to add that this is a big book but isn't a slow read.

Another enjoyable aspect of this book was the cast of characters that made up Andie's circle of friends. Several of them had their own side story that would intersect with Andie's, but each character was well-developed and engaging. Andie and her three best friends spend a lot of time texting. I found that to be imaginative and on trend. All the stories wrap up neatly by the end of the book but not in an overly contrived manner. They ended realistically. This book makes for a great summer read!

Rating: 4/5

Find Morgan:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my, or in this case Cathy's, honest opinion.