Title: The Unexpected Everything
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary
Goodreads link
My rating in stars: 4 stars
My rating in words: Really liked this book
What it’s about:
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. If you wish to get your dogs trained, you have to get in touch with the experts on the link who can help you with the entire process. You can try here for dog training.
Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.
And where’s the fun in that?
My thoughts:
“The idea that you could rethink the thing you’d always thought you wanted and change your plan – it was almost a revolutionary concept. That you could choose what would make you happy, not successful”
Morgan Matson is the queen of summer books. I’ve only read two books by her so far, but I am officially declaring her queen and going on a Morgan Matson binge read. Because The Unexpected Everything was everything. Everything I wanted from a fun but heartwarming summer read. In short, I loved it and if you love any of the following, you should probably read it too:
– Fun summer adventures
This whole book is basically a 517 page long account of Andie’s summer, from start to finish. And you know what? I did not mind the length of this story one bit. I cherished every dog walk, every pizza date, every movie night and every scavenger hunt. It was an ode to summer and how it should be spent, whether you’re a teenager or an adult.
– Father / daughter relationships
The heart of this story really is the relationship between Andie and her estranged father and how they get past their differences together. Their awkwardness together in the beginning of this book is so palpable and I loved watching it evolve over time.
– Realistic friendship dynamics
Another main topic in this book is the friendship between Andie and her three best friends: Palmer, Toby and Bri (all girls BTW). I loved how their friendship was portrayed and I loved how it was very realistic (even though at the beginning I was really worried about that). Each girl had her own distinct personality and still the group dynamic felt so very right. They were not perfect, they made mistakes and I even loved the fights (in that love to hate kind of way).
Also, the text messages and the emojis cracked me up.
– Cute rom-com romance
Our main love interest is Clark, a homeschooled fantasy author. With a publishing deal and matching movie adaptations. He’s adorably awkward and cute and he’s pretty much every book lover’s dream guy. And even so, the relationship between him and Andie is still realistically written: there’s no instalove and there are awkward moments and miscommunication aplenty. And even though it was a realistically written romance, there were still plenty of rom-com elements in there. The ending alone was perfectly cheesy and swoon-worthy movie material.
– Dogs
Did I mention there are lots of dogs in this book? Big dogs, small dogs, cute dogs, fluffy dogs. I’m more of a cat person honestly, but still, this book made me want a dog.
I only have one nitpick and that is related to the friendship aspect of the story. I thought certain obstacles in the friendships were pretty predictable and I also did not like the fact at all that said obstacle was a guy. I wanted more of a ‘sisters before misters’ vibe and I was bummed I did not get that at all.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book and I really, really would like to see this turned into a movie!
Favorite quotes:
“I could do this. If whole galaxies could change, so could I.”
“You have to try. You have to take your chances. Go and attempt and see what happens. And even if you fail – especially if you fail – come back with your experience and your hard-won knowledge and a story you can tell. And then later you can say, without regret or hesitation… ‘Once, I dared to dare greatly”
“It’s always a risk. Wherever there is great emotion, because there is power in that. And few people handle power well.”
“Sometimes we get a little bit of a facade. We think we have people. Family, friends… but in the end, it’s just you and the darkness. Everyone leaves eventually, my young friend. It’s better, really, to learn early. This way, you can save yourself some disappointment. Because believing you’re not alone is the cruelest trick of all.”