Young Adult Books Written by Morgan Matson

So I recently read a book by Morgan Matson and was inspired to write this post on all her books that I have read.
Now Morgan Matson is a Young Adult author with a primary focus on the romantic genre (though there is a lot of family and friendship aspects to her books as well).

The first book of hers that I read was Save the Date which was a refreshing take on how someone has to grow up from her family home and realize there is no such thing as “perfect”.

Charlie Grant's older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can't wait for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.

The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. There's the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won't stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.

There are the relatives who aren't speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo. Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner's nephew is unexpectedly, distractedly cute.

Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she'll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

I felt like this book shaped up to be a really good time though there was a lot of ridiculous things that would happen that wouldn’t normally happen in the real world. However, I did like the main character, Charlie, and her interactions with her family in the book. I liked that the focus wasn’t on the romance but on the familial aspects of Charlie’s life. I also liked how the romance wasn’t added in as an after-thought but was integrated into the rest of the plot seamlessly. I did have some gripes with the plot but had to brush it off at the end ‘cause it didn’t really matter overall.

The next book that I read of her was Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour. This was a slightly different book than Save the Date as there was no family interactions here but the major plot was on the romance and on Amy and Roger.

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

In this book, I did wish for more family aspects, especially more interactions/ flashbacks with her father. The lack of this information didn’t really help me connect with their bond together and I wasn’t into it as I could have been. There was also a part in the book where we go to meet Roger’s ex-girlfriend and meet her brother which I didn’t like. I thought that aspect could have been done better or even replaced with something else that would explain Amy’s character growth that was needed during those scenes.

This next book by Morgan Matson I have just recently read. I did not like it as much as the other two books, which is called The Unexpected Everything.

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?

I just didn’t connect with the secondary characters (except Tom the perfect angel) and really disliked their drama and their interactions with the main character. I didn’t think the main character had good relationships with anyone in the book, except her father and Tom (who seemed like a better friend than her actual “best” friends). I didn’t like all the jumps that were happening in the latter part of the book and I didn’t really feel like we got to see the growth of Andie and Clark’s relationship in a natural way. But overall, I was ok with the book though I did feel like it could have gone better.

I haven’t read the other books by Morgan Matson (Since You’ve Been Gone and Second Chance Summer) but I might get to them later on (maybe in the summer, coincidentally).

You can find her works on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3351454.Morgan_Matson?from_search=true and her website is https://www.morganmatson.com/.