ARC Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson + THE FREAKING FEELS


Title: The Unexpected Everything
Author: Morgan Matson
Pages: 496 pages
Published: May 3rd, 2016
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Rating: 5/5 stars
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?

Preorder now!
** Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced copy. YOU GUYS ARE FOREVER IN MY DEBT. I FREAKING LOVE YOU. **

Morgan Matson is my freaking spirit animal. And I'm not even joking when I say that she's my all-time favorite contemporary author. After reading Since You've Been Gone in the summer of 2014, I was immediately drawn to Matson's powerful character development, the great atmosphere of her books and the fantastic writing.

The Unexpected Everything follows Andie, or Alexandra (hey, that's my name... kind of). Andie seemingly has everything-- money, a group of best friends, an opportunity of a lifetime to attend a summer program at John Hopkins and, of course, a boyfriend (well.. more like boyfriends). She's basically got her entire summer planned down to the last detail. Her father is a member of Congress who spends 90% percent maintaining his job, and 10% with his daughter. That is, until a scandal appears to accuse her father. It's amazing how one scandal could change everything. Before the scandal Andie had everything figured out. And now? She got to learn how to ride with the waves of life and that not everything in life happens as planned. Things happen for a reason.

Every Morgan Matson book invokes a summery vibe that is consistent and makes me think about grabbing my swimming trunks and diving into the nearest body of water. I swear, every time I picked up my copy it I felt like I was teleported to somewhere sunny. It's Matson's trademark and thankfully, instead of making her books redundant, it actually differentiates her writing from anything else on the market.

You would think that contemporaries aren't quite as action packed as, say, fantasy books or mystery/crime novels. There was so much going on and thus, I insanely finished this 500 pg book in two sittings. There was also a scavenger hunt aspect as well, like in SYBG, but it was played out in different ways.

The main character, however, we must talk about her. I loved every other character in the book, except for Andie. There was something about her... OH YES! Like the whole on-and-off again dating? The book tells us that Andie has never been in a relationship for more than a few weeks. I don't slut-shame at all but I really do think the author took it too far with Andie's stubborn and hardly sentimental personality. At times, I felt like she was so distant from the rest of the characters. I think Morgan Matson just used one of the my most despised book tropes in YA, which is girl has trouble staying in long term relationships, girl meets guy, girl falls in love and gets into long term relationship with him, but girl suddenly realizes she's not cut out for long term relationship. Some will argue that Andie is a heavily flawed and sensible character but I'm sorry, I despised her. I'm just being honest but that did nothing in taking my enjoyment away from this book. A lot of people loved her, I just didn't.

Matson's writing just proves that she was born to write contemporary. She can make you laugh, make you smile inside and even make your heart beat wildly because of the fricking adorable romance. Her story is also written responsibly with topics that delve into family, loss, betrayal, friendship and romantic relationships.

I was talking to my friend on Instagram Tamara @ Tamaraniac because she got an early copy as well. We both agreed that the events that were carried out by these characters were beyond frustrating and didn't line up with what we had in mind. They were also what gave this book the substance it needed and the potential to be more realistic rather than following a perfect story line. In fact, Tamara loved the idea of it being frustrating and said it actually added a lot to the book. I can totally agree. You can read Tamara's review here!

Even through all the angst and heartache, this book deserves nothing less than a 5 star rating. It's a contemporary masterpiece that has a cute romance but doesn't depend entirely on the romance to keep it afloat. It's a treasure among my collection and a reminder of how I need to be reading more Morgan Matson. To fans of the romance in Jenny Han's To All The Boys I've Loved Before. And even if you're not a huge fan of romance, just remember that this book has a ton of humor and a scavenger hunt that will have you wishing you were apart of the story!


You may also like:

15 comments

  1. ahhh, now I' so much more excited for this book!! Ever since Since You've Been Gone, I told myself that I'll read anything Morgan Matson will write.. I will definitely keep your comments on Andie in mind :)

    czai @ the Blacksheep Project

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I was in the same position. After SYBG, I swore to myself that I would read anything that Morgan Matson so much as spits out. I have to buy her other books but I do have some of her novels that were written under alias, Katie Finn. Thanks for reading, and I really hope you enjoy it when it comes out.

      Delete
  2. So glad you loved it. SYBG was what convinced me that I don't hate contemporary romances. I'm so excited about this one and to read more of Morgan's books. Bummer that you didn't like the MC though. I usually don't mind that too much so I'm still super excited.
    Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad that you brought that up because last year I had trouble reading contemporary books. I read 9 contemporary books out of 85 total and I was so upset at myself. This year, I've obviously been trying to break that number and Morgan Matson is just making it so much easier for me. I can't wait for you to read it!

      Delete
  3. NO FREAKING WAY. I wanted a copy of this SO BADLY it HURT. Morgan Matson IS one of my favorite contemporary authors too. I read SYBG in the summer and when I was done with it I had wanted a summer like Emily's and I tried to be spontaneous and drink lots of lemonade and go swimming and be with friends but I ended up holed up in my room with a pile of books :P
    Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL Morgan Matson's covers are??? Because, really....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Her covers win for the category of contemporary! Oh goodness if you were obsessed with SYBG, you're going to die when you read this. I love how Matson infuses scavenger hunts and lists in her books and I feel like for some reason, SYBG and this one are connected just because of the covers. Who knows? Maybe she'll write a book with the characters coming together.

      Delete
  4. love morgan matson. I need to get this book. She knows how to deliver the feels. It may see frustrating at first when things don't go the way you see them going, but I find this author to do that to just break our hearts then put them back together again. great review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, you really described that well! That's exactly what she did, although, I don't think my heart is quite put together yet :( Enjoy it when you read it!!

      Delete
  5. Lovely review! I loved this one too and Matson does such a wonderful job with invoking all of the summer vibes. It's one of the many reasons why I love her books so much. I can definitely understand why you didn't like Andie. I personally loved her, but she was certainly a flawed and frustrating character at times. Matson is definitely one of my favorite contemporary YA writers though and I already can't wait for her next book. I also really want to go on that scavenger hunt now. :)

    Traci @ The Reading Geek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right! Traci, I would like to think that I'd do very well on that scavenger hunt if someone put me up to it. Thanks for understanding too! I, too, understand why you like Andie and despite her many faults, she's an interesting and intelligent person. She also weirdly describes me, now that I think about. I can relate to her but I don't like her... well that's weird. SO I don't like myself?? LOL but thanks for reading my review and the book was amazing!

      Delete
  6. I love, love, love Morgan Matson books, so as you can imagine, I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING. This post makes me so excited; I'm happy (and relieved) to hear this book does not disappoint. Like you said, "Morgan Matson is my freaking spirit animal." Ahahaha. In all seriousness, great review, Alex! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. :-)

    Julia Anne @ Peach Print

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Julia. Honestly I didn't feel like this book was going to let me down and let's consider that I only read one Morgan Matson book before reading this one. That's how good she is, which I'm sure you're well aware of. I really hope you enjoy this one when you read it and that it makes its way among your favorites.

      Delete
  7. Great review! I really liked this one, too! And I know what you mean about Andie -- I really loved everyone in this book but it took me longer to warm up to her, especially since Clark was so freaking amazing!!

    my review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't wait to read your review since you know where I'm coming from. Yeah I thought CLark was too good for her... seriously -.-

      Delete
  8. Wow, okay I'm picking up a Morgan Matson novel yesterday!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting and go ahead, leave some comments! I'll answer in a jiffy.

© The Book's Buzz . Design by MangoBlogs.