REVIEW: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Title: Meant to Be
Author: Lauren Morrill
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 13, 2012
Format: egalley* 304 pages
Rating: 4/5 stars
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Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

My thoughts, feelings, and reactions.

I was looking for a light book to read, something that would make me smile and laugh. What I got in Meant to Be was exactly what I needed and more. It was cute, easy to read, and one fun book that I enjoyed very much!


Julia was one character that grew on me the more I got to know her while reading. To be honest, I thought she was too uptight and slightly annoying at first. As the story moved forward, I started to like her more and more. I found her love for Shakespeare, history and her constant need to follow rules very endearing. Julia was super accident prone and always embarrassing herself in some awkward situation, but this only made me warm up to her personality more and more. I found myself laughing because of her accidents and smiling when she recovered because Julia handled herself in such an adorable way even during her humiliation. I really loved Julia more when she started to have fun and break the rules a bit. She didn’t really change, but made herself open to more things. Julia learned that people are not who they seem to be or who she imagined them to be and I think that’s where she grows as a character and as a person. 

While the romance between Julia and Jason was slightly predictable, I loved their interaction, tension, and chemistry very much. Jason is the complete opposite of Julia. He’s a trouble-maker, continuously breaks the rules, and is a prankster to the core. This may have turned Julia off in the beginning, but soon she sees another side of Jason, one that is funny, caring, cute and sweet. His annoying childish ways became adorable to both me and Julia. I thought that Jason was misunderstood, mostly by Julia, and that he had a sort of depth quality in his personality where you really had to dig deep to get to the good stuff. Even with their differences and their little arguments, Jason and Julia form a friendship, a sort of bond that gets them to open up to one another and discover things about each other. They end up enjoying the company of one another and seeing their relationship bloom into something more was just a lovely thing to read.

What Lauren Morrill created in Meant to Be was one quick and clever read that was a complete page-turner. Her writing was very smooth, making it more than easy to zip through chapter after chapter. She gives us an adventure with Julia and Jason as they explore London and she gives us plenty of entertaining and sweet moments between the two that could make anyone’s heart beat fast. The best part is the genuine romance that develops throughout the story and the new light and meaning of what ‘meant to be’ really means. 

Although some moments were predictable and even when I had some hesitation in the beginning, I really loved Meant to Be in the end. It made me smile, it made me laugh, and it just gave me a good time. 

*Thanks to Random House for providing a copy for review