The Unexpected Everything is the newest novel by Morgan Matson. Andie, the main character, like to have everything planned out and when her summer takes a turn, she has to try and go along with it having no plan on what this summer will have in store. It is a feel good story filled with friendship, first love, and everything else you would expect in a Morgan Matson book.
I love Matson's books. I think her writing is phenomenal and she writes beautiful summer stories. That said, this one is no different. It had all the elements of a typical Morgan Matson story, but I thought this one was lacking on quite a few things:
1. Plot. There was a plot in the beginning of the book and then by about 50% through we lost it. I thought the book could've wrapped up nicely around that. Andie had figured out her summer plans, she had a new boyfriend that she actually cared about, and her friends and her were still together. Of course that's not what happened and a bunch of stuff got added to the book that probably didn't need to be added. I was just lost on what the second half of the book really had to do with the first. Drama was added that didn't need to be, and I know we all appreciate a nice long contemporary read by a great author but this one was unnecessary.
2. Predictable. I know most contemporary books seem to be pretty predictable and Morgan Matson's books are not necessarily excluded from this but they're also so good that you can ignore the slight predictable element. This one was too predictable. I could've told you what was going to happen from 30% in because it happens in almost all summer books. The relationship crumbles because either someone intervened or the girl got scared about the way the relationship was going, she gets into a fight with either all her friends or one of her friends, she goes and chases the guy and tells him she loves him, her friends take her back in an emotional state, and everyone lives happily ever after. (Sorry if I ruined the plot for you, but I know that you know that you've read a book like this before so did I really spoil you?)
3. Characters. I can honestly say I liked only one character and it wasn't even the main character. I couldn't stand Andie at first. I thought she was stuck up and felt she was entitled because she was a senator's daughter (I don't think he was a senator, oops). When Clark was introduced and her relationship with him grew I saw changes in her that seemed to have resulted from him and I started to like her a bit more. I didn't care for Bri or Toby. I felt they were basically the same character and I just wasn't impressed. I did like Palmer, though. She was laid back and the most sane and normal friend out of the bunch.
Even though I had a lot of complaints, it's still a great book. It just wasn't up to my expectations. I rated it 3 stars out of 5. Here are some of her other titles you should definitely check out:
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Since You've Been Gone
Second Chance Summer
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