Welcome aboard the review train! I'm Genni, and welcome to my blog! Today I'll be participating in the 2016 Review Train, hosted by Brittany at Space Between the Spines. Every day there will be one stop from the train reviewing a summery read. If you want to know more about the train, check out this page here! Today I will be reviewing Morgan Matson's most recent release, The Unexpected Everything.The Unexpected Everything was amazing.
Morgan Matson's novel is full of life and I couldn't put it down.The one thing I was worried about was that the novel wouldn't live up to my expectations. I had high ones, given that Since You've Been Gone is one of my favorite contemporary novels. Let's just say that this book didn't just meet my expectations, but exceeded them.
If you don't know, the Unexpected Everything is a YA contemporary about Andie, the daughter of a politician recently in scandal. Her summer plans fall through, and now she is faced with uncertainty, which certainly isn't Andie's normal pace. She likes things planned and routine, and her summer is the opposite of that. I loved Andie's character and her group of friends. They all had distinct personalities, and I really connected to them. Matson isn't afraid to give her characters flaws, and it makes them that much more real. Every single character is complex and none are used to just move the story along. If I looked at all the characters though, the two that spoke to me the most were Andie and her father, Alexander. The development of their relationship was one of my favorite aspects of the novel. They start off as ships passing in the night with the same familiarity that strangers have. I had so much fun seeing them rebuild the bridges they burned after the death of Andie's mother five years ago.
The Unexpected Everything had the perfect balance between fun and heavy. There were times when I was laughing out loud, and there were times that I was crying. This book put me through an emotional ringer, and I wouldn't ask anything less of it. Andie's character development is one for the books. She's initially this controlled girl who never lets his guard down and seeing her open up was great to experience. It was for sure one of my favorite parts of the novel.
To be honest, I have no qualms about this book at all. I loved every aspect of it. All of the relationships (familial, romantic, and friend-wise) were all fleshed out. They were realistic and I felt as if I went to Stanwich right now, I would see Andie and the crew hanging out.
There is a lot more that I can talk about (the book within the book, that ending, the dogs, etc.), but then this review would go on forever. To put it in short, I adored everything about this book. This has been just the second book that I have loved this year and I loved every second of it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good YA contemporary. This is a chunky book (519 pages!) but it is worth every page. The novel has great character development and relationships, and they have dogs to boot! This was the perfect book to kickstart my summer.
With that, I give this book
5 out of 5 Stars!
Be sure to check out the other participants of the train! Here they are along with the schedule:
May 30th - Genni at Ready, Set, Read is reviewing The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
May 31st - Lauren at Always Me is reviewing Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs
June 1st - Laura at Blue Eye Books is reviewing The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
June 2nd - Sam at Tsundoku Books is reviewing Even if the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia
June 3rd - Czai at The Blacksheep Project is reviewing Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
June 4th - Alicia at A Kernel of Nonsense is reviewing The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
June 5th - Ashley at [Insert Title Here] is reviewing Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
June 6th - Sinead at Less Reality, More Books is reviewing The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
June 7th - Ashley at What's She Reading? is reviewing Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
June 8th - Brittany at Space Between the Spines is reviewing Summer Days and Summer Nights by Stephanie Perkins et al + GIVEAWAY! =D
Once again, thanks for Brittany for letting me take part in this great experience. I'm looking forward to the other reviews!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!
Happy Reading!
Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!