The Unexpected Everything - Morgan Matson

I have heard quite a lot about Morgan Matson. Apparently she is the 'queen of contemporary'  and gets great reviews in line with this on multi-media platforms. Last summer, I read 'Amy and Roger's Epic Detour' and I enjoyed it enough to want to read more from this author. Initially I picked up 'The Unexpected Everything' because it was the newest novel from Matson and seemed like an ideal way to start my summer reading. I was also trying to get out of a reading slump and thought it would be fairly easy reading in order to get enthralled by reading again.

This book follows Andie whose plans for summer are 'ruined' by her father who is a congressman having to have the summer off after a scandal breaks out. Factor in a dog walking summer job and a cute boy and it’s a great recipe for a contemporary novel. Ok so my initial thoughts we similar to previous contemporary novels I've read. The main character got quite an easy ride considering all the different things going on in their life. In the second half of the novel, more challenges came to light and this made the ending more satisfying and kept me more gripped. I enjoyed Andie as a character but she was full of uncertainty and made the usual mistakes. Her involvement with Clark was enjoyable to read and I 'ship' these two together as they had some really cute moments. I liked the way the book addressed the often scary idea of change when clearly Andie did similar things over summer previously. This represents teenage life as a lot of changes happen in all senses during a relatively short period. I thought perhaps there should have been more on the scandal during the book as it was only addressed at a few points and was almost forgotten at others. Of course I understand romance is most important to readers.

I would recommend this book to lovers of contemporary or people who want a solid summer read. I will be picking up more of Morgan Matson's books in the future as I largely enjoy her characters and the way she creates interesting plot lines, which are different from others in the genre.

Happy reading

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