The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Well…this was unexpected. My friend actually bought me a good book. I can’t tell you how many books this friend has bought me over the years that have been…well, I don’t know quite how to put it. Sucky? Nothing that I really wanted to read? That could describe it.
We’ve had Passion by Lauren Kate (the third book when I never even wanted or had read the second book), Teardrop by Lauren Kate (still sitting on my desk shelf which it has…for as long as it has been out), Paper Towns by John Green (when I talked about how pretentious The Fault in Our Stars was), and Once Upon a Dream (which at a 3 star was the highest I thought it could be but was something I actually wanted).
So when I got this book, I was excited – even though I’m pretty sure she bought it for me just so she could read it later on. Anyway, it seemed like a fantastic premise and I would get some much needed adorable feels. The perfect summer read…and then I’m not entirely sure what happened. It took me how many months in the middle of autumn to pick it up – but it was well worth it.
The Unexpected Everything is about a girl named Andie. Her dad is a congressman whose campaign has just gotten under hot water for possible shady dealings, and Andie is more than ready to escape for the summer to her pre-med program far, far away from her absentee father. Until the floor – or should I say internship – is pulled out from underneath her and she’s stuck at home for the summer with no summer job prospects (man, these kids were on top of it – I just sat at home and read in the safety of my living room). The only thing that is left is…dog walking, le gasp! But Andie is soon about to realize that this summer – while unexpected – might be giving her everything she didn’t know she was missing.
Okay, guys and gals, this story was adorable…and a lot realer than what I was expecting. It
got me close to feeling like I might even shed a tear for it – which…okay, I can’t even remember the last time I cried for a book. This book was laugh out loud funny at times, emotional, and heart-warming – everything a great contemporary should be.
The characters were great. Can you tell you just how much I loved Andie’s friend group? They were all individual, real characters, and it seemed like they were people I knew. There was a lot of people in this novel – much more than normal – but Matson paid special attention to making sure to make them all dynamic beings that I could pull out of a crowd. I definitely could see where all of these characters were coming from, and I loved especially Andie, Clark, Andie’s dad, and Tom. I don’t know why, but I found Tom hilarious.
The romance was adorable as well. I loved Clark, and I loved how real he felt. It wasn’t instalove – it took time and effort for both of them to get to where they got. It felt natural, and I definitely felt the feels for them.
The only real issue that I had for this book was the amount of plots going on. There was a lot. I mean, a lot, a lot. You had the romance between Andie and Clark, the dog-walking situation, Andie and her dad, her dad’s campaign problems, Andie and her mom issues, Toby and Wyatt, Wyatt and other issue, Clark and his writing block issues, do I really want to go into pre-med thoughts, Topher, and more. I mean, that’s a lot going on for a contemporary – and it showed with over 400 pages. Don’t get me wrong – I really enjoyed this book and these plots. But I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I had a few were cut down or the length of the novel. At some point, I just kept asking myself, when is this book going to be done? Again, it wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying it, I just felt like it needed to end with what I know and feel about contemps.
Other than that, this book was pretty much perfect. I enjoyed it immensely. I loved the romance, I loved the feels, I loved the depth and realness of the characters, I loved the emotions it brought, and I loved the storylines. It is a great read – and not just for summer. If you want a good contemp romance, look no further because this book is it. I just wish it had been a tad shorter – and it would have all the stars from me. Still, I definitely recommend you read it. This Book Princess is definitely glad she did.
Check it out:
Have you read this yet? What were your thoughts? Have you had a friend/family member be a terrible book buyer for you as well? Let me know – and we can be sad over our book gifts together.
Book Princess Reviews 
7 thoughts on “The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson”