Julia is constrained by so many self-imposed expectations, it's almost impossible for her to see what's right in front of her. In this story, that turns out to be Jason who alternately irritates and confuses her through their class trip to London. She has it firmly set in her head that a guy back home named Mark is her MTB-meant to be, much like her late father was to her Mom.
The London trip not only proves her wrong, it does so in funny and embarrassing ways. Reading about them is good for more than a few chuckles. ( )

*3.5 stars*
Julia is going on a class trip to London, alone. Well actually she's going with a whole group of people but her best friend isn't going and everyone that is knows her as "Book Licker". That's ok because she is here to LEARN. As long as everything goes as planned Julia will be just fine. She's packed more books than clothes, and she's ready to get the most out of this educational experience.

But pretty much right away, things don't go as planned. First she gets paired up with Jason, the class-clown type who loves breaking all the rules. Julia is a rule-follower, so you know this is going to be bad. But Jason actually gets Julia to loosen up... and even though she's stuck on the idea of a childhood crush (Mark) being her Meant to Be, she starts texting with a guy she supposedly met at a party.... and her London adventure begins!


So Julia is a super uptight nerd-alert type, and at first I didn't think I was going to be able to take her. Especially when she started throwing out the "MTB's" (teen talk at it's finest). But as the book went on the girl actually changed. She became fun. And Jason did that. After that first party, she became less-annoying Julia and more London-Julia. I liked the evolution, and the foreign-country setting made it believable. What better time to let loose than on a dream vaca? I thought the Jason character was sweet at times, but other times just a little too rude to be so easily forgiven. I wish he was more balanced because I didn't 100% root for him. Without giving away the ending I wanted to tell you guys that even though you kind of know where it's headed, there is a twist at the end ...and I kind of celebrated a little when I got to that point because I really hate when I know what's going to happen.

The setting is what made this book. It was great reading about them running around London going to these museums and historic places, but then sneaking off and going to places like a skate-park or parties or pubs. I am really starting to love books set in Europe! I also liked the flow of this book. It was a fun, light, easy read. More of a beach read than anything else.

Now: The cover!! From what I've seen this cover is really popular. I can see why, it's so pretty (even though the 2 people on there look like they are 25 not high schoolers).

Overall: For fans of YA Contemporary or if you just need a break from all that end of the world stuff that is running rampant in YA right now, you should read this book. If you liked Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins... you'll probably be into this too (although none of the boys in this book is as hot as Etienne, but who is?).

My blog:
http://pinkpolkadotbookblog.blogspot.com ( )

Parts of it were interesting, parts - amusing.
Overall - could have been a great deal better. But it's not.

Final Thoughts: So very "Blah".

EDIT 20-04-19 : I remember absolutely nothing about this book. ( )

Too often I’ve read books presented as romantic comedies only to find there isn’t really any comedy, that’s become even more prevalent in the era of misleading illustrated covers that always look fluffy and fun yet are sometimes quite the opposite, I’m good with a straight up serious romance just not if the dust-jacket promises otherwise.

Happily with Meant To Be, the outside of the book is very much a match for its insides, sure there’s a tiny bit of well-conveyed emotional gravitas with Julia and Jason’s parental situations, but for the most part this is a study in joy and humor from embarrassing mishaps to bickering and outright pratfalls (perhaps a couple pratfalls too many if that’s not your idea of funny).

Jason may not be the guy for every reader, he does exhibit plenty of immaturity, yet rather than annoy me, I liked how realistic that felt, he seemed like an actual teenage boy. Also, the immaturity was nicely balanced out by a few fizzy sweet gestures that never fail to throw Julia into an entertaining confusion since she considers Jason a nemesis of sorts and yet there he is doing some decidedly un-nemesis like things.

I loved Julia, too, her nerdy devotion to organization, pencils, and Shakespeare, her endearing adoration of her parents’ romance and her self-consciousness and imperfections (she’s just as prone to mistakes and saying the wrong thing as Jason is), she came off as relatable and real, like the junior version of a Nora Ephron heroine.

The ending arrived a little sooner than I would have preferred, still I liked where things go for Julia and what a fantastically enjoyable reading experience overall. ( )

Ese momento en que de verdad se necesitan las medias estrellas. ¡Goodreads, por favor! Un poco más de código solo le falta a la web, Booklikes te está ganando... ( )