 Published: June 6, 2018 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers Synopsis: Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect. The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge. There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo. Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute. Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future. |
MY REVIEW
*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***
I love Morgan Matson books, Since You've Been Gone is the book that made me realize that I don't hate YA contemporaries, I just needed to find the right ones. Since then I have read all Morgan's new books and loved them all. So I jumped at the chance to be a part of the blog tour for this book. And it was a really good read.
What I liked about this book, and all Morgan Matson books, is that it is a really great balance between serious and fun. Like the previous books I have read there is a lot of humor to this book. I was definitely laughing and smiling numerous times while I was reading. It's a sweet and fun book with a lot of silly moments. Many of them were so outlandish that you could see it in a TV comedy or a movie. But there were also some heart-warming moments and some sad moments. It struck the right balance and made for an emotional and engaging read.
The heart of this book and what made it more sentimental was that it is essentially a story of family. What I loved about the Grant family that Morgan created here was that it was so realistic. It was a family that was inherently flawed. They didn't always get along but they still really loved one another. I loved that they had so much history and in-jokes. It reminded me of my family which was obviously relateable and enjoyable. I loved the way their story developed throughout the book as they came together.
But the plot on the whole wasn't as tight as it could be. For the most part I would say that this book just felt like a series of moments strung together over the course of a few days. I mean that's how life is, so it was realistic in that way, but it doesn't necessarily make the most cohesive and engaging book. And yes, the wedding and the hijinx that went along with it was a good basis for a story, and it built to an interesting conclusion, I just wish that there was more of a specific plot.
But this isn't really a plot-driven read. It's a character-driven book and it worked in that capacity. The main character of Charlie had to carry a lot of this book and that was fine with me. Charlie was a likable character if a little bland. She had some good development though and I like watching her try to go with the flow despite all the crazy things that were happening. But the secondary characters is where this book really shined. I loved all Charlie's siblings, especially JJ, her best friend Siobban , and even Bill. Usually I love Morgan's love interests and romances but in this book the romance was super basic and that I loved even more. Morgan knows how to write some great characters and this book was no exception.
All in all this was a really good read and I enjoyed it so much. It had a great balance between serious and fun, a fantastic family dynamic, and fun and likable characters.
I give Save the Day by Morgan Matson 9 out of 10 stars
FAVORITE QUOTES
"She loves that dog more than me,"... said to... shaking his head.
"Were you waiting for me to disagree with that?" p. 142
"I leaned against him, resting my head against his arm as I looked at everything that was there--everything our mother had done, for good and bad, this whole world she'd brought into existence with some paper and ink." p. 158
"It was a moment better than all the ones I'd been picturing, and I found myself wishing it had to end." p. 303
"How was it that you only fully realized what you had when it was gone? And I knew there would be new friends, new experiences, maybe even amazing adventures ahead of me. But I felt like I needed, for just a moment, to appreciate what I was-- what we all were--leaving behind." p. 416-7
BOOK LINKS
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TOUR SCHEDULE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morgan Matson was born in New York City and grew up there and in Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Occidental College inLos Angeles, but halfway through a theater degree, she started working in the children’s department of Vroman’s Bookstore and fell in love with YA literature. Following college graduation (and the proud bearer ofan incredibly useful thea-ter/English degree) she received her M.F.A. in Writing for Children from The New school and worked asan editor for YA novels. She received a second M.F.A. (for reasons that made sense at the time) in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
Her novels have been translated into dozens of languages, and published all over the world.
Morgan’s first novel, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, was inspired byher love of road trips, snacks, and the quest for the perfect playlist. It was named an ALA Top Ten Best Book, a Publisher’s Weekly Flying Start book, and was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Book Prize.
Her second novel, Second Chance Summer, was inspired by her experiences spending summers in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. It was the winner of the California Book Award (YA category) and was named to the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults List, selected for the Oklahoma Sequoya List, and selected as a School Library Journal Best Book.
Her third novel, Since You’ve Been Gone, was published in2014,and was a Pub-lisher’s Weekly and international bestseller. It was named to the YALSA Teens Top Ten list, and the Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award List.
Morgan’s fourth novel, The Unexpected Everything, was published May 3rd, 2016.
She currently lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Murphy.
GIVEAWAY
- Prize:3 copies of SAVE THE DATE by Morgan Matson
- US Only
- Starts: 6/4
- Ends: 6/21
Have you read Save the Date? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!
That's how I feel about YA contemporaries. I don't hate them but it has to be the right one for me. So maybe this book would work for me as well.
ReplyDeleteI've seen SO much hype for this book, so I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it! The characters do sound great, but I definitely tend to go for plot driven books. Maybe I'll keep it on my TBR just in case! Thanks for sharing!
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