The Unexpected Everything: A Book review

Do you believe in the Murphy’s Law that says ‘there is no perfect plan‘? I do. And I do it with such vigor that I dread making plans. And reading about Type A personalities that have all their plans fail does no good to me at all. Yet the things we do for the love of reading. Read about one such summer plan in The Unexpected Everything and find how it turns out.

About The Unexpected Everything

Book Name: The Unexpected Everything

Author: Morgan Matson

Genre: Fiction – Young Adult, Drama

Characters: Alexandra Walker (Andie), Palmer Alden, Sabrina Choudhury (Bri), Tobyhanna Mlynarczyk (Toby), Alexander Walker.

Setting: Connecticut, The USA

Plot Summary of The Unexpected Everything

Andie is the type A daughter of the Congressman, Alexander Walker. She has been told what to talk, when to smile and how to live. She has a close knit group of friends who are supposed to be together forever. Her love life is designed to last for three weeks and without much heart break. This summer everything changes. 

Her father takes a leave from his office due to some political scandal and her pre- pre -med internship falls through and all the good spots are taken. Her on-off relationship with Topher is getting dangerous and even he has an internship at his father’s office. And to make matters worse her friends are fighting over a boy. 

But there are a few good things as well. First she meets a very cute and nerdy guy, Clark. Then she get to be a dig walker (Trust me it is good). And her relationship with her father improves or they at least try to. You need to read the book to know more. 

Book review of The Unexpected Everything

I had seen The Unexpected Everything being raved by so many of my favorite bloggers for a while now, so I was excited to read it for my A-Z 2018 reading challenge. So I knew I was not going to disappointed by this one.  And I wasn’t.

On the positive side, it has all the ingredients of a perfect read – a group of smart girls who are best friends, a lot of dogs, and a super nerdy male lead, who is an author. Sounds perfect right? Sadly, it took me a lot longer than I thought it would take and I don’t think it is a good thing.

Things that worked for me

• I loved Morgan Matson’s writing. The dialogues are witty yet very realistic. 
• Andie’s friends are super normal (and that is a rare thing these days) and the author makes sure we are engrossed by their tale right on.
• The chemistry between Clark and Tom was just perfect. They are “cool guy friends” and it didn’t feel forced. Usually I hate how forced the friendship is between the boyfriends of besties. 
• I also liked that Andie and Clark were not all consumed with love. I mean I liked the romance but it is just part of the whole story. 
• The scavenger hunt theme was awesome. Why are my friends not having one?

Things that didn’t work for me

• The book is sooooo long. It is a YA contemporary, it need not be over 400 pages. At times I just wanted to give up. 
• There were places where the pace of the story fell and I just couldn’t keep myself awake. And then all of a sudden it ends. Sigh. 
• The story line is super predictable and there is nothing that you have not read elsewhere. 
• I never got how the father – daughter dynamic improved. I mean they did have years of strained relationship, and a couple of dinners made it all good? Hmm. maybe I am over thinking this. 

Bottom – line

Despite its flaws, The Unexpected Everything is definitely a cool YA contemporary that glorifies friendship and is perfect for a summer beach read or a snuggled up read on a rainy afternoon. I will definitely read Morgan Matson’s other books, if they were a tad shorter than this one.

Reviews of related books

• Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Hating Game, The by Sally Thorne
• Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

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Let us chat

Have you read The Unexpected Everything? Have you found any other book of the author’s and liked them? Do you believe in Murphy’s law? Let us chat.