The Me I Meant to Be by Sophie Jordan
Publication Date: January 1, 2019
(Shout out to the HMH Teen booth at Yallwest for the ARC)
I went into this thinking I would not like it. I mean it features one of my least favorite tropes: best friends having feeling for/dating the same guy. Yet I had the desire to pick it up and surprisingly I got into it (I read most of in one sitting). I had some issues and I liked Flor a lot more than Willa, but overall it was a fun and quick read.
What I liked:
- Flor and Grayson (their chemistry was great)
- I just have a soft spot for nerdy guys okay
- It mentioned some social issues that it could have easily ignored
- That being said, they don’t really discuss them, so please don’t pick this up thinking it’s going to have an in-depth analysis of social issues
- The whole “Girl Code” thing, even though it wasn’t super relevant to story, it was a nice addition
- How fast I got into the story, I have been having a hard time getting into books recently, but I fell right into this one
- There were some great quotes and inner monologues by the characters
- Seeing two different family dynamics
- Family is a big part of each of the girl’s storylines and it was great to see the struggles the two families go through
What I did not like:
- There is no overarching plot, it relies on following these two girls for a set amount of time
- For being best friends Willa and Flor rarely hang out and text (maybe I am just a clingy friend…)
- Willa’s entire plot line, to be fair that is because I don’t like it when characters are like “we can’t be together because of _____ reason” and then just make out two seconds later, only to repeat the whole thing two chapters later
- I did like her family plot line though and seeing her relationship with her sister
- It seemed too dramatic, Flor and Zack were barely together and yet she seemed so sure they were going to get back together
- The ending felt was weird and rushed
- Again, we don’t see Flor and Willa interacting that much and no spoilers, but it did not feel real to me
To be honest, I think I would have liked this a whole lot more if Flor was the main character and Willa was a side character. Since it was dual POV, their character arcs felt a bit stunted at times. I would have liked the book to be a bit longer to see more character growth with their various relationships.
3/5
xoxo, Tree
Goodreads Link: The Me I Meant to Be
Words About Words 