Review: Save the Date

Save the Date by Morgan Matson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As per usual, Morgan Matson writes some great characters and sweeps you away into her cute stories. Unfortunately, Save the Date wasn't one of my favorite Matson reads, but that doesn't mean I didn't still enjoy it.

I wasn't immediately sucked into Save the Date. The way that Matson led into the sibling and family relationships wasn't my favorite and it took me a long time to get to a point in the novel where I felt like I was in the swing of things with the Grants. I really wonder if part of it was the length of the novel- the first half seemed exceedingly slow and honestly was a little unnecessary. Some of the writing seemed clunky- I went back and reread sections because it was just heavy and confusing. And finally, I guessed most of the big surprises, which was a little disappointing.

However, let me give you some pros: I still definitely enjoyed this novel. Although the wedding nightmares made me physically cringe, they were so entertaining. The entire Grant family was perfect- they were so funny and each had such a distinct personality.

Summary: (view spoiler)[ Charlie Grant is excited for her sister's wedding because all four of her older siblings will be back in town- well, she's not excited for her older brother Mike to come home and cause drama with her parents. But, turns out, things are a little crazy. Charlie is trying to hide her attraction to Mike's best friend, coordinate with the wedding planner's nephew, Bill, to solve all of the issue's that pop up in Linnie's wedding, and deal with her large, crazy family as the last edition of her mom's comic based on their family is published.

As the wedding slowly breaks down before Charlie's eyes, she gets into a fight with her best friend about her dedication to her family, realizes that her siblings aren't always perfect, discovers that her parents are getting a divorce, and understands why Mike was so hurt by her mom's inclusion of his private life in the comic strip. Charlie discovers that she doesn't just want to be a hook up with Mike's best friend, and discovers a potential attraction to Bill. The novel ends on a hopeful note- Charlie understands that her family isn't perfect, but accepts them for who and what they are as she leaves the nest and plans on attending Northwestern in the Fall. (hide spoiler)]

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