Book Review: Save The Date by Morgan Matson

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: June 5th, 2018
Series: Stand alone
Source: ARC / e-galley from Netgalley in exchange for honest review

Goodreads 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:

Save The Date is a perfect summer read! I've said this before about another Morgan Matson read, Since You've Been Gone. But it's true, there is something summery and flirty about these books, like they need to be read outside on a warm, bright, sunny day. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I was able to paint the picture in my head so clearly. With the playful banter between the family and the running around on the wedding day, it played out like a movie in my head. The only (minor) thing that I didn't love about Save The Date was it's predictability. There were so many obvious things about to go wrong, and each and everything that could, did. I'm not sure if Morgan Matson did this on purpose, or not, but I found that to get a little boring after the first few incidents.

Charlie is a fun, helpful and eager to please kind of girl. She would do whatever it takes to make the wedding weekend perfect, and to make sure things are running as smoothly as she can make them. And with everything going on in the upcoming days to the wedding, this keeps her extremely busy, almost too busy for her best friend Siobhan (who didn't play a huge part in the book and we could have done without her as the BFF, in my opinion). But along the way she learns that not everyone is as they seem, and sometimes you find friendship in the strangest of times. 

Overall, Save The Date is a fun read, especially if you have a big family (extended in my case) because you can so easily relate to this family - the lame jokes from one person (J.J), the b/f or g/f brought into all the inside jokes etc (Brooke), the noisy kitchen (everyone!!), the fun and exciting games (capture the flag) - it's all there. Though if you are planning your wedding this summer, maybe don't read this one right now, you don't want to start thinking that EVERYTHING can (and will) go wrong!