Girl Code: Never date a friend’s ex. Willa Evans has no intention of breaking the code. So what if she’s always secretly loved her next-door neighbor Zach? As her best friend’s boyfriend, he was always off-limits and it needs to stay that way, even though they just broke up. Even though every time she turns around he’s there, tempting her… No keeping secrets from your bestie. Flor … her…
No keeping secrets from your bestie.
Flor Hidalgo has a lot on her plate: her breakup with Zach, her dad’s new dating life, and her struggling grades. So why can’t she stop thinking about her hot, know-it-all tutor? At least she’s got Willa, her constant in the chaos.
Breaking the code breaks friendships.
Two friends find themselves tempted by love that defies the rules in this steamy romance perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Simone Elkeles.
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A funny, heartfelt, spot-on look at girl power and the way female friendship helps see us through the tough stuff and celebrate the awesome. With darn good romance in the mix too.
The characters are incredibly relatable and I was rooting for each girl to find her happily for now.
The Me I Meant to Be is every good and terrible thing about being a teen. It’s family. It’s friends. It is pressure to be what others want/need/demand.
The Me I Meant to Be is a story of two friends and their own troubled existence. What they see and what those around them see aren’t the same. Their lives aren’t what they appear. Their relationships aren’t what everyone thinks. They aren’t what everyone thinks.
Eventually it will all be clear…
Told admitting that I almost cried at the end. I am still fighting the feels. The Me I Meant to Be with all its problems was still a better experience than mine. Hopefully, others have far less ups and downs.
Full of steamy kisses and heartfelt moments, The Me I Meant to Be explores romantic relationships, but more importantly the difficult balance of the highs and lows of friendship as we figure out who we really are meant to be.
As soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. I have been a fan of the author, Sophie Jordan, for a long time, ever since I read her book, Uninvited. I’ve read several other books by her since then, but this was the first YA from her in awhile it seemed. While visiting the different publisher booths at ALA last summer, when I saw this one I immediately had to ask if they had a copy I could read. It was one of my unicorn ARCs that I was very happy to take home with me from New Orleans last June. I didn’t get to it as soon as I’d hoped, before release date last week. But, I was lucky enough that when I did get to it, January 3rd, I had nothing else I had to do that day, and was able to basically just sit and read almost all day long. Which I did, and I finished it in one day. I could barely put it down to do anything else. The characters were perfect, so realistic in my opinion. And so much about the story itself. There was the usual slut-shaming that you see in real life, but what I liked is that the girls, well, Willa at least – especially, called people out about it. Something that needs to be done. But it wasn’t all just about the romance. There were friendships to keep up with, both between the girls, Willa and Flor, and then also between Willa and Zach, Flor’s ex, but one of Willa’s best friends for longer than that. And it wasn’t like their home lives were perfect. Flor had issues with her dad and his new girlfriend. Willa was dealing with her older sister who had moved home with a baby and major depression. Then there was a surprise about Flor’s tutor towards the end that I didn’t see coming. Some hints about his home life had played out on one of their study sessions, and it totally did not go where I was assuming it would go. A great, emotional read, highly recommended, and one I’ll definitely be purchasing for my school library in the future.
So much more than a YA romance!
The Me I Meant to Be is the story of Willa and Flor navigating their senior year of high school while also dealing with real life, family, and love. The Girl Code edicts that head each chapter are so spot on and are what took this from being “just a YA romance” to a book that will resonate with every reader regardless of age or gender identification.
This story is very much the sum of its parts from the exploration of first and unexpected loves, to dealing with parental disappointments, to the illusion of perfection and having it all, to knowing when relationships are too precious to give up on or too toxic to hold onto.
Sophie Jordan’s voice is so resonate and fluid that regardless of the genre/sub-genre she’s writing in, you know it’s her and that you are going to get a story that makes you laugh, makes you want to cheer and cry alongside the characters, and makes you believe in love, whether it’s romantic love, friendship love, or familia love.