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Meant to Be
In a world where the names of MTBs—"meant to be" mates—appear on the body at age eighteen, a girl must decide whether to believe the phenomenon or follow her heart in this YA novel.
It started happening a few years ago: the names of MTBs—"meant to be" mates—appeared emblazoned on the skin at age eighteen. Agatha's best friend has embraced the phenomenon and is head over heels in love with her MTB. But Ag isn't so sure. As she searches the interwebs for her MTB (who has a common name, no less) she finds herself falling for a co-worker at the local amusement park. Is he a better match? What does Agatha really want in a mate, and moreover, what does she want for herself?
With her trademark wit and irreverence, acclaimed author Julie Halpern explores an age-old question: Who are we meant to be with? Readers won't be able to resist knowing the answer.
It started happening a few years ago: the names of MTBs—"meant to be" mates—appeared emblazoned on the skin at age eighteen. Agatha's best friend has embraced the phenomenon and is head over heels in love with her MTB. But Ag isn't so sure. As she searches the interwebs for her MTB (who has a common name, no less) she finds herself falling for a co-worker at the local amusement park. Is he a better match? What does Agatha really want in a mate, and moreover, what does she want for herself?
With her trademark wit and irreverence, acclaimed author Julie Halpern explores an age-old question: Who are we meant to be with? Readers won't be able to resist knowing the answer.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 24, 2017
29 people are currently reading
1110 people want to read
About the author
Julie Halpern
17 books428 followersJULIE HALPERN is the author of five young adult novels and one picture book for young readers. Maternity Leave is her first novel for adults. Prior to her life as full-time mom and author, Julie was a school librarian. In her imaginary spare time, she enjoys traveling, watching television for grown-ups, and eating baked goods. Julie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, author and illustrator Matthew Cordell, and their two children.
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June 22, 2025My overall opinion: comic/light dystopian is VERY tough to pull off. Remember Bumped by Megan McCafferty?
Well, if you liked that, you might like this.
Basically this takes a familiar YA dystopian trope about assigned OTPs (the name of yours suddenly appears tattooed on your chest when you turn eighteen -- think Matched by Ally Condie) and combines it with a YA contemporary narrated by a wisecracking character in a sort of love triangle (she gets the name of her match but is falling for her co-worker. I think it is required for this type of OTP dystopians to have a love triangle.) To me, the result was ... odd. I felt like the romance and boob jokes sort of canceled out the chilling dystopian feeling I expect to get from a dystopian.
To me, the worldbuilding was a step below hand-wavey. I seriously skimmed but does the name of the GUY's match appear on his chest? That was not clear to me. Is the girl supposed to search out the guy? Or did Hendrix have her name and wasn't just not looking for her? Do two people always have each other's names or can there be a triangle with A having B's name, B having C and C having A?
Also, this appears to be part one of a series, because the triangle is not resolved at the end.
ETA: A commenter says that the triangle WAS resolved, so either there were changes between the ARC and the finished copy, or my very quick read missed that (?)
In any case, this really wasn't for me. But read a few chapters and decide if you like the voice/tone. And let me know what you thought of the ending because I'm clearly confused.
Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com or check out my Bookstagram!
I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher for possible review.
Well, if you liked that, you might like this.
Basically this takes a familiar YA dystopian trope about assigned OTPs (the name of yours suddenly appears tattooed on your chest when you turn eighteen -- think Matched by Ally Condie) and combines it with a YA contemporary narrated by a wisecracking character in a sort of love triangle (she gets the name of her match but is falling for her co-worker. I think it is required for this type of OTP dystopians to have a love triangle.) To me, the result was ... odd. I felt like the romance and boob jokes sort of canceled out the chilling dystopian feeling I expect to get from a dystopian.
To me, the worldbuilding was a step below hand-wavey. I seriously skimmed but does the name of the GUY's match appear on his chest? That was not clear to me. Is the girl supposed to search out the guy? Or did Hendrix have her name and wasn't just not looking for her? Do two people always have each other's names or can there be a triangle with A having B's name, B having C and C having A?
Also, this appears to be part one of a series, because the triangle is not resolved at the end.
ETA: A commenter says that the triangle WAS resolved, so either there were changes between the ARC and the finished copy, or my very quick read missed that (?)
In any case, this really wasn't for me. But read a few chapters and decide if you like the voice/tone. And let me know what you thought of the ending because I'm clearly confused.
Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com or check out my Bookstagram!
I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher for possible review.
November 23, 2017
I read Julie Halpern’s The F-It List a couple of years ago and adored it. I haven’t picked up anything else by her since, but when I came across Meant To Be, I got curious. Unfortunately, for me, this was one of those books that has an interesting concept that’s just not executed to its full potential.
In Halpern’s world, on your 18th birthday, your soulmate’s name becomes etched onto your skin, a phenomenon that’s gone unexplained. Isn’t that such an interesting story line to explore? Anyways, our protagonist, Agatha, wants nothing to do with this soulmate. She wants to make her own choice on her own terms. Agatha wasn’t the easiest character for me to get behind. She has a very dry sense of humor, and is also very sarcastic. Typically, I enjoy these sorts of heroines, but I don’t know, Agatha rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe, because I felt like she tried too hard at times? She mentioned her farts, her giant breasts frequently throughout the story, and it was done in an obnoxious way. I also feel like she thought of herself as above everyone else because she didn’t want to give in to the idea of her soulmate. Her relationship with her best friend was a perfect example of that. She constantly judges her friend for going after her soulmate and falling in love with him, and doesn’t particularly make an effort to understand her friend’s point of view.
Even though Agatha was kind of annoying, I pushed through the story because I wanted to know more about her MTB (soulmate). Unfortunately, that never happens. In fact, we don’t find out much about him until the very end. Most of the book involves Agatha’s relationship with one of her co-workers at the amusement she works at. That relationship didn’t work for me. Though Agatha claims to be very much attracted to him, I just couldn’t feel the connection. I really wish the book had focused more on Hendrix, Agatha’s soulmate because from the glimpses we see of him, he sounded like a far more interesting character.
I did finish the book, but by the end I was left with an overwhelming feeling of “what was the point?”. Unfortunately, I’m just not sure I can recommend this one. :/
dnf
October 25, 2017Chapters read: 1
Oh man is this voice not for me. It's clunky and very focused on gross things and just not funny to me personally.
A couple sample quotes (from the ARC, so they might have changed etcetera etcetera):
Oh man is this voice not for me. It's clunky and very focused on gross things and just not funny to me personally.
A couple sample quotes (from the ARC, so they might have changed etcetera etcetera):
The department store salesgirl with one false eyelash dangling over her left eye (she must have thought it was a bug and kept swatting at it thusly) assured me that cup size doesn’t necessarily correspond to how large one’s breasts are.
“Asshole,” I chide my torso. “Can’t you do something about this? Use your massive girth to bully it out of me?” My boobs don’t answer. “Thanks a lot. See if I let Jesse Rothem touch you again anytime soon.”
December 30, 2017
k not gna lie, i pretty much technically only read like 70 pages of this lmao. i got to the 130ish or less point but i skimmed. and then i read three sentences of each page for the rest of the book. if i didn’t do that then i’d be done w this in a year cus it drags and is one of the worst books i have everrr read. o m g. i could honestly write like a 10 page essay on this book and how much it sucked but i’ll say five things: predictable, drags, stereotypical, boring, and no character is likeable. the most interesting part of the book is me writing this review dragging it lmao. basically; it sucked and not worth the read.
April 24, 2018
Saçmalığın dibini gördüm, bundan daha öteye gidebilecek bir kitap var mı? Rezillikti resmen, o son neydi öyle? Heyecan mı yarattın şimdi sen? Çok farklı bir kurgu mu yarattın? Berbattı. Tamamen zaman kaybı. Karakterlerden ve konudan bahsetmek bile istemiyorum. Yeterince zaman harcadım zaten.
January 28, 2018
I absolutely love this book, love the characters, love the whole storyline. It took me a teeny bit to get into the idea of the world that was being built but once I bought into it it was hook line and sinker. I really would crave a sequel because I wanna know what happened to all these characters
January 18, 2018
In this dystopian-lite book, when anyone reaches the age of eighteen, the name of his/her true love--their Meant to Be (MTB)--appears scrawled on his/her chest. Free-spirited (sort of) Agatha Abrams has never believed in this fated love, and even calls these romantic connections "Empties." I had high hopes for this book because of this original concept and the humor, but my interest flagged about halfway through, and I was more than a little annoyed that such an interesting concept wasn't explored in depth; nor was there ever an explanation provided for why these names of someone's intended started appearing on humans six years ago or whom was responsible. Aggie begins a brief interlude with Luke Jacobs who works at the same amusement park she does, and while the build-up to sex is heated, the follow-through is disappointing for her,and Luke is far more enamored with her than she expected. Even while Aggie resists the idea of a soul mate determined by fate or some outside source, she grows increasingly curious about Hendrix Cutter, her MTB, and once she realizes where he lives, she questions all her indecision. After all, she has plans of heading to Australia rather than college after graduation. I ended up disappointed in how the plot developed as well as feeling as unsatisfied as Aggie was after being with Luke because there were too many holes dangling and issues unexplored. For instance, who says that anyone, male or female should be defined by the romantic relationship they are in, and how could her friend Lish do such a quick turnaround once her MTB, Travis, arrived on the scene. I suppose those who believe in the concept of love at first sight will ultimately enjoy this book, but for cynical old me, someone who believes that love is built on slowly getting to know someone and that it often waxes and wanes over the ages, this match-making seemed problematic since it was based on nebulous factors. Still, reading it might encourage some interesting conversations about love, sex, mutual attraction, and fate. I don't think I'll ever look at a ride on an amusement park in quite the same way again.
December 27, 2017
Received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review from MacMillian Children’s Publishing Group via NetGalley.
The premise of this book is very intriguing about discovering your soulmate or “meant to be”. At 18, a name appears and that person is the person you are supposed to be with forever. This is thought provoking, because 18 is very young to know the person you are supposed to be with for the rest of your life. Part of the fun of being 18 is dating, discovering what you like in your partner, and determining what you do not want in someone. When Agatha turns 18 she is not really interested in meeting her “meant to be”, but that doesn’t stop her from thinking about him on occasion. She does want to travel the world before college and is very interested in her cute co-worker. Agatha is very head-strong and independent, she doesn’t just go along with what society expects of her and I really liked that about her. She questions whether this “meant to be” business is legit because it is a fairly new occurrence.
I really wanted to like this book because the idea of it was so good. However, the romance in this book left a lot to be desired. I didn’t really have any feelings one way or another towards the romantic interests which was disappointing since that was a large part of the book. In the end, I just felt like it needed more. With that being said, Agatha was a very realistic teenager. She was dealing with finding love, self-discovery, and what she wanted out of life even if that may not be the most conventional route.
The premise of this book is very intriguing about discovering your soulmate or “meant to be”. At 18, a name appears and that person is the person you are supposed to be with forever. This is thought provoking, because 18 is very young to know the person you are supposed to be with for the rest of your life. Part of the fun of being 18 is dating, discovering what you like in your partner, and determining what you do not want in someone. When Agatha turns 18 she is not really interested in meeting her “meant to be”, but that doesn’t stop her from thinking about him on occasion. She does want to travel the world before college and is very interested in her cute co-worker. Agatha is very head-strong and independent, she doesn’t just go along with what society expects of her and I really liked that about her. She questions whether this “meant to be” business is legit because it is a fairly new occurrence.
I really wanted to like this book because the idea of it was so good. However, the romance in this book left a lot to be desired. I didn’t really have any feelings one way or another towards the romantic interests which was disappointing since that was a large part of the book. In the end, I just felt like it needed more. With that being said, Agatha was a very realistic teenager. She was dealing with finding love, self-discovery, and what she wanted out of life even if that may not be the most conventional route.
August 23, 2023
a pretty fun read!! the writing style was easy to read, and the plot had a good concept.
you can read the summary of the book, so i'm not going to waste my time on that.
i feel like the story would have been virtually the same (maybe even better) without the author's constant fixation on
i also feel like the writing style was kind of inconsistent, it was very formal up until halfway through the novel, and more formal diction took over. it wasn't even like it was a slow seeping in/change in diction as the mindset of MC changed—it was pretty abrupt in my opinion.
on a last note,
quotes:
"are these merely engraved onto our bodies or are they entrenched into our very beings?"
"my dear, like your mother, what i want for you is happiness. go after it, wherever it may be found. don't wait until it comes to you. or you could be sitting in an attic imagining love instead of living with it."
you can read the summary of the book, so i'm not going to waste my time on that.
i feel like the story would have been virtually the same (maybe even better) without the author's constant fixation on
i also feel like the writing style was kind of inconsistent, it was very formal up until halfway through the novel, and more formal diction took over. it wasn't even like it was a slow seeping in/change in diction as the mindset of MC changed—it was pretty abrupt in my opinion.
on a last note,
quotes:
"are these merely engraved onto our bodies or are they entrenched into our very beings?"
"my dear, like your mother, what i want for you is happiness. go after it, wherever it may be found. don't wait until it comes to you. or you could be sitting in an attic imagining love instead of living with it."
July 3, 2017
To be completely up front, I wanted to really like this book - I meet Julie and spoke to her for about an hour in a line at ALA and really enjoyed the time chatting. I'm relieved to say I would have liked this YA romance even if I had never met Julie! It's an interesting premise and filled with terrific dialogue and characters who sound like 18 year-olds actually sound. I feel compelled to add this is a read for mature teens - there's lots of sex (they are 18 year-olds, after all) but there is much more to this novel than sex.
October 19, 2017
Full review to come as on-sale date approaches. For now, I'll leave my short blurb:
"Meant To Be is a novel about a young woman defying the rules imposed upon her to prove the importance of choices and freewill. It's a novel that's filled with humor, thanks to a main character who is as funny as she is smart. I might not love it as much as I wanted, but I did like the story as a whole and I would still recommend it for lovers of the contemporary genre, especially for those who like the idea of fate and destiny."
Huge thanks to my friends from Macmillan International for sending a review copy of this title my way. This did not, in any way, affect my overall opinion of the book and/or the story.
"Meant To Be is a novel about a young woman defying the rules imposed upon her to prove the importance of choices and freewill. It's a novel that's filled with humor, thanks to a main character who is as funny as she is smart. I might not love it as much as I wanted, but I did like the story as a whole and I would still recommend it for lovers of the contemporary genre, especially for those who like the idea of fate and destiny."
Huge thanks to my friends from Macmillan International for sending a review copy of this title my way. This did not, in any way, affect my overall opinion of the book and/or the story.
July 16, 2018
I absolutely LOVE the whole concept of soulmates and their name or mark being on you in some way as a story concept. It's one of my favorite fanfiction prompts LOL. However, I did not feel like this book was well written and the plot wasn't coherent enough for me. I didn't like the character development, but did appreciate how realistic it felt? It was a solid 2 star read that I bumped up to 3 for the end like 10 pages because they were so darn cute
January 28, 2018
If I am honest, this book was good but different then I thought it would be. I had different expectations of what I thought it would be. Essentially each person is labeled with their "meant to be' person and this was the story of working through if you would chose that destiny or not. I think the phrase you have to kiss a frog to find a prince rings true for me.
January 6, 2018
Interesting and fun take on the soulmate concept and how (allegedly) having one would affect society. Aggy is a great narrator, and for anyone who's been waiting for a YA female protagonist who gets unapologetically horny and owns her sexuality, she's your woman.
October 12, 2020
Soulmates dizisinin ilk bölümünü izlediğim su günlerde,ben bu konuyu nerden ( hangi kitaptan ) hatırlıyorum diye aklıma takılmıştı.Hatta kitap uyarlaması mı diye baktım,aradim ama bulamadım.Sonra okumayı planladığım kitaplar arasında bu olunca,önceliği bu kitaba verdim.Dizi ile ana fikir olarak benzese de;isimlerin öğrenilmesi mevzusu noktasında ayrılıyorlar.Kitabı sevip sevmediğim meselesine gelince;hikayenin anlatılışındaki hiçbir şeyi sevemedim.Normalde böyle çerezlik kitapları sürükleyici bulurum.Bu yuzden kafa dağıtmak istediğim zamanlarda,özellikle okumak için bu turu seçerim ama sürükleyicilik öğesi de yoktu.Kısacası sevemedim ama diziden dolayı,okumasam kesin aklım kalırdi.
September 26, 2020
I really liked the story line of this book. Wasn't always a fan of the way she wrote, sometimes it was too childish and then it got weirdly over sexual. I wish there was a second book though because it waited until the last second to get super interesting.
October 30, 2025
DNF. I loved it but I got it from my public library and THEN I MOVED. So, yeahhhhh. I couldn’t finish it but while I was reading it, it was great 😁
January 5, 2018
Sorry, but I'm going to spoil this book.
As I read this book, I was really hoping that saggy would prove people wrong and should that their MTB (meant to be) doesn't have to be their true love. This book was really good, but also a bit disturbing too. Then again, I'm only 13, and the book is recommended for ages 14-18, but whatever.
As I read this book, I was really hoping that saggy would prove people wrong and should that their MTB (meant to be) doesn't have to be their true love. This book was really good, but also a bit disturbing too. Then again, I'm only 13, and the book is recommended for ages 14-18, but whatever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2017
Received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review from MacMillian Children’s Publishing Group via NetGalley.
Along of the lines of the Matched series.
I like Julie Halpern's writing style a lot.
I enjoyed the book, I had quite a few questions in regards to this process of your Meant To Be's name appearing on your chest...so, so many questions. BUT. All-in-all, I enjoyed the book. Honest rating is a solid 3.5 stars.
Along of the lines of the Matched series.
I like Julie Halpern's writing style a lot.
I enjoyed the book, I had quite a few questions in regards to this process of your Meant To Be's name appearing on your chest...so, so many questions. BUT. All-in-all, I enjoyed the book. Honest rating is a solid 3.5 stars.
January 9, 2024
it was cute! not what I expected (a random sex scene that I did not see coming) and an unfulfilled ending, I kinda wish I knew more abt her and her soul mates relationship🤷🏻♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2017
On your 18th birthday, the name of your soul mate appears as a tattoo over your heart and is know as your MTB (Meant To Be).
Agatha is not sure what to think about this and she believes in free will and doesn't want her mate decided for her. After her tattoo appears, she ends up having a summer fling with a co-worker as a way to defy the tattoo, but everything comes back to the tattoo and should she search for her soul mate.
This had the potential to be an awesome story, but 90% of it is her fling with the co-worker and it just left me disappointed. No one knows why the tattoos appeared and there is not explanation. Agatha's best friend was so excited to meet her MTB... I guess I wanted more of a conflict or more of a romance with the MTB.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC
Agatha is not sure what to think about this and she believes in free will and doesn't want her mate decided for her. After her tattoo appears, she ends up having a summer fling with a co-worker as a way to defy the tattoo, but everything comes back to the tattoo and should she search for her soul mate.
This had the potential to be an awesome story, but 90% of it is her fling with the co-worker and it just left me disappointed. No one knows why the tattoos appeared and there is not explanation. Agatha's best friend was so excited to meet her MTB... I guess I wanted more of a conflict or more of a romance with the MTB.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC
July 20, 2017
I read an advanced reader copy of this book.
Boobs. The main character's breasts were mentioned so often, they deserve their own line in the credits.
On to the main theme... it seems like it was mostly skimmed over. Which I guess is okay, because you can't really go very far with the premise of random signatures appearing on people's bodies out of nowhere. I'd say it is a nice quick summer read for when you don't want to think too hard.
For those interested, there's a good bit of casual sex.
Boobs. The main character's breasts were mentioned so often, they deserve their own line in the credits.
On to the main theme... it seems like it was mostly skimmed over. Which I guess is okay, because you can't really go very far with the premise of random signatures appearing on people's bodies out of nowhere. I'd say it is a nice quick summer read for when you don't want to think too hard.
For those interested, there's a good bit of casual sex.
November 23, 2017
This is one of those books that are a little difficult to classify. I guess I would call it a contemporary (possibly slightly futuristic) YA romance with a magical/supernatural twist (just the Meant-to-Be name appearing on people at age 18 with no explanation). Our protagonists use technology that seems the same as what we have in 2017, make pop culture and slang references that mimic our current choices, and aside from this mysterious Name thing, appear to be living in our times.
I was very close to giving this book the full 5 stars, but there were a couple writership (yes, I made up a word) issues that detracted from the work itself and didn't quite push the book up to 5.
- The dialogue tags are excessive. You don't need to creatively describe how 90% of the dialogue is uttered, just use "said" if any tag at all is needed. Instead, there were characters accusing, defending, demurring, musing, yukking, snorting...it was so distracting and a little amateurish. I assumed this was Halpern's first book and was surprised to see she has quite a few.
- The word "modicum" was used far too frequently. I forgot to do a search on the ebook before I returned it, but I think it was around 6-8 times.
- Sometimes actions/things were described colorfully or creatively when a mundane description would have sufficed (and been less distracting).
- Not an issue for me (in fact, I generally applaud this level of stark honesty), but our heroine and her friends think and discuss things that don't usually make it onto a written page. Everything from nervous pooping and pit stains to period-stained panties and apricot-scented farts. If you're not comfortable with a little gross reality in your books, this book is definitely not for you.
- Poor Agatha's boobs. She mentions them constantly; they must really be overwhelmingly huge.
- There's also some profanity in the book, with approximately 5 or so f-bombs and a few d***/a**holes dropped in. If you don't like profanity, this book will probably bother you.
Now, on to all the things I found delightful about this book!
- I personally loved Agatha's "voice"...she sounded real and she sounded like an interesting person. She reminded me a lot of my friend Dina (Dina, are you reading this?), and if I thought Dina might like this sort of book, I'd definitely recommend it to her!
- Some of the wacky characters in Agatha's life were beautifully portrayed. I especially loved her Uncle Jim and Agatha's disturbing carny boss Sam Hain (yes, it seems to be his name). Strangely, almost everyone else fades into the background. Luke, Agatha's mom, Travis, and to some extent, even Agatha's best friend Lish, just seem like empty sketches.
- I loved Agatha's general attitude toward life and free will. She's a girl after my own heart -- strong, independent, unwilling to be controlled. She's reluctant to give up any of her freedom for this untested, mystical Meant-to-Be business and ready to push in the opposite direction by pursuing a summer fling with her coworker, who is not her Meant-to-Be.
- I like the different ways the Meant-to-Be phenomenon was pondered. (The idea also reminds me of the movie Timer, where people wear a watch that counts down to the second they'll meet their perfect match -- some meet their match at age 13, while others don't meet them until age 45...with the expected consequences). For example, we see characters whose Meant-to-Be person has already died, ones who are the same race, and others who are not what their partner would've expected. We see characters who are married abandon their spouses to be with their Meant-to-Be person, as well as characters who tattoo/conceal the name and stay with the same person. I wish there had been more of it, the possibilities and configurations of situations. Halpern also goes into how Meant-to-Bes have changed art...movies, books, games, songs that now focus on finding the MTB and how some of her friends view the phenomenon.
- Agatha herself goes through a range of changes during the novel, as she adapts to the idea of MTBs while juggling a summer romance with her co-worker and trying to figure out how she can take off for Australia instead of starting college. It's perhaps a little too angsty (and Agatha has a nervous stomach), but she contemplates, along with the reader, the implications of having some stranger's name branded on one's chest overnight and being told that the MTB is the one and only person who'll make them satisfied. Overall, I found these ideas intriguing and loved that it was all wrapped up amidst a summer of devil/Halloween-themed amusement park rides with a trashy-romance-writing uncle and a boss obsessed with 6, 66, 666, and so on.
I was very close to giving this book the full 5 stars, but there were a couple writership (yes, I made up a word) issues that detracted from the work itself and didn't quite push the book up to 5.
- The dialogue tags are excessive. You don't need to creatively describe how 90% of the dialogue is uttered, just use "said" if any tag at all is needed. Instead, there were characters accusing, defending, demurring, musing, yukking, snorting...it was so distracting and a little amateurish. I assumed this was Halpern's first book and was surprised to see she has quite a few.
- The word "modicum" was used far too frequently. I forgot to do a search on the ebook before I returned it, but I think it was around 6-8 times.
- Sometimes actions/things were described colorfully or creatively when a mundane description would have sufficed (and been less distracting).
- Not an issue for me (in fact, I generally applaud this level of stark honesty), but our heroine and her friends think and discuss things that don't usually make it onto a written page. Everything from nervous pooping and pit stains to period-stained panties and apricot-scented farts. If you're not comfortable with a little gross reality in your books, this book is definitely not for you.
- Poor Agatha's boobs. She mentions them constantly; they must really be overwhelmingly huge.
- There's also some profanity in the book, with approximately 5 or so f-bombs and a few d***/a**holes dropped in. If you don't like profanity, this book will probably bother you.
Now, on to all the things I found delightful about this book!
- I personally loved Agatha's "voice"...she sounded real and she sounded like an interesting person. She reminded me a lot of my friend Dina (Dina, are you reading this?), and if I thought Dina might like this sort of book, I'd definitely recommend it to her!
- Some of the wacky characters in Agatha's life were beautifully portrayed. I especially loved her Uncle Jim and Agatha's disturbing carny boss Sam Hain (yes, it seems to be his name). Strangely, almost everyone else fades into the background. Luke, Agatha's mom, Travis, and to some extent, even Agatha's best friend Lish, just seem like empty sketches.
- I loved Agatha's general attitude toward life and free will. She's a girl after my own heart -- strong, independent, unwilling to be controlled. She's reluctant to give up any of her freedom for this untested, mystical Meant-to-Be business and ready to push in the opposite direction by pursuing a summer fling with her coworker, who is not her Meant-to-Be.
- I like the different ways the Meant-to-Be phenomenon was pondered. (The idea also reminds me of the movie Timer, where people wear a watch that counts down to the second they'll meet their perfect match -- some meet their match at age 13, while others don't meet them until age 45...with the expected consequences). For example, we see characters whose Meant-to-Be person has already died, ones who are the same race, and others who are not what their partner would've expected. We see characters who are married abandon their spouses to be with their Meant-to-Be person, as well as characters who tattoo/conceal the name and stay with the same person. I wish there had been more of it, the possibilities and configurations of situations. Halpern also goes into how Meant-to-Bes have changed art...movies, books, games, songs that now focus on finding the MTB and how some of her friends view the phenomenon.
- Agatha herself goes through a range of changes during the novel, as she adapts to the idea of MTBs while juggling a summer romance with her co-worker and trying to figure out how she can take off for Australia instead of starting college. It's perhaps a little too angsty (and Agatha has a nervous stomach), but she contemplates, along with the reader, the implications of having some stranger's name branded on one's chest overnight and being told that the MTB is the one and only person who'll make them satisfied. Overall, I found these ideas intriguing and loved that it was all wrapped up amidst a summer of devil/Halloween-themed amusement park rides with a trashy-romance-writing uncle and a boss obsessed with 6, 66, 666, and so on.
December 23, 2017
This is etched into my skin. This is real. This is forever.
This is a stranger's name.
Six years ago, Names started showing up on people eighteen and older. Most believe that their Name belongs to the person who is their soulmate, or, as they now call them, Meant-to-bes (MTBs.) People spend exorbitant amounts of money to find their MTB. Movies and books have incorporated the Names into their plots. But not all find the MTBs to be romantic or necessary. Like Agatha Abrams, who is convinced that the Naming is essentially her choices being taken from her. And when a Name shows up on her chest on her eighteenth birthday, Aggy sets out to prove it wrong by chasing after a coworker at her summer theme park job. But perhaps the MTBs aren't just lies, as Aggy believes they are. Perhaps they really are meant to be.
I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, and I was hoping that Meant to Be would pull me out of it. Unfortunately it didn't, and I found this book to be... just okay. For one, it wasn't the story I expected, so I was a bit letdown from that (but it could've been forgiven if it had excelled, but it didn't, in my opinion.) I'm giving it 2 stars.
The concept of the MTBs is really interesting. I like soulmate stories. I like stories about perfect romances (I mean, who doesn't at least have a soft spot for them?) But for a book that has a bit of magical realism, its existence is vague.
I don't even know what to believe about why or how the Names are here: religion, magic, chemistry. It's all so arbitrary and abstract. And it still doesn't explain a damn thing.
That in and of itself isn't a deal-breaker for me, though I know it can be for some. Aggy likes to point out that it's not proven that the Names are soulmates; it's only been six years, so how could anyone know for sure? Which is fine.
The big issue here is that I struggled with Aggy. I guess you could say that she's a realistic character, but she wasn't one that I would want to be friends with. Her narration is crass an she's a bit obnoxious. I oftentimes felt that she was trying too hard to be cavalier, and it didn't endear her to me.
The tone of the entire novel is Aggy's coming-of-age story. I don't mind the principle of that, but Aggy's story was at times boring and, more often, frustrating. Aggy is extremely stubborn about the MTBs, so she's judgemental of all of those who believe in it, including her best friend, Lish. She's hard on Lish, even though it's obvious that Lish is much more happy than Aggy. But really, it's her belief that the MTBs are taking away her free will that causes her to crusade against them so strongly, to the point that it was actually pretty ridiculous.
It tells me that I'm not speaking 100 percent truth. That, although minuscule, there is a part of me that wants to know something - anything - about Hendrix Cutter.
Which is why I better fall in love with someone else damn quick.
Instead of being a cute love story (I desperately wanted it, okay?) it was focused primarily on Aggy's summer fling with her cute coworker, Luke. She's had a crush on him for the past two summers, and even though they're both eighteen, and not each other's MTB, they enter a physically-based relationship (also not an altogether terrible thing.)
What really becomes frustrating is that Aggy pursues this relationship not solely for herself, but to prove other people wrong. Particularly in regards to Lish, who is quite happy with her MTB.
Are we moving too fast? Is there time to move slower? Do I want to move slower? Plus I need to have sex so I can one-up my best friend on her emojis.
On top of that, even after she starts to second-guess her relationship with Luke, she continues on, all in the name of being stubborn.
I wish Luke and I had more to talk about. Or less to talk about. Or that the use of U didn't disturb me so. Still, I shall persevere. Because it is my choice. Even if I have to force myself to do it.
So yeah, Aggy rubbed me the wrong way a lot of the time. But it is about her growing up a little bit, so I guess that has to happen at some point, right?
One thing I'd like to point out: I think this book is better suited to mature young adult/new adult readers. It's not particularly graphic, but Aggy is extremely focused on sex - who she's having it with, and who her friends are having it with.
I was desperate for a really cute, fluffy romance. This wasn't that story. So at the end of it all, I think Meant to Be was an okay read.
February 21, 2018
*Read at work for review for ROYAL*
Julie Halpern’s Meant to Be presents the all important topic of choice and free will, specifically in relation to our love lives and who we are meant to be with.
Main character Agatha is living in a quasi dystopian world where on your eighteenth birthday, the name of your soulmate, or in the case “meant to be” appears on your chest, over your heart in their handwriting. Agatha is pretty opposed to the idea of MTBs, or as she refers to them “Empties” and would rather have complete choice in the matter of who she ends up with. The concept is fairly new, having basically come out of nowhere six years prior, without any explanation. She’s seen the MTB tear families apart, specifically her own, and is skeptical about their validity.
Instead of immediately contacting her MTB, Hendrix Cutter, she instead decides to have a summer fling with her amusement park coworker Luke, while figuring out how to tell her mom that she doesn’t want to go to college in the fall, but instead wants to move to Australia and live and work and travel.
This was an interesting read for me. I LOVE the soulmate trope, and the different ways it’s enacted is always enticing. Agatha is likable enough, and is often cracking jokes at her own expense. She’s also sarcastic and confident, but a little immature. Her comments about her body, specifically the size of her breasts and the passing of gas were funny at first, but quickly became annoying with the amount of time she spent lamenting about each of the topics whenever she got the chance. I really liked certain aspects about her and found her funny for the most part, but there were still some moments where I wanted her to just stop.
Luke is the boy Agatha decides to spend her summer fooling around with. The concept of having a choice, or seeing what else is out there before contacting her MTB was great, I just wish Luke hadn’t been such a dud. He wasn’t charming or really all that likable, and he was mainly only interested in getting himself off. I was pretty happy when they decided to go their separate ways.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the story was getting to see the parallels between Agatha and her summer of fun and her best friend Lish, who found her MTB and almost immediately settled down with him. It was cool to get to see both ends of the spectrum in how people deal with going about meeting and interacting with their soulmate.
One of my biggest issues with the book is the ending, and mostly because that’s the portion I liked the most. Agatha begins to feels things for her MTB Hendrix and finally decides to contact him, with a little help from Lish. Getting to read the few messages of their correspondence was really sweet and funny, and it was clear that just a few emails between them had more chemistry than the whole book Agatha spent with Luke. I really really wish there was more to the two of them meeting; the little bit we got was so nice, but it just wasn’t enough.
While this wasn’t my favorite book, I really enjoyed it and the ending left me wanting more, so if a sequel were ever to be written, I would definitely love to read it because I want more of Agatha and Hendrix and exploring the potential they have to be something great.
Julie Halpern’s Meant to Be presents the all important topic of choice and free will, specifically in relation to our love lives and who we are meant to be with.
Main character Agatha is living in a quasi dystopian world where on your eighteenth birthday, the name of your soulmate, or in the case “meant to be” appears on your chest, over your heart in their handwriting. Agatha is pretty opposed to the idea of MTBs, or as she refers to them “Empties” and would rather have complete choice in the matter of who she ends up with. The concept is fairly new, having basically come out of nowhere six years prior, without any explanation. She’s seen the MTB tear families apart, specifically her own, and is skeptical about their validity.
Instead of immediately contacting her MTB, Hendrix Cutter, she instead decides to have a summer fling with her amusement park coworker Luke, while figuring out how to tell her mom that she doesn’t want to go to college in the fall, but instead wants to move to Australia and live and work and travel.
This was an interesting read for me. I LOVE the soulmate trope, and the different ways it’s enacted is always enticing. Agatha is likable enough, and is often cracking jokes at her own expense. She’s also sarcastic and confident, but a little immature. Her comments about her body, specifically the size of her breasts and the passing of gas were funny at first, but quickly became annoying with the amount of time she spent lamenting about each of the topics whenever she got the chance. I really liked certain aspects about her and found her funny for the most part, but there were still some moments where I wanted her to just stop.
Luke is the boy Agatha decides to spend her summer fooling around with. The concept of having a choice, or seeing what else is out there before contacting her MTB was great, I just wish Luke hadn’t been such a dud. He wasn’t charming or really all that likable, and he was mainly only interested in getting himself off. I was pretty happy when they decided to go their separate ways.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the story was getting to see the parallels between Agatha and her summer of fun and her best friend Lish, who found her MTB and almost immediately settled down with him. It was cool to get to see both ends of the spectrum in how people deal with going about meeting and interacting with their soulmate.
One of my biggest issues with the book is the ending, and mostly because that’s the portion I liked the most. Agatha begins to feels things for her MTB Hendrix and finally decides to contact him, with a little help from Lish. Getting to read the few messages of their correspondence was really sweet and funny, and it was clear that just a few emails between them had more chemistry than the whole book Agatha spent with Luke. I really really wish there was more to the two of them meeting; the little bit we got was so nice, but it just wasn’t enough.
While this wasn’t my favorite book, I really enjoyed it and the ending left me wanting more, so if a sequel were ever to be written, I would definitely love to read it because I want more of Agatha and Hendrix and exploring the potential they have to be something great.
October 13, 2018
How amazing would it be if our soul mate's name magically appeared on our chest when we turned 18? Would we immediately be so stoked and head out to find our meant to be or would we be more like the main character, Agatha, and fight the fate that has already been decided for us?
In this "YA" novel, Meant to Be, Agatha fights against the destiny that she believes has been decided for her. She wants to travel the world and fall in love on her own, not with the person whoms name just magically name that just magically appeared right above her breast on her 18th birthday. As she struggles through the trials of dating her Not-Meant to Be, life after high school and the future can she truly be satisfy in the choices that she makes?
I truly struggled at the beginning of this story and here is why...
#1 - First of all I am not much for a contemporary novel, but something about the magical name appearing on the chest made me excited for the story. In the beginning we meet Aggie, our main character, who seems very fast to jump to conclusions, judge others and use profanity as she pleases. Throughout the story she becomes more of a whiny teenager and short tempered. Not a big fan of her.
Lish, Agatha's best friend is on board with finding, marrying and having babies with her MTB. While she is more mature and wiser in her decisions, I cannot help but think maybe she is just settling into "the norm" at age 18 instead of being her own person.
Luke Jacobs is a pretty cool, typical guy who gets a bit overboard, mushy and clingy at times.
Hendrix Cutter seems okay, but we only see him toward the end.
Agatha's mom and uncle are cool too.
#2 - There is a lot of sex. Pretty much detailed and I personally wouldn't want to know that my 14-18 year old child read a story that had numerous profanties including using God's name in vain and detailed sexual descriptions. I truly feel like this may not fall into the YA genre, but perhaps the New Adult? Like it wasn't over the top, but definitely mature scenes.
So to summarize, because I feel like I am all over the place, the synopsis of Meant to Be is a fun concept and a fun, fast read, but the main character was whiny and the story just sort of ended. I don't know if it was meant to have a sequel follow up or if it was just a purposeful, let-you-imagine-your-own-ending. If you are a contemporary romance lover then this is the book for you.
Even though this story was a bit difficult to continue I did stick it out and actually ended up enjoying and laughing toward the end, until the abrupt ending, but either way I feel this title deserves a 3-star rating.
In this "YA" novel, Meant to Be, Agatha fights against the destiny that she believes has been decided for her. She wants to travel the world and fall in love on her own, not with the person whoms name just magically name that just magically appeared right above her breast on her 18th birthday. As she struggles through the trials of dating her Not-Meant to Be, life after high school and the future can she truly be satisfy in the choices that she makes?
I truly struggled at the beginning of this story and here is why...
#1 - First of all I am not much for a contemporary novel, but something about the magical name appearing on the chest made me excited for the story. In the beginning we meet Aggie, our main character, who seems very fast to jump to conclusions, judge others and use profanity as she pleases. Throughout the story she becomes more of a whiny teenager and short tempered. Not a big fan of her.
Lish, Agatha's best friend is on board with finding, marrying and having babies with her MTB. While she is more mature and wiser in her decisions, I cannot help but think maybe she is just settling into "the norm" at age 18 instead of being her own person.
Luke Jacobs is a pretty cool, typical guy who gets a bit overboard, mushy and clingy at times.
Hendrix Cutter seems okay, but we only see him toward the end.
Agatha's mom and uncle are cool too.
#2 - There is a lot of sex. Pretty much detailed and I personally wouldn't want to know that my 14-18 year old child read a story that had numerous profanties including using God's name in vain and detailed sexual descriptions. I truly feel like this may not fall into the YA genre, but perhaps the New Adult? Like it wasn't over the top, but definitely mature scenes.
So to summarize, because I feel like I am all over the place, the synopsis of Meant to Be is a fun concept and a fun, fast read, but the main character was whiny and the story just sort of ended. I don't know if it was meant to have a sequel follow up or if it was just a purposeful, let-you-imagine-your-own-ending. If you are a contemporary romance lover then this is the book for you.
Even though this story was a bit difficult to continue I did stick it out and actually ended up enjoying and laughing toward the end, until the abrupt ending, but either way I feel this title deserves a 3-star rating.
January 19, 2019
This book was missing something. Exactly what, I couldn't say.
The premise that on your 18th birthday your soulmate's name appears etched onto your skin is a good one. There's so many directions one could run with here. These directions should be filled with drama and emotion. Sincerity. None of which I really felt while reading this total miss of a novel. The main protagonist, Agatha, wants absolutely nothing to do with her soulmate. Why do you ask? I wish I could tell you. It's not like she is in the perfect relationship with someone else. In fact, she's in a relationship with someone who is totally horrible for her. What person wouldn't want their soulmate if they were destined? ESPECIALLY if they had yet to meet?
I found Agatha annoying. She was always ragging on her best friend for going after her soulmate and falling in love with him. Again, I don't understand why because it's not like Agatha has a reason to rag on her. Agatha has never met her soulmate and this has no first hand experience that should persuade her to go against what her best friend is doing. Unless you've been there and done that and had a negative experience to persuade you to go in another direction, how can you hate on someone else for doing that very thing- the thing that you should be doing as well?
There seems to be a lot of build up but it all falls flat. She spends so much time hating on her soulmate that you can't help but be curious in who he is. You hold out hoping that you'll find out but alas, in the end, you wind up completely disappointed that he barely gets a mention. The majority of the book spends time concentrating on Agatha and her co-worker, with whom she has ABSOLUTELY ZERO chemistry. So many pages wasted.
I loved Halpern's F-It List… but I hated this one. And the cover was so pretty too!
October 6, 2017
The concept of a "soul mate" has been around for practically forever, but something strange started happening a few years ago. No one knows why, but people started getting names on their chests. Not like a tattoo, per se, since they didn't choose the name and/or do it themselves. Names just started appearing. Signatures, actually. Though no one knows why or how this started happening, many people honestly believe that the signature belongs to the person they are Meant To Be with (their MTB). People believe in this phenomenon so much, in fact, that there are even services to help you scan in your signature and your MTB's signature so that you can find each other more quickly. And I guess that is great if you believe in the whole MTB thing, but what if you don't?
Agatha isn't so sure about the whole MTB thing. In fact, she prefers to use the term "Empties" (MTs) instead of MTBs. She was probably a little jaded by the fact that her high school boyfriend immediately dumped her and went in search of his MTB when a signature appeared on his chest, but it is more than that. She just doesn't know how she feels about love and relationships in general. Is there really such a thing as fate and destiny? Could it possibly be that easy to find the person who is right for her? Sadly, her MTB has a very common name, so she doesn't exactly have an easy time searching for him online to find out more of what he might be like. And then, to complicate things just a bit more, she starts to fall for a guy at work. This witty coming-of-age story is a great blend of humor, romance, and magical realism. Just an FYI, though -- based on the mature content, some people might be more comfortable labeling this New Adult rather than YA.
Happy Reading!
Agatha isn't so sure about the whole MTB thing. In fact, she prefers to use the term "Empties" (MTs) instead of MTBs. She was probably a little jaded by the fact that her high school boyfriend immediately dumped her and went in search of his MTB when a signature appeared on his chest, but it is more than that. She just doesn't know how she feels about love and relationships in general. Is there really such a thing as fate and destiny? Could it possibly be that easy to find the person who is right for her? Sadly, her MTB has a very common name, so she doesn't exactly have an easy time searching for him online to find out more of what he might be like. And then, to complicate things just a bit more, she starts to fall for a guy at work. This witty coming-of-age story is a great blend of humor, romance, and magical realism. Just an FYI, though -- based on the mature content, some people might be more comfortable labeling this New Adult rather than YA.
Happy Reading!
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