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dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I would like to thank NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing me with a free audio e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
A re-release of K.L. Walther’s debut novel, Maybe Meant to Be tells the story of four high school seniors as they navigate love, friendships, and leaving high school behind at their New England boarding school.
I previously read Walther’s most popular novel, The Summer of Broken Rules, which I liked reading and was curious to read Walther’s re-release of this book. While I really wanted to like this book, I just don’t think this title was ultimately for me. Specifically, my problems with the book mainly address character development throughout Maybe Meant to Be and the narration of the book itself.
Starting off with narration, while Alexa Elmy and Graham Halstead were fine narrators, there definitely could have been some improvements. I feel like Elmy had a very hard time separating the characters’ voices, especially for the female characters since almost every single one of them sounded the same. Meanwhile with Halstead, while he’s mostly able to separate character voices, he’s not how imagine Charlie to sound and I personally feel like his voice for Charlie makes sound older than he actually is.
Moving on to character development, I feel like that was the area Walther needs the most work on (though I do understand that this was her debut and that it’s not a current reflection of her work). A majority of the characters had little to no depth to them, with Charlie and Luke being the only exceptions. While Charlie and Luke’s character development and their relationship fully fleshed out, I don’t think Nick gets the development necessary for his character arc and Sage got to be really annoying during the middle/near-end of the book. Alongside an easily forgettable ensemble cast of friends that are almost carbon copies of each other, I feel her character work could have been improved.
Now, there are some things that I did like about Maybe Meant to Be. A solid plot in of itself, I really loved the world-building Walther invests in bringing Bexley (the boarding school which the characters attend) to life and I think that’s one of the finer points of the book. Additionally, the relationship between Charlie and Luke was developed very well and helped me enjoy the book more.
Overall, while I wanted to like the book, this just wasn’t it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent