Sophie Jordan's books have this incredible addictive quality to them, so I'm always pulled towards her stories. I was in the mood for a dramatic type of contemporary YA when I stumbled upon The Me I Meant to Be. My interest was only heightened when I discovered the book is the story of two friends. As with Jordan's previous novels, this book was easy to dive into.

The book told the story of Flor and Willa, two best friends and the emotional upheaval they face in their senior year of high school. Flor and Zach used to be an item, only now they are broken up and Willa's feelings for him, that she had kept hidden for ages, were beginning to surface all over again. Willa, however, wants to stick by the girl code and not go after her best friend's ex, especially because the best friend wants Zach back. Obviously, that does not work out the way she wants to and things get even more muddled as she realizes that Zach might like her back too. On the other side of the story, Flor was dealing with some changes in her home with the introduction of her father's young new girlfriend just as she's trying to get over her breakup with Zach. The only positive in her life was the hot new secretive tutor helping her out, Grayson.

I thought both of the romances were enjoyable. Jordan writes great chemistry between her couples and that was very much prevalent here. I was engaged enough in both of their stories, though I'll admit that there were moments of incredulity here and there. What I thought was lacking here though was a thorough exploration of Willa and Flora's friendship. With all that was going in the girls' lives, the focus was more on all the individual issues and I thought more attention should have been given to them, their history and their present.

The Me I Meant to Be was a very compulsively readable novel and I recommend it if you're in the mood for something light, dramatic and has all the teenage angst.

I didn’t know what to expect when I first started reading this book. I just knew that it was Sophie Jordan writing it and I needed to read it. So I started the story without any expectations really and I was sucked into this book fast.

Willa and Flor’s friendship is your typical best friends’ relationship you can imagine; they do a lot together, tell each other almost anything and have each other’s back no matter what. Everything we are taught that best friends should do.

So when Flor decides to do the Girl Code book after feeling the betrayal from another friend, Willa agrees though she isn’t so keen on the idea, but she knows her friend needs it. So from there, the story unravels where more codes are added and their friendship is tested in ways they didn’t expect.

Willa has always seemed to put everyone’s needs in front of hers and so often, she hides her own desires so the others get what they want. Flor’s ex-boyfriend is part of the ones she hides, but when her friendship with him starts to change, she is more confused about what to do even though the temptation is harder to resist. Zach knows what he wants and that’s Willa and he’s done hiding it, but Willa just can’t seem to let herself accept that it could be true; scared mostly what that betrayal could cost her.

Flor’s life isn’t as most expects. The image she projects to the world is different from what actually is, but she likes it like that. Even her friends don’t know everything so it becomes a surprise to her when she opens up to her tutor, a guy she had never really spoken to before. From there, her life is starting to head towards something she isn’t sure she’s ready to accept and she will fight to keep some kind of control about what she believes she wants which is whatever gives her a sense of comfort.

This book tests the friendship between the two girls, but it’s also about how both girls are growing and are taken charge of what they actually want and need rather than just going for what people expects from them. The outcome isn’t always what you expect and the book is the proof of it.

I really loved the way this book was written in a way that not everything is black or white because not every situation is the same. It’s something that both girls will go through and will have to decide what they want to do about these.

I won’t lie that I would have wanted a bit more into the book because I felt like there were parts in the end that went to quickly and I feel like we could have gotten a little bit more of insight into the aftermath of everything that went down.

But overall, this was just an awesome read and I recommend it to everyone who loves a good YA read.

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.

Flor and Willa have been best friends for ever and know everything about each other, or at least they think they do.
In love with her next door neighbour, Zach, Willa can’t reveal her feelings because he’s dated her best friend. Flor feels abandoned by her mother who barely talks to her and her father who’s got a new girlfriend. Failing school she gets a new tutor, Grayson, and...of course...he’s attractive and ends up helping her see a lot more about herself/her situation than she expected.
A realistic dynamic between the friends was presented, and though it was all quite apparent how it would go I was surprised this was targeted at middle-school readers given the events involved.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

I got an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley next change for a review.

What first drew me to this book is the two love stories in one concept. I liked the idea that Willa had to struggle with realizing she had feelings for her best friend's ex boyfriend; and that Flor was struggling between wanting her tutor or wanting to get back together with her ex.

Willa felt relatable. She struggled with not just her feelings, but how her relationship was with her older sister, Chloe, after she (Chloe) returned from breaking up with her husband with a daughter she struggle to raise, and her mom while her dad worked away from the family. I did kind of feel towards the end that her revelation for her feelings for Zach (the ex) was a little rushed because the book was coming to an end. I would have rather seen her resolve things with her best friend first. And her ending chapter felt like it was taken from an early 2000s movie.

I kept wondering why Flor wanted to get back together with Zach. But I could understand and see her growing attraction to Grayson. He was the guy I liked more out of the two. He was a mystery that needed to be explored further, I feel. I did feel bad for Flor when it came to her relationship with her parents. Mom barely talks to her, and Dad's more involved in his new relationship with a woman closer to her age. I've had divorced parents most of my life, so I know the feeling.

All in all, I would have preferred to see more of Flor and Willa's relationship with each other. Still, I feel the book was a cute little love story.

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.

Posted to Goodreads: Willa Evans knows that you can't date your friend's ex but what it the ex was her friend first? Willa's best friend, Flor, dated Willa neighbor and unrequited crush, Jack, for three month before he broke up with her and now Willa has to do whatever it takes to stay away from her now available crush. Flor wants Jack back but her love life is getting complicated with the sudden appearance of her new tutor, Grayson.

"The Me I Meant to Be" feels very similar to other YA romances. However, Willa's story felt way more developed and realistic than Flor's which felt very much like an afterthought. This book will appeal to fans of YA romances looking for a little melodrama.

A cute quick read told in two POVs split between two best friends, Flor and Willa. Both plot lines were interesting, and seemed realistic, but neither really drew me in. The ending felt a little sudden, and I would have liked more interaction between the two bffs. Still, a cute very readable YA story.

I requested this one so long ago and now that it’s time to read it, I’m not sure why I wanted tor read it.

Willa and Flor were not the best MCs for me. There was a lot of potential, but I didn’t care for either of their inner monologues and struggled to care for their story line. I didn’t quite see why they were friends. As for the boys, they were sort of lackluster.

Plot wise, it was fairly dramatic. There are a lot of things going on and some issues felt glossed over {like the sister clearly being depressed.} It felt like a much younger book than the stated ages of the characters and I just never really settled into it.

Overall, it was sort of like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. Something kept me reading, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.

**Huge thanks to HMH Books FYR for providing the arc free of charge**

I was afraid this was going to be too cutesy and childish but I was wrong. Yes, there was teenage angst and drama but it was written realistically. There were a couple steamy make out scenes so this should be for older teens. I liked the two different points of view and the way stereotypes were broken in this story. Also, there were a couple scenes where the girls told the boys off about no meaning no which I whole heartedly agree with being in a book for teens.

Told from alternate perspectives of Willa and Flor, these two are going to have to navigate their way through girl code, when the love of a boy comes into question. Willa has always lived next door to the extremely handsome and popular Zach. She never thought she could ever be in his league, so she just let her crush stay a crush and helped her best friend, Flor, date him. Now that Zach and Flor have broken up, Flor is trying to use Willa to help her get back together with Zach. Willa’s heart is torn, but girl code wins out. Until it doesn’t, Willa finds herself making out with Zach at a party and they are both forced to face their feelings for each other. This added romantic drama only makes things at home worse. Willa’s sister and niece are staying at her house because her sister left her cheating husband. Willa’s sister can’t get it together enough to take care of her kid, so Willa has been stepping up and dealing. Will Willa be able to finally do something for herself, for once?

Flor is a beautiful rich soccer star, who is having trouble in one of her classes, so she hires a tutor, Jack. Flor is both infuriated and turned on by geeky Jack. Things become especially real, when Jack is sitting front to Flor’s family drama. Her mother left and her father is moving on with a younger woman, who is systematically replacing Flor. Life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine for Flor and only Jack can really see through the mask. Will Flor be able to move on from her relationship with Zach to see what she has in front of her?

This was super cute. I enjoyed the story and liked the more challenging issues within each of the character’s storylines. I wish that the book was longer and that Flor’s story was further fleshed out. However, this was a nice romance book, and not a teen drama like it attempted to be.

I think this is one of my favorite YA contemporary novels I have read recently! The Me I Meant to Be is a fun, fast-paced book about love, friendship, complex family dynamics, and highschool drama. And it has a couple of quite steamy makeout scenes!

Willa has secretly been in love with her next-door neighbor Zach forever. But he's out of her league and now that he's also her best friends ex, definitely off limits. She didn't mean to break "Girl Code" but things happen. She's also dealing with her older sister moving back home as a divorced single mom with depression and substance abuse.

Flor Hidalgo isn't over Zach and is determined to get him back. So why does her geeky, cute math tutor keep catching her eye? All the while, she's struggling with her dad's new, very young girlfriend and lack of family stability.

This is a fun page-turner full of swoony romance and complicated relationships, while also doing a great job of addressing rape culture and consent. I'm so here for it! I received an advance review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Oh! Matters of the heart can be so complicated, especially when your heart is being torn in two. Willa's two best friends had dated, unsuccessfully, and though, in her mind, she knew she shouldn't want more with Zach, her heart wouldn't listen.

• Pro: This story kept me in its clutches! I had to keep reading, because I was just too invested in the outcome to stop.

• Pro: Jordan created some amazing chemistry between Flor & Grayson and Willa & Zach. There was no doubt in my mind that these two couples should happen, and I was shipping them both immediately.

• Pro: The heroes were both fabulous, but Zach really, really won my heart. The whole boy-next-door-bestie-to-more thing was totally working for me. At first, I just thought he was a really smooth talker, but then I realized how he was simply speaking openly and honestly from his heart. I loved the way he just put it all out there. There were swoons.

• Con: Although I was not disappointed in the ending, I would have liked a little more time dedicated to that resolution.

• Pro: Flor and Willa each had some family issues they were dealing with, but Flor's really broke my heart. I wanted to just go and mom hard on her, because her parents were the actual worst. The fact that I cared so much for her can be attributed to how well Jordan crafted these characters.

• Pro: It may not have been under the best circumstances, but I sort of cheered when Willa finally stopped pretending and started being honest. She never wanted to make waves or cause any drama, and by avoiding these things, she kind robbed herself of some happiness. It was nice to see her go and grab something for herself, while still considering how it affected those around her. I also liked her realizing that she wasn't inferior to Flor, that she was desirable and worthy of attention.

• Pro: Though Willa and Flor's friendship was tested by all the secrets they were keeping, I never doubted their love for one another, and I kept hoping they each could have everything they wanted without having to sacrifice each other.

Overall: A fun twofer romance, which had me flipping the pages and grinning from ear-to-ear.

A little too much inside the character’s heads & not enough action between the characters. I wanted more, but overall it was a sweet story about friendship & how that can change when the drama of teenage life affects it.

This book was received as an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book should be on every shelf of libraries, homes, and community places for every teenage girl about how to care for those whom you love. The dating life is something every teenage girl in some way, shape or form worries about for most of their high school career. I also fell in love with the theme of this story that no matter who each girl dates, if she is your true friend, she will not only forgive you but still love you. I could not stop reading this book and I felt so satisfied when finished that I know our young readers will love it too.

This will definitely find its home in our YFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Did not finish. This book just wasn't for me. I have read and adored several other of Sophie Jordan's books and loved them. Just did not enjoy the plotline of this one.

It’s a rule of the girl code that doesn’t even need to be spoken - that you never date your best friend’s ex. He’s off limits - don’t look at him, don’t think about him, and certainly don’t ever kiss him. So why does Willa find herself inexplicably drawn to Zach, who is not only her next door neighbor and friend, but also her best friend Flora’s newly minted ex. And why, when he kisses her, does she not pull away?

Flora has enough on her plate, which may be why she doesn’t notice that Willa is acting a little strange lately ... and spending an unusual amount of time with Zach. Between trying to bring up her failing average, avoiding her dad’s new 20-something year old girlfriend, and coming to terms with the fact that her mom essentially abandoned her, Flora doesn’t know how she is keeping it together these days. Not to mention that she is heartbroken over Zach dumping her. Or is she? Flora can’t explain the butterflies she feels in her stomach every time she is around her kind of hot, nerdy tutor, Grayson. But that’s silly, right ... he’s so not her type! So why does she feel crazy whenever Grayson is in the room?

Author Sophie Jordan, best known for her adult romance novels, has penned an adorable YA contemporary, The Me I Meant to Be. To start, I am a reader who judges my books by their cover, so while the premise of this novel seemed intriguing, I wasn’t drawn in by the cover, which could use some reworking and updating. However, the cover did give me some idea of what the characters are supposed to look like, which was one good thing. Once I started reading, however, I was relieved to find that the book flows easily and is a breeze to jump into.

Told in alternating chapters between the POVs of Willa and Flora, readers are first exposed to the girls’ home lives. Willa is currently dealing with her father working a job four hours away from home and only seeing him on the weekends, if that. To make matters worse, her once beautiful, popular, vibrant sister is now a divorcee with a young baby. She has moved back home, and is having difficulty looking after herself, much less a toddler. Willa’s storyline is interesting because it shows how she attempts to juggle tumult at home, as well as school and her friendships, and her crush on the neighbor boy.

Flora, on the other hand, lives a seemingly privileged life, with a beautiful home and a father who adores her. Not to mention she is beautiful, popular, and has friends to boot. The only problem is her mom has run off to Mexico and seems completely uninterested in her. Plus, her once caring dad is now dating a woman half his age and is suddenly showing little interest in her or her life. Flora’s storyline shines because it shows how easily the life we project to others is often a false narrative of how we wish our life really was. From the outside, it would seem that Flora has it all. Only she knows that this is far from the truth.

While this is supposed to be a novel about friendship and the relationship between Willa and Flora, we see little of that here. The girls hardly interact or talk throughout the pages of this book. We typically only see them together at parties or the school lunch table. Instead, most of the story revolves around the girls’ relationships with the boys in their lives. It almost reads as two parallel companion novels. You’ll get no complaints from me though, because Sophie Jordan is good at relationships. She writes lines and scenes that will make readers swoon! Her male characters are passionate and prone to “saying it with a kiss” when words just won’t suffice. You can really tell that romance is Jordan’s genre, as her characters are sizzling with chemistry and just can’t keep their hands off each other. No worries though - nothing more than PG-13 romance is covered here.

In all, The Me I Meant to Be is a light, fun read, while still dealing with some heavier topics; however, nothing is touched upon here that can’t be worked on or resolved by the end of the book. If you are looking for a novel that doesn’t take itself too seriously, reads quickly, and will keep you entertained, check out The Me I Meant to Be!

Thanks to NetGalley & HMH Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the separate view-points of the characters. I liked the way that the differing points of view helped shape the story so well. Sometimes this can drive a story way off track, but I loved how it worked out in The Me I Meant to Be. Thank you for letting me read this one!

Fun dual POV romance about the "girl code"! Can you date your best friends crush? These two girls are interesting and it was interesting to see where the story went!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC for an unbiased review!

Flor and Willa are best friends. Willa and Zach are best friends. Zach and Flor had been couple but were now broken up. Willa has been in love with Zach, her next door neighbor, since they were kids, but now that he and Flor were broken up, the Girl Code kicked in: you don’t date your friend’s ex.

The narration switches between Flor and Willa chapter by chapter, starting with Willa. The two points of view create an interesting dynamic. The readers get to see the story in a more rounded way with the two narrators yet keep that personal first person point of view. I found myself relating to both characters which upped the ante in the story’s main conflict. And each character had other conflicts that spurred in the story and made them seem more real.

The main characters were well rounded and dynamic. They came across as real, complicated individuals, not just a cookie-cutter cop out to teen stereotypes. Although the tone occasionally got a little whiny for my taste, over all it was handled well. It definitely has a few big surprises that kept me reading to see where the story would go next until it reached it’s ultimate conclusion.

Bottom line: strong characters, interesting plot. I recommend this book.