I mean, it's not like this book was groundbreaking. Ritzy relocates to a rich neighborhood and meets poor little rich boy Spencer. And, of course, they love each other, and, of course, there are class fights and misunderstandings, and, of course, they work it out in the end. But, here's the thing, it all works really, really well. There's not a ton of their relationship, but what is there is completely swoony. I love that they're literally next door neighbors and they used to play together as kids. What makes this story so unique is the foster family. Ritzy isn't used to people taking care of her and Kris is so generous. I loved watching their relationship develop and deepen.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book, it approaches a topic that were starting to see more on in YA lit a little more often, a teen entering foster care. Maritza is finishing up her junior year of high school when her flighty mother abandons her to seek a new adventure in Mexico with seemingly little care as to how Maritza is going to survive. After her counselor realizes something isn't right she contacts DCF for a welfare check, resulting in Maritza ending up in foster care. Apparently, it's not her first time in the system and she ends up with the same foster mom she had when she was in the system as an infant. As the summer progresses Maritza starts to feel torn between her two worlds, one of struggling and close friends and the other of money and influential people. Along the way she meets Spenser, the boy next door who is also dealing with familial issues.

I really loved this novel, Morrill's writing instantly drew me in and I had to know what was going to happen to Maritza. I loved this look at the people on both sides of the foster care system, granted this is a best case scenario in that Maritza ends up in a well-to-do living situation with people who seems to actually care and love for her and she acknowledges that she is lucky this way. I love when authors take on real-life topics that have been over looked in the past and I think Morrill has done a good job of this in her work.

make. Can she plan for the worst, but still hope for the best?

Better Than The Best Plan by Lauren Morrill came into my life at the best possible time. I was coming off of a longer, more involved sort of book and really wanted to read a book that would absorb all my attention. This book did that! It absolutely grabbed me immediately and I am so thrilled that it did.

Morrill’s Better Than The Best Plan is about a 17 year old girl named Maritza, or Ritzy for short. Ritzy is about to be a high school senior. It’s the summer before her senior year. She’s thought about college but is focused on graduating first. She has lived a bit of a bohemian life, as her mother is flaky and moves them from place to place. So, she’s off to take a test and has this out of the blue conversation with her mother. She comes home to a note saying her mother has gone to Mexico to learn how to be a life coach.

So, Ritzy is living on her own when someone reports it to Florida’s version of CPS (child protective services). There, Martiza is placed into foster care and discovers this actually isn’t her first time in foster care. She ends up back with the same foster parent – Kris – and her husband. Ritzy’s new life gives her access to money and she’s seeing what life is like on the other side of the train tracks. She’s also getting to know the boy next door, Spencer.

Better Than The Best Plan explores families, their dynamics, what makes a family and more. It’s a very quick read. This book is one that I inhaled, and lately I have not exactly been inhaling all kinds of books. I loved the pacing. The characters were right on point and had different things I could relate to. I felt like Better Than The Best Plan was a truly wonderful, unexpected book. Absolutely would recommend if you want a book to read that’s easy and quick and fascinating.

This book was very underwhelming. I may have set my expectations too high but I just kept wishing for more during the whole story. More details more conflict just more substance really.

Better Than the Best Plan hooked me from the first pages.

The characters fit into standard tropes. I never felt like I got to know them beyond a superficial level. Nevertheless, the protagonists are likable. Maritza is nice girl who enjoys to read, has a crush on a cute boy, and thinks carefully about her future. She’s mature for her age, having had to take on so many responsibilities at home. And she enjoys a good book. I loved seeing Martiza’s relationships with her foster parents and Spencer, the cute boy next door, blossom. Seeing her learn what it means for a parental figure to provide security and stability, even if it means placing boundaries on her freedom. And seeing her learn that the wealthy don’t all coast through life; the teens work during the summer too, if at nicer establishments, and experience conflicts with parental figures.

If any character breaks the tropes, it’s Spencer. Spencer initially comes off an the arrogant rich boy, but he’s actually not the troubled jerk hiding a nice heart. He’s a genuinely kind person, albeit with some issues of his own, who thinks about others and, like Maritza, is carefully considering his future. I especially love his relationship with his rowdy younger brother. Ryan was born with a gestational amputation and is missing one of his forearms, but he’s super hyperactive and finds ways to work around his disability. Spencer is an advocate for treating his younger brother normally, and he demonstrates this by example. He’s also fixing up a car and enjoys playing tennis competitively, though he doesn’t plan to go pro.

The book progresses quickly from scene to scene, never lingering long on any one character, activity, or setting. This causes some discontinuity in the story. For example, Maritza is roped into creating a children’s program for a July 4th celebration. After she accepts the role, the next time the program comes up is on the day of the performance. Still, enough is given that I understood where the story was going, and the end didn’t come as a surprise, though it felt rushed. Pretty much everything wraps up in the last few chapters, some a little too neatly and some given to us without showing us the process.

Although the problems and central conflicts of the novel resolve rather quickly and neatly, Better than the Best Plan is an enjoyable, heartwarming story about the importance of communication in relationships, finding first love and new love, and opening oneself to new beginnings. As it takes place during summer vacation and features some beach scenes (set in Florida, by the way), it’s perfect for a summer read.

Normally I find Lauren Morrills’s books to be fluffy fun. The main characters have their dilemmas to deal with, but they usually are resolved without too much drama. With the addition of a bit of romance, her novels are entertainingly light reads. However, this one didn’t quite work for me.

I think that in this case the main character’s problem was much too serious for the fluffy treatment. Ritzy is left alone when her perpetually flaky mother goes to a retreat in Mexico with no firm plans for her return. When the authorities figure out that she’s essentially been abandoned, they put Ritzy into foster care.

So far, so good. But Ritzy’s foster home isn’t just nice, it’s practically perfect. She winds up living on an island in Florida where most of the inhabitants are wealthy. Ritzy gets a job in a country club, makes friends, and even falls for the cute (if somewhat troubled) boy next door. It’s just all so easy, and so far from what a lot of kids experience in foster care, that it made me uncomfortable.

The resolution of the story is similarly low stakes. I won’t spoil the ending, but what winds up happening allows Ritzy to have her proverbial cake. Even the cute boy’s family troubles just kind of evaporate at the end.

For me, this was just an OK read. I wanted more than I got.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I thought this was an important and interesting topic well-rendered, and I enjoyed all the characters, but was somewhat disappointed by the ending. It felt quite quickly wrapped up - I was open to whichever choice Maritza wanted to make, but the way it was done felt a little lacking.

This was really interesting- entering a foster home at age 17. Was a good book about family and relationships. Teens will enjoy this sweet book.

Ritzy is abandoned by her mom at the age of 17 and she is placed in a well-off foster home until she is legally allowed to be on her own. Her foster parents have rules and expectations that she never had to deal with when living with her mom.

And then she meets a boy who plays tennis and fights with his dad.

Super sweet read all about family, friends, and what's it like to live on "both sides of the tracks".

What do you do when your already flighty, commitment-phobic mother takes off for Mexico with no way to contact her and no idea when or if she’s coming back? If you’re 17 year old Ritzy, you just try to do your best to roll with it. But when the school year ends and a concerned teacher contacts DCFS, Ritzy finds herself back in a foster home, somewhere she had no idea she’d been as a baby, in a well to do town that might as well be a different planet. Questioning what her mother did all those years ago and where she fits in now, Ritzy is taking a hard look at where she’s been, the opportunities she could have had here, and what it means to be a family.

I’ve long been a fan of Morrill’s books, and this is a solid addition to any YA collection where contemporary stories are popular. Ritzy is obviously in a better than the best case scenario (see what I did there?) and she is cognizant of that. Honestly, my biggest criticism is the title - it doesn’t make sense to me. Give to readers who want books that touch on a serious issue, but maybe aren’t quite ready/want to dive into the super heavy, emotional deep end that is out there.

Well I'm not to surprised another fantastic book by Lauren Morrill. Better Than The Best Plan is an emotionally charged book from the start. The only negative thing I can add is it wasn't long enough I wanted more Spencer and Ritzy. Adorable characters and a moving story what more can I say this is a great read!!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the E-arc copy of this novel.
I found myself loving this book the more pages I read. It is at the heart about family and the choices they and we make for ourselves as we grown up. Ritzy learns first hand that what we choose and how we deal with those choices will influence us going forward into our future. We love our family, Ritzy's birth mom, but that doesn't mean they make the best life for us. I love this book for teens who have the maturity to understand that family is more than blood. Families can be what you make them. A group of individuals who care for your emotional and physical well being without having to be ask or made to care about you.

I liked the originality of this plot: girl discovers she was once a foster child when she’s 17 and abandoned by her mother just before her senior year of high school and is sent to the former foster mom again. Sarah Dessen fans should take note of Lauren Morrill books, this especially.