The Meet Cute Project by Rhiannon Richardson

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another YA romance. I want to thank Simon & Schuster for granting me an early copy of this book in exchange for review.  I really wasn't sure what to expect from this one. It was compared to To All the Boys I've Loved Before but nothing about it from the tone to the storyline was reminiscent of that book. Which isn't a bad thing. We need more stories that don't feel like the buzzed about book of the moment. 

The Meet Cute Project follows the very relatable Mia who is tasked with finding a date for her sister's wedding.  Her best friends come up with the idea of creating meet cutes in an attempt to find the perfect guy for her.

One of the things that was refreshing was that this felt like it was written for tweens and teens. And it wasn't trying to promote activism or current events. While those books are important we also need books about Black teens just being Black teens navigating high school. Mia is apart of her school's swim team, she has a close knit group of friends, and she's starting to think about what colleges she wants to apply to. 

Mia has a much older sister named Sam who is being a bit of a bridezilla while planning her wedding. It was interesting seeing their relationship because of their age difference and being at two different points in their lives.  Sam often takes it upon herself to be a parental figure to Mia because she believes their parents are slacking with her compared to when she was her age.

It starts off a little slow but picks up as we get further into the story. Mia has a close knit group of friends and they attempt to stage meet cutes at stores, parties, and even the dog park. I had a hard time picturing what her potential love interests looked like though because there was little description of what they looked like. But I appreciated that they weren't the cookie cutter YA love interests. No dark haired goofy bad boys in sight.

I liked that the ups and downs of friendships also played a big part in this book as Mia navigates close friendships as well as team friendships and branching outside of her bubble. 

Overall this was a cute book with realistic friendships, family relationships, and first romance. Teens who like slow burn romance will enjoy this.