Cover Image: Meet Cute

Meet Cute

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed this book so much! I read it in two sittings and enjoyed almost all of the stories in it as well. The first two were very slow for me, but other than that, i loved how different all the stories were from one another!

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I usually don't read that many anthologies, but 2017 was a year of surprises! It's sad that this anthology hasn't been promoted enough and I would love it to be seen more on social media! Meet Cute is a series of stories where characters meet each other for the first time. You get to see many different authors and some of them are my favourite ones!

I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it!

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This story collection, like most other Young Adult ones, is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the authors - Nicola Yoon, Nina LaCour, Ibi Zoboi, Julie Murphy - have awesome stories while the rest vary from meh to middling. It's hard to picture too many people getting excited about and enjoying every single story; however, I think it'll be great in libraries so people can read whatever they want without feeling any obligation to read all of it because they paid for it.

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I had so much fun reading this book! It really is filled with cute and fun short stories! I love how the authors spun a tale so unique and witty. All stories are sweet but there are definitely a bittersweet (my favorite) here and there, not all seems realistic but I love just how raw the writings are.
It took me two short stories to understand that this is a book full of "how they met" (I don't know why I forgot this given the title). Surprisingly, some of my favorites here are from authors that I'm unfamiliar of.

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Seige Etiquette (Katie Cotugno) // 2 stars
Print Shop (Nina LaCour) // 3 stars
Hourglass (Ibi Ziboi) // 2 stars
Click (Katherine McGee) // 5 stars (VERY UNIQUE AND A FUN SPIN TO THE FUTURISTIC EARTH)
The Intern (Sara Shepard) // 4 stars
Somewhere That's Green (Meredith Russo) // 2 stars
The Way We Love Here (Dhonielle Clayton) // 5 stars (DEFINITELY MY FAVORITE! ACHINGLY BEAUTIFUL)
Oomph (Emery Lord) // 3 stars
The Dictionary of You and Me (Jennifer L. Armentrout) // 4 stars (LIBRARY! BOOKS! LOVE STORY!)
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love (Jocelyn Davies) // 4 stars (BASICALLY THE BETTER VERSION OF THE PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT)
259 Million Miles (Kass Morgan) // 3 stars
Something Real (Julie Murphy) // 4 stars (PLOT TWIST EVERY TURN OF THE STORY! IT WAS A HILARIOUS STORY)
Say Everything (Huntley Fitzpatrick) // 4 stars
The Department of Dead Love (Nicola Yoon) // 5 stars (THIS STORY IS SO UNIQUE AND FUN AND SO SWEET?)

Average rating: 3.7 stars

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This was so well done, the order of the books was perfect. Katie Cotugno starts it off, Wolf and Hailey were a favourite of the entire book, they are locked in a bathroom at a party and it has all the awkwardness and cuteness that entails. Huntley Fitzpatrick closes it off really strong, she is such a talent, I can't wait for a new full length from her! This one was incredibly sweet though!! A few other favourites were by Kass Morgan where 2 genius teens are put together to check their compatibility before a possible mission to Mars, it was really funny, and Jennifer Armentrout's story is the absolute sweetest and has libraries and a love for books which just makes it even better!

I read a few stories by new to me authors and am excited all over again about a few old favourites, I'd definitely recommend this anthology, 4 stars!!

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A sweet collection of YA romance stories perfect for introducing readers to new authors while enjoying some beloved favorites.

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One of the most diverse anthologies I've ever read. Most of the stories were cute and unexpected. some of my favorites were "Print Shop", "Oomph", and "The Department of Dead Love". I loved the representation of POC and lgbt+ in this novel, something that is so so important in well written, realistic stories. It was really captivating, and even though I haven't dived into a book for a little while, I felt like this one held my attention from the very first page. The only negative aspect of this entire anthology was that some of the stories felt way too forced and insta-lovey. otherwise, it was perfect.

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You look at the cover and are drawn in by the fact that there are not only a culturally diverse cast of characters, but also various sexualities represented. Then you read the list of contributors. Your jaw keeps dropping at the sight of beloved YA authors. Then you open the book and get lost in the variety of genres contained in its pages. Before you know it, you close the last page and realize that your beloved authors rocked it and you now have a list of authors whose work you now want to explore.

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Anthologies are always the hardest piece of literature to rate.

The imense stories that we get to go in & out so quick don't allow me to know the character in a complex way, and one of my favorite part of reading and writing books is the fact that everyone has a different personality.

That being said, I really enjoyed this collection. The stories were overall VERY diverse and the selection of authors is also a plausiable element.

My favorite stories were:

-"Print Shop" by Nina LaCour. I really wish this was a full book, I would totally read it all.
-"Click" by Katharine McGee was really fun due to the tinder aspect of it.
-"Somewhere That's Green" by Meredith Russo because trans girl and a closeted lesbian <3
-"Oomph" by Emery Lord because it gave me school + sexual orientation vibes.

Thank you HMH Books for Young Readers & Netgalley for providing this ARC!

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While it was a short story collection some ideas seemed much more formed than others. I’d rather have read less stories which were more exciting than more stories which weren’t as good

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Meet Cute is an adorable collection of real representations of people and the different kinds of romance stories in this world. I first heard of it earlier this year and I have been extremely excited to pick it up ever since! Not only was the idea creative, but it also features so many amazing authors!

MEET CUTE DEFINITELY LIVED UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS AND IT’S NAME, (It was SO cute and let’s see how many times I can’t avoid that word throughout this world)

I don’t want to give away the amazing short stories so, first, here was a list of the stories in order of the stories I liked the most. (Though I enjoyed all of them and even though I chose an order I love them all so much and the order changes with every moment!)
1. The Unlikely Likelihood Of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davis //I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT (also want someone to do this irl) CUTE
2. The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout // A cute and romantic story! Perfect for all book lovers!
3. Print Shop by Nina LaCour
4. Click by Katherine McGee
5. The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton
6. Oomph by Emery Lord
7. 259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan
8. Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick
9. The Department of True Love by Nicola Yoon
10. Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi
11. The Intern by Sara Shepard
12. Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo
13. Something Real by Julie Murphy’s
14. Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno
​I was SO happy to see representation of the LGBT community (as it’s not often in cutesy contemporary stories). They also didn’t have perfect endings, or rather, had realistic endings. Ones that were left to the readers to continue and dream of these cute interactions.

As one of my most highly anticipated books ( I have had the poster hanging on my bedroom wall since may after yallwest ) it’s amazing to know that I WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING DISAPPOINTED. In fact, even with so much anticipation my heart strings were tugged on, and I was a bundle of feels when reading this. This collection also was such a quick and easy read yet so full of beautifully written gems that I plan to read OVER AND OVER and when the book is published (January 2nd 2018- SAVE THE DATE) don’t forget to check it out! You won’t regret it!

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This book was fine. Frankly, I'd read novels about most of these stories. But reading this helped me learn that I'm not particularly interested in just beginnings - I want middles and ends.

I particularly loved Nicola Yoon's though!

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I have to say, some of these stories made me think that I don't like meet cutes as much as I thought I did. Some of them were so full of insta-love and non sense that I wasn't on board with. But there were some of them that made total sense to me. That weren't condescending towards the reader, thinking that we were going to believe that two people would fall in love with each other in two minutes. That made me believe every interaction and every moment that these characters spent together. My favourite thing about this collection is that it was super diverse. There were a lot of LGBTQ+ stories and a lot of them had characters of colour.
Here are all the stories:

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno 2☆
I didn't like this story. The romance didn't make sense and I didn't understand why it was told in the second person, there wasn't a reason for that and it wasn't well executed in my opinion.

Print shop by Nina LaCour 5☆
This was a big change from the first story. I loved everything about this: the queer f/f romance, the setting in the print shop, all the conflict that they had and I related to it because I also manage social media accounts. I would also like to meet a cute girl complaining in one of my clients' accounts.

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi 2☆
I don't have a lot to say about this since not a lot happened. I was bored all the time and I didn't like the meet cute since there wasn't any build up for it. I liked the black and fat representation but that was the only think that had going for it to be honest.

Click by Katharine McGee 5☆
This is definitely my favourite story. It was very thought provoking which is hard to accomplish in the few pages that it had. It made me want to see a movie of it, it was definitely cute, loved the concept of a futuristic Tinder and I wanted them to be together since the beginning. I would 100% read a super long book about this but it was executed beautifully as a short story as well.

The Intern by Sara Shepard 1☆
I don't remember this one that much so I don't have a lot to say. It was cute but not memorable at all.

Somewhere That's Green by Meredith Russo 4☆
This was absolutely fantastic, loved the trans and lesbian representation. The meet cute and the f/f romance was adorable. I loved that it tackled important subjects especially the gendered toilets. What I don't like is that Meredith Russo always has to have this public confessions or demonstrations and I'm not a big fan of them especially when it's not discussed beforehand.

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton 4☆
The idea for this story was absolutely fantastic, the different directions this story took blew my mind, it made me root for the couple and it made me feel a lot of emotions. I actually cried and it touched my heart so much. I would love for Dhonielle Clayton to explore this story more because it has SO MUCH potential.

Oomph by Emery Lord 4.5☆
This was the cutest thing ever. I would devour this if it were a long book as well (I know, I'm saying that about a lot of these). I'm a big fan of airport stories especially when people have to wait there for a long time so they have time to talk and get to know each other. Love the f/f representation and the conversations that they had. It made me wonder what happened after.

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 3☆
Loved the fact that this took place in a library. It was basically something that a lot of bookworms would like. It seemed kind of basic to me to be honest. It was nothing super exciting.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davis 3☆
Loved that this reinforced the place of women in STEM and that they talked about gender equality a lot. I didn't think it was very realistic though and also it bothered me that she did all that work and at the end, it was all for nothing as a result of that. It seemed kind of pointless.

259 million times by Kass Morgan 3☆
This was incredibly beautiful. I totally believed the romance and I liked that we had a male character with social anxiety. I related a lot to that part of his personality. I think this plot could have been explored further but I liked what we got and the bittersweet ending.

Something Real by Julie Murphy 5☆
This was everything I wanted in my life. Two girls compete to win a date with a famous guy who end up dating each other. Love this a lot. I hate to admit that Julie Murphy is growing on me more and more. There was bisexual representation and biracial rep too. Fantastic and fun!

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick 3/5
The second person POV worked much better in this story in my opinion. The writing was good but the story didn't grab me that much. It wasn't interesting if we didn't know more of the context.

The Department of Dead Love by Nicole Yoon 4.5☆
This was gorgeous! Love the idea, I think it was a bit cheesy and obvious but it was something I had never seen before. I liked that we had black characters and that we got to know a lot about their lives even if the story was short. I didn't believe the ending that much. I think this would have probably worked better as a longer book since it didn't feel realistic that the main character would get over his girlfriend that fast after being in love with her for so long. But I get that they didn't have that much time and I would have shipped it with more story.

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As the title says, the stories were cute contemporaries. Of course I liked a few more than others since there is different authors. My favorite story was by Katharine McGee! Overall I enjoyed reading it and would recommend.

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A gorgeous collection of first meeting love stories. Each one captures the essence of the stirrings of love or affection in only a short few pages. I particularly liked how different types of first meetings were covered, from seeing a familiar face in a new light to getting to know someone completely surprising. Mostly though I loved the diversity of the writers and their stories, some of my favourite writers were included and it made for a very rich collection.

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I received a free eARC novel from the author and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a great group of stories! Of course, my only 5 star rating was Jennifer L. Armentrouts - the only reason I HAD to get this anthology - but I did enjoy a few 4 star ratings as well! I may need to re-visit this later when I want another feel good book.

Here are my reviews and thoughts of the 14 novels in this anthology, breaking it down for my thoughts right after I read the stories :)

SIEGE ETIQUETTE by Katie Cotugno
4 stars
Hailey is at a high school house party when the cops show up. Everyone hides, knowing they will leave when no one gives them a reason to enter the house, and Hailey ends up hiding upstairs in the bathroom with Wolf, a fellow senior who always misses the first part of school because he works at his family’s farm. And Hailey, as the most popular girl in their class, you couldn’t have put too different people together in the same room. But after the incident in Hailey’s life, she decides to try to get to know Wolf and not be the jerk that she used to be. But will that change everything in school?

There are so many questions I have and no answers!! Ahhh!! So short, so sweet, so bitter ending, and I just need to know more!! I wonder if the author is going to write a full length novel of this?? One thing, the second person point of view threw me for a little bit, but just when I was getting used to it, it ended! Oh, the agony!


PRINT SHOP by Nina LaCour
3 stars
Evelyn is at her first day at Print Shop, the local, 30 year business where they make flyers/posters/banners – anything that needs to be printed. Evie doesn’t like being in the spotlight since she is queer and knows that not a lot of people are comfortable around her, so working at the Print Shop is great since they don’t have a website. But part of her job is to start mainstreaming the business to get more customers. When one customer, Lauren, makes a lot of bad noise about them because of a typo, Evie needs to figure out how to control the situation before it gets out of control. And she needs to figure out why she is getting flutters in her stomache when she thinks of Lauren.

This was a cute story. It was full of anticipation and mystery, seeing as how we didn’t find out Evie’s name until well past halfway through the novel! And there was just as much mystery and suspense at the end of the novel, since the reader doesn’t really find out too much about the characters or their decisions.


HOURGLASS by Ibi Zoboi
2 stars
Cherish has always been the odd person out in her town as one of the few black families in a white town, and it doesn’t help that she’s 6’ 5” tall. When her best friend – Stacy’s – ex-boyfriend made a terrible meme of Cherish, she knew she had to leave this small town and go somewhere she will fit it, so going to college far away is her dream goal. Then Cherish finds out that Stacy has been lying to her for months, and it is even more ammunition for her to leave. It’s only when she meets Mamadou, a black guy she can look up at and finds out that he’s going to school in this small white town that Cherish starts to think about what is best for her future.

This was a good novel. There was a lot of drama about prom, which I was never into as a high schooler so I couldn’t really relate to, and I couldn’t relate to the problems Cherish was going through either. I would like to think that things started to work out for her and that she had a happy ending, though!


CLICK by Katharine McGee
3 stars
In the year 2020, a new app came out called Click, where they use althograms to match you with the perfect person. Alexa and Raden decided to try this app, for two completely different reasons. Just when Alexa met Raden, she realizes that she left her phone in the taxi. Losing a phone is not a big deal, but Alexa created her own data app that can “bring a person back to life” using their online data and it is on a chip that is connected to her phone. Alexa needs this chip so she and Raden go on an adventure to find it. And they may be going on another adventure all together.

Very cute story. I loved how different Alexa and Raden are, and I love how easy going Raden was about jumping around town after a taxi to find her phone. And even though this is a short story, I loved the background stories we got for both characters.


THE INTERN by Sara Shepard
2 stars
Clara is working as an intern at her father’s music production company, but she’s not really working. They are just giving her magazines to read and everyone is walking on glass around her. Since her mom passed away, Clara has been treated differently and has been a shell of herself. So when she was given the task to pick up Phineas, an up-and-coming musician, she was happy for a task. And the way Phineas got Clara to open up about herself and her mother was something no one has done yet, so the connection between them might have been the thing Clara needed.

The connection between Phineas and Clara was a bit strained for me, but overall it was a good short story. The problem with short stories is the reader can’t get all of the details of the characters, which in this case made it a little harder for me to connect with the characters.


SOMEWHERE THAT’S GREEN by Meredith Russo
2 stars
Nia has been trying to get her school to allow her, a transgender, to use the girls bathroom for a year since she changed genders. And things were looking up for her, until Lexie gave a speech about how scared she felt about the thought of letting her, and then other boys who claimed they were transgender, into her bathroom. But Lexie has her own deep secret, and she doesn’t necessarily feel this way – it was just what she was told to say about her parents. Neither Lexie nor Nia have talked to one another, but one night at a party changes all of that.

I can honestly say that this might be the first transgender story I’ve read. I don’t have anything against these kind of stories, just that I can’t really relate to them that well. And I didn’t connect with this story as I would have with different characters, but I learned a lot about the feelings and thoughts that they go through every day, which makes me sad. I enjoyed this book and am glad that this was my first story about this topic.


THE WAY WE LOVE HERE by Dhonielle Clayton
4 stars
Viola is asking the gods to show her who her true love is, when she saves a boy, Sebastian, from drowning in the ocean behind her parents inn. They both have the same number of lines on their fingers – a sign that they might be each other’s soul mate. Vio is tired of waiting to see what will happen, so they ensnare with each other to see their futures. But there are too many variables, and when it is all said and done, they have no idea what their future holds. One thing is for certain, though: Vio and Sebastian have intruded each other’s lives from that moment on.

This was a very interesting story! There was a hint of magic and superstition, but also a feel of an islander’s life where they are living in the archaic times. I couldn’t quite tell if this was a historic story or a futuristic story. Though I kept imagining Vio looked like Moana from the movie, haha! I really liked how different this was from anything I’ve read, and I wish I had more to read!


OOMPH by Emery Lord
4 stars
Cassidy is at the airport at JFK flying back home after visiting the college that she may or may not want to go to next year, when she met a cute girl in the waiting room. Since Cassidy wants to be an actress, they started calling each other Peggy (Cass’s new name) and Natasha (the pretty redhead) after Marvel characters. Cass can’t tell if “Natasha” is gay or not, but she is crushing hard core on her. When their planes start to board, Cass has to decide if she wants to take the plunge, or think it wasn’t meant to be.

This was adorable. I loved the “cos-play” they were doing at the airport and how they really got into their roles at the beginning, and then how serious and real they became when they were getting to know each other. You do get to find out “Natasha’s” name in the end, and it was a definitely a feel-good story for any reader, I think 


THE DICTIONARY OF YOU AND ME by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5 stars
Moss goes to work at the public library 3 days of the week, and almost always during 1 of those days, she calls Mr. H. Smith to remind him that the dictionary he checked out is over 4 months overdue. The conversations they have start with the dictionary, but little bits of information come through about both of them, so it feels like Moss knows H. Smith, even though they have never met. And she thinks he may sound her age, but you can never tell with someone’s voice. He is definitely a mystery, and then one day he shows up with the missing dictionary, and Moss’s life may change forever.

O. M. G.!!! A JLA book about library related things??? This seriously is the best thing in my life right now!! Though – one thing – you can’t really go to undergraduate college to get a degree in library science – that doesn’t happen until you get a graduate degree. But other than that? PERFECT!! I loved the banter on the phone with the mystery man, and then when he came in they were still bantering and flirting and it was just wonderful. I think JLA needs to make this a whole novel, maybe a series, and relate it to libraries and I will die happily! Gah, so glad I got this short story and I may have to re-read this one over and over again :D


THE UNLIKELY LIKELIHOOD OF FALLING IN LOVE by Jocelyn Davies
4 stars
Samara, Sam, is a mathematician and taking AP Statistics, so when she gets a month long project worth 50% of her grade, she decides to do it on the percentage on how often she will see the guy she fell in love with by locking eyes with him in the subway trains. Not that likely, right? But Sam is putting in every effort to get all of the data and statistics she needs to ace this project. Or is she doing it because she really thinks she fell in love with him, and wants to see him again?

This was a cute story. Very mathy, which I’m okay with, though statistics is a bit much for my brain at this stage in my life, but I enjoyed it none the less! And Sam is such a nerd – she will go far in life! The ending was adorable!


259 MILLION MILES by Kass Morgan
4 stars
Philip is one of the last few contestants to possibly take a one-way trip to Mars and help start a new civilization there. And he needs to go, after his viral embarrassing event he just had at school. He needs to go far away so no one will remember the one mistake he made in his life. The last part of the trials he has to do is spend 24 hours in a shuttle to see how he does in closed spaces, and how he will react. He is also bunking with Blythe, a girl full of life and emotion and curiosity. Spending 24 hours alone with a person is difficult, but it can also change you as a person. Philip is about to experience that with Blythe.

I enjoyed this! It kind of reminded me of the movie The Space Between Us and I adore that movie. Philip is still in the stages of high school bullying, so he has some growing to do as a person, and Blythe is just fun and amazing and so free-spirited. I loved the context of this story and wouldn’t mind a follow-up to see what happens to them!


SOMETHING REAL by Julie Murphy
3 stars
June is a huge fan of teen musician Dylan, and she gets a rare chance of a life-time to compete for a date with him – in a mini tv show of course. And she has one other competitor: Martha. June created a huge mass internet fan-site for Dylan and Martha is doing this for her older sister who died listening to his song. But the more that June and Martha see and listen to Dylan, the more they realize they were in this competition for the wrong reasons. And the more they realize that they could be friends rather than enemies.

This was a good story. It was the stereotypical story of a popular boy who doesn’t think about anyone but himself and had a lot of controversial issues that were brought up throughout the story. I didn’t really connect with the characters that well, but I think other readers will enjoy this one.


SAY EVERYTHING by Huntley Fitzpatrick
3 stars
Everytime Sean comes into the diner, Emma can’t seem to keep her eyes off of him. There’s nothing special about him and he always orders an iced tea – nothing else. When he asks her out on a date – awkwardly – she awkwardly says yes and they agree to meet the next day. But Sean’s surprise turns out to be a nightmare, because the worst thing that happened to her involves Sean as well. But she can’t deny the attraction she always felt for him before finding his out secrets, so Emma is going to need to figure out what to do.

This was a little bit different than where I thought the book was going, and I actually found myself skimming part of the story, which in my mind is not that good since it’s a short story. But I did like the overall message. I think, again, it’s because of the second person point of view and having the word “you” used like it was supposed to be me as Emma. I’m figuring out real quick that second point of view is not my thing.


THE DEPARTMENT OF DEAD LOVE by Nicola Yoon
3 stars
When Samantha broke up with Thomas, he wanted to know why. He’s known her since they were 6 years old, and they should be happy and still together, but they are not. He goes to the Department of Dead Love and the HeartWorker, Gabrielle, decides to do a scan on him and Samantha to find the cause of death for their love. When Thomas gets a choice to start again and see if they can make it last, he is unsure if he wants to have his memories of Gabrielle wiped clean.

This was a different kind of novel. Something that I haven’t found yet in YA literature, so it was very refreshing for me. It was a bit weird keeping up with it at first, but it got easier the further along in the story I got. It was sort of futuristic but today’s times as well. Glad I read it!

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Because there are SO many authors and I've reviewed a bunch of their books before, the usual book info up here looked absurd. Above you'll find some quick info about the anthology. The average rating for the stories (full star rating for the book) will be at the bottom in my "overall" section.



Meet Cute anthology

Some People are Destined to Meet
Edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Average rating: 3.75 stars
[rating stars="four-stars"]

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of "how they first met" from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

Readers will experience Nina LaCour's beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard's glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon's imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno's story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick's charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants.

This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.

Siege Etiquette - Katie Cotugno
[rating stars="three-stars"]

There’s something I sort of liked about this one for some reason. The second person narration was weird though; it’s like you’re in the story but not really. Definitely serious for a quick story but I could really feel her motivations for what she was feeling and doing. Wolf seemed cute and interesting with a complex backstory too. I think Cotugno did a good job of characterizing both of them in a short time period.

Print Shop - Nina LaCour
[rating stars="three-half-stars"]

Cute! I love the idea of a little, old-fashioned print shop in a small town. Not sure what to make of the actual romance because the girl/customer was so mad half of the time lol. Evie was sweet and interesting; I would definitely read this in a full-sized book! I always think that's a double-edged sword because it's a compliment (more please!) but also not a good thing (not fully fleshed out for a short story).

Hourglass - Ibi Zoboi
[rating stars="three-stars"]

The story itself was pretty good and very interesting, but the meet-cute part was practically nonexistent. I don’t want to spoil it but there was definitely not enough. The ending was abrupt and I’m confused about what might happen next. There are many possibilities but I like a little bit of closure in this situation. I loved the main character; she felt fully fleshed out in this short time period. I knew so much about her struggles and triumphs. The story was very much about her, but I'm not sure it was really about the meet-cute. That's why I can't rate this one too high, just because it didn't fall in line AS much with the book.

Click - Katherine McGee
[rating stars="four-half-stars"]

I’m a fan of McGee’s debut series and wasn’t surprised to see this short story take place with a similar futuristic vibe. The Click app was a really cool concept and I love the direction the story took from there. I don’t think the characterization was done as well as the other stories so far but from an enjoyment perspective, I loved it.

The Intern - Sara Shepard
[rating stars="two-half-stars"]

Mmm. That was lame. I love Sara Shepard but I was bored with this story. I didn’t feel the chemistry and I usually kind of enjoy the normal person/celebrity trope. The connection was fairly quick but I didn’t FEEL that. Maybe a full-length story would have been a better idea to expand on the characters and their backstories.

Somewhere That's Green - Meredith Russo
[rating stars="four-stars"]

This was a refreshing story! It was centered around the bathroom rights of a transgender student. The main character and the love interest had some interesting and eye-opening conversations and a lot of it took me by surprise. I loved Nia’s dad for being so supportive of her, but the same could (probably) not be said for the other parents involved.

The Way We Love Here - Dhonielle Clayton
[rating stars="three-stars"]

Okay now THAT needs to be a full book. Very interesting and confusing concept. I’m not 100% sure what happened? But I did kind of like it? The magical realism was a fun change from the rest of these stories too. It reminds me of the red string theory or legend I read about a long time ago.

Oomph - Emery Lord
[rating stars="five-stars"]

Loved it. Potentially biased because Emery Lord? Very possible. However, I sincerely felt the chemistry and enjoyed the banter like nobody’s business. Airport love stories are so fun to me and this was no exception. These girls are my favorite. How does Emery Lord always do this?

The Dictionary of You and Me - Jennifer L. Armentrout
[rating stars="four-half-stars"]

Okay that is the definition of a meet cute. I love the dictionary/library/secret caller situation so much. The characters were cute and awkward (maybe a little too awkward toward the end for me). This is a perfect short story that doesn’t need any more or less to get the message across.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love - Jocelyn Davies
[rating stars="five-stars"]

I’m surprised to say I loved the statistical and scientific aspects to this one. I’m majorly into anything involving fate so I was super excited about the direction this took too. I also love the fact that it made fun of the concepts of soul mates and meet cutes - very meta. Looooved it and tbh a little obsessed with it. Give me more books like this.

259 Million Miles - Kass Morgan
[rating stars="three-stars"]

I was intrigued by the different genre for this one. The whole mars mission concept was very cool. I’m PISSEEEED about the ending for a lot of reasons and my rating might go down the more I stew on it. The meet cute aspect was totally there but there’s something I specifically want from the endings of these stories that didn’t happen here. Humph.

Something Real - Julie Murphy
[rating stars="four-half-stars"]

I love how unexpected this was. You think you’re getting one thing (at the beginning at least) and it turns into something even better. I loved the characters and the whole “win a date with a celebrity” premise. I’m also now craving dinosaur nuggets. Julie Murphy is the best.

Say Everything - Huntley Fitzpatrick
[rating stars="three-stars"]

I’ve read two books by this author: loved one and hated the other. Needless to say, I had no idea what I could expect from this story. The premise didn’t do much for me, especially because the rest of them were much more unique. The writing style was a little odd but kind of worked, because it implied more about the future. That helps a short story feel longer.

The Department of Dead Love - Nicola Yoon
[rating stars="four-stars"]

Speaking of unique stories, this one definitely fit the bill. It reminded me of a lot of movies kind of mashed together... I would love this as a movie actually. I liked the premise a lot but the meet cute circumstances did feel a little weird. It worked, sure, but I didn’t love it. Or them.

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Meet Cute had a diverse mixture of genres and representation, in this collection of stories, there is something for everyone. I love reading about characters meet cutes and the *thing* that starts it all. My 5 stars picks were Nicola Yoon's 'The Department of Dead Love, Emery Lord's 'Oomph', Katharine McGee's Click and Jocelyn Davies’ The Unlikelihood of Falling in Love .

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Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet was sent to me through NetGalley for me to read and review. I'm really glad I got the chance to read this book because it gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies.

This book was a collection of short stories written by popular YA authors including: Jennifer L. Armentrout, Nicola Yoon, Katharine McGee, Sara Shepard, and more. The settings and genres of these stories varied greatly from one another. Some were set in the future, some took place right here and right, some created a social dialogue within the stories, others dipped into sci-fi and fantasy, but all of them focused on the moment two people who are destined to fall in love meet.

Of course, I liked some more than others, but all of them made me feel a lot of warmth and love while reading them. There was a part of me that was dying to find out if the couples that met in these stories lasted, but I think not knowing was part of the beauty. These stories captured people in almost perfect moments of meeting each other for the first time and it was as simple as that. What made these stories so lovely was the not knowing of how things ended up and just suspending yourself in the moment of that perfect meeting.

Meet Cute was a quick read since it was a compilation of short stories and all of the stories were wonderful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys love stories, YA stories, and having a book give you the warm fuzzies.

Some of my favorites were:
The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon
Click by Katharine McGee
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies

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I absolutely loved this. My favourite was short story was Katharine McGee's, it was just so sweet. A book of short stories of how people met, what more could you want. All of the stories were so beautifully written and cute.

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