Loooooved this book! it was such a fun read about all the disastrous things that can go wrong at a wedding! Can't wait to read more of her books at some point!

Oh, Morgan Matson. My first introduction to the books of Morgan Matson was reading Amy & Roger's Epic Detour back in 2012, then moving on to Second Chance Summer - both books I absolutely LOVED. I feel like since then I've been trying to get the same feelings I had reading those first books - especially SCS - but nothing has come close. The last two books have been just okay for me and I really think that it's time for me to stop reading books by Matson. 

Of course, that's not to say her writing is terrible - really, I think Morgan Matson would write great screenplays - but I just don't think her books are working for me anymore. Save The Date sounded like it would be a lot of fun, but I felt like it lacked emotion and those really in-depth family conversations and struggles that I was looking for. I loved the storyline of Mark and his mother and wanted more of that in this book, but I got a LOT of silliness instead, something that would've translated better on the screen than in a book. The story was definitely cute to begin with, but it just started to get predictable as everything that could go wrong, goes wrong, and eventually it felt too unrealistic and even though it's a work of fiction, I would like to have something that still feels real. 

There's also Charlie, the main character, who I really, really disliked. She was stubborn and selfish and just plain mean. There's a great character in the story, Brooke, and Charlie is horrible to her. I also felt like her worries about school were completely overshadowed by the so-called "romance" in the story - I didn't get the obsession with Jesse in the beginning and there is a majorly forced romantic relationship as the story goes on, with a character who gets barely any screentime. There's pretty much no chemistry at all and I knew the story would go downhill after we barely see Charlie's love interest and then her sister tells Charlie that she thinks that the guy likes her - like, HOW did she come to that conclusion when we barely see this character to begin with? 

I also had a hard time with Charlie's mother, who writes a very popular comic strip about their family, The Grant Family. She seemed completely delusional about the separation between work and family, not caring who she would hurt in the storylines she created in her comics. As a mother, this completely horrified me! As for the rest of the characters, we barely get to know anyone. For a book that's over 400 pages, I'd like to end with actually knowing someone in the story, but everyone is pretty forgettable because we just don't go very deep into anyone. 

Anyway, this story was just not for me and I think it's time that I stop saving the date for Matson and try other authors. This story was way too long (I pretty much started skimming and felt like I wasn't missing anything at all) and the characters way too forgettable. I'm kind of mad that I bought a copy of this book, thinking I'd love it, since it's now going into my donate pile.

Morgan Matson once again proves why she is one of the Queens of Contemporary. My favourite part of this book was ultimately the lack of a true Romance. This book was a love story to family, and that was such a unique take on the traditional wedding run amok story that I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish.

"Save the Date" was one of my most anticipated reads of 2018, and I really enjoyed it, but not as much as some of Matson’s other books.

I really enjoyed all the sibbling - and family, for that matter - shenanigans. To see the love, the jokes, the drama between them was lovely and emotional. Most of the book is pretty upbeat, and it was such an easy and quick read. It was fun. I come from a small family, so to see what a big family is like was entertaining to say the least. Each character felt distinct and interesting. I loved their relationships with each other and with Charlie. And seeing how those relationships grew over the course of the book.

The characters in this book are flawed and real. I appreciated that. I do think that some of the resolutions were a little too rushed and clean, but it ends on a happy note. I love a happy ending.

The romance is definitely not this focus of this book. I didn’t like the boy Charlie has a crush on, but I thought Bill was adorable! I wanted more page time with them, and definitely a more concrete picture of where they stand at the end.

The issue, however, is that the book is very slowly paced. We follow this family very closely for a whole weekend. I liked getting to know them and see a messy family (all families are messy in their own way). But some scenes or plot lines did drag a bit. The book was also cheesy at times, and a little over-the-top. But mostly it was enjoyable.

"Save The Date" is a great book, and I really enjoyed reading it. My only issue was the pacing drags at times, and so the ending felt a little anti-climactic. But overall it was another good Matson book.

I loved this book so much!

The writing was amazing. I loved the way that the scenes with lots of characters were written. It was as if I was right there. Some scenes had the whole family, plus an outsider like a taxi driver or a wedding planner. The main characters would be discussing something and someone else would chime in with a comment, but the family would continue speaking without missing a beat in the scene. Multiple conversations could be going on at once. It was like a real family conversation.

I also loved the way that the comic strip was part of the family too. It was a lot like the comic strip For Better or For Worse, where the family grew up as the comic progressed. In this story, their mother created the comic called Grant Central Station, based on the Grant family. But this caused many problems when she reflected their lives too closely.

The wedding chaos was crazy, but still realistic. I can imagine these problems happening (hopefully not at one single wedding) and most of them stemmed from the problems with the wedding planner. This story really kept me on the edge of my seat, and made me laugh out loud many times!

This was my first Morgan Matson book, but it won't be my last!

Such a good story, I absolutely adored it. For anyone looking for a story about family, friendships, a little bit of romance and a good laugh, this is the book for you!

eading this story was exactly like going to a wedding last minute where you only know one person and you're desperately trying to learn everyone's names. It's fast paced, funny, sweet and heartbreaking all at once. It's definitely the kind of book you read during summer time/wedding season. It's not a perfect read though but the little hiccups I found a bit problematic where easy enough to get through.

The most obvious hiccup is the fact that everything really does go wrong in this wedding. It's almost too convenient. However I personally felt like this wasn't a surprise? (Look at the cover, duh.) It was a bit stressful as I have been part of a wedding myself, and understand the level of anxiety that comes with the planning/wanting everything to be perfect. The gimmicks were almost Hallmark movie worthy, but they serve their purpose. Charlie holds it together as best as she can, and I was impressed by her. I definitely would have had a few breakdowns if this was my sister's wedding. A bit cringey to say the least to read disaster after disaster but not fair to say that it ruins the book. It's the premise of the book!

This really is all about Charlie though and her journey to accepting change in her family. She has this really naive and idealistic version of her family which she fights to keep through the book. I come from a big family myself so the mayhem, the drama, and the laughs of the Grant family felt spot on. Charlie's four siblings were well written and fleshed out. What really gives them some depth was the cartoon strip references that Charlie's mom draws. It's through that comic that we see their childhood, their development and the heartache of growing up.  Her parents too were written with lots of care but aren't too focused upon. The rest of the extended family were just amazing stereotypes of people you get at family events/weddings. All the family interactions just gave me hardcore nostalgia of my own family stuff. Extra point to you, Matson!

Sorry to be a bummer, but don't expect too much romance from this read. I personally really liked this move! As this is a coming of age story, the romance fits in to push Charlie to maturity. It's not supposed to suck up the entire air of the story which again, I'm so relieved about.

Lastly, the packaging of this book is beautiful. As mentioned, Charlie's mom is a cartoon comic artist and the strip is featured here and there within the book. The cover jacket also has a beautiful art inside too. The cover wraps around from front to back to showcase that spectacular mess of a cake dropping. (RIP cake).

Overall, Save the Date is a warm, sweet and hectic read about family and growing up. I will definitely be reading Morgan Matson's other two books this summer. And would love to see this book featured as a cute Netflix film.

Oh dang. I set out to rate this 5 stars, have the best time, and get to know this crazy family. And I didn’t hate it! Not at all. But I damn sure didn’t love it, which bums me out.
*stares at three unread Morgan Matson books on my shelf*
I can’t believe I even got this ARC, considering my NetGalley rating is so low. ANYWAYS. Let’s do this list style.

Pros
• Waffles the beagle
• J.J.
• the aLaRM lmao
• fun, light-hearted, family-centered plot
• the coMIC STRIP oh man I could’ve had a lot more of that pls and thanks
• the writing was fantastic. Morgan truly is talented
• the fact that the plot was about a weDDING I LOVE weddings !!
• Bill was funny and sweet
• The papergirl storyline omg that was hilarious
Cons
• this book was 432 fricken pages
• FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO
• 400+ pages for a contemporary is longgggg
• and I felt it. It felt incredibly drawn out and stretched to add things that weren’t really needed
• it just…it coulda been done up in 250 pages and I would’ve been completely satisfied
• I didn’t like our main character, Charlie Grant, very much at all. She was kind of flat and rather annoying at times
• WHY WAS CHARLIE SO RUDE TO BROOKE RIGHT OFF THE BAT ASHDLSHF I HATED IT
• I also didn’t like brooke tho lmao
• the rOmAnCE
• the beginning was so good like that Jesse x Charlie scene was STEAMY and I wanted more of that but then jesse had a total character flip just so Bill could be eligible to Charlie and I didn’t like that at all
• honestly we could’ve done without a romance
• bill and Charlie would have been the cUTEST friends so I appreciated the open ending for that but meh
• charlie’s mom is the worst oh gosh
• danny is a wet towel lolol
I did enjoy the book though ! despite the cons list being longer than the pros. I almost gave it 4 stars but the last 100 pages were really boring that I found myself skimming, so down a star for that. But I did enjoy it, it just wasn’t as exciting as I was hoping it would be.
I also think it’s really hard to do what I call “bottle books” (or bottle episodes for tv shows). This is when the book (or movie or tv show) is set in one or a handful of locations, and that’s it. The setting for this book was primarily their house and backyard, with a couple of scenes splashed in at the tailor shop, Jesse’s house, and the street where the governor lived, over the course of three days. I think these can be done really well in movies or tv shows, but it can be difficult to execute in a book. I think that was part of the reason why I found it boring. Kasie West, for example, did a bottle book with By Your Side, and I thought it was fabulous.
The love triangle that was trying to happen but wasn’t really happening I felt was completely unnecessary. This was a family-focused book. We didn’t need to have a romance. Not to mention the brother/sister type of relationship we got with Bill and Charlie, and when they would have romantic moments, I couldn’t help cringe.
Also I’m sorry but Bill isn’t a name that is going to make me swoony and shipping them.
I LOVED the comic strip! I thought it was so cute and fun. I liked all of the things going wrong to an extent, but then we reached a point about halfway through where I was just too stressed.
Overall! I enjoyed this book and I’m glad I read it, but it didn’t change my life. Here’s hoping I like her other books more! *eyes books on shelf*

Save the Date was the first book I've read by Morgan Matson and I'm thinking it won't be the last. I read this over two days and I loved every minute of it.
Things I really enjoyed:
- the subplot of the mom being a cartoonist / the Grant family being her subject matter
- the fact that the family connection is the real heart of the novel, not a romance (as I initially was expecting but pleasantly surprised when it took a back seat)
- the fact that while things often seemed a bit far fetched it just didn't matter because it worked within the story
- that this reminded me of 'Father of the Bride' which is such a charming and lovely movie
- that the characters were flawed and you still were rooting for them
- that I both laughed and cried at different points
All in all, a highly enjoyable read and definitely a good one to pick up if you are in the market for a light, fun, contemporary novel.

I absolutely loved "Save the Date" by Morgan Matson, she really brings the Grant's to life. This is not just a book about a wedding and all the last minute hiccups that all too often occur. It is a laugh out loud coming of age as Charlie realizes life is not nearly as simple as it seems. A fast paced page turner that I just couldn't put down, I had to know what would happen next. Highly recommended! Looking forward to what Morgan Matson has in store for us in her next novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Morgan Matson and Save the Date didn’t disappoint! It was a quick, light read that’s the perfect book to kick off the summer season. The family and wedding drama that ensued over the course of the wedding weekend was entertaining and read like a rom com movie. The comic strips were also a clever bonus to the story. Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and I give it 4/5 stars.

As always, Morgan Matson killed it with this book. I loved the characters, the crazy stuff that went down over the course of the wedding weekend, but most importantly the message that Matson delivered. I also simply adore the mood her books give me - perfect summer reads that also pack a punch. 5 stars!

Good Afternoon book lovers! Today is a lovely day and I am thankful for the sun and blooming flowers :) I finished Save the Date last week and guys it was so good!  I needed a few days to digest it and move on to another book because I didn't want the story to end. As soon as I finished it I wanted more of the Grant family! I had never read Morgan Matson before, although I have always been interested in her books (her book covers are so beautiful). The thing is that I had never been that into contemporary until last year so I never picked up any of her books until I got an advanced copy of Save the Date from Simon and Schuster ( I hadn't read a book that quickly in a while). 

The book reminded me a bit of a 90s rom-com, it was funny, charming, romantic, and the beginning of it especially reminded me of Sixteen Candles. Everything about this book was perfect. I loved the characters and the story line. All the characters were fleshed out well and had their own unique personalities and flaws. The family dynamics were interesting and fun to watch. I loved loved loved how Morgan had the book take place over a weekend, I can imagine it would be hard to write a 400 page book taking place over a weekend but she does it flawlessly. It was so fun to see how the family changed and grew and how the characters grew as the weekend went by as they were faced with different challenges.  I loved reading about how Mrs. Grant's comic strip affected her children in different ways. Like with Charlie it was difficult for her to know what was real life memories and what was fake because she was so young when her mom started the strip. Charlie was a great protagonist and although it starts off romantically the book isn't focused on her romance, it is in the background. The book is more about Charlie dealing with her sister's wedding and trying to solve problems as well as figuring out where to go to college and balance her family and best friend Siobhan.

The biggest part of the book was about Charlie trying to spend time with her siblings and her trying to figure out what it means for her and the rest of her family when difficulties arise. She is afraid of moving on when she finds out that her parents are selling the house she has lived in her whole life but her mom tells her not to focus on the past because she will miss great opportunities in the future. That was one of my favourite lines because that is such an easy thing to do. Cling to the past and let the past affect our present too much. Sometimes it is hard to move on but it is usually for the better. 

           I gave this book a 5/5 stars on goodreads :)

I loved this! I am an avid fantasy reader but I always have time to curl up and read a Morgan Matson book and this one did not disappoint. I loved the main character Charlie, she felt extremely real to me and I found myself feeling all her feels with her. This book made me laugh, I cried, I rolled my eyes multiple times and most of all I was continually having aww moments.

This was such a fun read as we start to enter into the summer season. The story tells the tale of Charlie as madness descends upon her house in a busy weekend of her sister's wedding, a Good Morning America Interview and about every wrong thing that you can imagine (and some that you can't). I love how crazy the story seemed like at some times while always still seeming realistic and really enjoy getting into this light and fun story.

A fun and flirty romp that's the perfect summer read! Reads like a fun 90s romantic comedy, and has lots of laughs and funny family moments.

If you know someone that is getting married, do not let them read this book. As the Grant family comes together for the wedding of the oldest sibling, Linnie to Rodney, Charlie is hoping it will be like old times. Unfortunately from the moment J.J. shows up at the house until the end of the story, there is one disaster after another. The story is basically told from Charlie's perspective. She is the youngest Grant and will be heading off to college in the fall. A lot of decisions for her to makes, specifically what college to attend.

The Grant Family is a happy well-adjusted family on the surface, but when their mother uses Mike's situation in her comic strip after he specifically asked her not to, he ends up estranged from his family. He comes home for the wedding but stays at a friend's house, the friend that Charlie has had a crush on since she was a little girl. Charlie was so hoping this would be a wonderful family get together for the wedding weekend, but when her oldest brother and the one she idolizes shows up with his girlfriend, the weekend takes a turn. With their home being sold, the Grant Family Comic strip coming to an end, Good Morning America doing an interview for their Monday morning segment and the wedding planner skipping town with all the funds, you know this will be a disastrous weekend. Charlie and the new wedding planner's nephew Bill, come to the rescue and even though things are not as planned, they try to save the day.

Overall this was a fun story. It showed how families can love one another, yet still be angry at each other. It also was a growing experience, especially for Charlie but others as well. They were not the perfect family, but they were the Grant Family and they made the best of their time together. It would be nice if there were another books showing what came next in Charlie's life but we shall see. I laughed a lot while reading this book and cringed at other times but it was a great YA story that adults could enjoy as well.

Thank you for granting me access to an eGalley of Save the Date by Morgan Matson. Here is the link to my blog's review of the book: https://wordsofmysteryblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/book-review-save…by-morgan-matson/

I was very excited when I first saw the announcement for Save the Date, since I am a massive Morgan Matson fan and will honestly read anything she writes. This book did not let me down with its wedding shenanigans, likeable main character, and quirky family. I would definitely recommend this one, especially to those looking for a fun summer read.

It is safe to say that this book is classic Morgan Matson. It tells the story of a wedding gone wrong and contains the staple funny moments, quirky characters, and chaos present in her other books. I have always loved book about weddings, and it is interesting how this one twists the trope and outlines the many mishaps that occur as the wedding unfolds. This is a cute and entertaining story that is perfect for the summer.

I loved Charlie’s character so much! She is the youngest in her massive family, and she is going through a tough time in her life. I enjoyed how supportive she is of her sister on her wedding day, and how determined she is to give Linnie the perfect day. Overall, she is relatable and has a captivating voice.

As is typical with Morgan Matson’s books, this one has a strong theme of family. I loved reading about Charlie’s many siblings and how close they are. By the end of the book, I really felt like I knew each character well, which is pretty surprising considering how many there are. Each family member has their own little quirks, and it really makes the story so much more believable.

Save the Date is an adorable story about wedding catastrophes. I enjoyed the main character and all the members of her family. If you enjoyed Morgan Matson’s other books, this one will not disappoint.

Save The Date is a perfect summer read! I've said this before about another Morgan Matson read, Since You've Been Gone. But it's true, there is something summery and flirty about these books, like they need to be read outside on a warm, bright, sunny day. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I was able to paint the picture in my head so clearly. With the playful banter between the family and the running around on the wedding day, it played out like a movie in my head. The only (minor) thing that I didn't love about Save The Date was it's predictability. There were so many obvious things about to go wrong, and each and everything that could, did. I'm not sure if Morgan Matson did this on purpose, or not, but I found that to get a little boring after the first few incidents.

Charlie is a fun, helpful and eager to please kind of girl. She would do whatever it takes to make the wedding weekend perfect, and to make sure things are running as smoothly as she can make them. And with everything going on in the upcoming days to the wedding, this keeps her extremely busy, almost too busy for her best friend Siobhan (who didn't play a huge part in the book and we could have done without her as the BFF, in my opinion). But along the way she learns that not everyone is as they seem, and sometimes you find friendship in the strangest of times.

Overall, Save The Date is a fun read, especially if you have a big family (extended in my case) because you can so easily relate to this family - the lame jokes from one person (J.J), the b/f or g/f brought into all the inside jokes etc (Brooke), the noisy kitchen (everyone!!), the fun and exciting games (capture the flag) - it's all there. Though if you are planning your wedding this summer, maybe don't read this one right now, you don't want to start thinking that EVERYTHING can (and will) go wrong!