Title: Meet Cute
Author: J. L. Armentrout, D. Clayton, K. Cotugno, J. Davies, H. Fitzpatrick, N. LaCour, E. Lord, K. McGee, K. Morgan, J. Murphy, M. Russo, S. Shepard, N. Yoon, I. Zoboi
Publisher: HMH Books For Young Readers
Pub Date: January 2, 2018
Format: Kindle eBook
Pages: 320
Source: NetGalley
Genre(s): YA, Anthology, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★★
[Goodreads] ● [Amazon] ● [Book Depository]

---

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

---

My review:

Thank you to the publisher (and NetGalley) for providing me with a digital ARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“For whatever reason, there are people that you want to tell your weird, secret thoughts to. You want to show them your pimples and tell them about your braces. You want them to love you because of those things, not in spite of them. Some people make you want to be known.”

Meet Cute is an anthology filled with butterflies, suspicious guys, and first (and second) kisses. Some of it is fate and some of it is magic and some of it doesn’t make any sense at all. Some of the stories were better than the others but overall the book is worth reading. Here are my thoughts on each one:

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno (2.5/5)
Are all of these stories told in 2nd person? What a strange POV. It’s weirding me out. Also, the story wasn’t very memorable. I don’t care for the characters.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour (3/5)
I liked this story more than the first one. The premise of the Print Shop is cute, and I love a f/f romance, but it didn’t give me butterflies. Something was missing. Again, I wasn’t a fan of the POV.

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi (3/5)
I really love Zoboi’s writing style. Her voice is strong. That being said, the story itself was not very memorable. I would like to read more from her though!

Click by Katharine McGee (4/5)
Wow, the ending of this story was incredibly cute. I wish it was longer! The concept of Click is interesting enough that it would make a pretty cool novel, I think.

The Intern by Sara Shepard (3/5)
A little predictable, a little sweet, a little depressing. The story was sweet but I just didn’t like the characters.

Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo (3/5)
I wanted to love this one. Nia’s story was important. Lexie might have grown on me if the story was a bit longer. The story in general was executed poorly but it had a lot of potential. I feel like this story would benefit from being fleshed out into a full-length novel.

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton (4.5/5)
Wow. I love this story. It felt magical! I was a little confused at first but everything started flowing together at some point. Love the characters, love the writing. I want more of this one.

Oomph by Emery Lord (4.5/5)
The cuteness! I can’t handle it! This one left a goofy smile on my face. Who doesn’t want to meet a pretty girl in an airport? I definitely have to read more by Emery Lord.

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout (5/5)
This was perfect. I love the library setting, the phone calls, the banter between Moss and “H”. Super cute. This might be my favourite story in the bunch.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling In Love by Jocelyn Davis (5/5)
I’m a sucker for stories that talk about the statistical possibility of love at first sight. Math. Numbers. Science. Fate. “Numbers don’t lie, even when the heart does.” I gobble it all up. The best part of this story is that you actually get some closure at the end. Everything wrapped up perfectly.

259 Million Times by Kass Morgan (4/5)
I love Blythe so much. She is literally me, except way cooler! I wish the ending was a little different but it was still okay. Sweet and sad.

Something Real by Julie Murphy (3/5)
This was interesting. I wasn’t expecting the romance that happened but I’m kind of into it. I also really like June’s character. I need to see more protagonists like her.

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick (1/5)
I thought he was going to murder her. No lie. Why was I reading this like a horror story? Also, the POV (among other things) just added to the creepiness of the story. It really didn’t work for me.

The Department of Dead Love by Nicole Yoon (3/5)
Some of this story dragged a bit but it did get better towards the end. It reminded me of another book but I don’t want to say which one because it might be a spoiler.