Reader’s Guide to Morgan Matson

Morgan Matson is one of the very first contemporary authors I read when I was first getting into reading, and I still can’t get enough of her writing! She currently has five books published under Morgan Matson, and she has two trilogies published under the name Katie Finn that I won’t be including in this reading guide. Currently, Morgan Matson publishes a YA contemporary novel every year and the wait for them is always worth it! Her books are funny and vary in depths of family relationships and romance. She’s one of my all time favorite authors and her books are amazing, I couldn’t resist typing up a guide for her! In this guide I will be talking about which books are the best to start with along with information about what you should know before going into her books.

About The Author

Morgan Matson is YA author who has been writing since 2010. Her first book, Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, was her first published novel. All of her five books exist in the same world and sometimes cameos can be seen between the different stories! She publishes a book every other year and shares her love of Starbucks all over social media:

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/morgamat/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/morgan_m

The Best Books to Pick Up First

I’ve given every single book Morgan Matson has written a perfect 5/5 stars, but the three following books really stick out to me for various reasons! Her stories cover a lot of different topics, but these three in particular have my heart:

The first book is actually the first one that I ever read from her : Second Chance Summer. This was the second book Morgan Matson published back in 2012. This heartful read followers a girl named Taylor who spends part of her summer at the family’s old lake house after getting some devastating news. The thing is, when Taylor was last in this small town she left some of her relationships in a mess… which includes her former best friend and first boy friend, who looks a lot cuter at seventeen than he did at twelve.

Second Chance Summer is a bittersweet read with a lot of amazing character development, family bonding, and romance. It’s written beautifully and will pull at your heartstrings nonstop. It’s a bit heavier in topic, but definitely worth the read! I’m really tempted to pick this one up for a reread because it’s be so long since I first read it.

The second book would be her most recent release: Save The Date. This story follows Charlie Grant and all of her siblings as they prepare for her older sister’s wedding that they’re having at home. For the first time in forever Charlie’s four older siblings are home with her, and she’s thrilled about it. But nothing goes according to plan, everything that could possibly go wrong does. Over the course of three chaotic days this wonderful family learns more about one another then they ever could have realized.

I was blown away by how amazing this book was. Morgan Matson nailed a the big family dynamic and the humor from this book was particularly hilarious. I never leave tabs in my books but I couldn’t help myself! There were so many laugh out loud moments and the giant 500 page book felt just as short as the three day weekend it covered. The different relationships in the family were spot on and even the little dash of romance was perfect! I loved this book to pieces.

Buzz Words

Roadtrip, trauma, romance, summer – Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour

Tragedy, badly ended relationships, summer, character development – Second Chance Summer

Bucket list, missing best friend, character development, new friends – Since You’ve Been Gone

Dogs, nothing going as planned, novel writing love interest, friend group – The Unexpected Everything 

Big family, humor, dogs, a wedding – Save the Date

Superlatives:

Best Couple: The Unexpected Everything – Andie & Clark

Best Female Character:  Save the Date – Charlie

Best Male Character: Since You’ve Been Gone – Frank

Funniest Book: Save the Date

Best Chemistry: Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour – Amy & Roger

Best Plot: Save the Date

Other notes:

Morgan Matson is an extremely gifted writer! All of her books are fun and humorous. Her stories do lack some in diversity and all of the relationships are f/m. All of her books center around a town in Pennsylvania and share little cameos of the different characters, which is a lot of fun when you’ve read many of her books! All of her books tend to be on the longer side (The Unexpected Everything is more than five hundred pages long) but they are all quick fun reads! I love Morgan Matson’s writing and recommend her all of the time.