It Had to be You By Georgia Clark
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
Brief Synopsis
+ Wedding planning
+ A sudden death
+ An Inclusive cast of characters
+ New York City
= A Summer season version of ‘Love, Actually’ that I absolutely loved.
What I Liked:
The moment I started this one, I could not put it down. The characters were in abundance, but I did not feel lost or confused when the perspective shifted. Now, I’m not trying to play favorites, BUT Zia and Clay’s story had me all in my feelings in the best of ways. The way Z and C met and their instant chemistry had me invested hard in seeing what would happen between these two. Clay’s life and described physic would have you thinking he was somewhat of a Neanderthal, however—it couldn’t be further from the truth. There were a couple of swoon moments when Clay flexed his attentiveness and multilingual abilities. I was not expecting Clay’s fascination with (we’ll just call it) special K. I had to read the line a couple of times to make sure I was reading it right. BUT do you, Clay!
What I Didn’t Like
In any instance where a family makes a member feel less than will always be hard to read. I’m not saying everything a person does has to be accepted without question, but for a member to have a negative stigma projected onto them at the hand of their own family bothers the mess out of me. I mean, it’s your family. Zac shouldn’t have to be what his family wants in order to fit in with them. His free spirit should be one his family attempts to try to understand and appreciate. I think any free spirit deserves boundaries when money is being fronted to cover their lifestyle, but it shouldn’t be used as a bribe or a form of control. As you can, I wasn’t for this family dynamic. Don’t get me started with the subtle racist undertones Zac’s family was showcasing when Darlene visited.
Overall
I’ve seen this book here and there, but not near enough people are talking about it. The book cover captured me and the stories inside of the book kept me around. I would love to see this one adapted into a movie or mini series of sorts. Go ahead, add this one to your list of pool side reads and up your Summer reading game. Trust—you’ll have no regrets if you do!
Have You Read It Yet?
