Meant to Be Mine

I was drawn to Hannah Orenstein's book Meant to Be Mine by the intriguing description. Gloria, the main character Edie's grandmother, has a gift of predicting the day someone is to meet their soul mate. She has predicted for the whole family and matched many friends as well. She is a legend. It sounded so fun. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by the story. I kept reading, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I knew pretty early on who she would end up with and was annoyed when the story kept dragging on with nothing really happening but Edie questioning her grandmother's prediction and not wanting to disappoint Gloria by giving up on it. I also had no interest in her job in fashion, but that's just me. show more I'm sure there are many who will enjoy this book, but I'm going to give it a 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars. I think the idea was good but wasn't executed as well as it could have been. This is my first Hannah Orenstein book, and I may try another in the future just to see if my feelings change about her writing.

My sincere thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my opinion of it. show less

The overall premise of the story is good, but it gets lost in the overly descriptive details of every single thing in her life. I don't need to know that you're wearing "purple, block heeled sandals". You could just say "I slipped my sandals back on" or just not even mention it at all, since it doesn't help the story any. The references to pop culture and current things like celebrities, makeup brands, etc. also takes me out of the story. I feel more like I'm reading an article in Cosmopolitan magazine than a novel. That's basically my major issue with this book, just far too many unnecessary details. Get to the point of the story.

Meant to be Mine was a unique concept that immediately drew me in. The matriarch of the family was a matchmaker of sorts, as she was able to predict her family members exact date they would meet their soulmate.

She had never been wrong and Edie Myers date was finally here and she couldn’t wait to see who Mr. Right could be, alas she meets the one she knows is right for her.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book because I found the authors insistent need to push politics to the forefront was a mood breaker. Especially, especially when she stereotyped the characters into a sweet bundle and sorry I can’t stand when an author blatantly stereotypes any minority group.

Maybe you can look past the politics and see nothing but the romance show more backdrop and if so I say grab this book. show less

My first thought about this book was that I couldn't believe Orenstein was writing another book set in the future after what happened with her last!

I loved the Jewishness but I thought Edie should have held out for her ex.

I was not quite sure what to expect going in to this one. Was this a romance, a rom-com, women’s fiction? What I found is that it is a really nice mix of all three.