Best friends Willa and Flor are strong believers in girl code: "Never date a friend's ex or a guy your friend is really into." But when 17-year-old Willa finds herself in a "freak collision of lips and hormones" with her crush--who happens to be Flor's ex--it makes her wonder: Isn't it okay to break the rules sometimes?
With narration from both Willa's and Flor's perspectives, readers are privy to all the steamy make-out sessions, raging parties and reputation-damaging rumors in The Me I Meant to Be. Willa, Flor and their friend Jenna create the "Official Guide to Girl Code," a manual to "make girls think twice before they betray their friends." This superficial guidebook sniffs out traitors but also paves the way for larger discussions about sexuality, slut-shaming and victim-blaming.
At first glance The Me I Meant to Be looks like it could be a fluffy romance filled with typical drama, but upon closer inspection it's much richer than that. Sophie Jordan (Reign of Shadows) turns a story about high school love, friendship and betrayal into something deep and meaningful. She makes profound statements about empowering women ("Slut-shaming and tearing another girl down hurts all of us") and being true to oneself ("Real life begins when we're free to be ourselves"). A satisfying read for both diehard and casual romance fans. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader