I think the plot is very original and imaginative. I enjoyed that the Grant family has a comic strip version courtesy of Eleanor Grant, the mom whose living is doing a comic strip actually based on her family. Actual glimpses of the strip are on the pages of the book and they’re quite adorable.
The conflicts and family problems are genuine and relatable and true to Ms. Morgan Matson’s word, Save the Date is like a mix of everything readers enjoy in her novels. I mean, there’s a wedding which entails a family reunion which means fun, tears, and chaos combined. With weddings, one can be guaranteed of disasters. Lol.
During the first good half, I felt like the plot kind of dragged a bit but as the story moved forward, I became more and move invested and riveted to everything that’s happening. There was a whole cast of characters from the main Grant family to the relatives of both Linnie and Rodney (the soon to be married couple); Danny’s girlfriend, Brooke; There are the neighbors, Don and Sophie; the wedding planners composing of Will and the cute Bill; Linnie’s bridesmaids; the electrician; the judge; Max and so many others but I was able to keep track of each of them and it felt like every single character was necessary to the story even Waffles the dog. It was quite impressive.
The story kind of hit very close to home because I also belong to a big family. My parents and my five other siblings, making that a total of eight. The story is told by Charlotte (Charlie), the youngest of the family and it’s easy to relate with her perspective considering I’m also the youngest in ours. We both feel so strongly for our families and like her, I also dreaded change. For so long, I envisioned our family staying together so it was a bit of a challenge to move forward and have a family of my own when the time came. But like Charlie, I eventually accepted and learned.
This has been a heartwarming, often hilarious and relatable story of a family, not perfect but quite believable and very entertaining. I also appreciate the bonus contents and Ms. Morgan’s dedication to her Filipino readers in the edition I have. This definitely would make a good movie worthy to be seen by the entire family.
