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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
I tend to enjoy Cat Patrick, and this one was even better than usual. Caroline's beloved grandmother is dying; she spends day after day at her bedside, and when the point comes that she needs a break, she's faced with a choice: go to a party with her best friend, or stay by her obviously declining grandmother. That is where the story splits, and we follow each "path" of fate - if she stayed, or if she went - through alternating chapters.
I DID have some trouble with the alternating story style; I often had to stop to remind myself which "reality" I was on, and what had happened in it. (It was VERY helpful that all the pages had either "Stay" or "Go" at the bottom.) To be fair, I'm not sure what would have improved the situation. Perhaps doing each storyline in one big chunk, like Part 1 and Part 2? But then some things would be lost in juxtaposition. I don't know! It's an imperfect situation. All I'm saying is, it was confusing.
That aside, I had very few issues with this book. As usual, Patrick's work is fun to read but not life-changing - but this one was a little more moving than most. I love any YA romance that involves, you know, normal, healthy stuff. Forget the super hot, broody, maybe-evil studs - give me a Chris any day, genuine and adorable.
I DID have some trouble with the alternating story style; I often had to stop to remind myself which "reality" I was on, and what had happened in it. (It was VERY helpful that all the pages had either "Stay" or "Go" at the bottom.) To be fair, I'm not sure what would have improved the situation. Perhaps doing each storyline in one big chunk, like Part 1 and Part 2? But then some things would be lost in juxtaposition. I don't know! It's an imperfect situation. All I'm saying is, it was confusing.
That aside, I had very few issues with this book. As usual, Patrick's work is fun to read but not life-changing - but this one was a little more moving than most. I love any YA romance that involves, you know, normal, healthy stuff. Forget the super hot, broody, maybe-evil studs - give me a Chris any day, genuine and adorable.
3.5 Stars!
I received a copy of this book two years ago in a large giveaway I won from Simon Pulse. Unfortunately, it took this long for me to finally read it, but like most other people, my TBR is constantly growing!
This is the first book I've read by either Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young. I have The Program on my shelf (also from this giveaway), but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I wasn't quite sure what to think of this book after I finished reading it. I liked it, but didn't love it. It was very well written, but the storyline didn't hook me like I was hoping. What I really liked was the main theme of it not really mattering which path you choose because you'll end up right where you belong anyways. It's something that I think about with my husband, like, had I gone to another school, would I still have met him? Interesting to think about and I like how this book showed two different paths that Caroline took, how they affected her, and how they each ended for her. Pretty interesting concept, and although it wasn't my favorite book, I still really enjoyed it and will definitely read more by these authors.
Pagesofcomfort.blogspot.com
I received a copy of this book two years ago in a large giveaway I won from Simon Pulse. Unfortunately, it took this long for me to finally read it, but like most other people, my TBR is constantly growing!
This is the first book I've read by either Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young. I have The Program on my shelf (also from this giveaway), but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I wasn't quite sure what to think of this book after I finished reading it. I liked it, but didn't love it. It was very well written, but the storyline didn't hook me like I was hoping. What I really liked was the main theme of it not really mattering which path you choose because you'll end up right where you belong anyways. It's something that I think about with my husband, like, had I gone to another school, would I still have met him? Interesting to think about and I like how this book showed two different paths that Caroline took, how they affected her, and how they each ended for her. Pretty interesting concept, and although it wasn't my favorite book, I still really enjoyed it and will definitely read more by these authors.
Pagesofcomfort.blogspot.com
I hear parallel universes are the new dystopian now, eh? Well count me in because this is my first book in the subject, and I'm a fan already. (Honestly, I think I've seen quite a few parallel universe stories out there the past few years, I just avoid them because I can't stand mirrored covers. But I'm getting past those shallow thoughts...slowly)
Picking this book up to read was a no-brainer since I've been a huge fan of Cat Patrick's from the start, and more recently started fangirling over Suzanne's newest book, The Program. I haven't read many co-authored books...actually at the moment, I can't recall a single one. I definitely recognized Cat Patrick's writing style over Suzanne Young's, but that's probably because I've read more of her books, and I've only read Young's dystopian/futuristic-esque. One thing I'm curious about; how did they write it? I wonder which author wrote which decision?
So as far as the story goes, you have the two different paths, "stay" and "go" which flip each chapter, and I am so glad the choice is written on the bottom of each page because I think I would have gotten confused and mixed the two up. They're obviously different, but the same events happen this way and that, and I had to pause and trace things back from time to time. At first I was rooting for the events of "stay" to be the real one, (or whatever is supposed to happen at the end) but my opinion quickly swayed back to "go" and I liked the story a lot more in those chapters.
From the perspective of a newbie in this branch of sci-fi, it was very cool to see a character's different choices. Like, instead of screaming in frustration for choosing one way or another, I was like, oh, I get my way too. So now I will be on the lookout for more parallel universe books, if anyone has good recs, I'm all ears. Just Like Fate is a light read; I read it in a day. But it did have some good thought provoking aspects for teenagers, and I really liked that. Also, the ending is satisfyingly ambiguous.
Picking this book up to read was a no-brainer since I've been a huge fan of Cat Patrick's from the start, and more recently started fangirling over Suzanne's newest book, The Program. I haven't read many co-authored books...actually at the moment, I can't recall a single one. I definitely recognized Cat Patrick's writing style over Suzanne Young's, but that's probably because I've read more of her books, and I've only read Young's dystopian/futuristic-esque. One thing I'm curious about; how did they write it? I wonder which author wrote which decision?
So as far as the story goes, you have the two different paths, "stay" and "go" which flip each chapter, and I am so glad the choice is written on the bottom of each page because I think I would have gotten confused and mixed the two up. They're obviously different, but the same events happen this way and that, and I had to pause and trace things back from time to time. At first I was rooting for the events of "stay" to be the real one, (or whatever is supposed to happen at the end) but my opinion quickly swayed back to "go" and I liked the story a lot more in those chapters.
From the perspective of a newbie in this branch of sci-fi, it was very cool to see a character's different choices. Like, instead of screaming in frustration for choosing one way or another, I was like, oh, I get my way too. So now I will be on the lookout for more parallel universe books, if anyone has good recs, I'm all ears. Just Like Fate is a light read; I read it in a day. But it did have some good thought provoking aspects for teenagers, and I really liked that. Also, the ending is satisfyingly ambiguous.
Just Like Fate discusses one of my favorite topics: can one moment really change your life? And maybe it can, or maybe it can't. But, in this book that's what the reader looks into.
It took me a while to get really into this book. Death and dying can always be a messy topic to write about, and even more uncomfortable to read about.
If you were given the chance to either sit by your dying grandmother's bedside, or take one night and go to a party with your friend, what would you do? To some, going to the party might sound selfish, but when your family is a mess, and your grandmother has been slowly dying in front of you, it almost feels right to take the night off.
So what does the main character do? She does both.
In this uniquely written story, the main character alternates in each chapter what would have happened if she would have chosen to "stay" or "go."
It took me a while to get really into this book. Death and dying can always be a messy topic to write about, and even more uncomfortable to read about.
If you were given the chance to either sit by your dying grandmother's bedside, or take one night and go to a party with your friend, what would you do? To some, going to the party might sound selfish, but when your family is a mess, and your grandmother has been slowly dying in front of you, it almost feels right to take the night off.
So what does the main character do? She does both.
In this uniquely written story, the main character alternates in each chapter what would have happened if she would have chosen to "stay" or "go."
The concept of this book was quite interesting to me. I really didn't know how it would play out or if I'd like it, but it still intrigued me. Plus, I'd read other books by these authors, and loved them, so I thought this one couldn't be that bad if they followed their same pattern. And my expectations didn't fall short and were met quite beyond what I expected!
When I first read the blurb, I thought: Oh yay, a love triangle already set up with her and her crush finally getting together, but then this other dude thrown in just for added angst. So naturally, when Chris (the other dude, not the crush dude) was introduced, I was sure I wasn't going to like him. I was so rooting for Caroline and Joel (the crush dude) that Chris wasn't even a contender in my mind.
But, as I started reading the story, and learned a bit about Joel, I so did NOT like him. At all. And I fell completely in love with Chris. Seriously, he is. Such. A. DARLING!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
Anyways, romantic thread aside, the rest of this book is quite interesting! I thought I would be pretty confused by the changing of perspective of story from if Caroline had gone to the party or if she hadn't, but it was actually quite easy to read and follow along with the parallel(ish) plot threads. It was almost like getting into the writer's brain in this book, like "what would have happened if she did this instead of that...heck, let's just write both points! Let's have fun!" So again, I quite enjoyed the different perspectives...(although honestly I like the one where she went to the party because then it has me less angry at Joel...)
On that point with Joel, like seriously, what a jerk! He was only out for Caroline's physical love it seemed and that was it, screw anything else. And because she was so crushlove on him, she went along with it for a bit, and I was just like
CHRIS IS BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is much, much, MUCH more to this book than the romantic story parts, and those are I think, the best parts. This book doesn't gloss or glitter up family issues when dealing with grief. It doesn't shove them right in your face either with stark bluntness, but it is a realistic book. That's what I liked about it. I liked the struggles and pain and the way they were written, which made them feel just so REAL. Caroline's problems after her grandma died, no matter what choice she took, both gave her heartache and grief...but both taught her the same things. And that's what really made me fall in love with this book, is that no matter what choice she took, things kinda ended up turning out the same. Now, there were a few things that she could have saved herself in either choice, either path giving her equal amounts of regrets and pain, but in the end, I guess it seemed that it didn't really matter.
Which made me quite happy, because no matter what path, she ended up with Chris. I did wish she hadn't ended up giving her virginity to Joel in that one choice thread, but still at least he got what he deserved in the end of both choices, and Chris and Caroline ended up together, so I was happy.
When the epilogue came along, it showed that both paths had kinda melded and it really wrapped up the story, instead of leaving it hanging. I was thinking that a more open-ended conclusion would come, simply because of the two different "what-if's" story threads, but I'm glad it ended the way it did (see spoiler above for reasons exactly why) and totally am going to buy this book so I can re-read whenever I want! Loved it!
When I first read the blurb, I thought: Oh yay, a love triangle already set up with her and her crush finally getting together, but then this other dude thrown in just for added angst. So naturally, when Chris (the other dude, not the crush dude) was introduced, I was sure I wasn't going to like him. I was so rooting for Caroline and Joel (the crush dude) that Chris wasn't even a contender in my mind.
But, as I started reading the story, and learned a bit about Joel, I so did NOT like him. At all. And I fell completely in love with Chris. Seriously, he is. Such. A. DARLING!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
Anyways, romantic thread aside, the rest of this book is quite interesting! I thought I would be pretty confused by the changing of perspective of story from if Caroline had gone to the party or if she hadn't, but it was actually quite easy to read and follow along with the parallel(ish) plot threads. It was almost like getting into the writer's brain in this book, like "what would have happened if she did this instead of that...heck, let's just write both points! Let's have fun!" So again, I quite enjoyed the different perspectives...(although honestly I like the one where she went to the party because then it has me less angry at Joel...)
On that point with Joel, like seriously, what a jerk! He was only out for Caroline's physical love it seemed and that was it, screw anything else. And because she was so crushlove on him, she went along with it for a bit, and I was just like
CHRIS IS BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is much, much, MUCH more to this book than the romantic story parts, and those are I think, the best parts. This book doesn't gloss or glitter up family issues when dealing with grief. It doesn't shove them right in your face either with stark bluntness, but it is a realistic book. That's what I liked about it. I liked the struggles and pain and the way they were written, which made them feel just so REAL. Caroline's problems after her grandma died, no matter what choice she took, both gave her heartache and grief...but both taught her the same things. And that's what really made me fall in love with this book, is that no matter what choice she took, things kinda ended up turning out the same. Now, there were a few things that she could have saved herself in either choice, either path giving her equal amounts of regrets and pain, but in the end, I guess it seemed that it didn't really matter.
When the epilogue came along, it showed that both paths had kinda melded and it really wrapped up the story, instead of leaving it hanging. I was thinking that a more open-ended conclusion would come, simply because of the two different "what-if's" story threads, but I'm glad it ended the way it did (see spoiler above for reasons exactly why) and totally am going to buy this book so I can re-read whenever I want! Loved it!
This book had a lot of potential, as the concept of "what if" and following two different paths sounded really interesting, but ultimately it was a disappointment for me.
After reading the summary I had hope that considering the subject the story will be a little deeper but sadly, the grandmother's disease is merely used as a plot device for the split chapters and that's all. The main character Caroline makes illogical and careless decisions from the very beginning and never shows much growth, plus most of the book is focused on the romance. Well, I guess that the premise is slightly misleading and those readers who would want a light read, won't be disappointed, but it wasn't me.
After reading the summary I had hope that considering the subject the story will be a little deeper but sadly, the grandmother's disease is merely used as a plot device for the split chapters and that's all. The main character Caroline makes illogical and careless decisions from the very beginning and never shows much growth, plus most of the book is focused on the romance. Well, I guess that the premise is slightly misleading and those readers who would want a light read, won't be disappointed, but it wasn't me.
Just Like Fate is an innovative concept - the what ifs of life. There are so many things in life we regret - things that make you want to take back something, not make a particular decision. The story follows one such decision made by Caroline, on the night her grandmother died. She did not know it would happen and a yes/no decision at that moment diverges the storyline into two paths. Both paths have something to learn from and both have pain and happiness along them. Our life is also basically made of decisions - we may believe in fate but our choices also count. The book specifically refers to what destiny and free will have to do with each other - something like xxxHoLIC's hitsuzen. Even at the end, we don't know which path actually happened, as life is. We cannot know the outcome of a 'what if; we cannot know if our life would have been better but just be content that things will work out eventually...
The writing and the dual timelines really pulled me in. After quite a while, I have read a novel at a stretch, it was that interesting. Quite a good read!
The writing and the dual timelines really pulled me in. After quite a while, I have read a novel at a stretch, it was that interesting. Quite a good read!
(From www.pingwings.ca)
(Review copy received from publisher)
I was partly drawn to this book because I read and enjoyed Cat Patrick’s Revived, and Suzanne Young’s The Program is on my TBR list.
Summary from Goodreads:
Doesn’t the premise sound good? It definitely reminds me of the movie Sliding Doors, where we see Gwyneth Paltrow’s character living two different lives, based on a single event. Caroline’s grandmother is in the hospital, dying, when her best friend Simone asks her to come out. Should she stay, or should she go? We read about both outcomes of this decision, in alternating chapters: in one world, she stayed in the hospital and spent that night with her grandmother. In the other, she went out to a party with her friends.
What I liked a lot about this novel was that there were so many aspects of Caroline’s life effected by her decision, including her relationships with her siblings and parents, her friendship with Simone, and relationships with Joel, her long-time crush, and Chris, a college guy she keeps running into.
I really enjoyed reading the book and seeing how certain elements would pop up throughout each world. Also, I really liked Chris. He was totally charming, funny, and sweet. Caroline, on the other hand, was aggravating at times. She was so frustrating because she would run away from confrontation, or not say what she really thought, or avoid dealing with things head on. It isn’t that I don’t understand why she acted that way, but it just seemed to be such an obstacle, something that everyone in her life seemed to comment on, but she kept doing it. However, by the end of the book, she had definitely grown, and I liked that I got to see some good changes in her life.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll just say that I really liked the way the book ended. While there is a parallel worlds element to this book, it isn’t science fiction-y, so don’t let that put you off if you don’t think you’re into sci-fi. Definitely a recommended read.
(Review copy received from publisher)
I was partly drawn to this book because I read and enjoyed Cat Patrick’s Revived, and Suzanne Young’s The Program is on my TBR list.
Summary from Goodreads:
Caroline is at a crossroads. Her grandmother is sick, maybe dying. Like the rest of her family, Caroline’s been at Gram’s bedside since her stroke. With the pressure building, all Caroline wants to do is escape–both her family and the reality of Gram’s failing health. So when Caroline’s best friend offers to take her to a party one fateful Friday night, she must choose: stay by Gram’s side, or go to the party and live her life.
The consequence of this one decision will split Caroline’s fate into two seperate paths – and she’s about to live them both.
Friendships are tested and family drama hits an all-new high as Caroline attempts to rebuild old relationships, and even make a few new ones. If she stays, her longtime crush, Joel, might finally notice her, but if she goes, Chris, the charming college boy, might prove to be everything she’s ever wanted.
Though there are two distinct ways for her fate to unfold, there is only one happy ending…
Doesn’t the premise sound good? It definitely reminds me of the movie Sliding Doors, where we see Gwyneth Paltrow’s character living two different lives, based on a single event. Caroline’s grandmother is in the hospital, dying, when her best friend Simone asks her to come out. Should she stay, or should she go? We read about both outcomes of this decision, in alternating chapters: in one world, she stayed in the hospital and spent that night with her grandmother. In the other, she went out to a party with her friends.
What I liked a lot about this novel was that there were so many aspects of Caroline’s life effected by her decision, including her relationships with her siblings and parents, her friendship with Simone, and relationships with Joel, her long-time crush, and Chris, a college guy she keeps running into.
I really enjoyed reading the book and seeing how certain elements would pop up throughout each world. Also, I really liked Chris. He was totally charming, funny, and sweet. Caroline, on the other hand, was aggravating at times. She was so frustrating because she would run away from confrontation, or not say what she really thought, or avoid dealing with things head on. It isn’t that I don’t understand why she acted that way, but it just seemed to be such an obstacle, something that everyone in her life seemed to comment on, but she kept doing it. However, by the end of the book, she had definitely grown, and I liked that I got to see some good changes in her life.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll just say that I really liked the way the book ended. While there is a parallel worlds element to this book, it isn’t science fiction-y, so don’t let that put you off if you don’t think you’re into sci-fi. Definitely a recommended read.
I did find this book really interesting. It reminded me of Sliding Doors except in high school. It’s fascinating to think that one choice can set you on two completely different paths. However, I did find parts of it incredibly cliché, such as the whole mean-girl drama with Tricia (talk about internalised misogyny). Also, sometimes the writing was kind of cringe-y for my taste.