Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Release Date: March 6, 2014
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Pansing
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website (Patrick) ● Website (Young)

Caroline is at a crossroads. Her whole family is on her back, and her grandmother, the only person who really understands her, is sick, maybe dying. All she wants to do is escape. So when her best friend suggests a night out to forget her troubles, Caroline must choose: STAY by her grandmother's side, or GO to the party and live her life . . . and maybe meet the boy of her dreams. 

This decision will split Caroline's fate into two separate paths - and she's about to live them both. But there can only be one happy ending...

I was super excited when I got the chance to review this book. I’d heard of both Patrick’s and Young’s previous novels but unfortunately have never gotten the chance to read them. Besides– two amazing (from what I’ve heard) authors collaborating to create one book? After Burn for Burn and These Broken Stars I knew this was something I could not pass up. When I finally got around to reading it, after months of the book lying around in my room, I finished it in one sitting. I’m glad to say that this was a win for me and found myself enamoured by the story and its characters, along with the suspense of finding out what happens at the end. 

What stuck out for me when I’d first read the blurb was the whole split decision thing. At first I was like, “What?... this is a paranormal?” and it was only until I’d read the book that I realised that it was more like Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, except the reader does not choose the character’s course of action, but instead we see both sides of what would have happened if Caroline had chosen to stay with her grandmother or if she had gone to the party. I really enjoyed the dual timelines (really reminds me of the TV show Community), interweaved with alternating chapters and taking place at the same time as one another. What I especially liked was how different the timelines were, but they still had constant factors throughout each of their stories. I definitely preferred one timeline to the other – not going to say which – but in the end, fates collide and things do fall into place.

While I did like it when Caroline actually got to say goodbye to her grandmother in the STAY timeline, I liked her character better in the GO timeline. Weird right? I don’t know why, but I think she definitely made better choices during the latter timeline. However, I did like the constant presence of Simone during the STAY timeline as well as the relationship that grows between Caroline and her sister Natalie. Each timeline comes with it’s guys and relationships and it all comes down to one point in the end, so I can’t say I’m disappointed either way. It’s cool to see the way things play out, how actions have consequences and how this ends up affecting the involved characters.

A unique concept for narrative structure in young adult fiction, Just Like Fate was a fantastic ride that closes with a happy ending and an unexpected twist. Flawless and intriguing, I’m left blown away and desperate for more from Patrick and Young.

If you like this, try...

• Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott ● Goodreads
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher ● Goodreads
• Don’t You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire ● Goodreads
• Maybe Tonight? by Bridie Clark ● Goodreads

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha from Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪