Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young
Simon Pulse
8.27.2013
Blurb From The Publisher:
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 separate 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..
One
will stay….. One will go… but fate may just tie them both together …
What I have to say first off, is
this book reminded me of Sarah Dessen’s stories. I aim t not compare authors
much, but Just Like Fate was a tear
maker for me, and Sarah Dessen’s books always pop a drip from my eye because of
their realism and sincerity. Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young pair up to create
something awestuck and beautiful in Just
Like Fate that will grip readers and finish off warm and fuzzy.
First Impression:
Just
Like Fate is two stories woven together by the end. Caroline Cabot has been
running these past few years. Caroline has been running from her parents
divorce, from herself, her sister, her father, and she has been living in her
grandmother’s house for awhile now. Ostracizing herself from her mother and
sister, Caroline has been immersing herself in her friends, but also in her
pining for a boy named Joel at her school for years now. When one day there is
a call into the office, Caroline finds herself torn in two as her grandmother
has been struck by a stroke and is hospitalized living out her last few days.
The author’s break the story into two perspectives of Caroline from this point
forward, exposing the raw torn parts of growing up that is so hard to do. Cat
Patrick and Suzanne Young tear Caroline apart throughout the story, unfolding
the personal horrors of growing up and dealing with indecision and grief while
succumbing to persuasion and betrayal. Just Like Fate is a bittersweet love
story swept up in accepting yourself while in abundance of trial, drama, and
young adulthood.
Characters:
With this book you get two sides to
your main character in that the author’s have split the perspectives of
Caroline through the one girl who STAYs at the hospital as her grandmother
passes, and the other Caroline who GOs, runs to a party to drown out her
feelings, thereby being left with the greatest loss of all, her own personal
betrayal.
GO: Caroline leaves to a
party where she hopes to run into her dream boy Joel, only to run into
Christopher, an older college boy who soon entrances her. Through GO readers
will see the Caroline who refuses to accept her reality and constantly runs
away from her problems until they soon compound against her and she is faced
with the harsh reality of her choices and much accept them if she wants to keep
up with her own feelings, instead of dashing them away. Confronting your own
fears, and accepting the consequences of your actions is a hard lesson in life,
but to keep someone she loves Caroline must overcome her own fears and fight
for what she wants in life.
STAY: This Caroline has
stayed at the hospital and now must overcome the end of her grandmother’s life,
and the sudden immersion on her family. Rebounding from grief into the arms of
a boy that she has been pining over for years is her next step, but will
Caroline loose herself in someone else for all the wrong reasons? STAY breaks
your heart as you watch Caroline break herself to run from the reality of her
choices in life. In fact if she could step back and see what she is trying to
be, who she is giving herself up for, we might be less inclined to want to yell
at her as we cry at her levels of self-destruction that she feels she has no
control over. There is hope at the end for Caroline in unexpected ways that
sometimes something only life threatening may bring out in you.
Book Hangover Rant:
Just
Like Fate is a ripper; tearing through readers expectations as it turns
into something profoundly epic. Coming into the book, you may wonder just what
exactly is going on, but as you see the plots develop and the choices made that
intertwine with fate, then you are literally astounded at the character building
of the authors. Caroline may not be the strongest heroine, but she sure is a
true being. There are so many hardship and choices in youth, that as Caroline
makes mistakes, she makes real human ones, so the realism in the story strikes
you. There are always crushes when we are young, but the last thing we want
these loves to do is crush you, and how can we realize this fact before it is
too late and we give too much of ourselves to the point of devastating
destruction?
Hidden throughout the story is
references to music from a popular band at the time in the book, Electric
Freakshow, and through the musicians and their music readers are dropped hints
at how these alternate Caroline’s and their experiences, we find that sometimes
fate catches up to us even as we sometimes are not noticing it for our own
selves.
We are all just
Magnets for fate
Stumbling, skipping,
running at ort own pace
Making choices, losing
voices
Making wishes for
forgiveness
-“Magnets
for Fate”
Electric
Freakshow
Breaking
out as a dynamic duo, Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young deconstruct the perceptions
of reality from a young woman named Caroline Cabot; twisting readers into a
terrific tale of youth and growing up to the tune of realism during a time of
loss. Making this story one that may not be too far from something that could
be happening in a town, or a street near you, or something that the reader
themselves has gone through before. Get a tissue and a corner and delve into Just Like Fate today.
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