Caroline's grandma has a stroke and is put in hospice care. Caroline loves her grandma very much (she lives with her), but she's spent three solid days bedside and she's starting to fray a little. Her best friend Simone calls with a question: party tonight? Caroline's choice to stay with her grandma or go to the party with Simone could change her course of fate....
Just Like Fate opens with two chapters titled "Before." In these chapters, we get a quick overview of the situation between Caroline and her grandma, and Caroline and the rest of her family. The chapters after that alternate between "Stay" and "Go." The authors split the storyline so that we see the outcomes of both decisions. We see what would have happened in Caroline's life if she had stayed at the hospice that night, and what would have happened if she went to the party. The good news: it's not confusing! Each chapter is titled with whether we're in the "stay" storyline or the "go" storyline, and it's also labeled at the bottom of each page, next to the page number. I never had any trouble keeping up with which plot I was in.
I've read a few reviews where people weren't able to resist the temptation, and they skipped ahead to the end to find out which decision Caroline actually makes. Don't do this! I thought the plot unfolded very well, and I think you'll get max enjoyment if you let it reveal itself naturally. It never even occurred to me to do that, honestly. I guess because I never read the last chapter first, even in intense mysteries.
Just Like Fate was a quick read. I don't know... it just didn't feel very deep. Maybe because it contains two entire plots in one book? But I skimmed on through it fairly fast.
So yes, I felt that a lot of the characters, including the main character, were pretty 2D. And I didn't feel like the main character actually learned anything in either plotline. I was hoping for a little more growth than was presented. And the secondary characters are definitely 2D; there's just not enough pages for them to be fleshed out much when you're fitting in so much plot. I also didn't really care for the main character. I know: I shouldn't be so harsh. But I just didn't find her very likable. She made too many poor decisions, and thought of herself more often than she thought of others. I won't tell you which one it was, but one of the plotlines made me literally cringe a little. How could someone be so blind? I'm a reader, outside the main character's life, and I saw the ending of that plot coming!
What I didn't see coming: the actual end of the book. So that's a big plus, and definitely kept me interested and kept me reading. It wasn't too sudden, and I can't argue with it. I can, however, demand that the authors tell me more! I still have some loose ends. No big plot holes left uncovered, but I want to know more about what happened after the end!
Overall, 3 out of 5 stars. Not stellar, but not terrible.
*I received an ARC of Just Like Fate from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review. Thank you!
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