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| by Cat Patrick & Suzanne Young |
ISBN: 9781442472715
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: August 27th 2013
Number of Pages: 304
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: 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...
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: August 27th 2013
Number of Pages: 304
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: 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...
My Rating: 
Warning: Review may contain slight spoilers
Awesome book. We see two different
paths play out from one decision Caroline makes - to stay with her grandmother
in the hospital or to go and enjoy herself at a party (mainly to get her mind
off the sadness of her grandmother dying). I honestly can't say which choice I
would have made. It was so interesting to see how her life plays out and she
realizes very similar things about herself and the people around her. The
epilogue is intriguing. It shows us that even though you can't figure which
life choice brought her to that point, either one still would have brought her
there. - I think Patrick & Young are trying to tell us that fate is
something that is real and we end up were we need to be. The journey may take us
through different trials, but we are who we are.
"I'm saying we have freedom to make mistakes...I'm saying that our mistakes - one mistake or many of them - don't define us. They don't derail us. We end up where we need to be in the end...But hopefully having learned something from our stumbles...having grown into better people because of them." - Just like Fate, 292
I love the song brought up at the end and how it says some very interesting things about life, fate, and the choices we make.
I will say that I (and probably a lot of readers) wished that the life Caroline lived was the "go" one. I'm just partial to Chris and she gets more life with him in that version ;)
I would recommend that all teenagers should read this book - it teaches us some valuable lessons about the mistakes and choices we make in life. If you like science fiction, I also recommend reading more of Cat Patrick's books - she is an amazing writer who writes good stand-alone YA books. I have read some of Suzanne Young's work, she's good but not as good as Patrick :D
