If the Fates Allow - Story

“This isn’t a dessert, it’s a salad.”

I did this as an audiobook and I'm so glad I did. The narrator was engaging and she really brought out the story. And I LOVED the story. Covid has been in our lives now for a few years. Those still not ready to read books centered around it, steer clear of this one. You won't like it. But I loved it. The last 2 years have been hard and I loved reading about someone else's struggle too. I saw things I'd been feeling mirrored back to me on the page and felt comforted I wasn't alone. The wit and humor that are so effortless with this author still gets me every time. I wasn't sure what I'd think of this one but I should have known that in [a:Rainbow Rowell|4208569|Rainbow show more Rowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1342324527p2/4208569.jpg] hands, I'm always just fine. show less

Reagan was a pro at social distancing even before it was required. But she doesn't want her recently bereaved grandfather to spend Christmas 2020 alone and so she has isolated for two weeks and done everything to make a visit with him as safe as possible. And while she and her grandfather have never been particularly close, the visit holds several surprises including a chance encounter with the neighbour's son, Morgan.

I really loved this short story (really it's somewhere between a short story and a novella as it does have two chapters) featuring Reagan, who fans of Rowell will remember from [Fangirl]. While reading a pandemic Christmas story still feels a little raw (especially right now as omicron cases spike), the story is so lovely show more and entirely worth remembering what life was like a year ago. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can snag the ebook for free so why not squeeze in one more short festive read during the holidays? show less

I loved If The Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell. This wonderful little story really spoke to me. It was such a relatable tale of our times. It took place during Christmas 2020. If the Fates Allow captured so accurately the struggle of having holidays and managing family during the pandemic. Another unexpected point of this story that I really connected to was the Nebraska grandfather. I was born and raised in California, but my grandfather was from Nebraska. He died about ten years ago, and while he was pretty different from Reagan’s grandfather, there were some things that reminded me of him.

When I read the line “He started carving the turkey with an electric knife that was probably older than she was.” I definitely had an emotional show more response.

I loved this short story so much. It really resonated with me and my pandemic response. I highlighted so many bits. My family was definitely Reagan for the last, like, 20 months or however long it’s been. I really identified with the struggle to keep my own family, plus the extended family, safe. I read it before Thanksgiving, which was my first family gathering since the pandemic started. I a little nervous, and reading If the Fates Allow felt too close and raw at first, but in the end it was very cathartic.

Did you know that Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was a wartime song about not being together on Christmas? The original Judy Garland lyrics are

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away

Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us once more

Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now show less

This short story is about the pandemic, Christmas and Reagan (Cath’s roommate from Fangirl). Rowell has knack for satisfying storytelling. I liked meeting Reagan again, and it was very interesting to read something which deals with the pandemic experience so directly.

“We’re socially distanced over here,” her mom had called to tell her.
“You put the leaf in the dining room table,” Reagan replied. “That’s not social distancing.”

This is a really cute story, and much more heartwarming than I had expected given that it's set firmly in the middle of the COVID pandemic. I loved getting to see more of Reagan—she was my favorite character in Fangirl—and the romance part of the story was very sweet. (Nothing more than kissing, but given COVID... that's plenty.)

I loved this short story, the first covid romance I've read. I usually don't like mean main characters I always feel they should be better then that. But when she says

She nodded. “Did you get vaccinated?”

“Fuck yeah,” he said. “I don’t care if it makes me grow another leg. I was first in line.”

Reagan nodded some more. “Yeah, same.”

“Give me some of that hot, fresh gene therapy,” Mason went on, chewing. “I mean . . . hopefully we don’t all grow extra legs . . .”

“Yeah,” Reagan agreed. “Hopefully. If we all die, the only people left will be these shitheads.”

But after the last couple of years I really can't blame her.

I've always wanted to read this author's work and simply haven't gotten around to it as of yet. I was pleasantly surprised as it was very now with the pandemic issues, raw as it didn't pull any punches while apologizing for nothing along the way, nostalgic as it brought back holidays of yesteryear whether you ate green jello salad or not, and ultimately entertaining while being the perfect fit for the busy season!