Something Like Fate

In college, some of my friends and I would entertain ourselves for countless hours by playing a game in which you have to quote the price necessary for you to do a task. For instance, they might ask me how much it would take to let one of them slap me across the face. (probably like 10 dollars) Or for me to take a shot of my own urine--ehhh, probably like 50 bucks. Relevance to this review? I think someone would have to pay me about 100 dollars for me to ever listen to another [a:Susane Colasanti|410418|Susane Colasanti|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1293813490p2/410418.jpg] audiobook.

A large part of my distaste for this book is based on personal disappointment in myself. I don't believe in astrology. Why the heck did I listen to show more this book? Allow me to quote a scene from the amazingness that is The Big Bang Theory:

Leonard: So, tell us about you.
Penny: Um, me? Okay - I'm a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know.
Sheldon: Yes - it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun's apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality.

This book just keeps talking about fate, destiny, soulmates, being bonded for life, and other cosmos-related life views that are really off-putting to me. Sure, I enjoy stories where two people meet serendipitously and fall in love. Sure, you can call it destiny—I won’t mind. But I am gonna lay it on you straight: If you live in a town where there are 75 kids in your high school class, you know them all. Or at least you know a little bit about them all.* In all probability, you interacted with most or all of them at some point during your shared childhood years. If you played in a sandbox together as a child, it’s nothing extraordinary. That isn't destiny, it's an overwhelming probability. (I am serious about this—they actually cannot believe they played together as children. And consider it evidence that they are meant to be) I know I already ranted in a status update about the stupid reasons the two main characters believed they were “soulmates” in this book but here are a few in case you missed it: they both like raspberries, they both like to abbreviate words while speaking, they both like to watch hot air balloons, and they both compare the bottled water they drink to colors and shapes. (WTF?) Put me in a room with anyone, ANYONE, and I can find at least that much random crap that we have in common.

I wish a hypothetical intervenor approached me in the library, crouched down next to me in the audiobook aisle and then screamed in my ear, "DON'T BE AN IDIOT, FLANNERY!" Said intervenor might’ve saved me from a book with unlikeable major characters (a girl who won’t stand up to her “best friend”(who incidentally is a heinous bitch for most of the book)and who outs her actual best friend who is the most interesting character in the book, and her pushover boyfriend). The side characters and their plotlines were far and away more interesting than the main story in this book.

Sigh. This book (for unknown reasons to me) has very good reviews on goodreads. If I ever get stranded with nothing to read, I might pick up another Susane Colasanti book. And, if nothing else, you all know a good way to torture me should that opportunity ever present itself: make me listen to this one again.

*In the middle of listening to this book, I went to lunch with my friend, Mary, who insists she knew every one of the 400 or so classmates in her graduating class. show less

Something Like Fate is a typical YA novel of two best friends after the same guy. One takes the initiative and asks said guy, Jason, out. He agrees. But then the best friend of said girl, Lani, begins talking to him and finds out that she likes him…and he likes her back. They talk more, with Erin’s consent, and finds out that they have a lot in common! Like a freakish amount of things in common (I’m still wrapping my mind around the common oddities). So when the girl goes away, the cats will play. Jason’s and Lani’s relationship is refreshing and ever so endearing (awhhh). But when Erin comes back things go downhill….

It was within the last few chapters that things get out of hand. Erin is a complete ’itch. Lani needs to show more stop being a pushover but they are times where I applaud her. To make amends for stealing her ex-boyfriend (yeah, ex), Erin tells Lani to stop seeing Jason, which she compiles. Excuse me for a second while I scream. Seriously!? Are you daft woman? In the very next line, Erin tells Lani that is yet to be forgiven and ignores her for the next several days at school. So the purpose of not seeing Jason is…?

I dislike the ending very much so. It was way too fast. Erin apologies, Lani forgives; Lani apologies, Erin forgive; then cry and hug. That’s it. I did not see much character development for the majority.

There were some characters that I found really enjoyable to read: Blake and Connor. Blake is gay but no one knows about it and Connor is from Canada (yay Canadians). They add a touch of serenity and whimsical humor at times that added much to the dialogues. I love the fact that Blake was able to forgive and grow whereas Connor is sweet, caring, and a steady rock. show less

By far, the best Susane Colasanti book that I have read. I flew right through this book and loved every minute of it. Lani feels an overwhelming attraction to her best friend Erin's boyfriend, Jason. She doesn't know how to describe it, but it feels like they are meant for each other. When she finds out Jason feels the same she struggles between choosing love or friendship.
Usually I have love triangles in books, but this one is very well done. I could feel how right for each other Jason and Lani were and so I was rooting for them the whole time.
I loved the topic of fate and destiny that was mentioned throughout the book. Lani and Erin are really into the concept and have a chart assigning a different topic to study each month, such as show more Palmistry and Numerology. Lani mentioned fate a lot in the novel, how it seemed that Jason and her have always been meant to be with each other, how certain events led up to them finally finding each other. Her character was written with such passion that it was easy to jump on the bandwagon with her. I put the down the book wishing there was psychic in my city that I could visit, just to see what would be said.
Susane Colasanti has a unique and fresh writing style as well. She writes the way that teens talk. She begins dialogue with "I go" or "He's like" instead of "I said" and "He said". It makes her books more relatable and seem more down to earth, though I will admit that it took some getting used to.
Do I recommend this book? Yes. If you need a light, fluffy, romantic read then this a perfect book to lose yourself in. show less

I was looking forward to reading Something Like Fate. I'd read good reviews on Amazon, and I really liked the cover, so I was really excited when the audio book became available online from my library. Sadly, it was quite a disappointment!

First of all, the book was very preachy. The main character was a very "green" person, and really looked down on and was pretty rude to people who weren't. I have nothing against recycling and taking care of our world, but it was just over and over and over. She was also obsessed with horoscopes which wouldn't have been terribly annoying if she hadn't brought it up every two minutes. I hate when a book forces ideas on you.

Also, the idea that Jason was Lani's "soulmate" (although, she thought he was show more her first of two soul mates because of what a psychic told her) just because they liked all the same random things was ridiculous and extremely boring. Like, "OMG, you like kites?!?! I like kites too!!" and "You like train tracks? I'm obsessed with train tracks!! I can even hear trains from my house!!" "No way!!" or "I've always thought of that brand of water as 'Purple' and so does Jason!! How does he know that water is 'Purple'?" and "Erin didn't know the water was 'purple', so obviously Jason's meant for me because she can't appreciate him like I can."-- I'm serious, these were the things that were actually in the book. And there were a lot more things just like that.

I really don't think I've read a worse book. I kept listening, thinking that it had to get better. I don't think I'll pick up anything by Colasanti again. show less

It’s almost their senior year and Lani and Erin cannot wait, once they’re seniors they can drive to and from school and they don’t have to eat the mysterious lunch food. But, they still have to wait the last month or so of their junior year and the summer.
During the last month of their junior year, Erin starts to like Jason, soon that “like” turns to love and Erin and Jason are going out. But problems start to develop, Erin is going to camp for two months in Vermont and Jason starts to hang out with Lani. He starts asking himself if he really likes Erin. With these problems, their relationship is challenged. That is when Jason cheats on Erin and starts seeing Lani.
After Erin has been at camp for less than a week, Jason show more realizes Erin isn't the one for him, but she’s at camp so he has to break up with her through letters. Now that Jason and Erin aren't together Lani feels it’s okay to date him. But will Erin see it Lanis way? Will Erin want revenge? But the biggest question is will they still be friends?
Something Like Fate is very suspenseful and a big cliffhanger. The author, Susan C., does a very good job describing and showing that life really does happen because of fate or that everything happens for a reason. She also does a good job showing that problems always have a way to work themselves out and become right.
Although the author does many things right the ending is not very strong. I disliked how she wrote about how Lani and Erin were so excited about senior year and yet she only wrote about half their year. Doesn't all senior fun happen at the end of the year?

Something Like Fate was a great read and I wish there was a sequel. show less

Oh, thank goodness I've finished. I know I'm not the target audience, but I read a lot of YA books, and I teach junior high, so I think I'm still qualified to judge....Ugh. Just thinking about this book after I'm done makes me cringe. I know how teenagers and preteens talk. I'm perfectly fine reading books in which teenagers talk the way they talk in life. But I'd rather not read ones that are written as if a preteen wrote them. "I was like..." "and then she goes..." ...he went." Ugh, ugh, ugh. I was practically begging for an "I said..." in there, I tell you. The characters' conversations themselves were often more intelligent than the way the author wrote the text surrounding them, and that's saying a lot. It probably didn't help that show more I listened to this one on audio, either....

As for the storyline, it was just okay. The main character's obsession with fate, destiny, and fortunetelling techniques was a bit silly, but understandable for a seventeen-year-old. Her obsession with trying to make her amazingly selfish ex-best friend forgive her in spite of all of the horrible things that best friend is doing to her and/or encouraging her other friends to do to her? Not so much. At least Lani eventually sort of gets a backbone. It's probably a good thing this one was already on the shelves of my classroom library before I read it, otherwise it'd never have gotten there. Thank goodness I bought it on clearance. My advice? Don't bother reading this one if you've been out of junior high for more than five years. show less

High school junior Lani has always been able to predict her life path through horoscopes, but when she finds herself irrevocably drawn to Jason, her best friend Erin’s new boyfriend, and realizes that he feels the same way, her life spins out of control and into the “Unknown.” Jason makes a clean break from Erin over the summer while Erin’s away at camp, but when she returns and their senior year begins, Erin goes out of her way to make Lani’s life miserable by getting the whole class to excommunicate her. The beginning of the book feels a bit like a made-for-TV teen flick, but the ensuing bullying and a subplot involving a gay classmate and his abusive father quickly work to ground the storyline. Lani, Erin, and Jason never show more get into any “real” trouble, but the tension Lani feels amongst her classmates will feel very real to readers. A simple yet descriptive writing style and shorter chapters combined with the relatable, intense plot will engage struggling readers. Recommended for grades 8-10. show less