Blog Tour: Just Like Fate - Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Today I'm co-hosting a stop on the blog tour for 'Just Like Fate' by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young which was published by Electric Monkey on 6th March.  You can also check out this post on Book Angel Booktopia

1.) Was Electric Freakshow based on a real band?

S-Early on, Cat and I knew we wanted to make Electric Freakshow as real as possible. Some of my students even made fake album covers and band T-shirts! Even though I knew which other bands they sounded like, I never pictured them as anyone else. Totally original.

C- We did manage to talk a real, Seattle-based band called The Social Fantastic into writing the music and producing/recording a version of the song for use in our US book trailer. It’s available for purchase on iTunes, as well.

2.) Who wrote the lyrics of Magnets for Fate?

S-I'm terrible at lyrics. I wrote a quick, awful draft of the song and Cat turned it into the masterpiece you see in the book.

C- Suzanne Young is a liar. She’s great at lyrics! Yes, it was definitely a collaboration, and we’re incredibly happy with how they turned out.

3.) What’s the most memorable live music experience you’ve ever had?

C- That’s a toss-up between seeing Arcade Fire at the outdoor Greek Theater in Berkeley, California on a warm summer evening, and seeing an intimate, acoustic Band of Horses performance at one of the loveliest theaters in Seattle, Washington on a cold, rainy night.

S-Oh, hm... When I lived in Portland, Oregon I went to an amazing jazz festival by the water. Live music, street food, handmade crafts? What could be better?

4.) Do you have particular songs that you’re listening to if you’re feeling happy or sad?

S-I listen to a lot of older songs. One of my favorites to listen to if I want to feel better is Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle". It reminds me that life can get better. The rest of my playlist is a lot of really dark and depressing stuff. I find it inspiring to write with them in the background.

C- You’re inspired by dark and depressing stuff?

S- Kind-of, yeah.

C- I get it: That’s very you. There’s a song by Metric called “Sick Muse” that I like to blast in my car on a warm day. At the moment, though, I can’t stop listening to The National’s High Violet record. Those songs are like a mood ring: They reflect and amplify however you’re already feeling.

 

The lovely people at Egmont are also giving you a chance to win a copy of 'Just Like Fate' today on Twitter.  To be in with a chance, check out @EgmontUK today. 



Review: Just Like Fate - Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young, published by Electric Monkey on 6th March 2014

Goodreads synopsis:
Caroline is at a crossroads. Her whole family is on her back, and her grandmother, the only person who really understands her, is sick, maybe dying. All she wants to do is escape. So when her best friend suggests a night out to forget her troubles, Caroline must choose: stay by her grandmother's side, or go to the party and live her life . . . and maybe meet the boy of her dreams.

This decision will split Caroline's fate into two separate paths - and she's about to live them both. But there can only be one happy ending...

Review:
I'm a massive fan of Cat Patrick and I've loved all of her previous books, so I jumped at the chance to read 'Just Like Fate' which is co-authored with Suzanne Young.  The story adopts a really interesting sliding doors type scenario, focusing on the main character, teenager Caroline, who has to decide at the start of the book, whether or not to stay with her dying grandmother or go to a party with her best-friend.

The idea of having alternating chapters showing what happens when she goes or stays, was an interesting narrative device.  It enables Patrick and Young to present both sides of the story and to leave it up to the reader to decide what course of action they would have taken.  Both stories are cleverly depicted and flow nicely, so it never feels in any way disjointed. 

Both paths that Caroline potentially follows have their ups and downs.  She has a fractured relationship with her divorced parents and a difficult sibling bond with her older sister.  Family is a big theme in the book and I thought all the issues that Caroline has to face in terms of finding her own place in her various family units, were dealt with really well.  There's also romance in her future.  In one half of the story, she finally starts seeing the boy she's been mad about since they were children and in the other, she meets a college guy who is smart and funny and makes her feel wanted.  I know which boy I preferred but Caroline has to work through her feelings for both before she can begin to build a proper relationship with one of them.  I must admit that the romance aspect of the story was a bit of a slow burner for me and at times, I just didn't feel any real sparks between the characters.  However it did pick up a bit in the second half of the book and by the end I was really rooting for one particular couple.    

The story is largely about fate itself and philosophises about the choices that we make throughout our lives.  There isn't always a 'right' choice but the decisions we make shape and change us as people and the lessons we learn stand us in good stead for the future. 

This was a great contemporary YA read and will particularly appeal to readers who like the idea of parallel lives.  Although it didn't quite reach the heights of Cat Patrick's previous books, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and at the same time have discovered a new author in the shape of Suzanne Young.