Something Like Fate

Something Like Fate
By Susane Colsanti
Viking, 2010. 268 pgs. Young Adult

Lani and Erin are best friends, linked by a car accident in their past in which Erin saved Lani's life. So, when Erin starts dating Jason and Lani realizes that she and Jason might actually have more in common than Jason and Erin, she knows she owes it to her friend not to get involved with Jason. But when Erin goes away for the summer to be a camp counselor and Jason breaks up with her, Lani, who feels as if fate has brought her and Jason together, has to figure out if there's a way to keep her best friend and still get the guy.

The issue of liking your best friend's boyfriend comes up enough in YA literature that authors need to make sure they're putting in some extra effort to give readers anything more than a cliché--and Colsanti delivers with Lani and Jason, likable characters who breathe new life into an old plot line. Lani is a sweet environmentalist who is interested in fate and the cosmos, and Jason is her perfect match. The result is a chick-lit book with a little more substance that works well.

AE