Publication : March 1st, 2025

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amy Lea delivers a heartfelt and charming romance in Something Like Fate, blending fate, choice, and undeniable chemistry. With relatable characters, witty banter, and just the right amount of emotional depth, this story pulls you in from the start. The romance feels natural and swoon-worthy, while the themes of personal growth and destiny add depth.

Thank You NetGalley and Skyscape
The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you Netgalley and Skyscape for the opportunity to read this YA magical romcom!

In "Something Like Fate," Amy Lea crafts a delightful romance that combines the subject of fate, and pure friendship. The story follows Lo, who has grown up surrounded by her family's psychic women, yet has always felt left out due to her lack of abilities, setting the stage for a charming exploration of love, friendship, and self-discovery.

Lo's long-awaited vision finally comes to her, and with it, the promise of finding "The One" during a backpacking trip in Italy. Accompanied by her best friend, Teller, the journey becomes a vibrant backdrop for Lo's fate to play out. Amy Lea's writing captures the enchanting beauty of Italy, making readers feel as if they’re wandering the streets of Venice and Rome alongside the characters.

When Lo meets Caleb, it's the meet-cute of her dreams. However, it’s Lo’s evolving feelings for Teller that truly add depth to the story. Their friendship, fraught with tension and unspoken feelings, creates a compelling love triangle that keeps readers guessing about where Lo's heart truly lies. Lo's journey is not just about finding love; but about understanding herself and the relationships that matter most.

Overall, "Something Like Fate" is a heartwarming read that balances humor, romance, and a touch of magic. It may not break new ground in the romance genre, but it certainly entertains and leaves readers with a smile. A lovely addition to any summer reading list!

3 stars
Content warning: injury to main character

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

I've sat for a while on writing this review, mostly because I didn't know how to frame my thoughts. The concept is cute enough, and I enjoy predictable little rom-coms where the main protagonist needs to travel to a European country to understand something about themselves. It's nostalgic towards the shows I grew up watching. It's also well done with the coming of age aspect, and Lo definitely learns a lot about herself, her friendships, and her family dynamics whilst travelling around Italy with her best friend Teller.

However, the fortune-telling aspect of this story really let it down. I didn't enjoy how it was created and infiltrated very conveniently into scenes and emotional thought processes. Lo comes from a family full of women who meet their soulmates at some point in their lives. She's also struggling with the lack of guidance that she could have received from her mother, who sadly passed away when she was very young, over this aspect of her life. She hyper-fixates on this, as well as being led astray by her needlessly kooky Aunt, and I just never came to enjoy this aspect of the read. It hindered growth between Teller and Lo, and stopped several scenes I liked from being more impacting.

Perhaps someone younger - who this is marketed for - might enjoy the fate element to this read, but I came to dislike Lo as a character because of it, and wished Teller would find someone else to like more instead. He ended up being a bit pointless with the decisions Lo made at the end of their trip, and when their reunion happened, it lacked any spark for me.

Something Like Fate is generically predictable, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's easy enough to read, but I just found it to be overall quite a beige book that had more potential than what was executed.

SOMETHING LIKE FATE by Amy Lea is a sweet and comedic story filled with friends-t0-lovers, a love triangle, supportive aunties, and gorgeous Italian destinations. Amy Lea never misses!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read, and really enjoyed, several other books by this author. So I went into reading this book with high expectations. This book lived up to my expectations. It was wonderful!

Despite being almost Lea’s oldest YA characters, they felt so young and immature. Yes nineteen is definitely still young and immature (and that’s okay!) but this just felt wrong idk. Almost like middle grade?? despite the sexual bits. Which also felt extremely misplaced for the character development we were given. I promise I’m not some weirdo who thinks YA books should read like adult books or that I’m a prude I PROMISE!!! However, I have read a lot of YA books throughout my years (of all different age ranges and a lot while I was the specific age ranges) so I do think I’m a pretty good judge. Feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt though. But I maintain this book felt extremely disjointed. The last 10% of the book felt like a fever dream.

A sweet story that takes place on a fun summer vacation in Italy. Lo comes from a family with psychic abilities so when she finally gets a vision she becomes convinced that she will find her soulmate on her trip. However, there are some bumps along the way and some confusion about her soulmate and true feeling. Could it be that Lo's feelings guide her down a different path than the one she originally thought?

Aside from the romance aspect I really enjoyed the conversations that Lo had with her aunts and eventually her father.

ARC REVIEW

This book has a few tropes I don't normally reach for, but I love Amy Lea's other books so I took the chance!

This book is great if you love:

👩‍❤️‍👨 young adult
🔼 love triangle
🚪 closed door
🥐 Italy travels
💖 friends to lovers

This romance had a fun twist of soulmates and fortune telling on top of a great, authentic friends to lovers journey. It also was Amy's same quality writing but still felt different from her other stories! 

I don't read too many Y/A books so I can't say for certain, but at times the characters felt a bit young for the age they were. Other than that this was an enjoyable read!

Truly a cute YA romance novel about fate, the one and truly knowing your worth. The way Amy Lea writes her books always feels so good and really touches you. This one had me laughing and wanting to cry at one point.

This book started out really strong for me. I liked that it was a college/New Adult romance and the set up was great. I also enjoyed reliving my trip through Italy through these characters. However, I felt like the romance for the main person (which was obvious) was lacking. I needed a little more tension between the two to really get into it. The third guy was just in the way haha! I loved the side characters, they added a lot of humor!

✨ARC Review✨

☀️ This is a fun and sweet sloooowww burn of a book.

Lo Zhao-Jensen comes from a long line of Chinese fortune tellers/psychics. She’s long-thought The Vision skipped her. The Zhao women have visions of The One. Their soulmate. But at 19, making out with Mark B, she has The Vision. It’s hot and she smells espresso. Her aunts tell her it’s going to happen on her trip to Italy. She’s going to meet her soulmate!

Weeeelll, her bestie, Teller Owens, has returned to town after his first year of college. He’s despondent, heartbroken because his girlfriend of three years, Sophie, broke up with him. Perfect timing since Bianca, who was supposed to be Ali’s travel companion, has shattered her foot in Costco. Be careful of bulk buys, you guys.

Cautious, non-spontaneous Teller agrees to go with Lo on her month-long backpacking trip to Italy. And y’all? I love him. Teller is courteous and kind and a little grumpy. He’s a delectable book boyfriend.

But none of that matters when Lo is saved in Venice by her dream guy in a scene that perfectly matched her vision. She has met her soulmate, The One, in fellow traveler, Caleb.

But all the while she’s being romanced by Caleb, she’s also slowly acknowledging her romantical feelings for Teller which can never be because he’s not The One.

Listen. I know that “fate” is in the freaking title of this book, but about 3/4 in, I wanted to never hear about fate again. Her family history and tragic stories of those who went against fate have Lo so discombobulated that she can’t see what’s right in front of her.

I still really like this book and love Lo and Teller. Caleb too actually.

And for those of you who are squicked by new adult shenanigans, this book is fade to black. 😉

❓What is your favorite Costco purchase? Or, have you backpacked on an extended trip?

I received this eARC via #netgalley and #skyscape. All thoughts are mine alone.

#booksbooksbooks #romancebooks #contemporaryromance #newadultromance #somethinglikefate #amylea #bookrecs #bookreview #bookstagram

Not sure what I just read. It felt like a middle grade book with spicy scenes. I definitely had higher expectations from Amy Lea because her book typically work really well for me.

Lo just finished her first year of college and is excited to be traveling across Italy this summer with her longtime best friend, Teller. Before leaving she has a vision (something common in her family) that she will be meeting her soulmate. When she gets to Italy, she has a meet-cute with Caleb, who she now believes is her one true love. But why is she having all these feelings for Teller if she's supposed to be with Caleb?

In the author's note, Amy Lea said this book was her hardest to write because she just had a baby, and honestly, it is very apparent while reading this book that she wasn't on her A-game. I am fine with fated mates, but this book resorted to miscommunication and immature thinking instead of using common sense and brains. Lo acts like a 12 year old when it comes to fate and "soulmates," and the aunts didn't help the situation. No one stopped to think that maybe the boy she met once might not actually be her soulmate? I liked Teller but he needed to communicate more as well. Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes but this was not it.

I did like the story line about Lo and her mom. I thought it was sweet how she was trying to connect with her through the trip and her family. On another positive note, this book made me want to go to Italy ASAP.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the premise of Something Like Fate but sadly it didn't work for me. It didn't hold my attention and I wasn't invested in the characters or what was going on with them. I put it down and just can't find the zeal or desire to put it up. I'm dnfing at 12%.

SOMETHING LIKE FATE - AMY LEA
4⭐
A coming of age stories which is not only about finding your "one" but also discovering about yourself and what you want from life.
I am not a fan of love triangles but i enjoyed reading this one though all three were frustrating at times but then thats expected out of 19yr olds. The setting of Italy was fun to read too!!

The story was fun and lighthearted and I had a good time reading it.
This was a wonderfully written romantic comedy.
I absolutely loved these characters and really enjoyed getting to know them.
A sweet, funny and heartwarming read!

5 Stars

This fun adventure through Italy was such a great read! With a bit of magical realism and a twist on the fated-mates trope, Something Like Fate is the perfect spring/summer read.

Our main character's family has this unique ability to have visions of the future, including seeing who their one-true-love will be. Lo has not been able to have that vision yet, but one night, while at a frat party, THE vision hits her right as she is about to embark on a summer of Italian adventures, following her late mother's footsteps.

Along for the trip? Lo's best friend, Teller, who recently just went through a break-up. The two are excited to tackle Italy together, as they have grown distant over the first year of college, but what neither of them expected was to get feelings right as Lo's true-love enters the picture.

I could NOT put this book down and was so invested in not only Lo's personal journey to connect with her late mother but also her journey to finding her true-love. Teller was *chef's kiss* and exactly what everyone should be looking for in a partner. And the Italian backdrop for the story? PERFECTION. I cannot recommend this book enough!

“Your sunshine is the closest thing to magic I’ve ever experienced. You’ve completely ruined me for anyone else.”

I really wanted to love this book. It had all the makings of an amazing romance. Friends backpacking through Italy with forced proximity and occasionally only one bed! While I enjoyed it, I found myself getting frustrated with the repetitiveness of the reason why they wouldn’t get together.

I still enjoyed it, and their moments of knowing and understanding each other were really sweet.

A round of applause for Amy Lea. Woke Up Like This was hands-down my favorite young adult romance book of 2024. But this one came a close second. She writes the most perfect young adult books ever. There’s a tiny little hint of spice, but it quickly fades to black. The story is one of the first friends to lovers stories that I have read I think in a very long time and I absolutely loved it. She truly captures the emotions and feelings that I would expect to see in characters in that age group. As a funny, sidenote, there were so many Coldplay references made throughout the book, and as I was getting into my rental car, what comes on the radio, but Coldplay. Amy Lea is one of my favorite authors and I’m sure if you give this book a chance, she will become one of yours as well.

I really adored this story, it was sweet & full of adventure!

📖 Something Like Fate by Amy Lea
⭐️: 4.5/5
🌶️: fade to black

💭 overall thoughts:
While this is a romance and the story does center a lot on finding love, I would say it’s more Coming of Age vibes and self discovery for Lo, with a little magical realism (the women in Lo’s family have psychic abilities to foresee “The One”).

It also explores what a “soulmate” really means, whether you can have more than one, and if being with that person is always right for you. Lo is also working through grief of losing her mother at a young age, and wanting to make her proud.

The friendship between Lo & Teller is so beautiful, the love and support they have for one another (before any romantic kind of love). They truly just want the other to be happy, no matter what that could mean for them.

I didn’t actually read the blurb before grabbing this one 🙃
I’ve enjoyed Amy Lea’s books in the past, so I didn’t really think about it.

When I found out it was a love triangle, I was a little scared to read it - I’m not a huge fan of that trope.

Somehow it didn’t really bother me in this one!
I guess I just knew from the start who Lo was meant to be with, and wanted to see her journey to get there.

read if you love:
💛 best friends to lovers
🏫 college age/new adult
🇮🇹 traveling through Italy
🔼 love triangle
🔮 magical realism/fortune telling
🔗 forced proximity
🛏️ only one bed
🫶🏼 family + found family
❤️‍🩹 grief rep
💖 single 1st person pov

Thank you to Skyscape & NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I didn't really connect with this book. I didn't think Teller and Lo had much chemistry. She was so fizzy for Caleb but it came too easy so I knew he probably wasn't The One. DNF @ 43%.