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%.

“My whole life I’ve thought with my head, and you, you make me think with my heart.”

I’ve always enjoyed Amy Lea’s books, so I was incredibly excited to read this one.

This story reminded me a bit of Mazey Eddings’ Tilly in Technicolor as far as the young (new) adults traveling through Europe and falling for the person they least expect.

I loved the ability to travel through Italy with Lo and Tenner and all the people they meet along the way!

I will say that this book did read a bit slowly to me (beyond just being a slow burn), so I was grateful when I was able to simultaneously enjoy it through an audiobook listen thanks to @dreamscape_media! The audiobook helped pick up the story for me and the narrator did a great job, although I do wish there had been at least a dual narration for it. Hearing Tenner’s voice as only a slightly different pitch from Lo’s was a bit jarring at times.

Even still, I definitely recommend checking this one out for an adventurous, friends-to-lovers, coming-of-age, discover-yourself story!

“It’s easy to have fun with someone on all these elaborate adventure, but the real challenge is finding someone to enjoy the mundane. Someone who makes you look forward to the blurry grey of everyday life. That takes someone special. That’s what’s real.”

Check this out if you enjoy:
- Best friends to lovers
- One bed
- Forced proximity
- Italy setting
- Opposites attract
- Fate
- Coming of age/finding oneself

I thought the premise of this book sounded good but unfortunately it ended up falling a bit flat for me.

Overall this was a decent quick read for me. The psychic element of being able to foresee your soul mate was intriguing to me, I have enjoyed other romcoms with a touch of magical realism, but this one felt forced. I was excited for the MFC to take a trip to Italy following her mothers journey to find her soul mate but it quickly became obvious who that was going to be and the journey to get there felt painful and drawn out at times. I have loved many other books by this author, and many others may enjoy this one as well, it just wasn’t for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I’m a huge fan of Amy Lea and I really enjoyed this foray into YA. I’ve always enjoyed magical, realism and wish there was even more backstory here. Very cute novella . Very fast read

Thank you # netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

Lo comes from a long-line of fortune-telling women who foresee their soulmate, before ever meeting them. Lo thought this ability had bypassed her until she gets her first vision!

Amy Lea always manages to write characters we can’t help but root for and Lo and Teller are no exception. Lo is the sunshine to Teller’s grumpy. They are opposites that we fell for. Their friendship was so fun and endearing and we love how they balance and support each other. You will root for this friendship to be more.

On a side note: Her fixation on her vision, while understandable, was very frustrating. She was very single minded in her interpretation that we wanted to shake her and tell her to rethink it 😂

Overall, this book is a fun adventure about friendship, travel and fate. Be warned, you’ll want to book a trip to Italy while reading 😆

Read if you like:
▪️Best friends to lovers
▪️Opposites attract
▪️Only one bed (in a hostel)
▪️Backpacking in Italy

This was a YA friends to lovers vacation romance with a bit of a magical twist that is sure to appeal to fans of authors like Jenny Han. While I have loved Canadian author Amy Lea's books in the past, this latest young adult romcom fell a little flat for me. It was cute and sweet but the romance didn't grab me or feel believable and I really only stuck around for the interesting Italian settings. Okay on audio but nothing I would go out of my way to recommend. If you do want a great YA Italian romance check out All roads lead to Rome by Sabrina Fedel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a sweet idea and I liked the premise of fate and psychic abilities predicting soulmates. I think it would have been stronger if the idea of visions or psychic ability played more of a role throughout the middle of the book, but it was charming. This is classed as YA, but as the characters are 19+, in college, and traveling on their own for most of the book it is relatively mature, and I think will appeal to readers of a variety of ages.