Lachesis, the immortal responsible for keeping everyone on the right path in life, has long believed that she knows exactly how things should happen to the mortals around her. She can see the paths their lives are on and how those paths will lead them to what is meant to be. Although she typically chooses not to get involved with their day-to-day lives, she has been known to guide someone on their path. Caerus sees patterns in the world that move, twist, and merge into the things that happen when we least expect them. He uses his ability to see those patterns to influence mortals into doing almost anything he wants. Preferring to take a more hands-on approach, Caerus is no stranger to meddling and creating opportunities for others when it also benefits him. When they run into each other at a coffee shop after years apart, they start a chain reaction that causes them to be reincarnated as mortals. Now Destiny and Chance, the two formerly all-powerful foes, must find a way to regain their powers and prove who is right regarding why things happen the way they do. To prove their prowess, they make a bet to help a mortal find love or at least a date to prom. But he’s not making it easy.
Jonathan has been openly gay for years, but that doesn’t mean much when he’s still inexperienced in every way possible. After a fight with a former friend turned bully and a chance encounter with a sexy guitarist, Jonathan is more confused than ever! It’s clear, when it comes to love, Jonathan needs help. Enter Chance and Destiny. But no matter what they do, they cannot seem to get things right. Eventually, Destiny and Chance realize they must work together to ensure that Jonathan gets a prom night to remember, even if they have no idea what the outcome will be.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Fate, Coincidence, and Other Curse Words is a striking work of YA fantasy about 17 year-old Jonathan Daniels, his best friend, Destiny, and new kid Chance, all growing up in the town of Eureka, IL. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Destiny and Chance are the reincarnation of ancient gods Fate and Coincidence. Continuing their millennia-old rivalry, they decide to help Jonathan, a mortal who is more than he seems. But with their newfound mortality comes vastly weakened powers, and helping anyone--themselves included--might well be out of reach.
Prose: Creech's prose is lively and maintains the reader's interest. But for all the light-hearted events in the book, Creech also makes clear that the gods, even those diminished and/or reincarnated, are not to be trifled with, or underestimated.
Originality: Creech uplifts the genre via a story about diminished gods who must navigate among mortals *as* mortals, which means, among other things, slowly reconstituting their powers and obsessing about prom.
Character/Execution: The characters come across as real people enmeshed in serious dilemmas. And while Chance and Destiny are thousands of years old, their interest in and compassion for humanity remains strong, and they learn all over again to appreciate what they have. Chance, in particular, has new appreciation for the simpler things in life; when his mother dies, he admits he "loved her as much as any child loves their mother." And Jonathan's backstory is more complicated than even he knows:
Date Submitted: August 29, 2024
