(1/10/2008)
This was a wonderfully written book that tackles a subject that most teen authors don’t dare to tackle, fate. The main character, David Case, suspects fate is out to get him after his brother experiences a near death situation. In fear of fate making his life worse he changes his identity, and name to Justin. In his race to escape fate he comes in contact with many deadly situations that turn his life upside down, like contracting a disease to being one of few survivors of a terrible plane accident. I can easily relate to his 5-year old logic that, if I can’t see it It can’t see me. His logic and thoughts behind his actions, sometimes rash and sometimes comical will always hit you in just the right spot.
My main reason for liking this book is that sometimes fate is narrating the story. Some high power that David/Justin believes his controlling every ones lives always has some remark about what ever David/Justin does. The view is fine up here. I can look out across the world and see everything. One of my favorite sentences from fate is “For instance, I can see a fifteen-year-old boy and his brother.” It was going completely against David/Justin’s Logic and he is completely oblivious to it. I found this aspect of the book comical but almost creepy.
Meg Rossof uses such common language that every one can understand to weave such a complicated-at-first-look kind of plot. She makes David/Justin so paranoid that those fears begin to grow on you too. And that is a exceptionally good thing.