Kara McDowell

Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.

One Way or Another

Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love. The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what-ifs. What if she's destined to be a famous ceramicist but wastes her talent in drama club? What if there's a carbon monoxide leak in the ceramics studio and everyone drops dead? (Grim, but possible!) That's why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about? Just when it seems like Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in -- in the form of a slippery grocery store floor -- and Paige's life splits into two very different parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city . . . and the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz . . . until her anxiety threatens to ruin everything. However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny, she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety -- and learn that you don't have to be "perfect" to deserve true love.

One Way Or Another

Sarah Sammis

Parallel, alternating chapters are hit or miss for me. For One Way or Another it's a hit. McDowell weaves thematic threads from one "Fate" to the other. While one universe doesn't affect the other, an event that happens in one will be mentioned in the other. This gives us a chance to see how Paige reacts to things she can have no direct influence on.

One big question of the book is how young is too young to fall in love and get engaged? This is a side plot beyond Paige's anxiety over her feelings for Fitz. The other is how trustworthy is Fitz. Is he a womanizer or is he just unlucky in love?

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Family/Couple	Uhoria	Labyrinth	33CC99

Hannah Wall

This book was so cute and fun! I loved the Christmasy feel of it and the split versions of her life based on which choice was amazing and so well crafted! I also adore Fitz so much and Harrison is such an interesting character! Definitely a great read- I finished the entire book in one day!

Alicia Hinojosa 

I wasn’t sure about this book going into it, but as I continued to read it, I grew more attached to the main character, Paige. Paige has anxiety and I really liked how it was depicted & not shown negatively in any way. I also enjoyed the constant support Fitz (her best friend) gave her during her time of need & knew exactly what to do when she was spiraling. If you’re into cute romantic books, I highly suggest picking this one up!

Candyce Kirk

K.J. Haakenson

I am not a fan of most contemporaries. But I *am* a HUGE fan of Hallmark Christmas movies.
That's one of the reasons why I picked up One Way or Another. The premise of a girl who is crippled by her anxiety and making decisions is forced to make a choice between two things she really wants and can somehow try both thanks to fate and an app?? SO GOOD

There was angst. There was old school romance. It was fast-paced and truly addictive to read. There was big city Christmas aesthetic and cabin in the woods Christmas aesthetic and I loved it all. 

Having Paige's anxiety on the page was unbelievably relatable without being triggering. There were some lines in the book that really spoke to me and reminded me that I'm not alone. It was such a healthy and hopeful approach to mental health that I rarely see in YA. 

As a side note, I would marry Fitz Wilding in a heartbeat.

And y'all the ending was so great. Part of me wishes it was a little different but at the same time, it really speaks to the theme of the story.

If you need a cozy Christmas book that is fun, fast, and relatable as heck... this is the one <3

(ALSO, Clover rocks and I loved her so much. Finally, a plus-sized chick finding love and a future without it being centered around her weight!! THANK YOU MRS. MCDOWELL!!!)

Tania Joana da Silva Monteiro

It is a good story. It has a lot of Christmas vibes and good anxiety representation imo. And I like how the both dates ended up ending. But it didn't wow me. Specially because the main character is kinda horrible to her best friend. Which I understand why she acts the way she does, but still if I was that friend, I would have snapped at her. Either way, a good read.

Shannon Lamoree

Humorvolle Liebesgeschichte mit Tiefgang Was, wenn eine einzige Entscheidung dein ganzes Leben ruiniert? Die 17-jährige Paige hat panische Angst davor, Entscheidungen zu treffen. Deshalb überlässt sie die Wahl, wie sie ihre Winterferien verbringen soll, einer App. Soll sie mit ihrem besten Freund – und heimlichen Schwarm – Fitz in die Berghütte seiner Eltern fahren? Oder doch lieber in ihre Traumstadt mit ihrer Mutter? Als Paige sich den Kopf anstößt, stehen ihr plötzlich beide Möglichkeiten offen. Ein Szenario führt sie nach New York, wo sie sich nicht nur in die Stadt, sondern auch in ihren Tourguide verliebt. Im zweiten kommt sie Fitz in den Bergen endlich näher. Aber ihre Angststörung begleitet sie auf beiden Wegen. Und die droht alles zu ruinieren ... Eine tiefgründige Liebesgeschichte für Jugendliche ab 14 Jahren mit viel Humor, die sich mit den Themen Angststörung und der Vielfalt von Möglichkeiten beschäftigt. Warmherzig erzählt Kara McDowell in verschiedenen Handlungssträngen zwei Wege zum Glück ihrer Protagonistin, die sich jedoch zuvor ihren Ängsten stellen und Verantwortung für ihr eigenes Leben übernehmen muss.

One Way or Another

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