One Way or Another

By: Kara McDowell

Narrated by: Erin Spencer

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.

©2020 Kara McDowell (P)2020 Scholastic Inc.

Awesome, heartfelt story!

Great read. Running “sliding doors” type story seems clumsy at first, but the cutovers between versions creates perfect cliffhangers. Great to see “real” characters who you can fall in love with. Not at all obvious endings. Really like the main character - even though her behavior is maddening (which is part of the allure). Couldn’t put it down. Listened to the whole book (audible) in 2 days. Looking forward to reading Kara’s next novel.

Perfect romance!

Kara McDowell did it again! She is able to paint a perfect picture of her characters in my head. I was able to feel the main character’s anxiety as she struggles with daily decisions. I loved how she created two story lines that had me on #teamfitz the whole time!

Allllll the Feels! Amazingly Written ❤️

Oh. My. Goodness. I can't even tell you how much I completely LOVED and fell in love with One Way or Another!!!!
I was sucked in and enjoyed it so much. I loved the different fates, I loved that it took place in the fall/winter. I loved the characters. Oh my heck. I cried, laughed and loved and most of all I felt. It was freaking amazing!
I felt every emotion. I'm so sad it's over.
@KaraMcDowell is so very talented!

Entertaining through the end.

I loved the characters and felt Kara captured the sometimes neurotic mind of young girls. The splitting of her world was intriguing and made me root for both male characters with Fitz
ahead most of the time. I truly didn't know which way it would go until the end.

Anxiety is a serious thing and having Paige come to terms with it and figure out how she can deal with it and finally realize that she needed more help made you root for her all the more.

I will definitely read read more from Kara and look forward to her next book.

Boring and Annoying

Well, I would've hated the book if it wasn't for New York in the book
So the story is about a "what if" scenario, Paige has a tough choice to make, does she spend Christmas with her childhood friend ( and her crush) or travel with her mom to New York ? and through out the story we see both choices and how will they end up
I do think the idea is really good but there was no smart writing, and the ending was terrible .. and most of all I wanted to kill Fitz ( her childhood friend\crush) all through the book because he is such a jerk and I don't understand what is so charming about him, I don't recall I liked a single character in this book.. overall it was just frustrating and mostly annoying

The narrator was so robotic she was barely performing and I couldn't enjoy her narration