The Coincidence Makers
By: Yoav Blum
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 304
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): What if the drink you just spilled, the train you just missed, or the lottery ticket you just found was not just a random occurrence? What if it’s all part of a bigger plan? What if there’s no such thing as a chance encounter? What if there are people we don’t know determining our destiny? And what if they are even planning the fate of the world?
Enter the Coincidence Makers—Guy, Emily, and Eric—three seemingly ordinary people who work for a secret organization devoted to creating and carrying out coincidences. What the rest of the world sees as random occurrences, are, in fact, carefully orchestrated events designed to spark significant changes in the lives of their targets—scientists on the brink of breakthroughs, struggling artists starved for inspiration, loves to be, or just plain people like you and me…
When an assignment of the highest level is slipped under Guy’s door one night, he knows it will be the most difficult and dangerous coincidence he’s ever had to fulfill. But not even a coincidence maker can see how this assignment is about to change all their lives and teach them the true nature of fate, free will, and the real meaning of love.
First Impressions
I saw this book in an email from Netgalley and was drawn in by the title. I love coincidences and definitely and someone who believes everything happens for a reason. When I read the summary, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded unlike any book I had read before which continued to pique my interest. I’ve been in a bit of a book rut, so I requested this book to review and was very excited when I was approved.
What I thought
Guy, Emily, and Eric are coincidence makers. Their job is to set coincidences in motion, meaning there is no such thing as a true coincidence. Guy works with minor coincidences, such as matchmaking, but there are other levels of coincidence makers who set larger things in motion that can take years to come around. When Guy receives an assignment for a higher level coincidence, he starts to question what he’s been doing.
The concept of this book is so interesting! Imagine a world where there really is no such thing as a coincidence, but that there are people who decide these coincidences are going to happen and manufacture them. Mind blown right? The easiest ones to explain are matchmaking coincidences, but there are also inspiration coincidences. Matchmaking coincidences are pretty much what they sound like. You know all the meet cutes in movies? Or when you get partnered with your crush in class? Those didn’t just happen, but they were masterfully manipulated with a string of seemingly unconnected events to make it happen. Inspiration coincidences are like when Alexander Flemming accidentally discovered Penicillin when he found the moldy bread, or when someone who works as an IT is actually a truly gifted musician and they need to be inspired to change their path in life.
Guy most often work with matchmaking coincidences whereas Emily works mostly with inspiration coincidences. Eric receives a variety of coincidences that aren’t typically discussed. The three of them met and became friends at the coincidence makers training. The book alternates between Guy’s perspective, Emily’s perspective, and flashbacks from their training. It was fascinating to read about the course and how coincidence making works.
There is also a bit of a romance in the book that I didn’t quite expect. Guy is in love with someone from his past and Emily is in love with Guy. The relationships between Guy, Eric, and Emily are well written. I also liked how thought out the job of being a coincidence maker was. I was a bit surprised that this was more of a love story than the summary made it seem. It took a twist about halfway through the book that, while a little predictable, was really fun and made me like to book even more.
If you like romantic stories but are sick of reading the same type over and over again, I would recommend The Coincidence Makers. It seems to mix romance with a little bit of science/fiction and added a refreshing breath to typical romance tropes. The characters are solid and the concept is interesting and well thought out. I would definitely recommend it and almost rated it 4 stars, but I don’t know if it’s a book that I’d re-read. If you feel like you’ve been in a book rut, I would definitely recommend checking this one out.