The Coincidence Makers: A Novel

After reading the blurb for this one, I was excited to start reading it, so I loaded it up on my Kindle immediately and dove in. More than a month later, after laying it aside numerous times, I was still trying to finish. I did finally make it to the end, but for such an intriguing premise, the delivery fell quite short. The book is a bit of a hodge-podge of genres ranging from Sci-fi to romance and even some mystery. The reader is treated to some rather boring, textbook-like 'excerpts' from the Coincidence Makers... Umm... Manual? But, that wasn't the worst of it for me. No, that came when I finally hit about 50% and was still waiting for something to happen to show me where this convoluted tale with its lackluster characters was heading. At that point, I started skimming, but that didn't work either because then things made even less sense. Maybe this one just wasn't for me, but I came away sorely disappointed with the end result of what started as such an interesting concept.

“How beautiful it was to sit opposite a tree swaying in the wind, with a cup of coffee and croissant in hand, with a past, and with a future, and with a present.” There are times when you come across something so particularly amazing and gripping that you wonder how is it not possible that this actually exists? The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum is one of these rare gems. We meet quite an array of different characters from the first chapter but they come to life in such a way that they don’t overwhelm you or have you moving back to make sure who they are, its bizarre and brilliant and enough to keep you hooked. We first meet Guy who is a coincidence maker that is in the process of fulfilling an order. He is quiet and good at what he does and he too, has a history that we learn of in due course. There’s Eric and Emily who are friends with him since they started their journey. These three have known each other since day one and they make an odd, but well paired group. For the most part the focus is on them and what role they play on how things pan out for certain people. Alberto Brown is someone who you can’t help keeping a soft spot. He’s a gentle giant of a man and he is initially meant for so much more that he wants for himself. He is certainly by far one of my favourite people in the book due to his calming nature even when he’s expected to do the unthinkable. “When do you draw the line between actions carried out due to an internal need, and actions that were nothing more than a version of one ceremony or another that helps us define our emotions?” This book is everything and so much more! Deserving of five-fantastic-stars! **Review by Angelique, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night with Books**