An excellent debut!
The writing was simple but in a good way and was very enjoyable and fluent. The story itself was absolutely lovely and original and Blum did a fantastic work especially when at the end he connected all the dots, though some were kinda obvious (well, the book is about coincidence makers).

This book was intriguing and surprising, with an original premise: people whose job it is to arrange coincidences, from matchmaking to discovery of cures, to large-scale international incidents. I enjoyed the characters and the surprises along the way.

I really loved this book. It is such a fascinating concept and very well written. The pacing is great and I read it all in two days because I just had to know what was going to happen. There are several twists and turns that came out of no where and I was never expecting them. I literally gasped several times while reading it. I highly recommend this book.

Okay, this one was a bit weird, but okay. I really enjoyed the concept, and enjoyed the idea of the book. But, I just could not get into the whole story completely. I just did not feel completely comfortable with the main character, and because of that, I just could not follow the story-line. I loved the way the author laid the story out, and I loved the fact that typos were non-existent, but it was not enough to make me want to read the book in just one setting.

The blurb made this sound like an interesting read, but once I started, I found I had trouble keeping focused, and had to force myself to read on.

What an interesting idea for a book! Giving beings-like humans, but not- jobs such as imaginary friend or coincidence maker. They keep children and adults from feeling alone and are the ultimate in match makers and event planners. They can do lots things but within the rules of those above them.
Coincidences often go unnoticed, and at the very least, we may consider them either random or fated. What if they were instead carefully worked out by these beings with many things having to be adjusted and lined up in order to accomplish a particular event like falling in love or choosing your career. We don't necessarily see these events as coincidences, but in this book, they are.
The premise is quite interesting and makes for a great story. The author in most instances manages to make this work very well. I was a bit hung up in trying to understand some of the instructions for coincidence makers that are printed between chapters, but it was quite novel.
Within this supernatural story, there is also a love story. As with the rest of the book, it is somewhat unique and imaginative. However love is love and always seems to add a bit of familiar to the otherwise fanciful. It is a perfect foil for the more scientific angle of the rest of the story.
I enjoyed this book in spite of not understanding some of the details at times and would recommend it to readers who enjoy out of the box stories with quirky twists. It is a pretty light and fast read that moves along nicely.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really fascinated by the premise of this book. The whole concept of this book sounded so amazing and mystical. I enjoyed the storyline, but I must admit that I skipped through some bits which were a bit boring (information from the course they attended).

It was a good book.

5 out of 5 stars


Wow. Wow. Wow. I am absolutely blown away by this book. There were so many layers to this book it was insane. I have no complaints about this book. Coincidence makers are people that create "coincidences" so that people meet or someone finds their muse and so on. You think you know which way this book is going to go but you don't. I adored Guy and the way he thought about and approached things. I loved Emily and her caution turned bravery. I loved the layers that were a part of Guy and Emily and Eric's stories. I don't want to say much of anything because I would be afraid that I would accidentally spoil it. It is best to just go into this book blind and read the beauty that is The Coincidence Makers. This is a book that I could read again and again and get something new out of it every single time.

The premise interested me but I didn't care for the writing style and never engaged with this book. I abandoned it after reading about 20%. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This is such an original concept for a book. THE COINCIDENCE MAKERS follows coincidence makers as they set up events and people to alter their fates. How they know what to do isn’t evident at first but through flash backs we get the whole concept. This story is really about Guy, a coincidence makers as he laments the loss of his one true love.

Guy trains with two other coincidence makers named Emily and Eric. Their work brings to mind so many questions about what really qualifies as a coincidence and who might be behind the coincidences in our lives.Their job is to create circumstances for a person to choose a different path. In this book we meet a poet who toils away as an accountant, a waitress who needs to meet her true love, a man who needs to hear a phrase, and a man who needs saving from being assassinated.

Each mission starts with an envelope under Guy’s door. He doesn’t know where they come from. The envelopes contain the person to be influenced and what needs to happen. The rest is up to Guy to figure out. He doesn’t know why these coincidences need setting up. Guy used to be an imaginary friend. Guy flashbacks to this time of his life in between coincidence maker jobs and he remembers how he met his love and how his imaginary friend adventures ended.

The coincidences themselves might be my favorite part of this story. I loved seeing how each element revealed itself to be part of a much bigger picture. There is so much going on in these characters lives that impact so many things. It is really mind blowing how each coincidence is set up and the fact that no one knows what is behind the reasons.

I can’t really say too much about the story itself because it unfolds so beautifully I would hate to spoil this for someone. I would highly recommend this to readers who enjoy a thought provoking read wrapped up in a fantasy.

Hooray for an entirely original novel--Guy, Emily and Eric meet in "Coincidence Maker" training where they learn to set up "coincidences" to effect changes according to their assignments. It's kind of mysterious what kind of beings they actually are as they are not exactly human and seem to be timeless. In any case, it's all quite fascinating as the book explains the rules as well as the art of coincidence making.. The book also goes into the friendship and backstory of the three Coincidence Makers. Emily "likes" Guy but Guy, a former Imaginary Friend, is still pining for Cassandra, another Imaginary Friend. This clever and well-written story has many twists and turns and was an absolute pleasure to read.

I couldn’t finish this book. I read 40% of it, but it didn’t hold my interest.

I was given this book for my honest review.

Coincidences... we all know of them, even if we don't recognize them at first. We credit them for the good and bad things that happen in our lives. Changes that occur on the spin of the dime ... the drop of a pin .... the accidental meetings.

What if these coincidence's are anything but that! What if they are planned, well researched, finely orchestrated events to help give us that little nudge towards finding our path, pursuing our destinies? Who are these beings behind the scenes pulling the strings? What right do they have to manipulate us, guide us, push us down a path we cannot recognize till after the events are set in motion? Is this manipulation for our own good?

A pretty mind boggling notion, wouldn't you say?!

Well, that's exactly how I was feeling when I started reading The Coincidence Makers and it pretty much stayed with me throughout my reading this book. I found the concepts of this story and the author's detail to building this sci-fi/fantasy world and all it's rules/regulations to be creative, ingenious and it set the stage for one pretty amazing story.The story is delightful and the characters engaging. I found the sections about all the rules and regulations a tad bit tedious but the rest of the story well made up for it. I highly recommend The Coincidence Makers!

Before I go, let me leave you with one last thought ... We humans are diverse creatures and when it comes to matters of the heart, even the best laid plans can go awry.

I received this book for free. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own. Thank you to Mr. Yoav Blum, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this book.

It may seem coincidences happen all around us just by accident, but they actually occur thanks to the skilled maneuverings and detailed plans of the coincidence makers. Their jobs may last days, weeks or even months or longer, and they may work to get two people together or nudge someone into their ideal career. No matter the job, the coincidence makers have a vital role to play in making sure life comes together the way it should.

Guy, Emily and Eric, who got to know each other as students in a class on coincidence making, now meet regularly in a café to chat about their assignments. Guy, our main character, was previously an imaginary friend before being transferred into the coincidence maker department. Despite the assignments he’s usually given to bring couples together, however, he is content to stay single. He experienced love once before in his life as an imaginary friend, and he doesn’t expect to find it again. Emily has varied assignments, her current one being to try to get an accountant to start writing poetry. She clearly has a thing for Guy, but even Eric can see it’s pointless for her to hold onto hope for anything happening between the two. Eric, for his part, is happy to use his skills to meet women himself.

Then Guy gets a very unusual assignment, one he’s told is just a piece of a highly complex coincidence being carried out by other coincidence makers at much higher levels than his. It challenges him, but in more ways than he could have possibly expected. This assignment could be a life-changer for him.

This is one of the rare books that left me just sitting dumbfounded when I read the last page. I was in awe at the complexity of the story and how every piece fit together in ways I never saw coming. I thought the premise of the book was clever and was interested to see how it would play out. For much of the book, I was amused and entertained by the explanations of the work the coincidence makers do (there are wry excerpts from course material Guy, Emily and Eric studied sprinkled throughout), but I had no idea the direction the book would take, its tone and messages. The story had much to say about what love is, and I had to sit quietly and savor it all for a while. In fact, I felt compelled to re-read the book so I could see everything come together in the writer’s skilled hands and get the chance to savor it again. Even on second reading, I was just as carried away and amazed. Such a satisfying and sweet combination of clever, inventive and poignant. It’s profound, beautiful … words escape me.

Three and a half stars: An interesting and unique story that will have you rethinking coincidences.

Guy hovers outside the small cafe, watching the waitress as she accidentally spills tea all over a man’s work. This incident leads to chain of events which were carefully orchestrated by Guy. You see, Guy isn’t just an average guy. He is a coincidence maker. Someone who is trained to line up a sequence of events in order to create a new desired outcome. Then Guy receives a strange assignment, one like no other that comes from the highest level. As Guy is questioning his job, he fails to see what is right under his nose: love. Will Guy figure it out before it’s too late?
What I Liked:
The Coincidence Makers is an interesting and unique story. I loved the concepts, and the characters. I especially enjoyed exploring the lives of coincidence makers and imaginary friends. This is a book that made me think, and I liked that it was original.
The whole idea of the Coincidence Makers was fun. I liked that little random events that seemed ordinary were actually carefully orchestrated events put in place by a coincidence maker in order to achieve a desired outcome. Sometimes they brought about romance, or career changes, and other times their job was to change something for a larger picture. Such an interesting and entertaining idea.
I also enjoyed the author’s ideas on imaginary friends. As much as I enjoyed the coincidence makers, I think I liked the imaginary friends more. I won’t go into all the details as not to spoil it, but I loved that there was so much more to the imaginary friend.
The romance is adorable. It is hard to describe this romance. It is one of missed opportunity, longing and frustration and just when it all seems hopeless, the strings are pulled. It left me feeling happy.
The ending is just right. All the pieces fall into place, and it all makes sense. It ends in a bright spot, that left me feeling happy.
And The Not So Much:
I wasn’t a fan of the segue way sections that involved lengthy discussions on coincidence. These portions dragged and I found them boring. Yes, there was a point to them, but I was always eager to get back to the story.
I am not going to lie, there were portions of the story when there were many people pulling strings, that things got confusing. It was hard to figure out who was doing what to orchestrate a desired ending.
Even though I liked the side story with Alberto, it got weird and I didn’t think it fit well into the overall story.
The Coincidence Makers may not have been a perfect book, but it scores high marks from me in the originality category. This was a book that stirred my imagination and it made me think. If you want a read that is entirely different, give this one a whirl. It will get you thinking.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I Was not compensated for this review.

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.

I read this book, and then reread certain sections. It is different. I can't think of anything to compare it to. It is odd in a good way. I just could not figure out how to put it into words.
On the surface it is about imaginary friends and influencers and coincidence makers, similar to myths and legends about gods and goddesses. It is also about friendship and loyalty and thought processes. There are phrases that make you think and look at them again wondering if you missed something.
"Usually, the goal of the drop is to plant sayings that would not reach the object through his or her regular modes of thinking and thus arouse new thought processes." This book certainly accomplished that.
Being a word nerd, myself, I appreciated smaller quips as well.
"Words are always small traps of definition, but adjectives are especially dangerous, like swamps."
As an author, like a coincidence maker, one can never be sure which words or phrases or even ideas will resonate with readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if not for some coincidence – some person you met, some book you picked up, some flight you missed? This novel imagines that there are beings who are tasked with organizing those coincidences for you. They are called, not coincidentally, coincidence makers. The job requires specialized training, a talent for diagramming, and sometimes a little bit of sadism. Emily, Eric, and Guy trained for coincidences together, and the book is as much about their relationships as the coincidences they create. Entertaining asides scattered through the narrative include, for example, the final exam for Classical Theories in Coincidence Making and Research Methods for Enhancing Causes and Effects.

I wanted to like this book more, but the translation felt just a little off to me, so the prose didn’t scan naturally and often felt stilted. I have this problem with a lot of translations, so maybe that won’t bother you.

Read if: You like the idea and don’t care how the writing feels.

Yoav Blum has concocted a very unique plot in which we discover that all of those coincidences are actually manufactured by, what I think of as, string-pullers. Puppet masters? I won't re-describe the plot, but will say that it also included many little tidbits of thought-provoking philosophical questions. All in all I enjoyed the oddity of the plot, and thought that the characters were all well-drawn, down to their personal foibles. I liked the General for his 'good teacher' characteristics of leading his students to their own revelations. Hoping for more translations to follow from this author.

I will thank the author, the publisher (St. Martins) and Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and give my honest opinion of this book.

This was certainly a strange book. The main characters are coincidence makers. They are given a project and it's up to them how they will arrange the "coincidence" to take place. They all major in different aspects and levels of achieving these "coincidences".

While certainly a new and strange idea for a book, it really sounded strange to me and interesting as well. Unfortunately, I could not really relate to the characters. And, I got lost in all explaining of their jobs other aspects.

I was only able to get through about a third of this book before I decided that I really wasn't that into it and why should I continue. The last part I read was really putting me to sleep, so that's when I said enough.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.