11 new YA book releases to kick off your spooky season right this October

One Way or Another – Kara McDowell

Since most of the world is a garbage fire right now, why not embrace a sweet holiday rom-com a few months early? (C’mon, it’s not like we’re all not basically already watching Hallmark Christmas movies on the regular right now anyway.)

Described as Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Kara McDowell’s One Way or Another is the story of a girl who is determined to finally stop letting her anxiety prevent her from finding love. One Way or Another follows the story of Paige Collins, a girl who is often literally paralyzed by indecision. So when she’s given two distinct options for how to spend her Christmas break, she freezes. Should she go with her BFF (and longtime crush) to his family’s remote – and very romantic – mountain cabin? Or should she join her mom for a trip to New York, the city she’s always dreamed of seeing?

Thanks to the magic of fate, Paige will get a chance to do both, and see what her life will look like in either. But before she can find a happy ending in either reality, she’ll have to face her struggles with anxiety – and her lifelong attempt to avoid doing anything about it.

The official synopsis has a bit more detail.

"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 is available on October 6.