Reviews with content warning for Death - Luck of the Titanic

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee

40 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I love a book based on the writing prompt of starting with a real historical fact and expanding on it in a fictional story, and this one did it wonderfully with the inspiration from the six Chinese men who survived the Titanic. This one had a main character I really loved and rooted for the whole way, and tons of emotional backstories that I enjoyed alongside the main plot. Even though I knew about the Titanic's eventual demise from the start, the last third of the book broke my heart and made me feel the same anxiety I did while watching the last half of the Titanic movie and that is a testament to how good the author is at building suspense and writing about many things happening at once.

Content Warnings

arcticfoxlover19's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book, but the ending is so tragic! 😭😭😭

Content Warnings

bluebell4's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book tree me for a loop. Wow what a story!

At first the book started out a little slow, and I had a hard time wanting to pick it back up, but I continued and once the ship was out of port, things started picking up. First of all, I absolutely adored the characters in this book, there was a cast of about 15 or so people that were important to the story and they were all wonderfully written with differentiated and realistic personalities. Even side characters and people who were mentioned in passing were given personalities and not just stereotypes. I LOVED the main character! Valora was so interesting! How she thought and how she acted, wanting to be selfish but really being so selfless down to her core. The love interest was amazing and their romance was beautifully written. I’m a romance lover and can hardly read a book without a good romance, this book however, did it perfectly. It wasn’t a main focus of the story but it was there and it was real and sweet. Her brother was a wonderful character that didn’t always get along with Valora, but was always there for her. All in the characters were stunning!

The plot of this book was clear and well done. It was interesting and had me forgetting what happened to the Titanic. And when I finally did remember I was hoping and praying so hard for a happy ending.

The reason I didn’t end up giving this book 5 stars is because at times the internal dialogue was unnecessary and there were several times that Chinese idioms were used that the author would explain, and it felt like it brought the story to a halt. I didn’t mind the idioms it was just the constant explaining what they meant that made it frustrating. The beginning was also pretty slow and didn’t set a great pace for the story, it wasn’t until the Titanic was at full sail that things got more interesting. Also there were some things I didn’t agree with that were just kinda randomly thrown into the story and I found it unnecessary for the plot of the book.

Overall, the book was a good one, wonderful characters, great writing,

and a extremely tragic yet beautiful ending

Content Warnings

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

mikaylay's review against another edition

Go to review page

sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The cover is visually appealing and gorgeous. I appreciated how the author sought to produce a book in memory of the eight Chinese passengers on the Titanic while also offering information about their treatment both on and off the ship. Personally, after reading this book, I would read the author's notes first, then read the book to lower any high expectations one might have going into the book. I enjoyed portions of the banter between the siblings Valora and Jamie, but I didn't like how Valora spent 99.9 percent of the book urging Jamie to come to America with her to fulfill her dream rather than theirs. I enjoyed Jamie's friendships with his buddies and thought they had the most character growth. Valora, our female main character, appears to have poor development as she bounces around from trying to persuade her brother Jamie to accompany her to America, disguising herself as a widow, and attempting to have a romance with Jamie's friend Bo, making it difficult to connect with her and see if she made any true connections with any of the other characters. The location of the Titanic was exciting, but the author's information and writing style made it difficult to determine where the individuals were on the ship in each scene. The plot idea was intriguing, and it was one of the reasons I bought the book in addition to the lovely cover, but it did not measure up to my expectations. The plot was slow and dragged on at times, and it took approximately 280 pages out of 361 for the Titanic's sinking to begin and for the pace to pick up. I also found it fascinating that the Titanic had just 20 lifeboats despite having about 2,000 passengers on board.

I thought the author did a good job of describing the confusion, chaos, and poor decision-making by both the passengers and the crew aboard the ship. As we read, many of the lifeboats were only half full; many thought the call to the lifeboats was only a drill; some were told they weren't allowed on because of their race or gender; and we get a glimpse into why safety drills are so important, as well as trying to remain as calm as possible.

The book's ending, while devastating as we see Valora give up her life so that her brother Jamie might be saved, was frustrating to read and reminded me so much of the Titanic film's ending that I felt like I was rewatching the Jack and Rose sequence all over again.
However, if one looks closely at Valora's dreams in the novel, one can discover foreshadowing of her death in them.

Overall, the book was okay, but the plot and writing style did not appeal to me. The Titanic narrative is heartbreaking whether you read, watch, or listen to it, and many mysteries surrounding the legendary sinking ship and its passengers remain unsolved to this day.

Content Warnings