jeuel's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sapphic_angel's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
juliejaeger's review against another edition
5.0
Liz Lawson’s debut novel is a very necessary addition to YA. How do survivors deal with school shootings? Who are the living victims? This dual voice narrative explores that. It will wrench your heart.
dipali17's review against another edition
4.0
This book broke my heart and slowly pieced it back together.
hallie_luna's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
merlin_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Well...wow.
Sadly, school shootings have increased recently, along with just any gun violence. A lot of news and media always focuses on the right now, but The Lucky Ones focuses on the after. And not the directly after, the year after. A year ago May lost her her twin brother in a school shooting. Not only was she left unharmed, but she was the only one in the band room that day who made it out alive.
This story is told in alternating point of views. First we have May who is extremely broken still. She's angry all the time and when she's not angry, she's just passive. A year later, and she still hasn't dealt with that day and her emotions. May's a walking timebomb and she's going back to public school for the first time since the shooting. Obviously, this can't end well.
Then we have Zach. Zach's life used to be decent. Friends, girlfriend, all the fun stuff that comes with being in high school. But ever since his mother decided to defend the shooter, his life has been hell. When he meets May, he has no idea who she is or what she's been through. He just knows that there's a girl who makes him smile. But that doesn't last long once he realizes who she is.
Liz Lawson really holds nothing back when it comes to emotions. While May and Zach are suffering from different circumstances, their pain is real and that's what attracted me to this story. There were times when I didn't like May, because honestly, she wasn't a nice person. But she had amazing people around her that supported her. Ultimately, between them and Zach, we finally were able to reach the source of May's real pain and that's when my heart broke.
A heart-hurting, breathtaking debut that showed a realistic display of pain and survival. I will definitely be checking out comes next from Lawson.
Sadly, school shootings have increased recently, along with just any gun violence. A lot of news and media always focuses on the right now, but The Lucky Ones focuses on the after. And not the directly after, the year after. A year ago May lost her her twin brother in a school shooting. Not only was she left unharmed, but she was the only one in the band room that day who made it out alive.
This story is told in alternating point of views. First we have May who is extremely broken still. She's angry all the time and when she's not angry, she's just passive. A year later, and she still hasn't dealt with that day and her emotions. May's a walking timebomb and she's going back to public school for the first time since the shooting. Obviously, this can't end well.
Then we have Zach. Zach's life used to be decent. Friends, girlfriend, all the fun stuff that comes with being in high school. But ever since his mother decided to defend the shooter, his life has been hell. When he meets May, he has no idea who she is or what she's been through. He just knows that there's a girl who makes him smile. But that doesn't last long once he realizes who she is.
Liz Lawson really holds nothing back when it comes to emotions. While May and Zach are suffering from different circumstances, their pain is real and that's what attracted me to this story. There were times when I didn't like May, because honestly, she wasn't a nice person. But she had amazing people around her that supported her. Ultimately, between them and Zach, we finally were able to reach the source of May's real pain and that's when my heart broke.
A heart-hurting, breathtaking debut that showed a realistic display of pain and survival. I will definitely be checking out comes next from Lawson.
gdcalhoun's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
marthajane18's review against another edition
I'm DNF'ing this for now. This was probably my most anticipated read of 2020. I love hard-hitting contemporary books and I couldn't wait to read this. But it fell flat for me in so many ways, especially the characters. I tried to connect with May and see things from her perspective, what she went through was unimaginable and extremely heartbreaking. But I just did not like her at all. She was such a jerk to everyone.
Zach was a big blah character to me; he was so awkward and hard to read from and so many of his inner thoughts were so cringe-y
I didn't buy the romance between the two main characters at all. Why did they even like each other? There was no chemistry between them, and their relationship added nothing to the story.
I hated how both sets of parents were made to be totally absent and horrible and were not fleshed out at all. And Zach's dad was definitely suffering from depression and was treated very poorly from his family and no one tried to have him seek help.
I could write more negativity here, but I don't want to keep bashing this book.
Zach was a big blah character to me; he was so awkward and hard to read from and so many of his inner thoughts were so cringe-y
I didn't buy the romance between the two main characters at all. Why did they even like each other? There was no chemistry between them, and their relationship added nothing to the story.
I hated how both sets of parents were made to be totally absent and horrible and were not fleshed out at all. And Zach's dad was definitely suffering from depression and was treated very poorly from his family and no one tried to have him seek help.
I could write more negativity here, but I don't want to keep bashing this book.