Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Luckiest Girl Alive

Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

7 reviews

afroheaux's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

TifAni FaNelli is one of the most insufferable, self-deprecating, and hateful protagonists I've ever met, to the point I wanted to stop reading the book multiple times. I would close the book and look around like, "Is this bitch serious? And is she going to be like this the entire book?" Fortunately for the author and unfortunately for myself, I am somewhat of a masochist (kind of like TifAni), so I continued reading until the end. Was it worth my time? Not really, but it was interesting to see the story fleshed out.

I understand she was meant to be annoying, but I couldn't breathe being in her mind sometimes. The people who did not finish made the best choice for them. The book is drenched in fatphobia and classism. I can't imagine living the way TifAni does by judging every single person I meet by the shallowest of criteria and basing my judgment of their behavior on that. The book is a never-ending tirade of judgment on the world and the people TifAni interacts with. She doesn't seem to have genuine relationships in her life, and she takes it out on everyone else. She's a miserable person, but she appears to be beautiful, thin, and successful, so what else must she be?

The lesson I took from the book was "Hurt people hurt people." TifAni's experiences are deeply traumatic, not to mention she was brought up by a mother who was jealous of her and a father who couldn't care less. She was doomed from the start, but I still think she had the potential to be a good person. Does she still have that capacity for kindness even though she's never shown much of it before?

The storyline with Mr. Larson was strange. I was hoping that the author was going to take an alternate route and have the "relationship" between the two of them be something that TifAni made up entirely in her mind. I should've realized when he let her sleep in his bed that he wasn't a good person, but patriarchy took hold momentarily and gave him the benefit of the doubt. I should've never done it because they kiss when they meet when she was older. He at least has the mind to tell her that it's wrong and he wants to stay apart, but the fact that he even engages with it makes me upset. She has an intense trauma bond with him that clouds her thinking. He's the only person in her life who comes off as somewhat genuine with their emotions and understanding of her situation, which she acknowledges in the book, making her even more susceptible to romantic delusions.

The author did a good job showing something that was brought to my attention recently while listening to a podcast on Clarence Thomas' life. If horrible events inspire people to become kinder and gentler, they can also make people mean and cruel. More trauma can make them meaner and crueler still.

Content Warnings