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martie1985's review against another edition
5.0
Listened to the audio on Spotify. This is the second book I have listened to on Spotify and I must say they have outstanding quality audiobooks.
booksonthecouch's review against another edition
4.0
Jane (born Fortuna Jane Belleweather) is a seventeen year old high school senior living in small town Wisconsin. Jane was recently dumped by her boyfriend of two years, and lives with her mother, who is deep in the throes of a hoarding disorder since the death of Jane’s father 5 years ago. On a whim, Jane buys a lottery ticket, which ends up being the only winning ticket for a prize of more than 58 million dollars. The only problem: Jane’s still two weeks from her 18th birthday, and there isn’t really anyone over 18 she trusts to help her cash the ticket. To complicate things further, Jane’s best friend, Brandon, has made it his mission to find the lottery winner and uncover why they haven’t come forward.
Throughout the course of Lucky Girl, Jane grapples with what to do about the winning ticket. Pacton does an excellent job of portraying life in the kind of small town where everybody is in everybody else’s business. Though the premise is fun, this book deals with heavy topics including mental health, poverty, power/control dynamics within relationships, and historic negative outcomes for lottery winners. Representation includes: child of parent with mental illness, hoarding disorder, anxiety, trauma, and grief/loss. The protagonist is bisexual (incidental to plot!) with a Korean best friend. I also appreciated the representation of a male/female platonic friendship.
On the topic of mental health: Though definitely experienced through the perspective of a frustrated daughter, Pacton deals with hoarding disorder realistically and with sensitivity, including exploring the catalyst for the behavior (a traumatic loss), Jane’s mother’s perception (items need rescuing), and characters understand that they can’t force change. Jane’s own experience with grief is also explored, including within the context of the ways the parent/child roles shifted following the loss of her father.
I really enjoyed Lucky Girl, and enjoyed how the narrative pushed the reader to think not only about what options Jane had, but also what they might do in a similar scenario. I think this one will have broad appeal with YA readers, and I’ll keep this one on my list for bibliotherapy, especially for youth with adults in their life impacted by hoarding disorders.
Thank you to Netgalley, Page Street Publishing, and the Author for providing me with an advance copy of Lucky Girl to review. All opinions are my own.
Throughout the course of Lucky Girl, Jane grapples with what to do about the winning ticket. Pacton does an excellent job of portraying life in the kind of small town where everybody is in everybody else’s business. Though the premise is fun, this book deals with heavy topics including mental health, poverty, power/control dynamics within relationships, and historic negative outcomes for lottery winners. Representation includes: child of parent with mental illness, hoarding disorder, anxiety, trauma, and grief/loss. The protagonist is bisexual (incidental to plot!) with a Korean best friend. I also appreciated the representation of a male/female platonic friendship.
On the topic of mental health: Though definitely experienced through the perspective of a frustrated daughter, Pacton deals with hoarding disorder realistically and with sensitivity, including exploring the catalyst for the behavior (a traumatic loss), Jane’s mother’s perception (items need rescuing), and characters understand that they can’t force change. Jane’s own experience with grief is also explored, including within the context of the ways the parent/child roles shifted following the loss of her father.
I really enjoyed Lucky Girl, and enjoyed how the narrative pushed the reader to think not only about what options Jane had, but also what they might do in a similar scenario. I think this one will have broad appeal with YA readers, and I’ll keep this one on my list for bibliotherapy, especially for youth with adults in their life impacted by hoarding disorders.
Thank you to Netgalley, Page Street Publishing, and the Author for providing me with an advance copy of Lucky Girl to review. All opinions are my own.
naturally_caffeinated_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to the author for sending me her book shortly after release. I find YA really good and cover alot of varying topics. This one touched on the death of a parent, parent hoarding after a loss and a large windfall from lottery win. It felt messy in parts but life is usually very messy I look forward to reading the authors other work.
lookingforamandaa's review against another edition
4.0
I am part of Jamie Pacton’s street team, so I was given an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Pacton’s debut, so I was excited to have the chance to read Lucky Girl early. I really enjoyed this one. It’s a really quick read. It’s filled with character that don’t always make the best choices, but you can’t help but empathize with them and root for them. The story follows Fortuna Jane, who goes by Jane. Jane buys a lottery ticket on a whim and then finds out that she’s won 58 million dollars. The only problem? Jane is only 17 so she could actually get in trouble if anyone finds out she’s the one that bought it. Most of the story is Jane trying to figure out the best option for how to get her winnings cashed. As she researched past winners, she becomes less sure that she even wants this money despite the fact that it could change her life in so many ways. I really liked Jane. She was a likable character. It was easy to empathize with her with the choice she needed to make.
One of the things I thought was interesting about this book was Jane’s mother. Jane’s mom is a hoarder. She collects things that people once loved. It’s clear that it’s become out of control. I think Pacton did a really good job of showing how this was negatively effecting Jane while still being thoughtful and respectful about the fact that Jane’s mom is clearly dealing with some sort of mental illness. I liked how their relationship changed in the end of the book when Jane finally brought some honesty to the table. I really enjoyed when Jane finally sat down and had a good and open conversation with her mom.
Bran was one of the highlights of this book. He’s Jane’s best friend and an aspiring journalist. So, he’s searching for whoever won the lottery, only Jane hasn’t told him that she won. He asks her to help him interview people in hopes that he will find whoever won. I thought the conflict of Jane feeling unable to tell her best friend this huge thing was a compelling one. It’s clear from their relationship and from the way he reacts when he does learn she’s the winner that she could have told him right from the start.
Overall, I think this was a really fun and quick read. I liked all of the characters (even Holden occasionally). I thought the conversation about what to do with that much money and greed was done really well. The story itself was a little slow but the way it’s written made it an easy and quick read.
I really enjoyed Pacton’s debut, so I was excited to have the chance to read Lucky Girl early. I really enjoyed this one. It’s a really quick read. It’s filled with character that don’t always make the best choices, but you can’t help but empathize with them and root for them. The story follows Fortuna Jane, who goes by Jane. Jane buys a lottery ticket on a whim and then finds out that she’s won 58 million dollars. The only problem? Jane is only 17 so she could actually get in trouble if anyone finds out she’s the one that bought it. Most of the story is Jane trying to figure out the best option for how to get her winnings cashed. As she researched past winners, she becomes less sure that she even wants this money despite the fact that it could change her life in so many ways. I really liked Jane. She was a likable character. It was easy to empathize with her with the choice she needed to make.
One of the things I thought was interesting about this book was Jane’s mother. Jane’s mom is a hoarder. She collects things that people once loved. It’s clear that it’s become out of control. I think Pacton did a really good job of showing how this was negatively effecting Jane while still being thoughtful and respectful about the fact that Jane’s mom is clearly dealing with some sort of mental illness. I liked how their relationship changed in the end of the book when Jane finally brought some honesty to the table. I really enjoyed when Jane finally sat down and had a good and open conversation with her mom.
Bran was one of the highlights of this book. He’s Jane’s best friend and an aspiring journalist. So, he’s searching for whoever won the lottery, only Jane hasn’t told him that she won. He asks her to help him interview people in hopes that he will find whoever won. I thought the conflict of Jane feeling unable to tell her best friend this huge thing was a compelling one. It’s clear from their relationship and from the way he reacts when he does learn she’s the winner that she could have told him right from the start.
Overall, I think this was a really fun and quick read. I liked all of the characters (even Holden occasionally). I thought the conversation about what to do with that much money and greed was done really well. The story itself was a little slow but the way it’s written made it an easy and quick read.
stuffsamdoes_'s review against another edition
4.0
4/5 stars - This book was fast and took off instantly! It really was a cute little read with a couple of twists and turns. Jane's mother was infuriating to me, up until almost the end of the book when she really opened up and I would have loved to have had 1 or 2 solid chapters in the book diving a little deeper. Overall, a good read and I enjoyed it a lot.
shannonsnextchapter's review against another edition
Jamie Pacton’s Lucky Girl is a fresh look at contemporary YA, detailing the unexpected trials and tribulations that come with a mammoth underage lottery win. As Jane contemplates what to do about the $58,643,129 she is now worth, she also must deal with her money-hungry ex-boyfriend, her mother’s hoarding problem, and a law that says lotto jackpots can’t be cashed by underage buyers. Now, this is a story!
In a small town, everyone knows everything, which means everyone DEFINITELY knows about it when somebody hits the $56 million jackpot. Now they just need to find WHO the winner is. Lucky Girl’s small-town setting provides the perfect backdrop for Jane’s prize-money uncertainty. Whether she’s at school, at work, or scrolling on the local Facebook group chat, she can’t escape the rumours. This offers plenty of room for Jane’s growing anxieties about unhappy and betrayed lotto winners.
Jane’s relationships form an important part of her story. Her friendships strengthen in the face of adversity, and her relationship with her ex-boyfriend moves through the ups and downs of his newfound obsession with becoming a billionaire. Importantly, Jane also learns to better support her mum through her hoarding. Throughout the book, Jane becomes the kind of person who might be able to handle the burden of over $50 million.
Lucky Girl tackles themes of money, family, friendship, responsibility, and more. If you’re looking for a unique YA, this might be the book for you!
Thank you to the lovely teams at Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC!
Want to talk books and read more of my reviews? Find me on INSTAGRAM!
In a small town, everyone knows everything, which means everyone DEFINITELY knows about it when somebody hits the $56 million jackpot. Now they just need to find WHO the winner is. Lucky Girl’s small-town setting provides the perfect backdrop for Jane’s prize-money uncertainty. Whether she’s at school, at work, or scrolling on the local Facebook group chat, she can’t escape the rumours. This offers plenty of room for Jane’s growing anxieties about unhappy and betrayed lotto winners.
Jane’s relationships form an important part of her story. Her friendships strengthen in the face of adversity, and her relationship with her ex-boyfriend moves through the ups and downs of his newfound obsession with becoming a billionaire. Importantly, Jane also learns to better support her mum through her hoarding. Throughout the book, Jane becomes the kind of person who might be able to handle the burden of over $50 million.
Lucky Girl tackles themes of money, family, friendship, responsibility, and more. If you’re looking for a unique YA, this might be the book for you!
Thank you to the lovely teams at Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC!
Want to talk books and read more of my reviews? Find me on INSTAGRAM!
mrsherrera's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent
fionak's review against another edition
4.0
Decent bit of feel-good fluff that's eminently predictable; a comforting sort of read where everything gets neatly tied up at the end.