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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
A wise woman tells us a story and it’s up to us to learn from it.
It’s through the eyes of Soila who came to NYC from Kenya to pursue a business career. She left behind a protected life and for the first time, she stepped into a world where her controlling mother was absent.
However, her invisible mother was still constantly inside her ear feeding her thoughts of religion, relationships and her career path. Soila’s passion was photography but her mother said she was given this opportunity in America to get a serious education in finance from the university. Her mother wanted her to make six figures. What a lucky girl, right?
Soila observed Wall Street as a drab place filled with a multitude of dialects, grey suits and heads down. She worked hard to please her mother with her choices: a roommate, boyfriends and classes. With her observations, Soila questioned poverty, wealth and being Black in America.
The story revolves around Soila’s love for her mother and feels the pain of guilt when she has conflicting thoughts. It is written well and moves along quickly with the girl who approaches life with bold conversations. The beauty is how she presented the characters. There is a lot of realism in this story – one that would be a great conversation for book clubs.
My thanks to Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu, The Dial Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this advanced book with an expected release date of May 2, 2023.
It’s through the eyes of Soila who came to NYC from Kenya to pursue a business career. She left behind a protected life and for the first time, she stepped into a world where her controlling mother was absent.
However, her invisible mother was still constantly inside her ear feeding her thoughts of religion, relationships and her career path. Soila’s passion was photography but her mother said she was given this opportunity in America to get a serious education in finance from the university. Her mother wanted her to make six figures. What a lucky girl, right?
Soila observed Wall Street as a drab place filled with a multitude of dialects, grey suits and heads down. She worked hard to please her mother with her choices: a roommate, boyfriends and classes. With her observations, Soila questioned poverty, wealth and being Black in America.
The story revolves around Soila’s love for her mother and feels the pain of guilt when she has conflicting thoughts. It is written well and moves along quickly with the girl who approaches life with bold conversations. The beauty is how she presented the characters. There is a lot of realism in this story – one that would be a great conversation for book clubs.
My thanks to Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu, The Dial Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this advanced book with an expected release date of May 2, 2023.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
This surprised me because I don’t usually like books that get philosophical and spend a lot of time in long, dialogue-heavy conversations. I think because it never felt forced or preachy, it felt real. The conversations didn’t read like filler, they were part of getting to know the characters. Good choice if you’re looking for a slower, character-driven story with reflective relationships and cultural nuance.
Energy: Thoughtful. Determined. Contemplative.
🐕 Howls: The audiobook is good, but the narration is a bit flat, especially during more emotional moments. One of the relationships was a bit too idealistic and I felt for her partner, but if you like wholesome supportive romances it’s not poorly done.
🐩 Tail Wags: Showing the experience of early adulthood. Interesting story. How I was sometimes yelling at the main character’s choices. That the story doesn’t flatten culture, tradition, and personal growth into caricatures or easy answers.
Scene: 🇰🇪 Nairobi, Kenya. 🇺🇸 Manhattan, NYC, USA
Perspective: Our MC grew up in Nairobi as a child of privilege and has their heart set on moving to the US for college. The story follows them experiencing first loves, making new friends, navigating a different culture, and sharing their unique perspective while learning about others’.
Timeline: Linear. Early 2000s (mostly).
Narrative: Observing characters and overhearing thoughts (first person)
Fuel: Family conflict, self-discovery, and growing up. How will our MC change based on her life experiences and traumas? Will she follow her dreams or aim to please her family? If faced with the choice, will our MC choose her mother or her relationship?
Cred: Realistic
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Hanging out with friends. Bank office. Dreadlocks. Church. City sounds. Movie nights.
- Reflective, breezy, philosophical writing style
- Messy, sensitive, and complex characters
- Slow-burn beta romance
- Complicated mother-daughter dynamics and family pressures
- Exploring the diversity of Black experience in Africa and America
- Questioning tradition, navigating expectations
- Deep convos about love, culture, privilege, and obligation vs duty
- New adult friendships and early-20s soul searching
- Character-drive slice-of-life with spiritual undertones
Content Heads-Up: Abortion (experience, decision). Burn injury, scars. Circumcision (female; brief mention). Classism. Colonialism (effects of). Early-onset Alzheimer’s (on page, symptoms, care). Gentrification, privilege (discussion of). Infidelity. Lookism. Loss of friend. Loss of parent (as child). Misogyny. Racism (mistrust, discussion of, internalized, experienced). Self injury (whipping). Sexism. Sexual assault (religious abuse). Suicide (off page). Terrorism (Nairobi bombing, NYC 9/11; descriptive).
Rep: Kenyan. Kenyan American. American. Mixed race (African, European). Cis. Hetero. Onyx, cappuccino, café au lait, and white skin tones. Catholic.
📚 Format: Library Audio
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Dementia
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Abortion, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
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
Lucky Girl is the story of Kenyan born Soila, who leaves Kenya to go to school in America. Partly to escape her overbearing mother and also to escape the man who took advantage of her when she needed a friend.
In New York Soila finds friends, love and loss and is faced with the decision of choosing between her family and Kenyan roots, over her new life.
This was a great book. Deep, at times disturbing and sad, but always gripping and well written.
I loved Soila’s Aunts, all so different, with great personalities and side stories. I would have loved to see more of them.
Soila at times irritated me, but her character was so perfectly flawed that it added to the story for me.
Read this if you’re looking for a deep, slow burn to pop you out of a slump.
In New York Soila finds friends, love and loss and is faced with the decision of choosing between her family and Kenyan roots, over her new life.
This was a great book. Deep, at times disturbing and sad, but always gripping and well written.
I loved Soila’s Aunts, all so different, with great personalities and side stories. I would have loved to see more of them.
Soila at times irritated me, but her character was so perfectly flawed that it added to the story for me.
Read this if you’re looking for a deep, slow burn to pop you out of a slump.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Soila lives with her mom, her aunts and her grandmom in Kenya. They are from a wealthy family due to her mother's success running a business. Her father died when she was just a little girl and her mother is very controlling of all of them, but especially of Soila. We follow Solia's life as she grows into a teen and then a young adult who moves to New York City to escape her controlling mother. Once she gets to NYC, she meets many friends and loves her new life, but mother is still trying to control her. The rest of the story is about how Soila tries to balance her new life with American ways and her old life and Kenyan traditions. It was an interesting book that made me see things about racism that I didn't realize. I thought the end of it was a bit drawn out but overall I enjoyed this story. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy to read!
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Lucky Girl is a coming of age story of Soila, a young Kenyon woman. After her father took his own life when Soila was 5 years old she was raised by a strong, uncompromising, Catholic mother. With the help of her aunts and her grandmother and a promise to pursue the degree and profession that her mother insists on, Soila convinces her mother to allow her to leave her home to attend college in the United States. While living in the US Soila finds a dramatic difference in the acceptance and prejudices of a black student from Nairobi and black students from the United States. As Soila matures, falls in love and makes choices that are opposed to her upbringing, she must come to terms with who she wants to be in the world. Great character development. Debut author scores an impressive read!
inspiring
relaxing
medium-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
In my quest to read more East African literature, *Lucky Girl* is my first book authored by an East African for 2025. *Lucky Girl* is a coming-of-age story set in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The author beautifully highlights various themes. One that particularly captured my attention was the enduring debate between Africans and Black Americans. Time and again, our society has engaged in ruthless debates about how each group faces different struggles, despite sharing a common origin.
Overall, it's a good read.
The author beautifully highlights various themes. One that particularly captured my attention was the enduring debate between Africans and Black Americans. Time and again, our society has engaged in ruthless debates about how each group faces different struggles, despite sharing a common origin.
Overall, it's a good read.