Reviews - Luckiest Girl Alive

4.57k reviews for:

Luckiest Girl Alive

Jessica Knoll

3.41 AVERAGE

apaolillo24's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jorunehah's review against another edition

5.0

The youtuber that recommended it (Laura Crone, who we love) did warn everyone with any trigger of heart or stomach to check doesthedogdie.com. Very apt point. Other than (and in a way sort of because of) that

Biting. Unflinching. Gorgeously written. Daring to have an MC that is not the perfect victim and not even especially "likable". A bit harder to read after a ton of quick YAs and rom-coms, but beautiful. Complex would and did already recommend.

kcroghan's review against another edition

2.0

I’m not sure where the hype for this book comes from.

I disliked the main character immensely. I understand she had major trauma in her life as a teen. But this adult woman seemed to be stunted emotionally. She still acted like a 14 year old.

I also really disliked the way she was constantly starving herself to be thinner and degrading other people who weren’t thin. I’m tired of that trope.

I did enjoy learning about Ben and Arthur. I thought that was an interesting insight I haven’t read about before.

I don’t think I would recommend this book to people but I might still watch the film adaptation.

vanessacorwin's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

david_brent's review against another edition

2.75

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lifeisaeisha's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book if hard to rate because it does some things very well, while failing in other areas.

The good:

it's very hard to talk about
rape and sexual assault, especially as a survivor. So I definitely give the author her props for approaching both that and school shootings,
and depicting them both realistically.
The story was incredibly engaging. Although the characters were largely unlikable and at times insufferable, the plot had me locked in and I couldn't wait to get to the bottom of Ani's story and understand why she turned out the way that she did.
I think it was important to show characters like Ani's mother and
the planned parenthood nurse
. Women who perpetuate patriarchy by dismissing, downplaying, and outright ignoring obvious abuse.

The bad:

Right out the gate we are introduced to Ani's disordered eating, but at no point is it acknowledged as such, or as a thing for her to work on. Both times her best friend bright it up, she dismissed her and moved on.
The plot with
the teacher
was suuuuper unnecessary, and it was never acknowledged how creepy and inappropriate it was.
(A personal gripe, not so much a fault of the author.) I would have liked to see more of how
the documentary turned out and the fallout for Dean
. I understand that Ani's closure came from the face to face acknowledgement of his crimes against her, but it would have been nice to see him finally lose.