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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
First, thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of one of my favorite YA author's books.
Second, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I read it over the course of the day (it's 4th of July in a global pandemic, leaving the house isn't an option and is an excellent excuse to stay in bed and read!) and the story kept me reading and wanting more. I really liked Josie as the main character and, in typical Jenn Bennett fashion, enjoy that she's a badass girl who knows what she wants and is willing to go after it. Lucky, as with all JB love interests, is swoony, a bit mysterious, and a genuinely good dude.
Some spoilery thoughts...
Overall, this was a swoony, delightful read and I'm so excited for everyone to enjoy it with me in November!
Second, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I read it over the course of the day (it's 4th of July in a global pandemic, leaving the house isn't an option and is an excellent excuse to stay in bed and read!) and the story kept me reading and wanting more. I really liked Josie as the main character and, in typical Jenn Bennett fashion, enjoy that she's a badass girl who knows what she wants and is willing to go after it. Lucky, as with all JB love interests, is swoony, a bit mysterious, and a genuinely good dude.
Some spoilery thoughts...
Spoiler
Evie is the worst. I don't understand how Josie deals with her and her a) willingness to put up with a shitty dude, b) inability to defend Josie from said shitty dude, and c) completely bratty behavior. Yeah, she's in a toxic relationship, but Josie just lets it go, doesn't press Evie to change or clean up her absolutely shitty treatment of her cousin. I just really disliked her.Overall, this was a swoony, delightful read and I'm so excited for everyone to enjoy it with me in November!
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jenn Bennett is my favourite and every book I read confirms that everything she writes is spectacular. There's nothing I don't like about her books, so I'll make a list of my favourite parts.
- Her characters are amazing, as always. Jenn Bennett consistently creates unique characters that have interesting passions. In this one, Josie loves photography, and she especially loves photographing signs around town. Lucky is interested in metalwork.
- the setting is so real. It takes place in a small town, with a harbour (Lucky's parents own a boatyard). Every chapter started with description of a sign that Josie had photographed which definitely added to the small town feeling and the specificity brought everything alive. Josie and Lucky spend lots of time around the boatyard and on the water, etc. They also spend lots of time at the bookstore that Josie's mother is running.
- complicated families!! Lucky has a huge family that's very supportive and happy, but we didn't get to see too much of them besides from a bit of his parents. I would have liked to see more of his extended family in detail, because they sounded like a fun group. Then Josie's family is very messy. Her mom can't seem to stick around in one spot for long, she loves her cousin Evie, despite knowing she's making bad decisions, and her Aunt and Grandma (whom her mom despises) are off in Nepal for a year. There's a lot about family and about learning to love them and forgiveness, despite their shortcomings and mistakes.
- hard topics. Jenn's novels are always super lighthearted and funny while tackling more serious stuff underneath. There's a lot about sharing nude photos online, manipulative boyfriends, etc
- the romance!!! obviously. Jenn Bennett's romances are so captivating, I can't stop reading until the characters finally kiss, and then I keep reading until they kiss again. This book is no different. There's the regular amazing banter and flirting (that had my heart pounding) and so many feelings on both sides. Lucky was so interesting, and sweet and gentle, and it was so endearing how he smiled when Josie called him out for being rude. Anyways, they're perfect for each other. I adore the friends to lovers trope, especially childhood friends, and especially because they haven't seen each other in five years. I forgot that this was a bad boy book when I started it. I haven't read much bad boy stuff - probably the last I read was the Hush Hush series years ago, but I kind of loved it when he was rude and staring at Josie and riding his motorcycle around (regardless of how cliche that may be). Lucky has a bad reputation around town, and he believes he is a monster so he keeps doing bad stuff, but Josie sees right through him and she takes a chance on him and discovers the boy who used to be her friend years ago. He's pretty closed up and gives Josie the cold shoulder at first, but after a while, he acts like himself and he really wears his heart on his sleeve. He's honest with her and not shy about his feelings and he's perfect. Him and Josie together are perfect.
- Her characters are amazing, as always. Jenn Bennett consistently creates unique characters that have interesting passions. In this one, Josie loves photography, and she especially loves photographing signs around town. Lucky is interested in metalwork.
- the setting is so real. It takes place in a small town, with a harbour (Lucky's parents own a boatyard). Every chapter started with description of a sign that Josie had photographed which definitely added to the small town feeling and the specificity brought everything alive. Josie and Lucky spend lots of time around the boatyard and on the water, etc. They also spend lots of time at the bookstore that Josie's mother is running.
- complicated families!! Lucky has a huge family that's very supportive and happy, but we didn't get to see too much of them besides from a bit of his parents. I would have liked to see more of his extended family in detail, because they sounded like a fun group. Then Josie's family is very messy. Her mom can't seem to stick around in one spot for long, she loves her cousin Evie, despite knowing she's making bad decisions, and her Aunt and Grandma (whom her mom despises) are off in Nepal for a year. There's a lot about family and about learning to love them and forgiveness, despite their shortcomings and mistakes.
- hard topics. Jenn's novels are always super lighthearted and funny while tackling more serious stuff underneath. There's a lot about sharing nude photos online, manipulative boyfriends, etc
- the romance!!! obviously. Jenn Bennett's romances are so captivating, I can't stop reading until the characters finally kiss, and then I keep reading until they kiss again. This book is no different. There's the regular amazing banter and flirting (that had my heart pounding) and so many feelings on both sides. Lucky was so interesting, and sweet and gentle, and it was so endearing how he smiled when Josie called him out for being rude. Anyways, they're perfect for each other. I adore the friends to lovers trope, especially childhood friends, and especially because they haven't seen each other in five years. I forgot that this was a bad boy book when I started it. I haven't read much bad boy stuff - probably the last I read was the Hush Hush series years ago, but I kind of loved it when he was rude and staring at Josie and riding his motorcycle around (regardless of how cliche that may be). Lucky has a bad reputation around town, and he believes he is a monster so he keeps doing bad stuff, but Josie sees right through him and she takes a chance on him and discovers the boy who used to be her friend years ago. He's pretty closed up and gives Josie the cold shoulder at first, but after a while, he acts like himself and he really wears his heart on his sleeve. He's honest with her and not shy about his feelings and he's perfect. Him and Josie together are perfect.
Rating: 3.75 Stars.
I hope anyone reading this will forgive me if my review doesn’t seem up to my usual standard today. I’m trying to write it at the same time as the Associated Press has just called the 2020 election in the U.S. My brain is everywhere right now. But let’s try to dial it into the new Jenn Bennett book that I just read and enjoyed.
I was sad when this book was pushed back when the pandemic started and I still think this book would have done well as a summer book. Most of the events in this book take place during the summer so it would have been a great read during that time. I was going to call it a beach read, but I don’t know many people who went to the beach this summer. Ugh, what a year. If you’re someone who reads seasonally then I think you should hold this book off until next summer because I think that will enhance your reading experience for sure.
I really enjoyed Lucky and Josie as characters. They’re both flawed and human and yet still find so much to enjoy about each other. I think Lucky is definitely carrying around some baggage from his childhood and Josie has spent so much of her life looking at her father with rose tented glasses. And in this we see how their friendship develops and how they help each other tear down their walls. I also really enjoyed the setting of this novel. I’ve always liked the idea of small New England towns and this town is exactly what I always pictured.
For me, the main flaws for this story are 1) that Josie is so enamored with her famous father who she only hears from once a year and 2) that Josie jumps to conclusions so quickly. I know that the last thing probably stems from her communication issues with her family and growing up in a way where the only way she gets the answer is if she figures it out for herself. But she makes logic jumps sometimes that make no sense at all.
But Jenn Bennett is doing what she always does well which is take a close look at families and relationships and the things we do and say to each other. And she really tells those stories well.
I hope anyone reading this will forgive me if my review doesn’t seem up to my usual standard today. I’m trying to write it at the same time as the Associated Press has just called the 2020 election in the U.S. My brain is everywhere right now. But let’s try to dial it into the new Jenn Bennett book that I just read and enjoyed.
I was sad when this book was pushed back when the pandemic started and I still think this book would have done well as a summer book. Most of the events in this book take place during the summer so it would have been a great read during that time. I was going to call it a beach read, but I don’t know many people who went to the beach this summer. Ugh, what a year. If you’re someone who reads seasonally then I think you should hold this book off until next summer because I think that will enhance your reading experience for sure.
I really enjoyed Lucky and Josie as characters. They’re both flawed and human and yet still find so much to enjoy about each other. I think Lucky is definitely carrying around some baggage from his childhood and Josie has spent so much of her life looking at her father with rose tented glasses. And in this we see how their friendship develops and how they help each other tear down their walls. I also really enjoyed the setting of this novel. I’ve always liked the idea of small New England towns and this town is exactly what I always pictured.
For me, the main flaws for this story are 1) that Josie is so enamored with her famous father who she only hears from once a year and 2) that Josie jumps to conclusions so quickly. I know that the last thing probably stems from her communication issues with her family and growing up in a way where the only way she gets the answer is if she figures it out for herself. But she makes logic jumps sometimes that make no sense at all.
But Jenn Bennett is doing what she always does well which is take a close look at families and relationships and the things we do and say to each other. And she really tells those stories well.
Now that I finally finished the book, I can give a review! I rated the book 3 out of 5 stars because I didn’t really enjoy the pacing, it seemed like the characters didn’t have much of a personality, and the ending was resolved way too easily as if the build-up was of no importance. Also, it just wasn’t a memorable read for me at all. That is mainly because I was never fully able to connect with the plot or the characters themselves. The motives that kept this story going were all diminished by the end and certain issues were never fully addressed. By the end, we finally figure out the Saint-Martin curse. Turns out it’s not a curse per se, but, as Josie’s Grandmother Deidre describes it, the entire Saint-Martin family has a communication issue. This means that the whole story is based on the miscommunication trope (a trope that I don’t really enjoy) instead of a real curse. With the number of times the curse was mentioned, I was expecting it to actually involve magical elements or something along those lines. Also, after the communication issues were discovered, everyone started talking to each other, expressing their feelings, and everything was solved. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, it just seems so unrealistic because it’s one step to realize there is a communication issue, but it’s another to work on those skills and see results. There were also some problems that I felt shouldn’t have been solved in just one conversation.
By the end of the story, we see Josie and Lucky become a couple, as expected. They’re not my favorite book couple, but I will admit that there is nothing wrong with their relationship and they seem to balance each other out nicely. I think part of that is because they were childhood friends. Speaking of their past friendship, I am glad that they were able to find their way back to each other (since that is a big plotline of the story) I most likely would have loved them more if their characters were fleshed out, but I am glad that there was nothing so negative about their personalities that they should have stayed away from each other. On the topic of negative characters, we have Adrian Summers, our main antagonist, and Evie’s (Josie’s cousin) ex-boyfriend. I absolutely hated Adrian. He was rude, selfish, used his status in the town to intimidate people, and degraded Josie and her family multiple times throughout the story. I couldn’t understand how anyone could ever like him and that is where Evie comes in. When we first learn about their relationship, both of them had already broken up, but it never seemed like it because Josie caught them together multiple times. This really upset me because Josie and Evie never had a proper conversation about it. I’m not saying Josie should start meddling, but Adrian, Evie, and Josie were all connected somehow and it looked like Evie was betraying her by going back to Adrian, even though she was being hurt too! A scene that particularly upset me was when Josie caught Evie and Adrian together for the 2nd or 3rd time. Adrian being Adrian just made this worse before leaving and then, guess what, Evie was upset with Josie!!!!! I couldn’t understand this at all because, in my opinion, I believe Evie was at fault. I may be able to understand her actions a little bit better if we had an explanation. Evie gave Josie that cold shoulder for a couple of days before Josie apologized (I’m still not sure why) by buying her donuts. Again we see that another situation is resolved without clarification.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Josie just let Lucky take the fall for what she did, even though he could have gotten in serious trouble for it, and there was a possibility of his family’s business being ruined. I know that Lucky told her not to say anything, but I still feel as if she should have said something sooner. When she did reveal what she did at the end of the story, there were no consequences for her at all, which isn’t so fair because, earlier on, Lucky had to work to pay off “his” debt. Also, something else I found a little weird was this whole situation involving Lucky taking the fall for Josie kind of fizzled out by the middle of the story, even though it was meant to be an important part of the book.
Overall, I thought the book was okay and, as I mentioned, Josie and Lucky seem like a nice couple. The multiple plotlines only used to create drama and the lack of communication definitely made me like the story less. Some parts could have been cut out (at least in my opinion) to make this book more focused and enjoyable!
The theme of Chasing Lucky is that communication is key. Keeping secrets and telling little white lies can affect a relationship more than one may think. Throughout the book, Josie and Lucky struggled with the fact that they would constantly hold back secrets from each other in fear of driving the other away, even though they wanted to be more truthful to each other. I feel like this is really important to know because it’s so much easier to shut each other out than talk to one another, so we have to make a conscious effort to be more open (as long as it makes you comfortable). Josie’s relationship with her mom was quite unhealthy because they refused to talk about certain events in the past, even though it is preventing them from moving forward. Trust is a major factor that is missing in their relationship. Watching Josie’s relationship with Lucky evolve was nice to see, but I much more enjoyed seeing Josie and her mother talk to each other more and break down the barriers they had between them. (I still feel like it all happened too fast in the end, but it was still nice to see).
Chasing Lucky does offer us all a good reminder to communicate and not let fear shut us down. A core foundation of every relationship is communication and should not be disregarded.
I picked this up on a whim and ended up really enjoying it. (Don’t you love it when that happens?) I thought Lucky was a little rough around the edges at first, but I really liked the way he helped Josie overcome her seasickness and taught her to swim. From that point on, I was swooning over Lucky. He and Josie had great chemistry and I loved reading about them. The setting was great (a fictional small town in RI - love the small state rep!) and really came to life for me (I totally pictured the island they went to as Rose Island).
I also really liked the message of letting your walls down and not being afraid to let people in.
I wanted a little more closure from the ending, especially with Josie’s mother - I wanted to know how her date went - and I also didn’t really like Josie’s cousin (because she kept taking Adrian back when he was obviously a tool) but overall I really liked this one.
I also really liked the message of letting your walls down and not being afraid to let people in.
I wanted a little more closure from the ending, especially with Josie’s mother - I wanted to know how her date went - and I also didn’t really like Josie’s cousin (because she kept taking Adrian back when he was obviously a tool) but overall I really liked this one.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I enjoyed this book and my cheeks hurt from grinning so much as I was reading it but ooof, the secondhand embarrassment was tough to bear at times. Overall, I really like Josie and her story, even if she made me want to face palm a few too many times.
Full review up on Paging Serenity.
Full review up on Paging Serenity.
lighthearted
slow-paced