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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!
Yes, I realize all caps is shouty, but that's how I feel about this story and this author.
I didn't think I could love it more than Serious Moonlight, but instead of a hotel, I fell in love with the entire town of Beauty.
Think Stars Hollow meets Mystic Pizza.
Yes, I realize all caps is shouty, but that's how I feel about this story and this author.
I didn't think I could love it more than Serious Moonlight, but instead of a hotel, I fell in love with the entire town of Beauty.
Think Stars Hollow meets Mystic Pizza.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This was a cute romantic story about a guy called Lucky and a girl who were once friends then she had to move away and its been a few years since so he's mad at her for leaving him for various reasons.
They had a cute friendship and it was nice to see that blossom.
For me personally I would've liked a bit more angst or tension between the two at first. Maybe more anger from Luckys side but that's just a personal opinion.
I feel like the ending was soft. There was one point I found interesting and I was like ohhhh ok then.
I still really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it
This was a cute romantic story about a guy called Lucky and a girl who were once friends then she had to move away and its been a few years since so he's mad at her for leaving him for various reasons.
They had a cute friendship and it was nice to see that blossom.
For me personally I would've liked a bit more angst or tension between the two at first. Maybe more anger from Luckys side but that's just a personal opinion.
I feel like the ending was soft. There was one point I found interesting and I was like ohhhh ok then.
I still really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it
Josie has spent the last five years moving around with her mother, dreaming of living with her father and wondering why her best friend, Lucky, never emailed her back. When she moves back to Beauty and runs into him, all they can do is cast eyes at each other and walk away. The family curse has kept her from her best friend. When they finally get back together, feelings are more than they were before but everybody seems to get in the way. Can Josie and Lucky make a go of it?
Opinion
This has got to be one of the best young adult romances I’ve read in a while. The two MCs each suffer from the past and are trying to overcome it. Both lean on each other but don’t know if the can trust the other. All of the drama in Josies family is ridiculously funny (but not for her.) From the curse, to a separation between mom and grandmother, to something going on with her cousin, it’s no wonder Josie has trust issues. I fell in love with Josie and Lucky and surely you will too.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
Opinion
This has got to be one of the best young adult romances I’ve read in a while. The two MCs each suffer from the past and are trying to overcome it. Both lean on each other but don’t know if the can trust the other. All of the drama in Josies family is ridiculously funny (but not for her.) From the curse, to a separation between mom and grandmother, to something going on with her cousin, it’s no wonder Josie has trust issues. I fell in love with Josie and Lucky and surely you will too.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
Nice romance of two broken individuals finding each other again, note some mild language and sex.
1. Family's complications and romance. I love how it's not solely focused on teenage romance.
2. Both of FL & ML are matured enough to think about life and future. Very likeable character.
3. LOVE LOVE THE PLOT!
4. I like the setting. Easy to imagine.
5. I really love the writing. Yes, sometimes it's a bit boring but the elements of surprises brought back the focus.
2. Both of FL & ML are matured enough to think about life and future. Very likeable character.
3. LOVE LOVE THE PLOT!
4. I like the setting. Easy to imagine.
5. I really love the writing. Yes, sometimes it's a bit boring but the elements of surprises brought back the focus.
I am so thankful I was able to get an e-ARC of this book. The story of Josie and Lucky was amazing and certainly filled with life lessons like acceptance, standing up for yourself, and so much more.
Hm. I am sad to give this book 3 stars but it just was not my favorite by Jenn Bennett. If I had to describe how I feel about this book in one word, I think it would be confused. I felt lost many times throughout the plot and at some of the conflicts. I oftentimes just didn't understand why things were happening or what caused certain parts of the story??? A lot of stuff just felt random and confusing to me. I can't really go into this without spoiling aspects of the plot, so I'm just gonna leave that at that and if you've read this, maybe you know what I mean.
Although I didn't love this story, I did enjoy the characters. I think Josie was an interesting enough main character and Lucky was a good love interest. Again, they weren't my favorite, but they kept me entertained most of the time so that was good.
Some parts of this story were really interesting and made me want to keep reading, but other parts were slow in my opinion. I wouldn't say this is a page turner, but it was interesting enough for me. I can't say that I would reread at all, but I think it was good enough that I would recommend to others just because I'd like to hear other opinions on this.
I had some other thoughts but I can't even put them into words because I just feel confused lol. Overall, this book was decent but definitely not the best of Jenn Bennett in my opinion.
Although I didn't love this story, I did enjoy the characters. I think Josie was an interesting enough main character and Lucky was a good love interest. Again, they weren't my favorite, but they kept me entertained most of the time so that was good.
Some parts of this story were really interesting and made me want to keep reading, but other parts were slow in my opinion. I wouldn't say this is a page turner, but it was interesting enough for me. I can't say that I would reread at all, but I think it was good enough that I would recommend to others just because I'd like to hear other opinions on this.
I had some other thoughts but I can't even put them into words because I just feel confused lol. Overall, this book was decent but definitely not the best of Jenn Bennett in my opinion.
3 stars
I'm kind of sad about this. Overall this book was definitely enjoyable and I had a nice time with most of it, but it felt like a disappointment. I've loved all of Jenn Bennett's previous YA contemporary books so much, some of them are among my absolute favourites, but this one was a little bit of a letdown.
Other than this being a Jenn Bennett book, this also has tropes I normally absolutely love: childhood best friends to lovers, meeting again in their small hometown after years of being apart. And somehow the excessive amount of drama just overshadowed everything I loved about this.
There's two main things that took away so much from my enjoyment that I felt I couldn't give this more than 3 stars: the over-the-top amount of drama and the gossip, secrecy and lies that this whole story was based on.
I absolutely hate gossip and drawn out lies and secrets that don't need to be there and when I say this story was based on them, I'm probably still understating it. Nothing that happens in this story is not linked to lies and secrets and all of it gets gossiped about and people (including the MC) makes assumptions about things instead of asking the people involved and I just hate all of it.
Then aside from that, I also absolutely hate unnecessary drama. The special thing about these two things, is that when I'm reading a story with so much secrecy, I tend to actually like the drama more than most of the rest of the story (more like I like the rest of the story less than the drama, if I'm being honest), since it usually means the characters are finally opening up and owning up to their lies and we can finally get into wrapping things up and having people be honest to each other.
I was looking forward to that moment in this story as well and it took so long to start up and once it did, it piled on more and more and more, one thing after the other and I was just happy it was almost over.
The romance is still very cute (until the drama, which made sense but wasn't enjoyable) and I love the development and growth of the characters and relationships, as well as the sign-photography, which is the MC's hobby in this story + the boats.
I'm kind of sad about this. Overall this book was definitely enjoyable and I had a nice time with most of it, but it felt like a disappointment. I've loved all of Jenn Bennett's previous YA contemporary books so much, some of them are among my absolute favourites, but this one was a little bit of a letdown.
Other than this being a Jenn Bennett book, this also has tropes I normally absolutely love: childhood best friends to lovers, meeting again in their small hometown after years of being apart. And somehow the excessive amount of drama just overshadowed everything I loved about this.
There's two main things that took away so much from my enjoyment that I felt I couldn't give this more than 3 stars: the over-the-top amount of drama and the gossip, secrecy and lies that this whole story was based on.
I absolutely hate gossip and drawn out lies and secrets that don't need to be there and when I say this story was based on them, I'm probably still understating it. Nothing that happens in this story is not linked to lies and secrets and all of it gets gossiped about and people (including the MC) makes assumptions about things instead of asking the people involved and I just hate all of it.
Then aside from that, I also absolutely hate unnecessary drama. The special thing about these two things, is that when I'm reading a story with so much secrecy, I tend to actually like the drama more than most of the rest of the story (more like I like the rest of the story less than the drama, if I'm being honest), since it usually means the characters are finally opening up and owning up to their lies and we can finally get into wrapping things up and having people be honest to each other.
I was looking forward to that moment in this story as well and it took so long to start up and once it did, it piled on more and more and more, one thing after the other and I was just happy it was almost over.
The romance is still very cute (until the drama, which made sense but wasn't enjoyable) and I love the development and growth of the characters and relationships, as well as the sign-photography, which is the MC's hobby in this story + the boats.
So... Jenn Bennett has become one of my favourite YA contemporary authors? That title may be a little hasty considering this is only my second book of hers, but I love them so much! While I didn't love this one as much as Starry Eyes, I am convinced that she can do no wrong!
Chasing Lucky follows 17 year old Josie St Martin a budding photographer who, after being constantly on the move for the past 5 years, is returning to her hometown Beauty. This abrupt move was spurred on by her Grandmother hastily deciding to go travelling, and needing someone to run her bookshop. Josie decides to just try and keep her head down in Beauty before finally escaping to LA to her famous father. However, things don't go entirely to plan when one night Josie makes a mistake and her former childhood best friend, Lucky, ends up taking the fall.
I loved the setting of this book. Small towns are some of my favourites to read about, and Beauty did not disappoint. It made the whole book have a quiet, small town atmosphere which I really enjoyed. The setting also lent itself to some social commentary about the economic disparity between some of the citizens and how that manifests itself in the local justice and political systems.
I adored the romance between Lucky and Josie. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes- I love the angst, tension and shared history. While I liked Josie, she wasn't as intriguing or developed as Lucky. Lucky was a really loveable character, responsible for a large amount of my investment in the romance and plot. Some of the scenes had me swooning
What else is there to say? This was an immensely enjoyable read that while did nothing exceptional or original, was successful in making me happy for the duration of my reading experience. I doubt this will stick out to me as a particularly memorable read even a few months from now, but it served its purpose and it did it well!
I would recommend this if you have loved Jenn Bennett's books in the past, or are in the mood for a cute, fluffy YA romance!
Thank you to Simon Pulse for this ARC
Release Date: 5 May 2020 (Pushed back to 10 November 2020)
Chasing Lucky follows 17 year old Josie St Martin a budding photographer who, after being constantly on the move for the past 5 years, is returning to her hometown Beauty. This abrupt move was spurred on by her Grandmother hastily deciding to go travelling, and needing someone to run her bookshop. Josie decides to just try and keep her head down in Beauty before finally escaping to LA to her famous father. However, things don't go entirely to plan when one night Josie makes a mistake and her former childhood best friend, Lucky, ends up taking the fall.
I loved the setting of this book. Small towns are some of my favourites to read about, and Beauty did not disappoint. It made the whole book have a quiet, small town atmosphere which I really enjoyed. The setting also lent itself to some social commentary about the economic disparity between some of the citizens and how that manifests itself in the local justice and political systems.
I adored the romance between Lucky and Josie. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes- I love the angst, tension and shared history. While I liked Josie, she wasn't as intriguing or developed as Lucky. Lucky was a really loveable character, responsible for a large amount of my investment in the romance and plot. Some of the scenes had me swooning
What else is there to say? This was an immensely enjoyable read that while did nothing exceptional or original, was successful in making me happy for the duration of my reading experience. I doubt this will stick out to me as a particularly memorable read even a few months from now, but it served its purpose and it did it well!
I would recommend this if you have loved Jenn Bennett's books in the past, or are in the mood for a cute, fluffy YA romance!
Thank you to Simon Pulse for this ARC
Release Date: 5 May 2020 (Pushed back to 10 November 2020)