Scan barcode
jenipie's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lola425's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the story, felt that Dawson created a believable voice and also captured the setting/time period as well. That said, I didn't really end up rooting for Queenie.
khchristensen's review against another edition
2.0
Meh...this started with a lot of promise but I got so bored by the end. Queenie is a decently likable character but everyone else is terrible.
yench's review against another edition
2.0
A very depressing and slow at times, yet somehow still a fascinating read... Had a hard time deciding on a rating for this one, but settled on two stars looking at the stack of books on the bedside table that I think I would have rather been reading.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about Lucky Bunny. The concept is great and the book cover is beautiful (yes, I like good book cover), but I can't say that I enjoyed this as a read. Maybe I'm shallow, but the pacing of this was just too slow for my current need. You know how that is, right? Sometimes only a fast-paced novel will do.
Lucky Bunny tells the story of Queenie Dove, a woman who turns to crime for her survival in post-WWII London. I wish I'd liked Queenie more, although from a writing perspective she does embody the concept of the unreliable narrator. While trying earnestly to turn her life into one of glamour and derring-do, one can't be sure of the truth of anything she says and I left the book wondering what really happened and how Queenie (not her real name, by the way) really felt about anything. I couldn't sort out for myself whether or not to like her because I was never sure who I might like or dislike in her and this became a problem for me as a reader.
Lucky Bunny straddles the lines between historical fiction, women's fiction, and crime fiction, but doesn't settle comfortably anywhere. This disconnectedness added to the disconnectedness I felt from its main character left me feeling disconnected from the entire book. A decent read, but not a great one.
Lucky Bunny tells the story of Queenie Dove, a woman who turns to crime for her survival in post-WWII London. I wish I'd liked Queenie more, although from a writing perspective she does embody the concept of the unreliable narrator. While trying earnestly to turn her life into one of glamour and derring-do, one can't be sure of the truth of anything she says and I left the book wondering what really happened and how Queenie (not her real name, by the way) really felt about anything. I couldn't sort out for myself whether or not to like her because I was never sure who I might like or dislike in her and this became a problem for me as a reader.
Lucky Bunny straddles the lines between historical fiction, women's fiction, and crime fiction, but doesn't settle comfortably anywhere. This disconnectedness added to the disconnectedness I felt from its main character left me feeling disconnected from the entire book. A decent read, but not a great one.
emmkayt's review
4.0
Jill Dawson gives narrator Queenie Dove such a vivid, rollicking voice - this one just rolls along on the strength of it. I really enjoyed this, and I loved her optimism, resourcefulness, and sharp observations. Good story.
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, which is surprising because it has a current of domestic abuse which I really can't take because I'm such a weenie, but, ohemgee, I adored our anti-heroine/narrator, Queenie Dove.
Literally, from the first line, I was in love. Dawson's writing style -- casual, sharp, very Queenie -- is in present tense first person, but it so works for this story. Clever Queenie is cocky, arrogant, sure of herself -- and with good reason -- and the writing style has as much personality as Queenie does. It made the story bounce and race and gripped me.
This isn't a World War II novel, (the novel goes through 1930s to the 1960s), although Queenie was born in 1933 and experiences some of the most horrifying aspects of WWII London. (In addition to the other generally horrifying parts of her life!)
Born into squalor with an inattentive mother (that's being polite) and a criminal father, Queenie learns quickly what she needs to do to survive -- and not just that, but thrive. Caring for her beloved younger brother Bobby (who is 'a few currants short of a teacake', according to their Nan), they're sent to the country with the other London children -- until Queenie decides that isn't in their best interest and wrangles herself and Bobby back into London. They survive the horror of the Bethnal Green Tube disaster (a claustrophobic part of the book that made me race to the front porch for fresh air) only to face more hardship -- which Queenie is determined to overcome.
During the Blitz, Queenie learns to be a thief, and she quickly proves herself the master of it. Embraced and cared for by a circle of other female thieves and prostitutes, Queen -- and Dawson - revealed a world unfamiliar to me, the glamor, seediness, and grasping need of post-war London. She finds some measure of sexual satisfaction in Tony, handsome and dangerous, but has to decide what sacrifices to make for herself -- and eventually, her daughter.
I suppose Queenie could be unlikable -- she's a criminal, and probably a bit of a liar -- but I was in love with her brash, vivacious, and unapologetic zest for survival. This was the only book that could help me ignore the drama of Hurricane Sandy: once I had Queenie in mind, I couldn't shake her!
Literally, from the first line, I was in love. Dawson's writing style -- casual, sharp, very Queenie -- is in present tense first person, but it so works for this story. Clever Queenie is cocky, arrogant, sure of herself -- and with good reason -- and the writing style has as much personality as Queenie does. It made the story bounce and race and gripped me.
This isn't a World War II novel, (the novel goes through 1930s to the 1960s), although Queenie was born in 1933 and experiences some of the most horrifying aspects of WWII London. (In addition to the other generally horrifying parts of her life!)
Born into squalor with an inattentive mother (that's being polite) and a criminal father, Queenie learns quickly what she needs to do to survive -- and not just that, but thrive. Caring for her beloved younger brother Bobby (who is 'a few currants short of a teacake', according to their Nan), they're sent to the country with the other London children -- until Queenie decides that isn't in their best interest and wrangles herself and Bobby back into London. They survive the horror of the Bethnal Green Tube disaster (a claustrophobic part of the book that made me race to the front porch for fresh air) only to face more hardship -- which Queenie is determined to overcome.
During the Blitz, Queenie learns to be a thief, and she quickly proves herself the master of it. Embraced and cared for by a circle of other female thieves and prostitutes, Queen -- and Dawson - revealed a world unfamiliar to me, the glamor, seediness, and grasping need of post-war London. She finds some measure of sexual satisfaction in Tony, handsome and dangerous, but has to decide what sacrifices to make for herself -- and eventually, her daughter.
I suppose Queenie could be unlikable -- she's a criminal, and probably a bit of a liar -- but I was in love with her brash, vivacious, and unapologetic zest for survival. This was the only book that could help me ignore the drama of Hurricane Sandy: once I had Queenie in mind, I couldn't shake her!
micrummey's review
4.0
Jill Dawson has a knack of writing engaging fiction based on real events and or people. In this we follow Queenie born in 1933 in the east end of London. How she gets into crime, and becomes involved in one of the UK's most notorious criminal escapades.Not only that but the disaster at Bethnal Green Tube Station during the second world war is covered which has a devastating effect on Queenie's young life.
Told in the first person present because of Queenie's criminal activities you begin to question how much of a reliable witness is she.
This is not the first time I have read this book and despite knowing the twist at the end it was still great to read that aspect of the novel again.
Told in the first person present because of Queenie's criminal activities you begin to question how much of a reliable witness is she.
This is not the first time I have read this book and despite knowing the twist at the end it was still great to read that aspect of the novel again.
reader_fictions's review
1.0
I went into this novel with such high hopes. Audra of Unabridged Chick loved it, and I typically find that I agree with her on books. Unfortunately, my experience of this one was quite different, partly, I think, because of my prior reading history and because of the way the book was billed. For me, this book was slow and torturous, the characters utterly loathsome.
Your enjoyment of this book will likely hinge on how you feel about Queenie Dove. If you find her clever, cool and alluring, then everything will be copacetic. If, like me, you find her obnoxious and really don't care what happens to her, the book will drag on seemingly endlessly. In part, my distaste stemmed from her name, as I read another book with a Queenie at the lead earlier this year: Code Name Verity. That Queenie has so much personality, strength, intelligence and charisma that this one paled in comparison.
My other problem with regards to expectation was that I thought this was a novel about World War II. It's mentioned in the blurb and on the back of the book it's described as "a world war II-era narrative," which may technically be true, but is quite misleading. World War II doesn't matter too much in Queenie's life, though she lives through it. She was evacuated briefly toe the country and survived one tragic bombing, but that's pretty much the extent of it.
Of course, had I read the synopsis more closely, I would have noted what the book is actually about: hoisting, theft, in so much as it is about anything. You see, this book doesn't have a plot. AT ALL. I have liked plotless books in the past, because if the writing and ideas and characters are marvelous than I don't need a plot to pull me through to the end of the book. Without it in this instance, it was a struggle to get to the last page. I had similar difficulties with David Copperfield, another fictional biography. Perhaps that subset of fiction is not for me.
I will say that the book improved when Queenie got older. The first 150 pages or so, though, were so entirely boring to me. A large portion of the book is devoted to Queenie's tragic childhood, I guess to promote sympathy in me and make me care about her. Well, that didn't work. Yes, her life sucked (gambler dad, insane mother, etc.), but I still found Queenie off-putting.
Precisely why I disliked Queenie so much, aside from expecting her to be like that other literary Queenie, is a bit hard to place my finger on. I suspect that lies in her narrative style. The book is written in a style that simply didn't work for me, filled with odd slang and long sentences. I read a little selection of it to my parents, who found it pompous and said it sounded like she was 'trying too hard.' The cadence of the sentences just didn't come off particularly naturally. With a really good narrator, though, I imagine this could be a marvelous audiobook.
As much as there was one, the main conflict of the book regarded domestic abuse. Like her mother before her, Queenie settles down with a man who beats her. He first hits her in public and not just once, yet she stays. In the narrative, she considers how much other people blame the abused woman for allowing the abuse, for staying; she calls this victim blaming. She has a point, of course, but I still feel wholeheartedly that she should have kicked him to the curb the first time he slapped her.
Undoubtedly this book will work for others and I urge you to check out other reviews for another viewpoint. The whole book just rubbed me the wrong way.
Your enjoyment of this book will likely hinge on how you feel about Queenie Dove. If you find her clever, cool and alluring, then everything will be copacetic. If, like me, you find her obnoxious and really don't care what happens to her, the book will drag on seemingly endlessly. In part, my distaste stemmed from her name, as I read another book with a Queenie at the lead earlier this year: Code Name Verity. That Queenie has so much personality, strength, intelligence and charisma that this one paled in comparison.
My other problem with regards to expectation was that I thought this was a novel about World War II. It's mentioned in the blurb and on the back of the book it's described as "a world war II-era narrative," which may technically be true, but is quite misleading. World War II doesn't matter too much in Queenie's life, though she lives through it. She was evacuated briefly toe the country and survived one tragic bombing, but that's pretty much the extent of it.
Of course, had I read the synopsis more closely, I would have noted what the book is actually about: hoisting, theft, in so much as it is about anything. You see, this book doesn't have a plot. AT ALL. I have liked plotless books in the past, because if the writing and ideas and characters are marvelous than I don't need a plot to pull me through to the end of the book. Without it in this instance, it was a struggle to get to the last page. I had similar difficulties with David Copperfield, another fictional biography. Perhaps that subset of fiction is not for me.
I will say that the book improved when Queenie got older. The first 150 pages or so, though, were so entirely boring to me. A large portion of the book is devoted to Queenie's tragic childhood, I guess to promote sympathy in me and make me care about her. Well, that didn't work. Yes, her life sucked (gambler dad, insane mother, etc.), but I still found Queenie off-putting.
Precisely why I disliked Queenie so much, aside from expecting her to be like that other literary Queenie, is a bit hard to place my finger on. I suspect that lies in her narrative style. The book is written in a style that simply didn't work for me, filled with odd slang and long sentences. I read a little selection of it to my parents, who found it pompous and said it sounded like she was 'trying too hard.' The cadence of the sentences just didn't come off particularly naturally. With a really good narrator, though, I imagine this could be a marvelous audiobook.
As much as there was one, the main conflict of the book regarded domestic abuse. Like her mother before her, Queenie settles down with a man who beats her. He first hits her in public and not just once, yet she stays. In the narrative, she considers how much other people blame the abused woman for allowing the abuse, for staying; she calls this victim blaming. She has a point, of course, but I still feel wholeheartedly that she should have kicked him to the curb the first time he slapped her.
Undoubtedly this book will work for others and I urge you to check out other reviews for another viewpoint. The whole book just rubbed me the wrong way.
More...