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mirroredpages 's review for:
Lucky in Love
by Kasie West
It took me three days to read this, and though that might not seem like a long time, it is for me when it comes to Kasie West books. I can usually speed through them in about a day because they're pretty short and fun to read; but this book and I just did not click. I'm still trying to puzzle through what I'm feeling so let's break it down.
What I did like: Seth. Interactions with Seth. Yeah, basically just Seth. I know some people found Seth a bit of a cutout, but I personally liked him and he seemed like a pretty typical Kasie West love interest. I liked that we finally finally finally had an Asian male love interest, like thank the heavens, it finally happened. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some problems with the character as well. While West did address some issues with race, I would love to see her address them a little more head-on instead of just sticking them into the book and not really discussing them beyond the typical "racism sucks, they shouldn't treat you like that" spiel. In terms of the character himself, I think he actually had some personality but I think that the Asian part of him was a little bit like a cutout of any Asian person. Speaking as a second generation Asian myself, the whole parent expectations thing is a big part of our lives, but it isn't the only part of our lives. There are other wonderful things that make people Asian and I would love for West to expand on that with other characters and cultures in future. I know it looks like I hated the Asian character in this book, but I really didn't. Did it not do full justice to my own culture? Yes. But is it nice to see some representation, that doesn't follow a negative stereotype, even if it isn't completely perfect? Hell yes. It's all about baby steps, people.
Okay, moving onto what I didn't like: basically everything else. Maddie is a goodie two shoes character, and that's fine, I am one too, but once she wins the lottery, she is suddenly this super rebellious teenager buying fancy cars and throwing crazy parties. I know money changes people, but before this life changing event happened she was so focused on school and suddenly university becomes an after thought? Doesn't seem realistic to me. I get that most teenagers would spend ludicrous amounts of money after winning it, but I just can't relate to that because that's not how I would act so maybe that's what contributes to my exasperation with Maddie's character. She also is so incredibly annoying. Let me give you an example:
What I did like: Seth. Interactions with Seth. Yeah, basically just Seth. I know some people found Seth a bit of a cutout, but I personally liked him and he seemed like a pretty typical Kasie West love interest. I liked that we finally finally finally had an Asian male love interest, like thank the heavens, it finally happened. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some problems with the character as well. While West did address some issues with race, I would love to see her address them a little more head-on instead of just sticking them into the book and not really discussing them beyond the typical "racism sucks, they shouldn't treat you like that" spiel. In terms of the character himself, I think he actually had some personality but I think that the Asian part of him was a little bit like a cutout of any Asian person. Speaking as a second generation Asian myself, the whole parent expectations thing is a big part of our lives, but it isn't the only part of our lives. There are other wonderful things that make people Asian and I would love for West to expand on that with other characters and cultures in future. I know it looks like I hated the Asian character in this book, but I really didn't. Did it not do full justice to my own culture? Yes. But is it nice to see some representation, that doesn't follow a negative stereotype, even if it isn't completely perfect? Hell yes. It's all about baby steps, people.
Okay, moving onto what I didn't like: basically everything else. Maddie is a goodie two shoes character, and that's fine, I am one too, but once she wins the lottery, she is suddenly this super rebellious teenager buying fancy cars and throwing crazy parties. I know money changes people, but before this life changing event happened she was so focused on school and suddenly university becomes an after thought? Doesn't seem realistic to me. I get that most teenagers would spend ludicrous amounts of money after winning it, but I just can't relate to that because that's not how I would act so maybe that's what contributes to my exasperation with Maddie's character. She also is so incredibly annoying. Let me give you an example:
"Maddie," she said like we spoke all the time. "I hear you're throwing a party."
"What? Who said that?" I asked.
"When someone wins the lottery, they throw a party."
I laughed. "You know a lot of lottery winners?"
"Yes. I know one." She pointed to me. "And she's going to throw a party."
The reasonable answer after this is to say no, right? Like just because someone you don't even know comes up to you and tells you to throw a party, doesn't mean you do right? Wrong. Talk about peer pressure; and she drops over twenty two thousand dollars on this party. I really just wanted to stop the book right there. It was completely preposterous. And Maddie just keeps "helping" everyone around her and doesn't seem to even know the word no. It was so insanely irritating.
The other major issue for me was side characters. Maddie's friends were so boring and one dimensional. They didn't have that much character and could basically be summed up by the thing that they obsessed about. For example, Blaire, Maddie's best friend, would basically only talk about studying and Standford. They added basically nothing to the story and didn't help to develop the relationships that Maddie had. Maddie's family was also a mess. Usually West does family issues well and let's us really see what it is like inside the family life. This time it was just in massive disarray. There was also no real ending or solution to the family problems, we're left hanging as if everything will just right itself on it's own.
Overall, if you couldn't tell, I was really not impressed by this book and quite disappointed. This is not one of West's finer showings and if you're interested in checking out her work I highly recommend trying On the Fence, By Your Side, or P.S. I Like You instead, which display Kasie West's talent for producing cute and fun contemporaries much better.