[Review] Lucky in Love - Kasie West

Summary: Maddie's not impulsive. She's all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment -- She wins! In a flash, Maddie's life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she's talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun... until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now, Maddie isn't sure who she can trust. Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn't seem aware of Maddie's big news. And, for some reason, she doesn't want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret? With tons of humor and heart, Kasie West delivers a million-dollar tale of winning, losing, and falling in love. (Pub Date: Jul 25, 2017)


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. I also want to thank the publisher for giving me this opportunity.

I confess Kasie West has disappointed me. I did enjoy the book because it was written by her and the final quarter was nice and cute but I can't say I recommend it.

Maddie knows the odds of winning the lottery are much smaller than getting hit by a lightning. But when her careful plans fall through right on her birthday, she decides to spend the last of her pocket money on a ticket. Only to find out later she did happen to win. Unfortunately, her luck seems about to change for the worse thanks to her recent acquired status as the new rich girl at school. Who can she trust now besides Seth, the only person who doesn't seem to know the big news yet?

To be honest, Maddie, Seth and even her friends were nice characters. My problem was with the plot because it follows the typical cautionary tale path. Isn't that boring? Even more than your usual cliché, I felt aggravated every time I knew Maddie was getting herself into trouble. Especially when she is a smart girl! Couldn't she have beaten the odds on that as well and think twice for a moment?

Those feelings of knowing what was coming and not liking it a tiny bit got in the way of enjoying the story. I think that's worse than when it's simply predictable. I don't mind predictable, to be honest.

As in all stories by West, the dialogues are great, on the other hand. I also liked how real each character felt. The brother faced real problems, the friends presented real reactions, character committed believable mistakes. It's such a pity the main plot made me just too anxious to enjoy that.

Also, the last quarter, as mentioned, made for a good conclusion. Finally, things stopped going as we could all have predicted and avoided. It's not as much for me to call a big plot twist but I really liked the feeling those developments gave me. I have commented before on how I think West needs to write better endings, and I'm glad this is the second book in a row that the ending was actually the best part.


I love Kasie West, I could even say she's been my favorite YA author lately. I looked forward tot his book for months and months. It could have been better but I confess I still liked how it made me feel even while reading. West's writing really is something else, even if her books haven't been as good.

I don't recommend it as your first book by her; go get any of the others, I don't want you disappointed and missing on so many nice YA books. If you're already a fan, lower your expectation but you don't really have to skip this.

Rating: 3 out of 5.