jellybeyreads reviewed Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Review of 'Luckiest Girl Alive' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Perfect beach read which turned out to be more culturally thoughtful than I anticipated.
English language
Luckiest Girl Alive
3 stars
(6 reviews)
HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.
As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.
With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.
The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, …
HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.
As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.
With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.
The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?
pithypants reviewed Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Review of 'Luckiest Girl Alive' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This book is a bit of a disaster in the beginning and in the end, but the middle is where it hooks you.
The beginning is bad because the author takes such pains to establish how well constructed the protagonist's life is that it's like listening to a shallow, money-obsessed person name drop all the brands filling her closet. Had this not been our book club book, I would've abandoned it. Things pick up in the middle, however, when she flashes back to the events that shaped this character as she tried to blend at a private high school on the Main Line.
I think the author chose the wrong backdrop (the main character's impending wedding) for the story, because the set-up and wrap-up (both wedding-lated in the present time) felt forced. None of the characters in this book was really sympathetic, which I think was the big problem. The …
This book is a bit of a disaster in the beginning and in the end, but the middle is where it hooks you.
The beginning is bad because the author takes such pains to establish how well constructed the protagonist's life is that it's like listening to a shallow, money-obsessed person name drop all the brands filling her closet. Had this not been our book club book, I would've abandoned it. Things pick up in the middle, however, when she flashes back to the events that shaped this character as she tried to blend at a private high school on the Main Line.
I think the author chose the wrong backdrop (the main character's impending wedding) for the story, because the set-up and wrap-up (both wedding-lated in the present time) felt forced. None of the characters in this book was really sympathetic, which I think was the big problem. The moments when it actually hooked me were those when the main character, TifAni, was vulnerable. Sadly, those were a bit too sparse.
Also - the author should be punished for naming a character so stupidly and obviously: TifAni FaNeli. Really? Could've saved time by just saying, "She was from a trashy, aspiring Italian family..."
