goodstrongwords's reviews
94 reviews

I really, really wanted to love this. It has so much Promise (pun slightly intended) and some really fantastic themes and ideas. I was so on board from the opening chapters: Lucky was an interesting protagonist dealing with the effects of incarceration on his mental wellbeing. By twists of fate he ends up escaping, being forced to face is agoraphobia and given the chance to find the truth about his mother's death, alongside a man to whom he is curiously but inextricably linked. Sounds great! 

The problem lies with the pace of this story. Things happen far too quickly. Events are tangled and convoluted and presented in a barrage of information with near-immediate resolution, there are enough Events here for a duology or trilogy jammed into one book. Characters 'develop' with a snap change rather than something we get to experience on the page. It's too much, too fast. 

This already has some fab early reviews on Goodreads, so as with everything this is a case of personal reading preference. I so wanted to love Lucky and his story so for the right reader this could be an absolute hit. 

a pretty good novella that i wish was a novel - plenty of yearning and vengeance but i'd have liked to have been shown a bit more development of the relationships to justify said yearning and vengeance 

staying up past my bedtime to finish a jacqueline wilson novel is an incredibly healing experience

not perfect, but perfectly nostalgic and i loved it. i'll maybe write a review when it isn't 2am on a school work night

it is possible to forgive too quickly..... men are trash ellie you don't need him 

girls WHAT are you doing!!! you are too young to be fraternising with boys alone!!!

the jacqueline wilson effect is not realising quite how dark a story goes until you're rereading it as a fully fledged adult