Rachel Edwards (1)

I selected this book for the Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge. It's a psychological thriller that takes place in Britain just after the Brexit vote. Teenager Lola's father Thomas Waite has taken up with a black woman named Darling White and proposed marriage to her only three months after their initial meeting. Both Thomas and Darling are single parents. Lola and Darling dislike each other big time. Although happy in her new relationship, Darling is burdened by her five year old son Stevie's illness. He has Duchenne Muscular Distrophy, a severe muscle weakness disease, which will cut his life short. Thomas is confused by Darling's behavior. She frequently receives phone calls that she refuses to answer and appears to have a shadowy past. Lola cannot stand her Caribbean cooking and will do anything to destroy the marriage in order to get Darling out of her life.

The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Lola and Darling. I was somewhat confused on and off throughout the story because of the excessive use slang terminology that the author used. Lola's chapters in particular were unreadable. For example, in the beginning of the story there were six consecutive pages that I did not understand at all. Perhaps my British friends will understand all the slang. The book is mainly about Lola and Darling's characters. Once Thomas married Darling he was pretty much out of the picture. This seemed odd.

This book was advertised as a psychological thriller. A thriller it isn't, although the prologue was exciting. The prologue kept me reading because I wanted to know who was killed and by whom. However, the book was a big miss for me.… (mehr)

What would you risk for the life you want? For the man you want? Etta’s boyfriend insisted they could not marry until they had $30,000 saved up for a down payment on a house. Etta can’t wait another year. An advertisement for online gambling catches her eye. It was worth a try. They offer free money to start with, after all. What could she lose?

Etta is drawn into a rabbit’s hole of hope and despair as she wins and loses, tapping into the savings and borrowing money at high interest. Trapped in a prison of her own making, she desperately bets on one more chance–a friend from the gambling chat group who has just won big. Perhaps he would help her get out of the hole. Will Etta lose everything?

I have never bought a lottery ticket. Gambling has no attraction for me. But I have known those who loved to gamble and could not step away, whose idea of a vacation was to go to Vegas. Lucky takes us into the mindset of a woman who becomes entrapped by online gambling the lure of easy money. The highs and lows of winning and losing, the inability to think of anything else, how it separates people from their loved ones. It is terrifying.

Etta is a complicated, well drawn character. Her backstory of her life in Jamaica and as an immigrant to Britain adds a richer layer to the story. She tries to help a friend whose mother is threatened by deportation after fifty years as a productive citizen. Etta volunteers at a nonprofit that offers information and assistance. Her coworker and neighbor demonstrates anti-immigrant behavior.

Lucky is a page-turner suspense novel, a good ‘summer read’ that I read in two sittings. But those who enjoy character-driven novels will also be pleased with this one.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.… (mehr)