Review: If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz

Summary:

When seventeen-year-old Georgia’s brother drowns while surfing halfway around the world in Australia, she refuses to believe Lucky’s death was just bad luck. Lucky was smart. He wouldn’t have surfed in waters more dangerous than he could handle. Then a stranger named Fin arrives in False Bay, claiming to have been Lucky’s best friend. Soon Fin is working for Lucky’s father, charming Lucky’s mother, dating his girlfriend. Georgia begins to wonder: did Fin murder Lucky in order to take over his whole life?

Determined to clear the fog from her mind in order to uncover the truth about Lucky’s death, Georgia secretly stops taking the medication that keeps away the voices in her head. Georgia is certain she’s getting closer and closer to the truth about Fin, but as she does, her mental state becomes more and more precarious, and no one seems to trust what she’s saying.

As the chilling narrative unfolds, the reader must decide whether Georgia’s descent into madness is causing her to see things that don’t exist–or to see a deadly truth that no one else can.

Publication Date: October 20, 2015

If You’re Lucky surprised me in several ways. I thought I knew where the plot was going, but the author took it in a completely different direction. It wasn’t the story I wanted per se, but I did end up liking the book and found myself eager to finish Georgia’s story.

I thought the author did a good job of telling the story from Georgia’s point of view. We learn early on that she is suffering from a serious mental illness, so it was quite difficult to figure out what parts of her account was real and not. I actually think Georgia’s struggles in therapy and the trials of finding the right combination of medication was the strongest aspect of the novel.

Georgia’s grief was another part of the story that strengthened my connection to her character. Her medication prevents her from feeling too much and she laments over her inability to grieve. Her trying to come to terms with losing the brother she loved so much was heartbreaking.

The mysteries surrounding Fin was just okay for me. He definitely came off as creepy, but I never felt enough menace about his character. I’m assuming my indifference about him came from the author wanting the readers to figure out on their own whether or not Fin is a bad guy. But it also had the effect of taking away from the overall suspense of the story.

I did like If You’re Lucky and I would recommend the novel to fans of contemporary and realistic YA fiction.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!