Are you the kind of person who finishes a book once you’ve begun? Or are you perfectly happy abandoning a book that doesn’t work for you?
I’m usually the second, but I’m so glad I stuck with The Lucky List!
Two chapters in, and I was not invested in the story. Teenage girl, isolated from her group of friends because she did something unforgivable to her boyfriend … it didn’t seem like the story would engage me. But it was a light, easy read, so I persevered. And I loved the way the story played out.
Emily feels anything but lucky. Her mother is dead. Her father seems set on starting afresh, which means getting rid of everything to do with the wife he loved. Emily’s best friend Kiera is away at camp. And none of her other friends wants anything to do with her.
When Blake, a childhood friend, moves to Huckabee, Emily is both hopeful and despondent. Hopeful because at least one person doesn’t know what she did to make her friends mad. Despondent because in a place like Huckabee, Blake will find out soon enough.
Yet, as the summer goes on, it seems as if Blake is willing to give Emily a chance, no matter what she did. When Emily discovers a list her mother made for “an invincible summer”, the girls decide that Emily should check off everything on the list too. Emily embarks on twelve adventures, and as she gives in to her adventurous self, she discovers more about her mother, about Blake, and most importantly, about herself.
Although several details were predictable, The Lucky List is a beautiful exploration of the journey to self-discovery. I love the complexity of Emily’s emotions. How do we honour and preserve the memory of someone who meant the world to us? How do we know what we want? Can we balance what we want with what we think someone we loved would have wanted?
With Blake, Emily begins to understand what makes her act in particular ways. She dithers between bravery and comfort. Must she leave her comfort zone? What if confessing to everything she feels is akin to jumping off a cliff? But then, jumping off a cliff and into the water with Blake was such a grand experience! What if that is exactly what she needs?
An emotional young adult book about finding oneself, what I loved about The Lucky List is the authenticity of tone. Sometimes, we know what we want, and what we should do. But even then, we can’t find in ourselves the courage to chase it because it means breaking all the images we’ve built of ourselves—for ourselves and for everyone else. I loved that The Lucky List made me cry. I stopped reading to rejoice with Emily when she embraces what she is. It is a lovely book whose million moods stayed with me long after I’d finished reading the story.
| Title | The Lucky List |
| Author | Rachael Lippincott |
| Tags | Young Adult, Sapphic |
| Rating (out of 5) | 4.5 |
| Ages | 13+ |
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