User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I really enjoy Jenn Bennett! My only thing is sometimes I think she drags out her stories a litttttle too much just for my personal tastes. But this was another great book by her. It's definitely not my favourite, I'd say I enjoyed it maybe a little bit more than Starry Eyes which is my least favourite of hers (but still a good read too). This time we're following a budding photographer who provides a really realistically flawed main character. You get to see her make mistakes and learn from it and move on past it. She has a rocky relationship with her mother which was interesting to explore. She has a second chance romance situation with her childhood best friend Lucky. Lucky is the town bad boy, but she kind of questions the legitimacy of that reputation. This was a particularly slower slow burn with their friendship blossoming into romance and then the romance kind of had a fade to black quality. There were some cute moments but they had great chemistry so I would've liked a bit more. There's a lot of talk of sex positivity in here too which was nice to see. I felt transported to this little seaside New England town. There was a fair amount of drama that kept the story going, family and town drama particularly. I also wish we'd gotten to see more of Josie's cousin Evie. She was in the story a fair bit but I was really intrigued by her as a character and hated that we only really got to see her in relation to Adrian her terrible ex/boyfriend. Overall I enjoyed this! Not my favourite but a solid contemporary.
Rating: really liked it
I.LOVE. IT. SO.MUCH.
I cannot help myself. I keep dancing, my heart is singing, I’m head over heels for these sweetest characters, hooking story-telling, love at first side charm of Beauty. This book makes you feel like you just recently chased your lucky stars and makes your heart pound faster.
Winona and Josie have no idea when they take their first steps to their hometown they’d left five years ago, they just entered to the highway to hell. Even I could hear AC/DC’s blaring lyrics as a threat. They came to take over Josie’s grandmother’s bookstore. The very same grandmother, her mother had a terrible fight and made them leave the town in the middle of the night. Josie still regrets to leave the place without saying goodbye her boy, her only real friend Lucky Karras who just survived from the terrifying fire accident.
And guess what, as soon as they enter the bookstore, Josie bumps into him. But his friend has completely changed, giving her deadly glares, not talking to him, turned into a bad boy, trouble maker, loner, outsider.
Josie resents her hostility and the worst part is the entire town people, her new school friends keep whispering behind her.
She wants a new life, clean slate and getting away from her impulsive, unpredictable, eccentric mother who prefers to hide behind her emotional walls. ( Her flirty, dysfunctional relationships with men reminded me of Gillian Anderson’s character at “Sex Education” but if this book adapted into a movie my candidate to play her is absolutely Winona Ryder!) She wants to concentrate her photographing, patching things up with her father who is also famous photographer, moving to LA for becoming his apprentice. So she has a plan, only a year to endure in this gossipy hell and then one way ticket to the West Coast! But…. When she decides to join a house party with her cousin and bumps into Lucky one more time… Let’s say the night turns into a nightmare and Josie finds herself reconnected with Lucky AGAIN! And she owes him so big, this time!
As soon as Josie rediscovers her best friend, she finds herself to question her own life, realities and her dreams. She finally realizes that she missed her friend and Lucky is someone more than a friend for her. But does chasing Lucky mean she lose her luck for her future dreams and make things worse for two of them? As like William Faulkner said: “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore!”
OVERALL: Story-telling-mesmerizing, captivating, 5 million “awwwww” and 4 billion sighs worthy!
Characters: Sweet, lovely, heart melting.
Pacing: Unputdownable, you never want it end sooner.
Ending: Satisfying, puts an ear to ear smile on your face and warms your heart.
RESULT: Of course five swoony, soft, sweet, romantic, emotional stars.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon&Schuster/ Simon Pulse to share this amazing book on the NetGalley website so entire book lovers can enjoy this ARC COPY!
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Rating: really liked it
lately, ive been feeling waayyyy too old for YA contemporary. theres just been some disconnect that hasnt been there before, so its a relief that JBs stories never fail to deliver.
it could also be that this particular book has so many of my favourite tropes - childhood best friends to lovers, a small town setting, a bad boy with a soft heart, and bookstore quaintness. all of these things have definitely made this one of my favourite JB stories.
this is classic JB - important, heavy topics about coming of age told with a lighthearted, sweet warmth. its perfect for those not quite ready to let go of that summer feeling.
thank you so much to simon pulse for the ARC!↠ 4 stars
Rating: really liked it
Me: I'm so sick of the stereotypical YA bad boy with his leather jacket, motorcycle, sarcasm and tragic past
Jenn Bennett: May I introduce to you Lucky Karras!!
Me: I've changed my mind
For the last five years Josie Saint-Martin has been living with her single mom going from town to town in New England. Now Josie and her mom are returning to their hometown, Beauty, to run the family bookstore while her grandmother is away. Josie knows that it's only a matter of time before her grandmother returns and she and her mom have to move on to a new town.
Josie has a plan to go west and live in Malibu with her famous photographer father in hopes of having the stable family she always wanted. She has no time for getting attached or putting down roots in Beauty. But that all changes one night when she lands herself in serious trouble and the town bad boy, which happens to be her former best friend, takes the blame for her.
Chasing Lucky reminded me why I love Jenn Bennett's books. She writes stories that are easy to fall into. With loveable and interesting characters, and a plot that keeps you hooked!
Chasing Lucky had all that.
Best-friends-to-lovers is an underrated trope and deserves more love. Josie and Lucky's were lovely to read about. I also really liked Josie's cousin Evie. Josie's family seem interesting and I wouldn't mind if Bennett decides to write another book featuring all of them.
The only thing I wish Bennett could have done better was the ending of Evie's story line. While I loved that she included a toxic relationship and showed how easy it is to be trapped in one, it felt a bit unfinished and hastily wrapped up.
This is an easy summer read, featuring classic YA tropes but I loved that the author wrote it in a way that wasn't super cringy and left me feeling happy.
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Buddy reading with Warda
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Me: *Sees mysterious Jenn Bennett book*
Me: *clicks
want to read before I get to Bennett*
I'm a simple girl.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 ⭐️
Stories written by Jenn Bennett make me so happy. And make me feel so much.
What can I say other than I loved it and I know it will be reread and that sums up how I feel about this book?
Thanks to Simon and Shuster Children’s UK for gifting me with a copy of this book.———————
Buzzword: Jenn Bennett.
Rating: really liked it
ARC provided by the publisher via EdelweissI think this was very much the perfect story for me right now at this time. Hopefully a longer review to come before release! <3
Content and Trigger Warnings for talk of loss of a loved one, the sharing of personal photos without consent, abandonment, homelessness, talk of abortion briefly, driving under the influence (the bad guy, and in a negative light), talk of trauma, talk and depiction of depression, talk of grooming (college teacher and student relationship) in the past, and mention of a low-level panic attack.
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Buddy read with Isabella & Maëlys! ❤
Rating: really liked it
3.75 StarsThis was messy and complicated, but in all the best ways possible. It was also full of YA clichés and tropes that I freakin’ adored, so no problemo.
Loved the quaint, beachy, harbor-ish setting. Every single place and scene in this book was first date worthy and instagramable. Seriously they were places you’d wanna go and activities you’d wanna do on a date or with friends. The antique bookshop, the sightseeing and photography, the boat/yatch, the beach, the lighthouse. It was paradise.
Loved the friendship and family dynamics even though I think the squabble between Josie and her cousin could’ve been handled better instead of being sort of
compressed. I also wish there’d been a bigger argument going down between Josie and her mom. LOL. I mean, they bottled up a lot of mixed feelings and emotions over the years, so it was only fair.
The childhood best friends to lovers romance was cheff’s kiss. Lucky was the perfect bad boy hero with lots of hidden soft sides. Him and Josie were everything you imagined a first love to be. Unfortunately, Josie screwed up. That little drama at the end was one I didn’t need and like. It was also one that I don’t think Josie gave a good enough of a grovel to make up for.
That said, this was a solid 4 stars up until that fight at the end. Now, I’m still giving it four stars but begrudgingly and with a little side eye directed towards Josie.
(Read as an Audiobook)
Rating: really liked it
4 stars
I love Jenn Bennett’s YA books and
Chasing Lucky was another fantastic read from her. Josie Saint-Martin comes from a family cursed in love, and she’s back in her home town of Beauty for her last year of high school. She has a lot of obstacles to go through with being home, but is seeing Lucky Karras one of them?
Lucky and Josie were best friends before she left when she was twelve but they lost contact. This book is such a great coming of age story and a story of friendship and family. My favorite part about this book was Lucky. He was so fantastic. I also loved how Josie came together with the other women in her family by the end. Overall, I thought this one was great!
Audio book source: Audible (purchased)
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrator: Rebekkah Ross
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: YA
Length: 10 hours and 29 minutes
Rating: really liked it
So... Jenn Bennett has become one of my favourite YA contemporary authors? That title may be a little hasty considering this is only my second book of hers, but I
love them so much! While I didn't love this one as much as
Starry Eyes, I am convinced that she can do no wrong!
Chasing Lucky follows 17 year old Josie St Martin a budding photographer who, after being constantly on the move for the past 5 years, is returning to her hometown
Beauty. This abrupt move was spurred on by her Grandmother hastily deciding to go travelling, and needing someone to run her bookshop. Josie decides to just try and keep her head down in Beauty before finally escaping to LA to her famous father. However, things don't go entirely to plan when one night Josie makes a mistake and her former childhood best friend, Lucky, ends up taking the fall.
I
loved the setting of this book. Small towns are some of my favourites to read about, and Beauty did not disappoint. It made the whole book have a quiet, small town atmosphere which I really enjoyed. The setting also lent itself to some social commentary about the economic disparity between some of the citizens and how that manifests itself in the local justice and political systems.
I adored the romance between Lucky and Josie. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes- I
love the angst, tension and shared history. While I liked Josie, she wasn't as intriguing or developed as Lucky. Lucky was a really loveable character, responsible for a large amount of my investment in the romance and plot. Some of the scenes had me swooning
What else is there to say? This was an immensely enjoyable read that while did nothing exceptional or original, was successful in making me happy for the duration of my reading experience. I doubt this will stick out to me as a particularly memorable read even a few months from now, but it served its purpose and it did it well!
I would recommend this if you have loved Jenn Bennett's books in the past, or are in the mood for a cute, fluffy YA romance!Thank you to Simon Pulse for this ARCRelease Date: 5 May 2020 (Pushed back to 10 November 2020)
Rating: really liked it
Jenn Bennett writes magic and i have proof because i've been unable to read more than 20 pages in one sitting for the past 6 months
but then i go and finish this 416 paged book in a little over 24 hours.
Magic, I'm telling you.
RTC
Rating: really liked it
3.5 STARSA cute YA contemporary about falling in love, learning from our mistakes, and the importance of communicating with loved ones.17 year old Josie Saint Martin is returning to her hometown of Beauty, after leaving town dramatically five years ago with her mother. Since then they have constantly been on the move, but now they are back to run her grandmother's bookstore whilst she is travelling. Josie has plans to go and live with her father on the west coast, to start her career as a photographer. What she doesn't plan for, is to fall for Lucky Karras, the town's bad boy and her former best friend.I enjoyed this cute coming of age story, but I didn't love it as much as Alex, Approximately and Starry Eyes. It was a cute, quick read though, and I do love Jenn Bennett's writing. In fact I plan to catch up on some of her other books soon, since they are available as books on Scribd.
I loved the setting of this story, set in Beauty, a small town in Rhode Island. It was so well described, and I felt like I was there for the summer with the other tourists! I loved that Josie's family ran a small bookshop because, well books!!
I really liked both of the main characters, as they were written in a realistic way. Josie was very likeable, but I found her quite frustrating sometimes because she made some really bad decisions! Ultimately though, she was a teenager, who was still growing and learning from her mistakes. I really felt for her because no one wants to spend their teenage years moving from place to place, never putting down any roots! Her mum wasn't the best parent or role model, and Josie had to grow up too quickly, often having to be the responsible one, causing her to be envious of other people's family set up. So although Josie could be annoying at times, I did like her, and she had great character development in terms of her career goals, her relationship with her mother, her absent father, her grandmother and her cousin Evie.
Lucky was also a great character, also with flaws. He was a loner, considered a bad boy, and was still suffering from the after effects of a fire from when he was 12. He was also sweet, an animal lover and a bookworm 😍
These two cuties had great chemistry, and I loved their sarcastic banter! 👌 Friends to lovers doesn't always work for me, but this one was really cute!
The main theme in Chasing Lucky was about being honest, and communicating with loved ones, which I loved! It was also about finding yourself, accepting change, and it dealt with small town gossip and politics. It definitely pulled at my heart strings, and made me smile.
I really liked the descriptions of the signs, which Josie loved to photograph, at the start of each chapter! I wonder if there will be photographs to accompany these descriptions in the final copy?! It would be amazing if there were!
The reason for my 3.5 stars was because I felt that there were some missed opportunities. I wanted to know more about Josie's mum Winona's story. There were also other unresolved issues with both Lucky and Josie's cousin Evie, that I don't feel were handled very well.
Chasing Lucky is definitely perfect if you're after a quick, cute contemporary YA romance, and I definitely enjoyed it, just not as much as I would have liked.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for making this digital ARC available as a download. I am so glad that I got to download a copy before it was abruptly archived!
Rating: really liked it
I'm starting to think that maybe Jenn Bennett's books are just not for me.😪
Also why did this feel like the longest book I've ever read?🤔
So many loved
Chasing Lucky, so I'm sorry to say that it was kind of a pain to read this. Around like halfway through the book, I really wanted to give up on it and mark it as DNF.
But I decided to push my way through thinking that maybe it'd get better.
Well.......turns out that it did get a little better, but I was still bored. I skimmed some parts too because at that point I just wanted to finish the book.😅
The story begins with
Josie and her
mother just arriving in the town, Beauty. It's been years since they were last there and her mother isn't really happy about the move. It's temporary until they can get enough money to move to Florida, although that's what her mother thinks...........
Josie really wants to move out and live with her father—who happens to be one of the best photographers around. The only way she'd be able to go live with him is if she's able to catch his attention with her own photography skills. Josie knows that living in Beauty is only temporary, so she has no plans of getting attached to anyone or anything, but all that changes once she comes across her former best friend............
Lucky.It wasn't that
Chasing Lucky was bad (it's just me who didn't like it). I kind of just couldn't care about the MC, Josie, and her problems. I didn't care much for any of the characters except I really did hate
Adrian Summers.👿 That guy really annoyed me to the point where I was surprised that nobody had punched him in the face yet. Haha but maybe that's just me and I wanted to see some violence. (This is what happens when I read too many action shows/books😅)
It's sad, but all I felt after I finished the book was relief that it was over.😣
I may or may not try Jenn Bennett's books one day. Only time will tell..........🧐
Buddy Read with a_strange_bookworm |Blog|
Rating: really liked it
I invariably enjoy Jenn Bennett’s contemporary YA novels. And this latest release might be my favourite of them because this story really captured my heart.
The book follows the character of seventeen year old Josie Saint-Martin who returns to her childhood hometown of Beauty after a number of years living from place to place with her mum Winona.
But the reasons for their hasty departure years ago haven’t gone away and somehow Josie has to figure out how to get through these next few months in Beauty before she can once and for all leave her family troubles behind and escape to LA to be with her father.
However, no matter how hard Josie tries to keep a low profile her family name (and the associated familial curse) follows her around and lands Josie in hot water... and very hot water it is indeed as it comes in the form of town bad boy Lucky Karras who also just happens to be Josie’s childhood best friend...
This book was sooooo good! A perfect summery read complete with small harbour town with a wealthy elite versus the rest of us mere mortals, childhood besties becoming more, mysterious family drama and strained family dynamics... just a perfect recipe for a really entertaining and engrossing contemporary read!
I really liked the character of Josie. She was so interesting to read about. I loved how she could be really smart and sassy, but then really awkward and clueless. Her character arc was truly compelling as it was fascinating to see how a lifetime of familial secrets had influenced her life choices and I really found the story surrounding the invisible protective wall that Josie put up around herself to be quite moving. I think the personal journey that she undertakes in this novel is one that will resonate with a lot of readers who feel similarly without stable family ties.
And I absolutely adored the character of Lucky. He had just the right amount of edge and bravado but then this sweet core that just gave the love story between Josie and Lucky all the swoony feels. Although Lucky had a backstory of getting injured in a fire as a child that I feel was a bit too underdeveloped. I would like to have been given a bit more insight into his feelings... But then conversely I understand why so much of Lucky was closed off from the reader because this is a book about breaking down the invisible walls we put up around ourselves and it was vital to the climax of the story that there still be mystery surrounding all of the characters that aren’t Josie.
Evie was a fantastic side character in this book that again I would have loved to have had more page time with. In fact I want so much more of this character that I would love a companion novel from her perspective. Evie is Josie’s nineteen year old cousin who is in a very on again/off again style toxic relationship with one of the town’s rich elite. What I loved about her is that she was this super smart character but yet she kept going back to her jerk boyfriend. It added an interesting counterpoint to the romantic relationship that was blossoming between Josie and Lucky but oh, I just wanted more! Her story was so heart wrenching and I think an important one to tell because it shows how easy it can be to become ensnared by a toxic relationship. So I wanted to get things from Evie’s perspective. Wanted to know more about the beginning of that toxic relationship. And I want to know more about the direction that her life goes in during the epilogue.
And while we are at it I would happily read a book from Winona’s (Josie’s mum) perspective too. Honestly the female characters in this book are fascinating. We don’t get to hear much about Winona’s backstory until the latter part of the book... but oooof... when we get to it it’s really interesting. There’s a whole lot of drama that went down when Winona was Josie’s age and I would love to have seen that expanded upon a little bit more. Especially the relationship dynamics between Winona and her mother (Josie’s grandmother) because it would have been better to understand a bit more about why these two characters were at loggerheads for so many years.
Overall this was a super enjoyable read. I laughed, I cried, I swooned. There were a few moments towards the end of the novel that felt a little too melodramatic and stretched out the story a tad too much for my personal taste, but this is a minor quibble as I didn’t feel that my enjoyment was any way tempered due to such.
“Chasing Lucky” was a pretty perfect summery romance and I would love to see Bennett return to these characters again in a companion novel from someone else’s perspective (preferably Evie).
Recommended to all fans of YA contemporary.
*An e-copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*Publishing 11th June 2020, Simon & Schuster Children's UK
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Rating: really liked it
This was my first Jenn Bennett book. After years of eyeing her novels on the YA shelves of libraries and bookstores, I finally decided to pick this one up and it didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed reading this one, and yet, I question, did I really though?
Starting off with the things I liked, let me just say that I really enjoyed the writing. I also really liked the characters, especially near the end. I love seeing different family dynamics in books and it was interesting to see the function and dysfunction of Josie's family. I really liked seeing the mother/daughter relationship between Josie and her mother unfold. I also just generally liked Josie and Lucky as people. I liked them but didn't love them. I don't know what it was but I wanted more from them, especially Lucky. I wanted more emotion. More backstory. A reason for him being the way he is and why he feels the need to take the blame for everything and be seen as a failure.
Plot-wise, I felt like not mu h actually happened. And yet, a lot did? There was a lot of unnecessary events that happened, in my opinion. There was a lack of communication between the characters and nothing bothers me more than miscommunication as a plot device to start up conflict. That being said, I was definitely here for the romance part of the plot. I shipped it.
Overall, I think the book was fine. I simply wanted more from it. This isn't a book that will be memorable for me. By the end of the year in a month and a half, I probably won't even remember the character's names. That being said, I'm certain that a lot of you would really enjoy this, especially if you're a big fan of YA contemporary romance.
**I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**Follow Me Here Too:
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Rating: really liked it
me: i'm over ya contemporary
jenn bennett: h-
me: yes
