Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
A friend told me I should read this book after we both talked about “Girl on the Train" and “Gone Girl" since it was compared to these books so often. Although there were moments I liked, overall I was just annoyed with this book.
It definitely was not the next “Gone Girl". Where Gone Girl was original and Flynn was able to create such complicated and unique characters, this book used clichéd personalities. The jocks who were jerks and took what they wanted, not “realizing" that it was wrong. The nerdy, uglier group who stuck together and didn't care about what others thought. Then the narrator, the girl who tried desperately to fit into the popular group, not caring if people were bulldozed in the process.
And maybe that's the real issue. The fact that the narrator is this unlikeable character but in such a boring and repetitive way. She constantly bitches about each woman she comes in contact with, describes herself as cold-hearted, and admits that she only acts the way she does because it's what those around her want. We got it the first time, the thirtieth? I was not as forgiving.
Also, I felt like the “twist" or “climax" was lacking. I didn't feel shocked, or enthralled. A simple “oh that's it?" crossed my mind.
And the ending? The author made it seem as if there is now a turning point in this woman's life, but her last sentence hints at just the opposite. So is it supposed to show us that people won't change? If so, this should have been more pronounced in a more interesting way.
Synopsis: HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.
As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.