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If You're Lucky
“A hold-on-to-your-seat thriller.” —Quill & Quire When Georgia’s brother drowns while surfing halfway around the world in Australia, she refuses to believe that Lucky’s death was just bad luck. 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 Lucky’s girlfriend. Georgia begins to wonder: Did Fin murder her brother in order to take over his whole life? To uncover the truth about Lucky’s death, Georgia secretly stops taking the medication that keeps away the voices in her head. But as her suspicion grows, her mental state becomes more and more precarious. Is Georgia’s mind playing tricks on her, or is the entire town walking into the arms of a killer who has everyone but her fooled?
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2015
21 people are currently reading
1576 people want to read
About the author
Yvonne Prinz
8 books88 followers"If You're Lucky" (Algonquin Books For Young Readers) will be arriving Fall 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews
February 4, 2016
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I am going to start this review with just about the only thing I liked about this book: Georgia was a baker. I love food and more than that, I love sugar. So the description of her lemon tarts and lavender shortbread cookies made me very hungry. I’ll just ignore the fact that she mentioned she had never made a muffin before. What kind of baker doesn’t ever make muffins? Weird.
Now that we got that out of the way, I’ll talk about what I didn’t like. First, I could not connect with the main character at all. Maybe it was the writing style or the lack of emotion or maybe it was the fact that everything moved way too fast. There was no grief or mourning of Lucky by anyone really. It was kind of talked about, but I just couldn’t see it or feel it, so I didn’t really care. Fin shows up and has one conversation with Georgia and suddenly, she wants him. Then he starts meeting with Lucky’s girlfriend (Sonia) and she gets very envious. Of what, I have no idea. Sonia met with Lucky once and Georgia decided to ask if they had slept together. And why was that any of her business?? For a while, I couldn’t tell whether Georgia was attracted to him or suspicious of him.
I had huge issues with this author’s portrayal of mental illness. It didn’t just annoy me. It made me mad. Did this author do any research on paranoid schizophrenia? It doesn’t seem like it. Georgia hints at “episodes,” but there is nothing in her past that suggests schizophrenia. Yet, she does act a bit paranoid at times in the present. It’s weird and confusing. Years earlier, she had yelled at her teacher. The teacher sent her to the principal’s office, but she didn’t go. She snuck into the janitor’s closet and accidentally started a fire. She ran and hid because she was afraid. So they take her to a shrink, have all kinds of tests done, and make the diagnosis. To make it worse, Georgia says that part of the diagnosis probably came from her mom telling her therapist about her “symptoms”: hysteria, fits of rage, quiet, withdrawn and a loner. REALLY?!? WTH?!? NONE OF THAT EQUALS SCHIZOPHRENIA!! Here’s another thing that pissed me off: Georgia gets upset and says she is mad because Fin was sitting in Lucky’s chair and playing with Lucky’s dog and dating Lucky’s girlfriend. She thought he was trying to take Lucky’s place. What was the response? Call her therapist and INCREASE HER MEDS. Then her mom said that because of that “episode,” she couldn’t trust Georgia and had to monitor all her activities. WTH?!? An emotional outburst DOES NOT EQUAL SCHIZOPHRENIA!!! I am so sorry for the all caps, but that made me so MAD!!! I really hated the therapist I really hated the therapist too. Every single session was him making sure she was taking her meds. THAT WAS ALL. There was no talking about her grief or what she was feeling or anything.
But here’s the thing: there would be episodes where Georgia maybe showed signs of some sort of mental illness because she would hint at hearing voices or something. Or she would have a hallucination. So most of the book consisted of stuff that had nothing to do with being schizophrenic and then the author would suddenly sprinkle in a hallucination here and a delusion there. I honestly think the mental illness part was a boring, stupid subplot to try and make the mystery more interesting than it was. It didn’t work. I was still bored. The ending wrapped up entirely too fast and it wasn’t even worth sticking around for.
I am going to start this review with just about the only thing I liked about this book: Georgia was a baker. I love food and more than that, I love sugar. So the description of her lemon tarts and lavender shortbread cookies made me very hungry. I’ll just ignore the fact that she mentioned she had never made a muffin before. What kind of baker doesn’t ever make muffins? Weird.
Now that we got that out of the way, I’ll talk about what I didn’t like. First, I could not connect with the main character at all. Maybe it was the writing style or the lack of emotion or maybe it was the fact that everything moved way too fast. There was no grief or mourning of Lucky by anyone really. It was kind of talked about, but I just couldn’t see it or feel it, so I didn’t really care. Fin shows up and has one conversation with Georgia and suddenly, she wants him. Then he starts meeting with Lucky’s girlfriend (Sonia) and she gets very envious. Of what, I have no idea. Sonia met with Lucky once and Georgia decided to ask if they had slept together. And why was that any of her business?? For a while, I couldn’t tell whether Georgia was attracted to him or suspicious of him.
I had huge issues with this author’s portrayal of mental illness. It didn’t just annoy me. It made me mad. Did this author do any research on paranoid schizophrenia? It doesn’t seem like it. Georgia hints at “episodes,” but there is nothing in her past that suggests schizophrenia. Yet, she does act a bit paranoid at times in the present. It’s weird and confusing. Years earlier, she had yelled at her teacher. The teacher sent her to the principal’s office, but she didn’t go. She snuck into the janitor’s closet and accidentally started a fire. She ran and hid because she was afraid. So they take her to a shrink, have all kinds of tests done, and make the diagnosis. To make it worse, Georgia says that part of the diagnosis probably came from her mom telling her therapist about her “symptoms”: hysteria, fits of rage, quiet, withdrawn and a loner. REALLY?!? WTH?!? NONE OF THAT EQUALS SCHIZOPHRENIA!! Here’s another thing that pissed me off: Georgia gets upset and says she is mad because Fin was sitting in Lucky’s chair and playing with Lucky’s dog and dating Lucky’s girlfriend. She thought he was trying to take Lucky’s place. What was the response? Call her therapist and INCREASE HER MEDS. Then her mom said that because of that “episode,” she couldn’t trust Georgia and had to monitor all her activities. WTH?!? An emotional outburst DOES NOT EQUAL SCHIZOPHRENIA!!! I am so sorry for the all caps, but that made me so MAD!!! I really hated the therapist I really hated the therapist too. Every single session was him making sure she was taking her meds. THAT WAS ALL. There was no talking about her grief or what she was feeling or anything.
But here’s the thing: there would be episodes where Georgia maybe showed signs of some sort of mental illness because she would hint at hearing voices or something. Or she would have a hallucination. So most of the book consisted of stuff that had nothing to do with being schizophrenic and then the author would suddenly sprinkle in a hallucination here and a delusion there. I honestly think the mental illness part was a boring, stupid subplot to try and make the mystery more interesting than it was. It didn’t work. I was still bored. The ending wrapped up entirely too fast and it wasn’t even worth sticking around for.
May 31, 2015
In what is a rarity in young adult books, the topic of schizophrenia is tackled head-on in “If You’re Lucky”, a taut thriller that leaves the readers as confused as the narrator as to what is real and what is not.
Georgia, the main character, is a teenager with paranoid schizophrenia who is dealing with the loss of her brother Lucky, the town’s golden boy. One of his best friends shows up to the memorial and creates a whirlwind of emotions for her. Georgia is an extremely well-developed character, and her descent into a schizophrenic episode is written beautifully. It truly feels as though you are trying to navigate the world through the distortion in her mind. This adds a great deal of twists and turns to the mystery of what happened to Lucky. The rest of the characters are also well-developed and relatable, with my favorite being Fin. I won’t say anything else about him because it may ruin some of the reading experience.
I loved the plot and found it to be the perfect mix of thriller and standard mystery. At some points I literally had goosebumps from the creepiness. However, the reason for me giving three stars instead of four is because of the plot. It seemed to begin slowly, and while the entire book is well-written, I didn’t realize I was actually into it until I was about a third of the way through. This points to a slight problem with the pacing. It would have been nice to add a bit of “oomph” to the setup.
In spite of the slight pacing problem, I still wholeheartedly recommend “If You’re Lucky” to those who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. There is some adult content, but it is still a safe choice for middle schoolers and up as long as they’re not opposed to things that can be disturbing.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Georgia, the main character, is a teenager with paranoid schizophrenia who is dealing with the loss of her brother Lucky, the town’s golden boy. One of his best friends shows up to the memorial and creates a whirlwind of emotions for her. Georgia is an extremely well-developed character, and her descent into a schizophrenic episode is written beautifully. It truly feels as though you are trying to navigate the world through the distortion in her mind. This adds a great deal of twists and turns to the mystery of what happened to Lucky. The rest of the characters are also well-developed and relatable, with my favorite being Fin. I won’t say anything else about him because it may ruin some of the reading experience.
I loved the plot and found it to be the perfect mix of thriller and standard mystery. At some points I literally had goosebumps from the creepiness. However, the reason for me giving three stars instead of four is because of the plot. It seemed to begin slowly, and while the entire book is well-written, I didn’t realize I was actually into it until I was about a third of the way through. This points to a slight problem with the pacing. It would have been nice to add a bit of “oomph” to the setup.
In spite of the slight pacing problem, I still wholeheartedly recommend “If You’re Lucky” to those who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. There is some adult content, but it is still a safe choice for middle schoolers and up as long as they’re not opposed to things that can be disturbing.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 17, 2015
Original review can be found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...
** I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**
This book has me stumped. I'm stumped over all of the great reviews and ratings because it was not very good. In fact, it was pretty bad. I really had to put some effort into even finishing it. Am I being harsh? Perhaps, but I am not a hard person to please which is apparent with all of my other reviews.
My issues had to do with how mental illness was portrayed in this book. It wasn't very believable and I think that some of the information around Schizophrenia did not ring true. I could see what the author was trying to accomplish, making the reader wonder what was real and in Georgia's head, but it fell short. I'm not sure if an attempt was being made to "dumb" it down so that readers understood it better or what.
The whole story about Lucky dying and Fin showing up happened too fast. Lucky dies, Fin moves to town and within a blink the grief is over and Fin is taking over. Really?? The whole thing was just so far fetched and unbelievable.
Perhaps younger readers will enjoy this better than I did, Maybe readers that aren't familiar with different kinds of mental illnesses. It was just not for me at all.
** I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**
This book has me stumped. I'm stumped over all of the great reviews and ratings because it was not very good. In fact, it was pretty bad. I really had to put some effort into even finishing it. Am I being harsh? Perhaps, but I am not a hard person to please which is apparent with all of my other reviews.
My issues had to do with how mental illness was portrayed in this book. It wasn't very believable and I think that some of the information around Schizophrenia did not ring true. I could see what the author was trying to accomplish, making the reader wonder what was real and in Georgia's head, but it fell short. I'm not sure if an attempt was being made to "dumb" it down so that readers understood it better or what.
The whole story about Lucky dying and Fin showing up happened too fast. Lucky dies, Fin moves to town and within a blink the grief is over and Fin is taking over. Really?? The whole thing was just so far fetched and unbelievable.
Perhaps younger readers will enjoy this better than I did, Maybe readers that aren't familiar with different kinds of mental illnesses. It was just not for me at all.
Read
October 16, 2015After Georgia's brother dies in a surfing accident in Australia, she can't help asking questions about the circumstances surrounding his death. (I was secretly hoping that Georgia would do her investigating in Australia, but the book takes place in Georgia's home in Northern California.) But as Georgia began to seem more and more unhinged and paranoid, I began to wonder: is she just suffering from grief or if there was something else strange going on.
I thought this book created a great sense of suspense and uncertainty and really kept me guessing about Georgia's sanity. I'm a big fan of suspenseful old movies like Gaslight and Suspicion and classic suspense novels like The Talented Mr. Ripley and this book reminded me a lot of those.
Read more of my reviews on YA Romantics or follow me on Bloglovin
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
I thought this book created a great sense of suspense and uncertainty and really kept me guessing about Georgia's sanity. I'm a big fan of suspenseful old movies like Gaslight and Suspicion and classic suspense novels like The Talented Mr. Ripley and this book reminded me a lot of those.
Read more of my reviews on YA Romantics or follow me on Bloglovin
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
March 15, 2016
Is it a mystery? Or is the narrator's grip on reality completely off? Really enjoyed this. One of those reads where I was sad to have it end and not be in that story anymore.
December 22, 2015
I thank Algonquin Publishers for this advance copy for my unbiased review.
Yvonne Prinz has tackled some tough issues in this book, namely the death of a sibling and schizophrenia. For that I give her credit.She has written a YA thriller, which others have hailed as gripping.
Georgia is a teen girl whose older brother is named Lucky, a "golden boy" as it were.Their temperaments are quite opposite. Set in Australia, the story follows their lives and relationships until disaster happens.
The book has the makings of a psychological drama which teens may enjoy. The problem lies in the narrative, which seems to be unfocused and unstructured.
Yvonne Prinz has tackled some tough issues in this book, namely the death of a sibling and schizophrenia. For that I give her credit.She has written a YA thriller, which others have hailed as gripping.
Georgia is a teen girl whose older brother is named Lucky, a "golden boy" as it were.Their temperaments are quite opposite. Set in Australia, the story follows their lives and relationships until disaster happens.
The book has the makings of a psychological drama which teens may enjoy. The problem lies in the narrative, which seems to be unfocused and unstructured.
February 12, 2021
See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten!
This book gets zero stars. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It's hellaciously ableist and harmful.
Sometimes, you read a book about or starring a person from a marginalized background and you can tell it isn’t meant to be read by someone from that same marginalized background. See: Thirteen Reasons Why and the massive amounts of controversy surrounding how graphic and triggering the Netflix series has been for suicidal, self-harming, and rape-surviving viewers.
If You’re Lucky is one of those books. Time to cut the bullshit and outline why you wouldn’t want to give this to a mentally ill teen, especially if they have schizophrenia like the main character Georgia does.
It takes half the novel for Georgia to tell us so, but she has schizophrenia and is taking meds for it. To be fair, the story’s premise isn’t unbelievable either; people have done something similar where they kill a person and then endear themselves to the victim’s loved ones so they can enjoy the victim’s life. That fact and the book’s overall message of “you need to stay on your meds for your own health” is the only good I can find in If You’re Lucky. Really.
To start with the least debatable points, the book uses both the r-word and the g-word. In the latter case, it comes with a mitigating factor that doesn’t actually matter at all: Fin’s dad and Fin himself are both jazz musicians. Specifically, they play gypsy jazz, a very specific style. You can tell me “but the author is just using the correct term for the music style,” but it was entirely the author’s choice of what style of jazz music to use. Prinz chose the only style of jazz that had a racial slur in its name.
So yeah, you’re not fighting me on use of the g-word in this book.
We can all agree on one thing: teens with mental illness deserve to see themselves in YA without the focus being entirely on their mental illness. Those books can help them understand their condition, but they deserve to be the heroes too. They should be able to see themselves as the gumshoe in a mystery novel, the tech genius and ringleader of a scheme in a sci-fi space opera, and the teenage spy in a thriller. A recent book, Antisocial by Jillian Blake, charmed me in part because it was a mystery/thriller starring a girl with social anxiety disorder. It didn’t rule her life and it wasn’t inconsequential; it simply changed the way she did things the way we learn to navigate the world with our illnesses in mind.
That’s why my disappointment and anger with If You’re Lucky is so great: I originally thought this book was going to be a schizophrenic girl investigating her brother’s mysterious “best friend” with little focus on her illness. I’ll admit I didn’t read the jacket copy as closely as I should have. If I had, I would have seen this coming.
But allow me to let you in on something: even when on meds, mentally ill people may still have some symptoms. For instance, I have generalized anxiety disorder, but I still live with anxiety despite being on meds for it. The stuff I take will never cure me of my anxiety; it helps me cope with and control my anxiety levels. Considering I suffered from severe psychosomatic pain and even an irregular heartbeat pre-meds, I’m very happy with where I am now.
It was entirely possible for Georgia to stay on her meds, investigate, and not be believed solely because of things she did pre-treatment, but that’s not what happens. Instead, she goes off her meds and goes into a downward spiral as her symptoms return in full force. This is how I know this book is only written for neurotypical readers who want their thrills supplied by a schizophrenic person suffering. At best, a schizophrenic teen would take from this book that yes, they need to take their meds, but there are less harmful and drawn out ways for them to learn that lesson.
AND ON ONE FINAL NOTE, the book’s jacket copy endangers mentally ill people with its “clear the fog of her mind” line. It’s a common argument I hear from people who don’t understand how my meds interact with my system. It implies that taking medication fogs our minds and make us “less” than ourselves, but that simply isn’t true. If anything, it’s the other way around: we’re fogged up and “less” than ourselves without treatment. Once we get help, we’re able to clear that fog and operate without our mental illness sabotaging us every step of the way.
I’ll be fair again and say If You’re Lucky delivers the message that you need to stay on your meds because it suppresses your symptoms and allows you to be the most “you” person possible. That makes the jacket copy’s line baffling, but that’s casual ableism for you. Shame on whoever wrote that specific line (authors rarely get to write the jacket copy for their own books).
This book may be about a schizophrenic teen, but I would not hand this book TO a schizophrenic teen under any circumstances. Even though Georgia gets back on her meds in the end after the boring climactic scene, it isn’t a pleasant experience and you leave this book with nothing. No lessons learned. No satisfaction. Nothing. I’d wipe this book from existence if I could.
This book gets zero stars. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It's hellaciously ableist and harmful.
Sometimes, you read a book about or starring a person from a marginalized background and you can tell it isn’t meant to be read by someone from that same marginalized background. See: Thirteen Reasons Why and the massive amounts of controversy surrounding how graphic and triggering the Netflix series has been for suicidal, self-harming, and rape-surviving viewers.
If You’re Lucky is one of those books. Time to cut the bullshit and outline why you wouldn’t want to give this to a mentally ill teen, especially if they have schizophrenia like the main character Georgia does.
It takes half the novel for Georgia to tell us so, but she has schizophrenia and is taking meds for it. To be fair, the story’s premise isn’t unbelievable either; people have done something similar where they kill a person and then endear themselves to the victim’s loved ones so they can enjoy the victim’s life. That fact and the book’s overall message of “you need to stay on your meds for your own health” is the only good I can find in If You’re Lucky. Really.
To start with the least debatable points, the book uses both the r-word and the g-word. In the latter case, it comes with a mitigating factor that doesn’t actually matter at all: Fin’s dad and Fin himself are both jazz musicians. Specifically, they play gypsy jazz, a very specific style. You can tell me “but the author is just using the correct term for the music style,” but it was entirely the author’s choice of what style of jazz music to use. Prinz chose the only style of jazz that had a racial slur in its name.
So yeah, you’re not fighting me on use of the g-word in this book.
We can all agree on one thing: teens with mental illness deserve to see themselves in YA without the focus being entirely on their mental illness. Those books can help them understand their condition, but they deserve to be the heroes too. They should be able to see themselves as the gumshoe in a mystery novel, the tech genius and ringleader of a scheme in a sci-fi space opera, and the teenage spy in a thriller. A recent book, Antisocial by Jillian Blake, charmed me in part because it was a mystery/thriller starring a girl with social anxiety disorder. It didn’t rule her life and it wasn’t inconsequential; it simply changed the way she did things the way we learn to navigate the world with our illnesses in mind.
That’s why my disappointment and anger with If You’re Lucky is so great: I originally thought this book was going to be a schizophrenic girl investigating her brother’s mysterious “best friend” with little focus on her illness. I’ll admit I didn’t read the jacket copy as closely as I should have. If I had, I would have seen this coming.
But allow me to let you in on something: even when on meds, mentally ill people may still have some symptoms. For instance, I have generalized anxiety disorder, but I still live with anxiety despite being on meds for it. The stuff I take will never cure me of my anxiety; it helps me cope with and control my anxiety levels. Considering I suffered from severe psychosomatic pain and even an irregular heartbeat pre-meds, I’m very happy with where I am now.
It was entirely possible for Georgia to stay on her meds, investigate, and not be believed solely because of things she did pre-treatment, but that’s not what happens. Instead, she goes off her meds and goes into a downward spiral as her symptoms return in full force. This is how I know this book is only written for neurotypical readers who want their thrills supplied by a schizophrenic person suffering. At best, a schizophrenic teen would take from this book that yes, they need to take their meds, but there are less harmful and drawn out ways for them to learn that lesson.
AND ON ONE FINAL NOTE, the book’s jacket copy endangers mentally ill people with its “clear the fog of her mind” line. It’s a common argument I hear from people who don’t understand how my meds interact with my system. It implies that taking medication fogs our minds and make us “less” than ourselves, but that simply isn’t true. If anything, it’s the other way around: we’re fogged up and “less” than ourselves without treatment. Once we get help, we’re able to clear that fog and operate without our mental illness sabotaging us every step of the way.
I’ll be fair again and say If You’re Lucky delivers the message that you need to stay on your meds because it suppresses your symptoms and allows you to be the most “you” person possible. That makes the jacket copy’s line baffling, but that’s casual ableism for you. Shame on whoever wrote that specific line (authors rarely get to write the jacket copy for their own books).
This book may be about a schizophrenic teen, but I would not hand this book TO a schizophrenic teen under any circumstances. Even though Georgia gets back on her meds in the end after the boring climactic scene, it isn’t a pleasant experience and you leave this book with nothing. No lessons learned. No satisfaction. Nothing. I’d wipe this book from existence if I could.
October 26, 2016
I received a free review copy of this book through Netgalley.
When Georgia meets Fin, a friend of her dead brother, Lucky, she feels that something is off about him. He's charming, much like Lucky, and perhaps that's the problem: He's kind of taking over Lucky's life. First, his girlfriend; then, his dog, his family. Georgia is the only one who isn't fooled.
As time goes on, Fin's behavior becomes even more suspicious. Georgia, who is schizophrenic, stops taking her medication. Everyone else seems to think that her mind is playing tricks on her - but is that true? Or is Fin exactly who she thinks he is?
This sounded like a fast-paced, action-packed book. I really expected it to be mysterious, intriguing, and wonderful. And it took me a long time to accept that this was not the book I expected. It took me even longer to figure out what, exactly, did not sit right with me.
When we first meet Fin, he is very charming, bordering on love interest. Georgia really likes him, and he has a way of making people feel special and understood. Rather than talking about himself, he focuses on the other person - which, as Georgia observes, is not only a great way to make people like you, but a fantastic strategy when keeping secrets.
I liked the beginning of the book well enough, although I kept waiting for the action. But when things took off, the story seemed to go even further downhill. It's not that the story wasn't interesting, because it was! I love the concept of someone completely taking over the life of someone they murdered, and I love stories about mental illness. The highlight of the story, I think, was getting into Georgia's mind and seeing things from her point of view.
But everything felt predictable. Perhaps it was just me, but I knew what was happening throughout most of the book. I may have doubted it a couple of times, and there was one small twist in the middle that I especially enjoyed. The thing is, there was just not a lot of mystery going on, at least for me.
The writing also felt just a bit lacking. I couldn't figure out just what I didn't like, and I don't think anything was technically wrong with it. I just kept wishing it were more. I felt the same way about Fin's character - I wanted to be more charmed by him. I especially wanted to be more afraid for Georgia when she began questioning him and getting into dangerous situations. But I didn't. When Fin was supposed to be charming, it almost worked. When he was supposed to be creepy, I couldn't feel that at all.
Lastly, the ending. This was what caused the most trouble for me - it didn't feel realistic. And I kind of ended the book thinking that's it? The last chapter kind of started some new plot lines, rather than simply wrapping old ones up. And I'm sure this was meant to give new hope for the future - but I don't think it was handled well. The new bits felt forced and not a part of the story at all, and left me wondering why I should care, especially about a character who was introduced within the last five pages.
So maybe this one just wasn't for me. I'm sure others will pick it up and love it. But I couldn't get past thinking it was okay, nothing more or less.
When Georgia meets Fin, a friend of her dead brother, Lucky, she feels that something is off about him. He's charming, much like Lucky, and perhaps that's the problem: He's kind of taking over Lucky's life. First, his girlfriend; then, his dog, his family. Georgia is the only one who isn't fooled.
As time goes on, Fin's behavior becomes even more suspicious. Georgia, who is schizophrenic, stops taking her medication. Everyone else seems to think that her mind is playing tricks on her - but is that true? Or is Fin exactly who she thinks he is?
This sounded like a fast-paced, action-packed book. I really expected it to be mysterious, intriguing, and wonderful. And it took me a long time to accept that this was not the book I expected. It took me even longer to figure out what, exactly, did not sit right with me.
When we first meet Fin, he is very charming, bordering on love interest. Georgia really likes him, and he has a way of making people feel special and understood. Rather than talking about himself, he focuses on the other person - which, as Georgia observes, is not only a great way to make people like you, but a fantastic strategy when keeping secrets.
I liked the beginning of the book well enough, although I kept waiting for the action. But when things took off, the story seemed to go even further downhill. It's not that the story wasn't interesting, because it was! I love the concept of someone completely taking over the life of someone they murdered, and I love stories about mental illness. The highlight of the story, I think, was getting into Georgia's mind and seeing things from her point of view.
But everything felt predictable. Perhaps it was just me, but I knew what was happening throughout most of the book. I may have doubted it a couple of times, and there was one small twist in the middle that I especially enjoyed. The thing is, there was just not a lot of mystery going on, at least for me.
The writing also felt just a bit lacking. I couldn't figure out just what I didn't like, and I don't think anything was technically wrong with it. I just kept wishing it were more. I felt the same way about Fin's character - I wanted to be more charmed by him. I especially wanted to be more afraid for Georgia when she began questioning him and getting into dangerous situations. But I didn't. When Fin was supposed to be charming, it almost worked. When he was supposed to be creepy, I couldn't feel that at all.
Lastly, the ending. This was what caused the most trouble for me - it didn't feel realistic. And I kind of ended the book thinking that's it? The last chapter kind of started some new plot lines, rather than simply wrapping old ones up. And I'm sure this was meant to give new hope for the future - but I don't think it was handled well. The new bits felt forced and not a part of the story at all, and left me wondering why I should care, especially about a character who was introduced within the last five pages.
So maybe this one just wasn't for me. I'm sure others will pick it up and love it. But I couldn't get past thinking it was okay, nothing more or less.
April 20, 2015
Georgia wants to be a normal teenager and with the help of medication she can maintain that life. It enables her to have healthy relationships with family and friends, work multiple jobs, and it also minimizes the symptoms of her mental illness. This ideal life seems to be going smoothly until her brother, Lucky, dies unexpectedly. Soon Fin, who says he was “like brothers” with Lucky, begins to be a fixture in her small town. Everyone is drawn to Fin; he’s charming, funny, and likable. Georgia’s bosses, parents, and even Lucky’s girlfriend, Sonia, make Fin a major part in their lives. Georgia begins to doubt Fin’s true motivation for moving to her town and to discover this she stops medicating. Without her medication she starts having difficulty deciphering reality from fantasy.
I fell in love with this book from the beginning. Georgia felt very relatable to me, we both don't easily trust and have always been overshadowed by our older siblings. My views on who to believe constantly changed throughout the book. On one hand, Georgia always stayed true to herself, which in return made me want to believe her. On the other hand, like most of the characters in the book, I was drawn to Fin. Not only is he nice, but he also he has a sense of mystery about him that you only can discover by coming closer to him. My indecisiveness of who to believe was unusually for me, because in most books I find one trustworthy character and believe them fully. If You're Lucky had so many well-developed characters that it was difficult to chose just one voice to follow. It's truly a work of art, and you're lucky if you've read it.
In If You’re Lucky which is told by an unreliable narrator the reader will struggle to trust any of the characters and opinions will be constantly changing. Yvonne Prinz, who is also the author of The Vinyl Princess and All You Get Is Me, has masterfully created a captivating novel that explores loss of a loved one, mental illness, and trust. If You’re Lucky is a must-read for anyone who feels misunderstood and wants to find normality.
Will be released on October 20th, 2015
I received an ARC of this through NetGalley
February 11, 2025
The book follows main character Georgia as her, her family, and her entire small town mourns the loss of her popular and adventurous brother Lucky. Lucky drowned while surfing in Australia, something Georgia finds weird and unlikely because as adventurous as Lucky was, he wouldn’t have put himself into a dangerous situation. So when a friend of Luckys named Fin comes to town and slowly starts taking over Luckys spot, Georgia thinks the worst. Why else would her brother’s friend want his dog, his job, his girlfriend, and even his necklace? But the thing about Georgia is that she’s suffering from schizophrenia, so nobody, not even her closest friends or family believe the second thoughts she’s having about Fin. You follow along with Georgia as she tries to differentiate what’s reality and what her mind has made up. You follow along as Georgia questions life and Fin, as she tries to save herself and prove Lucky was killed.
The book has a plot that could have been done very well, but it doesn’t leave a lot up to your imagination. Of course the main character has schizophrenia so you can guess from the start nobody is really going to believe her when she starts saying she saw and spoke to the ghost of her dead brother. So that wasn’t a big shock. And then on top of that, the ending and the big reveal seemed kind of rushed and hardly any thought went into it. I feel like if you make something obvious then the twists and the ending have to be spectacular and here unfortunately it was everything but that. Which was a bummer, but it was still a decent read. Not the best book I’ve read, not the worst either. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a must read but wouldn’t stay steer clear completely.
I also had to knock it down in the rating because the author uses the r word in it, which was just dumb. There was absolutely no reason for it to be used and it was just stupid to add to the book. On top of that, I know this is a work of fiction, but I think that the topic of schizophrenia could have been handled a little bit better with some more research, that’s just my opinion though.
The book has a plot that could have been done very well, but it doesn’t leave a lot up to your imagination. Of course the main character has schizophrenia so you can guess from the start nobody is really going to believe her when she starts saying she saw and spoke to the ghost of her dead brother. So that wasn’t a big shock. And then on top of that, the ending and the big reveal seemed kind of rushed and hardly any thought went into it. I feel like if you make something obvious then the twists and the ending have to be spectacular and here unfortunately it was everything but that. Which was a bummer, but it was still a decent read. Not the best book I’ve read, not the worst either. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a must read but wouldn’t stay steer clear completely.
I also had to knock it down in the rating because the author uses the r word in it, which was just dumb. There was absolutely no reason for it to be used and it was just stupid to add to the book. On top of that, I know this is a work of fiction, but I think that the topic of schizophrenia could have been handled a little bit better with some more research, that’s just my opinion though.
February 1, 2016
"Loss can do some pretty crazy things to people's heads."
This was an interesting little roller coaster ride. I'm glad that this story is from Georgia's perspective and not someone else. Whether this is an accurate portrayal of any of the issues in the book, I don't know, I only know that I enjoyed the interesting perspective. The little town was so fascinating and the life of Lucky was as amazing as it was sad.
This was an interesting little roller coaster ride. I'm glad that this story is from Georgia's perspective and not someone else. Whether this is an accurate portrayal of any of the issues in the book, I don't know, I only know that I enjoyed the interesting perspective. The little town was so fascinating and the life of Lucky was as amazing as it was sad.
July 4, 2017
This book has very mixed reviews on Goodreads, but I’m solidly in the “like it a lot” camp. I’m not going to summarize the book because that will spoil it. This is a book you need to go into without knowing too much. All you need to know is that it’s a psychological thriller of sorts. You spend most of the book not knowing who the bad guy is or even if there is a bad guy.
This book reminded me of other books I’ve read, like Second Star by Alyssa Hammel and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. There is a slow build up to the climax, but you need to pay attention along the way or you’ll miss things.
The writing is simple, sparse, and at times it felt a little too bare. However, I really enjoyed reading this book and spending time in Georgia’s head. I found her thought process interesting and loved watching her move through different feelings and emotions. She’s an interesting character who didn’t act in the troublesome way she was known for — at first.
If You’re Lucky is a quick, easy read with a lot of story packed into its pages. If you like mysteries, YA, and thrillers, you’ll enjoy this book.
Content: Some language (including a couple f-words), and implied sex.
Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This book reminded me of other books I’ve read, like Second Star by Alyssa Hammel and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. There is a slow build up to the climax, but you need to pay attention along the way or you’ll miss things.
The writing is simple, sparse, and at times it felt a little too bare. However, I really enjoyed reading this book and spending time in Georgia’s head. I found her thought process interesting and loved watching her move through different feelings and emotions. She’s an interesting character who didn’t act in the troublesome way she was known for — at first.
If You’re Lucky is a quick, easy read with a lot of story packed into its pages. If you like mysteries, YA, and thrillers, you’ll enjoy this book.
Content: Some language (including a couple f-words), and implied sex.
Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
September 25, 2020
תקציר העלילה עורר את סקרנותי, אך הביצוע איכזב, הן בסגנון הכתיבה הלקוני והיבש שאינו מעורר כל רגש והן בעיצוב הסיפור אשר מתפתח לכיוונים צפויים ובנאליים כל כך, שקשה להחניק פיהוק. בכל פעם שהעלילה מגיעה לשיא, התיאור נקטע בחטף וקופץ לפסקת "היום שאחרי הסערה". מתסכל מאד. בנוסף, לא אהבתי את השימוש במחלת הסכיזופרניה ממנה סובלת הדמות הראשית לצורך הצגתה כדמות לא אמינה ותו לא. בעיניי זהו אפיון שלילי ולא מכבד שרק מחזק את הדעות הקדומות בציבור לגבי חולי נפש בכלל וחולי סכיזופרניה בפרט.
אם היית/איבון פרינץ
אם היית/איבון פרינץ
September 30, 2017
Kudos to the author for tackling schizophrenia. But unfortunately, the unreliable narrator works against the story, not with it.
October 11, 2024
2.5 meh. It kept your interest, I guess. Just a strange storyline. The end was a world wind just to get the story done with, in my opinion.
November 25, 2015
View all my reviews
Thanks to Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz
Georgia's brother Lucky drowns while surfing in Australia, but Georgia knows her brother. She knows that he couldn't have drowned. When all his friends come down to False Bay and host a memorial, Georgia meets Fin. A charismatic and charming boy claiming to be Lucky's best friend.
The voice in her head begin to tell her that she can't trust Fin, that he killed Lucky. In an attempt to make these voices clearer, Georgia stops taking her medication and sacrifices her sanity.
If You're Lucky was a good book and had many elements that I liked enough to give 3 stars but I just thought it was lacking build up and energy. Being in a genre of mystery, I would expect a lot of tension and the feeling of needing to continue reading, but there was none of that. It had the perfect amount of twists and turns to keep me engaged but I never really felt like I was fully enjoying the book or really invested in what was happening. Even at the end, everything kind of just happened and I was confused because it wasn't very clear. Despite this, I believe that it's a difficult feat to tackle a mental disorder like schizophrenia head on but If You're Lucky has portrayed this perfectly and realistically.
Georgia investigates Fin as she begins to notice strange behaviour, but as her actions and moods become completely unstable, it becomes a challenge for the reader to determine reality from fabrication. Writing this through Georgia, the MC with the mental disorder, was a really amazing aspect of the novel because it kept me guessing throughout. I found myself more invested in what Georgia was going to do and how she would react rather than caring about what Fin would do next or how the story was progressing. Sadly, the plot was quite predictable for me, even from just reading the synopsis, but I could tell that Yvonne Prinz worked hard to articulate and develop a well thought out plot because it really showed.
Each character was a hit for me and I liked all of them because they all had a personality. Fin was probably the best character in the book because he was so charming and really fit into the role of an identity thief stealing his dead best friend's life. I didn't find it difficult reading through Georgia's perspective either and quite enjoyed her unreliability - it was fun and intriguing to be confused about whether something was happening or not in the book.
Overall, If You're Lucky was a great read, and a unique one, as it is written through the perspective of Georgia, a sufferer of Schizophrenia and I would recommend it for anyone searching for a refreshing, mysterious and riveting read.
Thanks to Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz
Georgia's brother Lucky drowns while surfing in Australia, but Georgia knows her brother. She knows that he couldn't have drowned. When all his friends come down to False Bay and host a memorial, Georgia meets Fin. A charismatic and charming boy claiming to be Lucky's best friend.
The voice in her head begin to tell her that she can't trust Fin, that he killed Lucky. In an attempt to make these voices clearer, Georgia stops taking her medication and sacrifices her sanity.
If You're Lucky was a good book and had many elements that I liked enough to give 3 stars but I just thought it was lacking build up and energy. Being in a genre of mystery, I would expect a lot of tension and the feeling of needing to continue reading, but there was none of that. It had the perfect amount of twists and turns to keep me engaged but I never really felt like I was fully enjoying the book or really invested in what was happening. Even at the end, everything kind of just happened and I was confused because it wasn't very clear. Despite this, I believe that it's a difficult feat to tackle a mental disorder like schizophrenia head on but If You're Lucky has portrayed this perfectly and realistically.
Georgia investigates Fin as she begins to notice strange behaviour, but as her actions and moods become completely unstable, it becomes a challenge for the reader to determine reality from fabrication. Writing this through Georgia, the MC with the mental disorder, was a really amazing aspect of the novel because it kept me guessing throughout. I found myself more invested in what Georgia was going to do and how she would react rather than caring about what Fin would do next or how the story was progressing. Sadly, the plot was quite predictable for me, even from just reading the synopsis, but I could tell that Yvonne Prinz worked hard to articulate and develop a well thought out plot because it really showed.
Each character was a hit for me and I liked all of them because they all had a personality. Fin was probably the best character in the book because he was so charming and really fit into the role of an identity thief stealing his dead best friend's life. I didn't find it difficult reading through Georgia's perspective either and quite enjoyed her unreliability - it was fun and intriguing to be confused about whether something was happening or not in the book.
Overall, If You're Lucky was a great read, and a unique one, as it is written through the perspective of Georgia, a sufferer of Schizophrenia and I would recommend it for anyone searching for a refreshing, mysterious and riveting read.
October 30, 2017
Reading this was so interesting. It has one of the best descriptions of a less-often explored mental illness - schizophrenia - that I’ve ever read and it kept me guessing until the very end!
October 20, 2015
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.
The main thing that drew me to the book was, of course, the fact that it was a psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. While an unreliable narrator can be quite frustrating, especially if the author doesn't wrap up the things properly, this one kept me intrigued till the final page. Georgia has schizophrenia, which means unless she is medicated, she can suffer from paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. Until her brother dies, she lives a semi-normal existence - she works as a baker, doesn't have many friends, loves her brother, is generally neglected by her parents. When he dies, things change - she feels like the meds are keeping her from feeling everything, and is not letting her mourn her brother's death probably.
Enter Fin, her brother's charming friend who has decided to settle in town. He is generally liked by all, and Georgia also falls for him. She is, however, dejected when he goes for her brother's girlfriend. Simultaneously, she is also weaning herself off her meds. So, the feelings of jealousy and paranoia start arising and she feels Fin is trying to settle himself into her brother's life. As she is chasing down leads to prove this, she descends further into her delusions. Each conversation and interaction becomes suspect to the reader, because you can't trust whether what she sees is real. Her conversations with Fin, though seemingly unreal, have a quality distinct from her delusions. Her friend and family are more concerned about the harm she might cause than actually listening to her or giving her a safe place to speak up.
The mystery was pretty good, and the writing kept the suspense alive. In terms of character, her psychosis is brought out vividly. Her pain at not having access to her feelings, the freedom she gets when she lets go of them, and the dangerous delusions she is under. Moral of the story - don't get off your meds, they are good for you - but do find a second opinion if you can!
Received a free galley from Algonquin Books via Netgalley; this does not influence my opinions or the review.
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.
The main thing that drew me to the book was, of course, the fact that it was a psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. While an unreliable narrator can be quite frustrating, especially if the author doesn't wrap up the things properly, this one kept me intrigued till the final page. Georgia has schizophrenia, which means unless she is medicated, she can suffer from paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. Until her brother dies, she lives a semi-normal existence - she works as a baker, doesn't have many friends, loves her brother, is generally neglected by her parents. When he dies, things change - she feels like the meds are keeping her from feeling everything, and is not letting her mourn her brother's death probably.
Enter Fin, her brother's charming friend who has decided to settle in town. He is generally liked by all, and Georgia also falls for him. She is, however, dejected when he goes for her brother's girlfriend. Simultaneously, she is also weaning herself off her meds. So, the feelings of jealousy and paranoia start arising and she feels Fin is trying to settle himself into her brother's life. As she is chasing down leads to prove this, she descends further into her delusions. Each conversation and interaction becomes suspect to the reader, because you can't trust whether what she sees is real. Her conversations with Fin, though seemingly unreal, have a quality distinct from her delusions. Her friend and family are more concerned about the harm she might cause than actually listening to her or giving her a safe place to speak up.
The mystery was pretty good, and the writing kept the suspense alive. In terms of character, her psychosis is brought out vividly. Her pain at not having access to her feelings, the freedom she gets when she lets go of them, and the dangerous delusions she is under. Moral of the story - don't get off your meds, they are good for you - but do find a second opinion if you can!
Received a free galley from Algonquin Books via Netgalley; this does not influence my opinions or the review.
October 19, 2015
4.5 stars
With an engrossing storyline and an intriguing mystery, If You're Lucky is a riveting young adult novel that is full of exciting twists and turns. Yvonne Prinz puts a unique spin on the unreliable narrator plot device and readers, along with lead protagonist Georgia, will have a difficult time differentiating between fact and fantasy after she begins to suspect her brother’s death might be more than a tragic accident.
Following the drowning death of her beloved older brother, Lucky, Georgia is delighted to meet his charismatic friend, Fin, when he arrives in town for Lucky's memorial service. She listens with rapt interest to his stories about Lucky, but she cannot help but wonder why Lucky's girlfriend, Sonia, seems displeased by his appearance. Georgia's grief quickly leads to a downward spiral of paranoia and distrust when Fin carefully insinuates himself into all aspects of her brother's life. She begins probing into his past but when her own troubled history catches up with her, no one believes her accusations that Fin might be responsible for Lucky's death.
Georgia adored Lucky and she is immediately skeptical that her adventure seeking brother could have accidently drowned. But with no concrete evidence to the contrary, she and her parents try to move past their grief and pick up the pieces of their now shattered lives. Just as life is returning to normal, she begins to notice inconsistencies in Fin's stories and even more troubling is his sudden intrusion into all areas of her life. At first jealous when he begins paying attention to Sonia, Georgia becomes alarmed when Fin befriends her parents then continues to maneuver himself into Lucky's old life. Her investigation into Fin's past reveals a very disturbing pattern but Georgia's increasingly erratic behavior makes it impossible for anyone to believe her seemingly wild accusations.
If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz is an outstanding psychological thriller with a likable and sympathetic main protagonist who becomes increasingly unraveled when the lines between reality and delusion blur. An overall fast-paced and suspense-laden mystery that I highly recommend to readers of all ages.
With an engrossing storyline and an intriguing mystery, If You're Lucky is a riveting young adult novel that is full of exciting twists and turns. Yvonne Prinz puts a unique spin on the unreliable narrator plot device and readers, along with lead protagonist Georgia, will have a difficult time differentiating between fact and fantasy after she begins to suspect her brother’s death might be more than a tragic accident.
Following the drowning death of her beloved older brother, Lucky, Georgia is delighted to meet his charismatic friend, Fin, when he arrives in town for Lucky's memorial service. She listens with rapt interest to his stories about Lucky, but she cannot help but wonder why Lucky's girlfriend, Sonia, seems displeased by his appearance. Georgia's grief quickly leads to a downward spiral of paranoia and distrust when Fin carefully insinuates himself into all aspects of her brother's life. She begins probing into his past but when her own troubled history catches up with her, no one believes her accusations that Fin might be responsible for Lucky's death.
Georgia adored Lucky and she is immediately skeptical that her adventure seeking brother could have accidently drowned. But with no concrete evidence to the contrary, she and her parents try to move past their grief and pick up the pieces of their now shattered lives. Just as life is returning to normal, she begins to notice inconsistencies in Fin's stories and even more troubling is his sudden intrusion into all areas of her life. At first jealous when he begins paying attention to Sonia, Georgia becomes alarmed when Fin befriends her parents then continues to maneuver himself into Lucky's old life. Her investigation into Fin's past reveals a very disturbing pattern but Georgia's increasingly erratic behavior makes it impossible for anyone to believe her seemingly wild accusations.
If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz is an outstanding psychological thriller with a likable and sympathetic main protagonist who becomes increasingly unraveled when the lines between reality and delusion blur. An overall fast-paced and suspense-laden mystery that I highly recommend to readers of all ages.
December 1, 2015
**My original review can be found here, at No BS Book Reviews! Check it out, because right now there is a giveaway for a hardback copy!! Only two days left to enter!**
If You’re Lucky has aspect of a psychological thriller and a mystery. at times, there seems to be a fine line between the two. George has all signs of being a relatively normal girl at first, but then suddenly becomes a very unreliable narrator.
Like, there was a large part of the end where I was actually talking out loud to myself, saying “I have no clue whether she is crazy or right!!” I felt kind of crazy and paranoid just reading it. it was a strange time…. so I have to say, that aspect of the book was well written. It really got the feelings across very well. Though I do feel like she was lacking a bit in the personality department. I get that she was going through a lot of things, but that doesn’t account for no personality. On the other hand we get to know her brother really well. But since he is the dead one and she is alive, that seems backwards.
I really liked most of the characters, even though we didn’t spend too much time with them. This book is really short, and I can’t decide If I wanted more or not. In some cases, you want more because it’s so good, but in this case more may have helped us get to know people better, or amp up her personality. At the same time, this story didn’t need much more room to be told.
It focuses pretty well on mental illness, which the author speaks about at the end. Either way, I think this is a pretty decent, easy and quick to read young adult mystery.
If You’re Lucky has aspect of a psychological thriller and a mystery. at times, there seems to be a fine line between the two. George has all signs of being a relatively normal girl at first, but then suddenly becomes a very unreliable narrator.
Like, there was a large part of the end where I was actually talking out loud to myself, saying “I have no clue whether she is crazy or right!!” I felt kind of crazy and paranoid just reading it. it was a strange time…. so I have to say, that aspect of the book was well written. It really got the feelings across very well. Though I do feel like she was lacking a bit in the personality department. I get that she was going through a lot of things, but that doesn’t account for no personality. On the other hand we get to know her brother really well. But since he is the dead one and she is alive, that seems backwards.
Loss can do some pretty crazy things to people’s heads.
I really liked most of the characters, even though we didn’t spend too much time with them. This book is really short, and I can’t decide If I wanted more or not. In some cases, you want more because it’s so good, but in this case more may have helped us get to know people better, or amp up her personality. At the same time, this story didn’t need much more room to be told.
It focuses pretty well on mental illness, which the author speaks about at the end. Either way, I think this is a pretty decent, easy and quick to read young adult mystery.
April 17, 2015
Georgia's beloved older brother Lucky is dead. A talented surfer, charming and easygoing, he drowned in Australia where he'd made loads of friends, including another young surfer named Fin. When Georgia's family hosts a memorial service for Lucky, Fin is among the friends who show up to pay their respects. Georgia is immediately smitten and when Fin decides to stick around the small town of False Bay, she doesn't mind at all.
But then Fin is everywhere. He's waiting tables at the inn where Georgia works. He's taking care of Lucky's dog Rocket and making Georgia's mom laugh. He's helpful and full of advice. He knows music and can speak French and he attended Julliard and traveled the world. And worst of all, Fin is dating Sonia, Lucky's girlfriend. Georgia takes this as a betrayal in more ways than one - for herself and for her brother.
When Georgia decides to cut back on the medication she takes for her mental illness, her world begins to crumble and she (and we) don't know what is real and what isn't.
I love stories like this: an unreliable narrator, a mysterious stranger, situations that can be either creepy or sweet depending on how you look at them. And this is definitely one of those stories. While we know Georgia seeing Lucky is not real, we don't know if her phone conversations with people Fin knows are. She couldn't have seen Lucky in the estuary, of course not, but could she have imagined Fin visiting her (and threatening her) in the hospital? We don't know because she doesn't know. Everything is real to Georgia.
A real page-turner, If You're Lucky will keep you on your toes as you tear through the chapters. Details of Georgia's town, her family, her Bugs Bunny t-shirt, stick with you for a long time.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
But then Fin is everywhere. He's waiting tables at the inn where Georgia works. He's taking care of Lucky's dog Rocket and making Georgia's mom laugh. He's helpful and full of advice. He knows music and can speak French and he attended Julliard and traveled the world. And worst of all, Fin is dating Sonia, Lucky's girlfriend. Georgia takes this as a betrayal in more ways than one - for herself and for her brother.
When Georgia decides to cut back on the medication she takes for her mental illness, her world begins to crumble and she (and we) don't know what is real and what isn't.
I love stories like this: an unreliable narrator, a mysterious stranger, situations that can be either creepy or sweet depending on how you look at them. And this is definitely one of those stories. While we know Georgia seeing Lucky is not real, we don't know if her phone conversations with people Fin knows are. She couldn't have seen Lucky in the estuary, of course not, but could she have imagined Fin visiting her (and threatening her) in the hospital? We don't know because she doesn't know. Everything is real to Georgia.
A real page-turner, If You're Lucky will keep you on your toes as you tear through the chapters. Details of Georgia's town, her family, her Bugs Bunny t-shirt, stick with you for a long time.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
May 30, 2015
Netgalley kindly provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Georgia has a hard time coming to terms with her brother Lucky's untimely death. Her fears and suspicions are compounded when her brother's friend, Fin, swoops into town and systematically begins to charm the citizens, taking over Lucky's life one piece at a time. Georgia's mind begins to unravel along with the mystery surrounding Fin and her brother's death, and she's in a desperate race against time to convince her friends and family of the possible danger that lurks among them.
I think it's difficult to truly capture the slow unwinding of someone with a mental disorder, let alone balance that with a plot filled with suspicions and secrets. The author managed to strike just the right balance between creating a character you want to champion while still heavily questioning her point of view. The best part of this book is that you, as the reader, become aware that she is an unreliable narrator, so there is the constant question of whether her fears are all in her head or if her brother's "best friend" is really the shady person that she believes him to be.
Fin was such an intriguing character-- the author did a nice job with developing the layers of all the characters, but I was especially impressed with Fin. His charming, sheep-among-wolves fluidity was well crafted, and though I was suspicious of him all throughout the book, he still had this undeniable air of likability that made me want to believe the best of him.
Intense, thrilling, and more than a little heartbreaking at times, I would definitely file this as a page turner.
Georgia has a hard time coming to terms with her brother Lucky's untimely death. Her fears and suspicions are compounded when her brother's friend, Fin, swoops into town and systematically begins to charm the citizens, taking over Lucky's life one piece at a time. Georgia's mind begins to unravel along with the mystery surrounding Fin and her brother's death, and she's in a desperate race against time to convince her friends and family of the possible danger that lurks among them.
I think it's difficult to truly capture the slow unwinding of someone with a mental disorder, let alone balance that with a plot filled with suspicions and secrets. The author managed to strike just the right balance between creating a character you want to champion while still heavily questioning her point of view. The best part of this book is that you, as the reader, become aware that she is an unreliable narrator, so there is the constant question of whether her fears are all in her head or if her brother's "best friend" is really the shady person that she believes him to be.
Fin was such an intriguing character-- the author did a nice job with developing the layers of all the characters, but I was especially impressed with Fin. His charming, sheep-among-wolves fluidity was well crafted, and though I was suspicious of him all throughout the book, he still had this undeniable air of likability that made me want to believe the best of him.
Intense, thrilling, and more than a little heartbreaking at times, I would definitely file this as a page turner.
October 22, 2015
Grade: A-
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. When seventeen-year-old schizophrenic George's brother dies surfing, she becomes suspicious of his friend Fin, who charms his way into Lucky's old life including his girlfriend and her parents' hearts. Convinced that Lucky has been killed by Fin, George decides going off her meds is the only way to solve the "murder".
IF YOU'RE LUCKY is by far one of the best books with a schizophrenic protagonist I've read. Yvonne Prinz did her homework and created a vulnerable and strong character in George and readers are privy to her descent into delusions and hallucinations as her condition deteriorates without her meds. I wasn't sure which parts of her narration were reliable. Was Fin the good guy everyone but she believed, or was George, in the midst of a schizophrenic episode, the only one who could see the truth?
Part mystery, part story of mental illness compounded by grief IF YOU'RE LUCKY is beautifully written. George's voice feels so raw and authentic as she becomes less clear the longer she has been without her meds. Prinz does a remarkable job showing the story.
My only criticism is the ending. While it wasn't rushed, I would have liked more closure for one part of the mystery, and less about a new character.
THEMES: schizophrenia, mental illness, grief, family, friendship, mystery
IF YOU'RE LUCKY is a must read for those interested in mental health, grief or an old fashion did he or didn't he.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. When seventeen-year-old schizophrenic George's brother dies surfing, she becomes suspicious of his friend Fin, who charms his way into Lucky's old life including his girlfriend and her parents' hearts. Convinced that Lucky has been killed by Fin, George decides going off her meds is the only way to solve the "murder".
IF YOU'RE LUCKY is by far one of the best books with a schizophrenic protagonist I've read. Yvonne Prinz did her homework and created a vulnerable and strong character in George and readers are privy to her descent into delusions and hallucinations as her condition deteriorates without her meds. I wasn't sure which parts of her narration were reliable. Was Fin the good guy everyone but she believed, or was George, in the midst of a schizophrenic episode, the only one who could see the truth?
Part mystery, part story of mental illness compounded by grief IF YOU'RE LUCKY is beautifully written. George's voice feels so raw and authentic as she becomes less clear the longer she has been without her meds. Prinz does a remarkable job showing the story.
My only criticism is the ending. While it wasn't rushed, I would have liked more closure for one part of the mystery, and less about a new character.
THEMES: schizophrenia, mental illness, grief, family, friendship, mystery
IF YOU'RE LUCKY is a must read for those interested in mental health, grief or an old fashion did he or didn't he.
February 20, 2017
2.5 stars. This is by no means a bad book, but there's really nothing new about it. It's so forgettable that I have hardly anything to say.
Georgia's brother Lucky has died. A few months later, his old best friend Finn shows up to town. starts taking over his life. Her narrative slowly becomes more and more paranoid as she descends into schizophrenia.
This novel is certainly fast-paced, but aside from that, there's nothing suspenseful about the plot. The unreliable narrator is underused here. Georgia never feels that much more paranoid than the average person would be. I'd act almost as paranoid as Georgia did if I were placed in her situation. I just... don't see how this is schizophrenia. In general, using schizophrenia as a plot device for a suspense novel strikes me as... very easy to get wrong. It wasn't portrayed particularly offensively in this novel, but it still strikes me as a little weird.
The main character, Georgia, is altogether quite forgettable. While I'd usually be glad there was no romance plot, in this one, it felt like the author just couldn't be bothered to write one.
There was just nothing new about If You're Lucky. There isn't a plot twist. In fact, it's easy enough to guess the ending halfway through. Altogether, not recommended.
Georgia's brother Lucky has died. A few months later, his old best friend Finn shows up to town. starts taking over his life. Her narrative slowly becomes more and more paranoid as she descends into schizophrenia.
This novel is certainly fast-paced, but aside from that, there's nothing suspenseful about the plot. The unreliable narrator is underused here. Georgia never feels that much more paranoid than the average person would be. I'd act almost as paranoid as Georgia did if I were placed in her situation. I just... don't see how this is schizophrenia. In general, using schizophrenia as a plot device for a suspense novel strikes me as... very easy to get wrong. It wasn't portrayed particularly offensively in this novel, but it still strikes me as a little weird.
The main character, Georgia, is altogether quite forgettable. While I'd usually be glad there was no romance plot, in this one, it felt like the author just couldn't be bothered to write one.
There was just nothing new about If You're Lucky. There isn't a plot twist. In fact, it's easy enough to guess the ending halfway through. Altogether, not recommended.
November 7, 2015
I didn’t really know what to think of If You’re Lucky when I first read the synopsis.
Now that I’ve read the book though, I’m glad that I got the chance to read the book. Out of the three predictions that I made, two of them came true. In my case, I found that If You’re Lucky was pretty predictable. And I had a hard time reading the second part of the book to be honest.
Other than that, If You’re Lucky is a great read. I found the story to be very intriguing. I also felt that If You’re Lucky was a fast read, I finished it within a couple hours.
I also have in my notes that I really like the last sentence of the book. I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I just remember the last sentence to be witty.
I was able to read If You're Lucky, via Netgalley. Thank you.
*There are a lot of things that could be triggering in this book. Drowning, Schizophrenia, Fire, Attempted Murder, Murder, and Hallucinations.
Now that I’ve read the book though, I’m glad that I got the chance to read the book. Out of the three predictions that I made, two of them came true. In my case, I found that If You’re Lucky was pretty predictable. And I had a hard time reading the second part of the book to be honest.
Other than that, If You’re Lucky is a great read. I found the story to be very intriguing. I also felt that If You’re Lucky was a fast read, I finished it within a couple hours.
I also have in my notes that I really like the last sentence of the book. I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I just remember the last sentence to be witty.
I was able to read If You're Lucky, via Netgalley. Thank you.
*There are a lot of things that could be triggering in this book. Drowning, Schizophrenia, Fire, Attempted Murder, Murder, and Hallucinations.
April 13, 2015
I almost gave up on this book but am so glad I did not. I was actually bored with the story until she admitted she had a mental issue. Then, I could not stop reading it. I loved how it gently explored the topic of mental illness and how it ponder the thin line between sanity and insanity. This was a story that was written well and it was very entertaining. At the begininning, I was wondering if it would pick up, and then when it did - it went off like a rocket. A definite recommend from me!
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from NetGalley.
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from NetGalley.
May 25, 2015
Georgia's brother Lucky dies in a surfing accident halfway across the world and it confuses Georgia. Lucky knew how to surf, was excellent at adventures and had no trouble getting out of one scrape after another so she wonders how a little wave took him down. Then Fin a friend of Lucky's moves to town and Georgia starts to become suspicious. It seems as if Fin is taking over Lucky's life. But the reader also learns that Georgia has dealt with / is dealing with schizophrenia and therefore maybe her fears about Fin are nothing more than delusions.
June 10, 2015
I got an ARC of this book and ripped through it in 24 hours, reading in bed, over coffee, at the nail salon, and finally, sitting at a red light past green (sorry, fellow drivers.) Taut thriller set in a small NorCal town, featuring an empathetic, nuanced rendering of a teenage heroine with schizophrenia. Is she imagining the worst about her brother's death? Or worse, is she the only one who sees clearly?
Prinz is a family favorite YA author and she keeps that designation with "If You're Lucky."
Prinz is a family favorite YA author and she keeps that designation with "If You're Lucky."
September 5, 2016
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
I loooooooved this book. The author deals with mental disorders in a great way, and makes it so that the reader experiences it with Georgia. The suspense in this book was fantastic. Even though this isn't really considered mystery, it definitely had some mystery aspects to it. I think this book was definitely the right book to get me started on the mystery genre! Highly recommended!
I loooooooved this book. The author deals with mental disorders in a great way, and makes it so that the reader experiences it with Georgia. The suspense in this book was fantastic. Even though this isn't really considered mystery, it definitely had some mystery aspects to it. I think this book was definitely the right book to get me started on the mystery genre! Highly recommended!
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