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Lucky You
An NPR Best Book of 2017
An official Book of the Month Club selection
Three women, early twenties, find themselves aimlessly adrift in Erika Carter’s fierce and darkly funny debut novel, Lucky You . Ellie, Chloe and Rachel are friends (sort of); waitresses at the same tired bar in the Arkansas college town they’ve stuck around in too long. Each is becoming unmoored in her own Ellie obliterates all feeling with alcohol and self-destructive acts of sexual promiscuity; Chloe pulls out patches of her hair and struggles to keep incipient mental illness at bay; changeable Rachel has fallen under the sway of a messianic boyfriend with whom she’s agreed to live off-grid for a year in order to return to “health” and asks Ellie and Chloe to join them in “The Project”. In a remote, rural house in the Ozarks, nearly undone by boredom and the brewing tension between them, each tries to solve the conundrum of being alive.
By turns funny, knowing and hauntingly sad, Lucky You delivers the kind of study in damage and detachment that made Mary Gaitskill’s Bad Behavior or Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays so memorable. With startling exactitude and wickedly deadpan humor, it lays bare the emotional core of its characters with surgical precision. The writing is deft and controlled, as natural and unforced as breath—which makes it impossible to look away.
An official Book of the Month Club selection
Three women, early twenties, find themselves aimlessly adrift in Erika Carter’s fierce and darkly funny debut novel, Lucky You . Ellie, Chloe and Rachel are friends (sort of); waitresses at the same tired bar in the Arkansas college town they’ve stuck around in too long. Each is becoming unmoored in her own Ellie obliterates all feeling with alcohol and self-destructive acts of sexual promiscuity; Chloe pulls out patches of her hair and struggles to keep incipient mental illness at bay; changeable Rachel has fallen under the sway of a messianic boyfriend with whom she’s agreed to live off-grid for a year in order to return to “health” and asks Ellie and Chloe to join them in “The Project”. In a remote, rural house in the Ozarks, nearly undone by boredom and the brewing tension between them, each tries to solve the conundrum of being alive.
By turns funny, knowing and hauntingly sad, Lucky You delivers the kind of study in damage and detachment that made Mary Gaitskill’s Bad Behavior or Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays so memorable. With startling exactitude and wickedly deadpan humor, it lays bare the emotional core of its characters with surgical precision. The writing is deft and controlled, as natural and unforced as breath—which makes it impossible to look away.
271 pages, Hardcover
First published March 14, 2017
97 people are currently reading
3443 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 480 reviews
February 7, 2017
***Possible Spoilers****
Maybe 2.5 stars? I'm not even sure how to review this book. I didn't hate the writing. Actually, Erika Carter's writing is what kept me glued to the story. The story wasn't exactly bad either. It kept me wanting more. Honestly, that is what the problem was, I wanted more.
I did not like the characters at all. I found them to all be disgusting people. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the characters to be somehow redeemed. I waited for them to show growth and maturity. I wanted something...anything...to make the story worth it. I reached the last paragraph and realized that none of the characters were going to be likable. I wasn't rooting for any of them. I do not like reading stories where I couldn't at least root for someone. I at least wanted there to be one character who I felt happy for or proud of in the end. Not having that aspect brought me down a bit.
Now, would I read any of Erika Carter's future novels? Yes I absolutely would. I enjoyed her writing style and I loved how I felt like I was in the world she created. I could see the scenery, smell the surroundings, hear the water in the creek, hear the snow crunching under tires. While I didn't love this book, I did, however, love how much it sucked me in.
Just as a side note:
I kind of feel dirty after reading this book. Like physically dirty. If a story could smell, this one would probably smell like stale cigarette smoke, b.o., smelly sex, warm beer, and greasy hair.
Maybe 2.5 stars? I'm not even sure how to review this book. I didn't hate the writing. Actually, Erika Carter's writing is what kept me glued to the story. The story wasn't exactly bad either. It kept me wanting more. Honestly, that is what the problem was, I wanted more.
I did not like the characters at all. I found them to all be disgusting people. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the characters to be somehow redeemed. I waited for them to show growth and maturity. I wanted something...anything...to make the story worth it. I reached the last paragraph and realized that none of the characters were going to be likable. I wasn't rooting for any of them. I do not like reading stories where I couldn't at least root for someone. I at least wanted there to be one character who I felt happy for or proud of in the end. Not having that aspect brought me down a bit.
Now, would I read any of Erika Carter's future novels? Yes I absolutely would. I enjoyed her writing style and I loved how I felt like I was in the world she created. I could see the scenery, smell the surroundings, hear the water in the creek, hear the snow crunching under tires. While I didn't love this book, I did, however, love how much it sucked me in.
Just as a side note:
I kind of feel dirty after reading this book. Like physically dirty. If a story could smell, this one would probably smell like stale cigarette smoke, b.o., smelly sex, warm beer, and greasy hair.
July 6, 2017
2.5 Stars → I've been debating over how to rate this book. (This was my January 2017 Book of the Month Club selection.) It held my attention, but at the same time I had problems with it. It left me shaking my head, thinking what was the point?
Normally I would pass on a book about twenty-somethings trying to find themselves, but LUCKY YOU is set in Arkansas, and I have a thing for Arkansas, especially the Ozark Mountains. So, I gave it a try. The setting was wonderful, loved the descriptions, but the characters and plot were another story.
Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel were just flat-out unpleasant, and their backstories were lacking. It wasn't clear to me why they behaved as they did. So, they become part of a project, living off the grid to escape the "Old World" and all the "unhealth" in it. Sounds fine, but I was disappointed in the results. The chapters alternate between each woman, then about halfway through, Chloe disappears, and the others have to finish up her story. Why ignore a main character?
Sad story. Sad characters. Unfortunately I missed the dark humor the blurb mentions. Haunting ― maybe, funny ― no.
Normally I would pass on a book about twenty-somethings trying to find themselves, but LUCKY YOU is set in Arkansas, and I have a thing for Arkansas, especially the Ozark Mountains. So, I gave it a try. The setting was wonderful, loved the descriptions, but the characters and plot were another story.
Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel were just flat-out unpleasant, and their backstories were lacking. It wasn't clear to me why they behaved as they did. So, they become part of a project, living off the grid to escape the "Old World" and all the "unhealth" in it. Sounds fine, but I was disappointed in the results. The chapters alternate between each woman, then about halfway through, Chloe disappears, and the others have to finish up her story. Why ignore a main character?
Sad story. Sad characters. Unfortunately I missed the dark humor the blurb mentions. Haunting ― maybe, funny ― no.
February 6, 2017
Disappinted by how much I did not enjoy this book. It managed to simultaneously be too short and too long. We get so little information or background or even time with these characters, and the couple chapters we do get in each of protagonists' perspectives are enough to make them insufferable. I usually appreciate an unlikable character, but this was just a relentless cycle of crappy people doing literally nothing with their lives other than being crappy.
I can understand why it was chosen for BOTM, and why some ~pseudo-intellectual~ types will swear to high heaven that it's a masterful story. But it just wasn't. I recommend a hard pass on this when it comes out next month. Or at least save yourself the money and check it out from the library if you must read this.
I can understand why it was chosen for BOTM, and why some ~pseudo-intellectual~ types will swear to high heaven that it's a masterful story. But it just wasn't. I recommend a hard pass on this when it comes out next month. Or at least save yourself the money and check it out from the library if you must read this.
February 6, 2017
Well, for the first time I actually want to throw a book in the trash.
May 20, 2017
I won’t say that I hated this book - if that were the case, I wouldn’t have finished it. It was a close thing though. I’m just glad it was fairly short and fit into the few small intervals of time that I had to read this week.
The decent…
The characterizations of Chloe, Rachel, and Ellie, I thought were actually well done. I mean… they’re not people I would want to hang out with, but Carter does an impressive job of fleshing out these young women with real personality and behavioral issues. I could certainly identify with Ellie’s behavior in particular, from my own past with alcohol abuse, and that felt particularly painful and authentic. Having said all that, do any of these women grow or change or evolve over the course of the story? Nah.
The not so great…
It’s not that Erika Carter doesn’t write well (she does). It’s not because the characters are so unlikeable (although they are). The biggest problem is that the whole story feels like a big deflated balloon. Flat and pointless. I don’t feel changed or affected in any way for having read it. I just feel relief that I can move on to something new.
The decent…
The characterizations of Chloe, Rachel, and Ellie, I thought were actually well done. I mean… they’re not people I would want to hang out with, but Carter does an impressive job of fleshing out these young women with real personality and behavioral issues. I could certainly identify with Ellie’s behavior in particular, from my own past with alcohol abuse, and that felt particularly painful and authentic. Having said all that, do any of these women grow or change or evolve over the course of the story? Nah.
The not so great…
It’s not that Erika Carter doesn’t write well (she does). It’s not because the characters are so unlikeable (although they are). The biggest problem is that the whole story feels like a big deflated balloon. Flat and pointless. I don’t feel changed or affected in any way for having read it. I just feel relief that I can move on to something new.
February 7, 2017
Thank you BOTM for the early release! I am disappointed with this book. The writing style was good, but I feel that the whole plot was a mess, no point to the story. I wanted the characters to evolve more, to me they were flat and depressing, and the lifestyle is pitiful. Wouldn't recommend.
January 19, 2017
I got the best gift ever for Christmas: Book of the Month Club membership for a whole year! :) First up: Lucky You by Erika Carter.
A few reviews I've seen for Lucky You mention a lack of character development being a problem for them, but I actually felt like I had an intimate understanding of the 3 women. How better to get an understanding of someone than to see their worst traits, fears, and addictions all spelled out in black and white?
Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe are each tragically flawed, all in ways that I could easily relate to. Do I love them? No. Do I love everybody that I have been throughout the years? Not even close. At times they felt like caricatures of every negative quality I've ever possessed, and this of course made me sad.
In fact, Lucky You as a whole made me really, very sad. In no way do I mean that as a negative - I am the person who runs out to see a movie knowing only that it is cruelly sad (shout out: Manchester by the Sea).
It wasn't an event or someone's actions that made me sad though, it was the underlying restlessness that permeated through every thing they did. The old habits they couldn't break. The addictions that crept back up every time they were pushed aside. The internal wars that couldn't and wouldn't be won. The hunger for purpose in life, but also the inevitable laziness preventing anything meaningful from actually be achieved.
I'm not sure if I interpreted all of this the way that Erika Carter intended but, man, she really hit it on the head for me.
A few reviews I've seen for Lucky You mention a lack of character development being a problem for them, but I actually felt like I had an intimate understanding of the 3 women. How better to get an understanding of someone than to see their worst traits, fears, and addictions all spelled out in black and white?
Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe are each tragically flawed, all in ways that I could easily relate to. Do I love them? No. Do I love everybody that I have been throughout the years? Not even close. At times they felt like caricatures of every negative quality I've ever possessed, and this of course made me sad.
In fact, Lucky You as a whole made me really, very sad. In no way do I mean that as a negative - I am the person who runs out to see a movie knowing only that it is cruelly sad (shout out: Manchester by the Sea).
It wasn't an event or someone's actions that made me sad though, it was the underlying restlessness that permeated through every thing they did. The old habits they couldn't break. The addictions that crept back up every time they were pushed aside. The internal wars that couldn't and wouldn't be won. The hunger for purpose in life, but also the inevitable laziness preventing anything meaningful from actually be achieved.
I'm not sure if I interpreted all of this the way that Erika Carter intended but, man, she really hit it on the head for me.
January 14, 2017
Oh Book of the Month.
I guess I am glad I had a free credit and didn't pay for this.
Beautiful writing, shit characters, empty ending.
I guess I am glad I had a free credit and didn't pay for this.
Beautiful writing, shit characters, empty ending.
February 1, 2017
I don't know why this is getting such low reviews! I loved this book.
Every character is a confused, unmotivated mess who thinks she can change for the better, but ultimately can't. The book is really sad and darkly humorous, and I think it was so well done the way the characters circle back basically to where they originally are and almost unchanged, like they are just stuck in a cycle they *think* is changing for the better each time. But it's not! I loved how much the characters are not aware of themselves and how unlikeable they all are.
This book is 100% underrated. The writing was great, the character development was sad and ironic on purpose and I feel like people just missed that. It strongly deserves more than a 2-star average!
Every character is a confused, unmotivated mess who thinks she can change for the better, but ultimately can't. The book is really sad and darkly humorous, and I think it was so well done the way the characters circle back basically to where they originally are and almost unchanged, like they are just stuck in a cycle they *think* is changing for the better each time. But it's not! I loved how much the characters are not aware of themselves and how unlikeable they all are.
This book is 100% underrated. The writing was great, the character development was sad and ironic on purpose and I feel like people just missed that. It strongly deserves more than a 2-star average!
January 8, 2017
****Spoilers Below****
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Sometimes you just need a book about life. Not necessarily your life, or a life with out of the ordinary circumstances, but a life that is different from your own. That is what Lucky You, by Erika Carter, is for me. There isn’t a big plot twist that screams “got ya!” at the end, or an event that is a catalyst, or even a happy ending. It is just the life of three young women, and all of their flaws, mistakes, and strengths.
I can see how there could potentially be mixed reviews for this, and this is not a "everyone must read this now!" book. Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe do not have charmed lives, and by most standards, do not seem to redeem, themselves at the end. They do not seem very likable, and some readers might find it hard to connect or find sympathy for them. Add in an ending that does not seem to have any resolution or change, you might wonder what was the point of living off the grid for a year?
This is exactly what drew me in, however. While my life was different from all of them, I could still see pieces of myself in Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe. Those broken pieces, that with different actions and decisions, could have placed me to a more similar life as one of them. Living of the grid did not seem to bring any piece of mind or change, but it showed me that a year will not make or break you, and that all things you can move on from. It might take awhile, but there is hope. The three young women seemed to pick up their life exactly how they had left it, with the exception of Chloe (and I’m still uncertain if I feel like her change is a happy one...a needed one maybe, but not necessarily the right one). Her ending, out of all, I might need to think on some more.
Lucky You is a quiet, lonely book that just seems to float on for a little over a year. The writing is beautiful and raw, and all the story-lines leave you conflicted. The bad things that happen in life are not always the boogeyman, not always black versus white, but are indifference and small changes that eventually grow dark.
Ps - Thanks to the Book of the Month subscription service for the chance to read this before publication.
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Sometimes you just need a book about life. Not necessarily your life, or a life with out of the ordinary circumstances, but a life that is different from your own. That is what Lucky You, by Erika Carter, is for me. There isn’t a big plot twist that screams “got ya!” at the end, or an event that is a catalyst, or even a happy ending. It is just the life of three young women, and all of their flaws, mistakes, and strengths.
I can see how there could potentially be mixed reviews for this, and this is not a "everyone must read this now!" book. Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe do not have charmed lives, and by most standards, do not seem to redeem, themselves at the end. They do not seem very likable, and some readers might find it hard to connect or find sympathy for them. Add in an ending that does not seem to have any resolution or change, you might wonder what was the point of living off the grid for a year?
This is exactly what drew me in, however. While my life was different from all of them, I could still see pieces of myself in Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe. Those broken pieces, that with different actions and decisions, could have placed me to a more similar life as one of them. Living of the grid did not seem to bring any piece of mind or change, but it showed me that a year will not make or break you, and that all things you can move on from. It might take awhile, but there is hope. The three young women seemed to pick up their life exactly how they had left it, with the exception of Chloe (and I’m still uncertain if I feel like her change is a happy one...a needed one maybe, but not necessarily the right one). Her ending, out of all, I might need to think on some more.
Lucky You is a quiet, lonely book that just seems to float on for a little over a year. The writing is beautiful and raw, and all the story-lines leave you conflicted. The bad things that happen in life are not always the boogeyman, not always black versus white, but are indifference and small changes that eventually grow dark.
Ps - Thanks to the Book of the Month subscription service for the chance to read this before publication.
February 7, 2017
I really wanted to like this book, but I found all the characters so unpleasant. I loved the premise, but it was work to get through.
January 21, 2019
I've had this on my shelf for what feels like forever, and finally just picked it up and read it overnight when I wanted to knock something off of my Book of the Month shelf.
The basic premise is three women in their 20s trying to make sense of their lives in rural Arkansas. It is told in rotating viewpoint chapters, which I like. These are women who didn't go to college and don't make the best relationship choices, and they are drawn to the somewhat radical ideas of the boyfriend of one of the women (who has to be the least charismatic cultish leader person I've encountered in a novel, perhaps supposed to be funny) and follow that path, even when it is to their detriment.
I'll talk more about it on an upcoming podcast episode.
The basic premise is three women in their 20s trying to make sense of their lives in rural Arkansas. It is told in rotating viewpoint chapters, which I like. These are women who didn't go to college and don't make the best relationship choices, and they are drawn to the somewhat radical ideas of the boyfriend of one of the women (who has to be the least charismatic cultish leader person I've encountered in a novel, perhaps supposed to be funny) and follow that path, even when it is to their detriment.
I'll talk more about it on an upcoming podcast episode.
February 5, 2017
I can see why so many people have given this book lower reviews. The characters felt realistic but were not always likable - it was hard to want to relate to them. And the plot was not conventionally driven. There were plenty of opportunities for conflict between characters, but the narrative largely skipped over all that to resonate in the quiet internal conflicts within each character. It's not a long book, and it doesn't come to a firm - or necessarily satisfying - conclusion.
And yet, there's something remarkable about this book. The narrative voice is luscious and lyric without being overwrought. The momentum is incredible, alternating points of view and skipping through time with each chapter to focus on set-piece moments that define each character's experience. It was funny but serious at the same time, making me cringe, laugh, reflect, and keep turning the pages until - just like that - it was over.
Many thanks to BOTM for the recommendation and for the opportunity to read a gorgeous early release of Lucky You. This is Erika Carter's debut novel, and I can't wait to read what she publishes next.
And yet, there's something remarkable about this book. The narrative voice is luscious and lyric without being overwrought. The momentum is incredible, alternating points of view and skipping through time with each chapter to focus on set-piece moments that define each character's experience. It was funny but serious at the same time, making me cringe, laugh, reflect, and keep turning the pages until - just like that - it was over.
Many thanks to BOTM for the recommendation and for the opportunity to read a gorgeous early release of Lucky You. This is Erika Carter's debut novel, and I can't wait to read what she publishes next.
February 5, 2017
This was one of my picks for Book of the Month. I picked it based on the reviews thinking it was going to be a much better read. The story was hollow for me. The author had the beginnings of great characters and then never fleshed them out. The characters themselves were shallow and where I don't need a happy everything is resolved ending, I did want more. Basically there was no growth with the characters from beginning to end. Perhaps that was the point but, I didn't take anything away from this particular book.
February 5, 2017
I never found the "deadpan humor". Maybe that would've helped. If you want to read a depressing book about miserable twenty-somethings, then pick this book.
February 3, 2017
Shallow. One of those books you read and hope it will get better. I want my time back.
Read
February 15, 2017OFF THE GRID BUT RIGHT ON TARGET
By Judge Rachel Syme
Three waitresses at the same dead-end bar in an Arkansas college town try to navigate their fuzzed-out early twenties. Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe all yearn for meaning in different ways, and yet they all converge on a very relatable – and very modern – sense that, even though we’re supposed to feel more connected than ever, young people can still feel adrift in today’s world.
At the beginning of Lucky You, we see our heroines trying to numb themselves with late nights of boozing, sex with strangers, and bad reality television. They seek out meaningful connection but often end up in dysfunctional relationships, and so they feel lost – unsure about what to believe in or where to focus their energies.
And so, they go off the grid. Rachel moves into a rural cabin in the Ozark Mountains with her naively earnest boyfriend after reading a book called Toward Sustainability and flippantly declaring, “We are in the midst of a large scale ecological crisis.” When Rachel invites Chloe and Ellie to move into the cabin, they all believe that through communing with nature and disconnecting from the outside world, they will find themselves anew.
Of course, as the women learn during the course of the novel, when you run away from your troubles they always follow. While living together as part of “The Project,” the three women start to clash, their dreams fizzle, and they realize that no amount of pastoral escape or isolation will lead them to answers for the very real questions that eat away at young people who are oversaturated by staring into pixelated screens looking for truth. And yet there’s hope: one of the joys of the book is watching as each heroine figures out how to make her own way in the world on her own terms.
Erika Carter’s debut novel is sparse, beautiful, and often very funny. Her darkness and concision bring to mind the kind of writers who excel at making the tragic just comic enough that you forget to cry. This is a novel for anyone who has dreamed about leaving her life behind to live in an Eden – but who also knows that real change comes from looking within. No cabin in the woods is a magic bullet. Lucky You reminds us that the only way out is through.
For more: https://www.bookofthemonth.com/lucky-...
By Judge Rachel Syme
Three waitresses at the same dead-end bar in an Arkansas college town try to navigate their fuzzed-out early twenties. Ellie, Rachel, and Chloe all yearn for meaning in different ways, and yet they all converge on a very relatable – and very modern – sense that, even though we’re supposed to feel more connected than ever, young people can still feel adrift in today’s world.
At the beginning of Lucky You, we see our heroines trying to numb themselves with late nights of boozing, sex with strangers, and bad reality television. They seek out meaningful connection but often end up in dysfunctional relationships, and so they feel lost – unsure about what to believe in or where to focus their energies.
And so, they go off the grid. Rachel moves into a rural cabin in the Ozark Mountains with her naively earnest boyfriend after reading a book called Toward Sustainability and flippantly declaring, “We are in the midst of a large scale ecological crisis.” When Rachel invites Chloe and Ellie to move into the cabin, they all believe that through communing with nature and disconnecting from the outside world, they will find themselves anew.
Of course, as the women learn during the course of the novel, when you run away from your troubles they always follow. While living together as part of “The Project,” the three women start to clash, their dreams fizzle, and they realize that no amount of pastoral escape or isolation will lead them to answers for the very real questions that eat away at young people who are oversaturated by staring into pixelated screens looking for truth. And yet there’s hope: one of the joys of the book is watching as each heroine figures out how to make her own way in the world on her own terms.
Erika Carter’s debut novel is sparse, beautiful, and often very funny. Her darkness and concision bring to mind the kind of writers who excel at making the tragic just comic enough that you forget to cry. This is a novel for anyone who has dreamed about leaving her life behind to live in an Eden – but who also knows that real change comes from looking within. No cabin in the woods is a magic bullet. Lucky You reminds us that the only way out is through.
For more: https://www.bookofthemonth.com/lucky-...
February 5, 2017
Her writing is beautiful, but the characters are so bland and unpleasant that it was difficult to read. Plus, this is literally a story about nothing. Absolutely nothing happens, it's like reading a depressed and unfunny Seinfeld episode, there's zero plot.
March 21, 2017
After reading some harsh reviews, I was less than thrilled to start this one, but went into it with and open mind and was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps it's because my expectations weren't high to begin with, but I did enjoy this read. I thought the characters were realistic in their flaws and the way they float through their early twenties with a loss of direction and purpose. There aren't any plot twists or big revelations, but more of a simple plot line of their lives and the choices they wish they didn't make, but keep repeating. I also found their time "living in health" interesting in the fact it reminded me of a cult. I was hoping the characters would do something more with their lives after living in the Ozarks and wanting to escape so badly, but old habits are hard to break and past lives are hard to out run. It is a darker read with no happy ending or resolution, but I think that's a more accurate depiction of real life. It left me wanting more, though, with Chloe's story line. I wish there was a chapter from Chloe's POV to end her story instead of seeing it through Rachel's eyes. The ending felt abrupt and messy, but I think that's a truer reflection of the characters' lives.
January 7, 2017
First off, super cool to get early access to this book as a Book of the Month subscriber! I appreciated the unique physical design in this book with the black pages as chapter divides. Overall, the plot moved quickly and the personalities were interesting. But I struggled to empathize with the characters. I felt like the ending left me hanging.
February 9, 2017
Where's the story? Tried to like this book but it goes nowhere...three, privileged, boring girls trying to go off-grid, something given to us as a researched rather than experienced scenario. Decent prose but without imagination of language or story. And what's with all the blank pages?
May 14, 2021
The book itself was descriptive and you could really imagine the scene. The problem was the characters were unlikable and the plot really didn't seem to go anywhere. After I finished I just found myself wondering "What was the point?"
February 5, 2017
I really did not enjoy this book. None of the characters are interesting; they're all people I wouldn't want to associate with if they existed in real life. Also, what was the point with all the haiku? Did I miss something?
The writing wasn't bad, but this book left me with an empty feeling.
The writing wasn't bad, but this book left me with an empty feeling.
February 5, 2017
I wanted so hard to laugh at the characters in this book until I saw worst self reflected in one.
February 21, 2021
3 Stars
See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf.Inspiration Instagram
“It seemed as though it wasn’t enough just to look at beauty-you had to do something about it-as though you had to destroy it to be satisfied.” - Lucky You.
This book follows friends Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel who work as waitresses at the same Arkansas bar. Each of them is becoming unmoored in their own way: Ellie obliterates her feeling with alcohol and self-destructive sexual promiscuity, Chloe pulls out patches of her hair and struggles to keep her mental illness at bay, and Rachel has fallen under the sway of her messianic boyfriend and has gone to live off-grid for a year in order to return to “health”. Rachel then asks Ellie and Chloe to join them in “The Project”. In the remote, rural house in the Ozarks, undone by boredom and tension, each tries to solve the conundrum of being alive.
I kept seeing this book as a BOTM add-on and it always caught my eye, so I finally picked it up. This was a short, but slow-paced read that is definitely more character driven. It follows these three women during a time in their twenties when each are at a standstill and wondering what is next. Each character is facing different struggles in their life and we follow them as they all end up living in this rural house in the Ozarks. I thought this book was going to be a little more cult-like from the synopsis but it wasn’t. It really feels more like a character study about these women, their lives, and how their stories connect. I wish it went just a little deeper, and wish there was a bit more to the ending (which was fairly ambiguous). Overall, I did enjoy this book for what it was and would be interested in seeing what else Erika Carter will write.
See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf.Inspiration Instagram
“It seemed as though it wasn’t enough just to look at beauty-you had to do something about it-as though you had to destroy it to be satisfied.” - Lucky You.
This book follows friends Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel who work as waitresses at the same Arkansas bar. Each of them is becoming unmoored in their own way: Ellie obliterates her feeling with alcohol and self-destructive sexual promiscuity, Chloe pulls out patches of her hair and struggles to keep her mental illness at bay, and Rachel has fallen under the sway of her messianic boyfriend and has gone to live off-grid for a year in order to return to “health”. Rachel then asks Ellie and Chloe to join them in “The Project”. In the remote, rural house in the Ozarks, undone by boredom and tension, each tries to solve the conundrum of being alive.
I kept seeing this book as a BOTM add-on and it always caught my eye, so I finally picked it up. This was a short, but slow-paced read that is definitely more character driven. It follows these three women during a time in their twenties when each are at a standstill and wondering what is next. Each character is facing different struggles in their life and we follow them as they all end up living in this rural house in the Ozarks. I thought this book was going to be a little more cult-like from the synopsis but it wasn’t. It really feels more like a character study about these women, their lives, and how their stories connect. I wish it went just a little deeper, and wish there was a bit more to the ending (which was fairly ambiguous). Overall, I did enjoy this book for what it was and would be interested in seeing what else Erika Carter will write.
March 11, 2017
3 women.
One café.
Multiple inner demons.
Lucky You follows 3 women from Arkansas as they navigate post-collegiate life with anything but grace and dignity. After reaching an emotional dead end, Chloe and Ellie decide to join Rachel in the Ozark Mountains to capture true “health.” Health is a way of living doctored by Rachel’s charismatic yet cult-like boyfriend, Autry. Here they renounce their vices from the “old world.”
The survivalist aspect of this book definitely had my intention but while reading I learned it was anything but survivalist. Each of these women became hauntingly ill both mentally and physically during the book so I was a little disappointed that the book intimated at survivalist when in reality it was more cult-like simplicity.
Transformation.
Rachel’s story line painted her as an enigma; we truly don’t know WHO she is because she doesn’t know WHO she is. Rachel absorbs a persona and becomes that persona. She has absorbed everything about “health” and is a shell of her former self.
Narcissism.
Ellie is right up there as a sexually addicted narcissist. Ellie enjoys the humiliation she receives and causes- she never lets anyone get too close and if they do- she discards them quicker than you could imagine. Of course, the female narcissist in this book is blonde and beautiful; desired by all men and envied by the women.
Worst nightmare.
Sometimes a girl’s worst nightmare- turning out like your mother. Chloe recollects the delusional paranoia she witnessed her mother endure as a child. Now as she reaches her mid-20s Chloe begins to suffer some of the same delusions.
Overall, this book was more of a character analysis than a “story” per se. You can’t escape the dark corners of your personality – no matter what. Anyone who has taken an Abnormal Psychology class would enjoy this book in my opinion. 4 stars xx
One café.
Multiple inner demons.
Lucky You follows 3 women from Arkansas as they navigate post-collegiate life with anything but grace and dignity. After reaching an emotional dead end, Chloe and Ellie decide to join Rachel in the Ozark Mountains to capture true “health.” Health is a way of living doctored by Rachel’s charismatic yet cult-like boyfriend, Autry. Here they renounce their vices from the “old world.”
The survivalist aspect of this book definitely had my intention but while reading I learned it was anything but survivalist. Each of these women became hauntingly ill both mentally and physically during the book so I was a little disappointed that the book intimated at survivalist when in reality it was more cult-like simplicity.
Transformation.
Rachel’s story line painted her as an enigma; we truly don’t know WHO she is because she doesn’t know WHO she is. Rachel absorbs a persona and becomes that persona. She has absorbed everything about “health” and is a shell of her former self.
Narcissism.
Ellie is right up there as a sexually addicted narcissist. Ellie enjoys the humiliation she receives and causes- she never lets anyone get too close and if they do- she discards them quicker than you could imagine. Of course, the female narcissist in this book is blonde and beautiful; desired by all men and envied by the women.
Worst nightmare.
Sometimes a girl’s worst nightmare- turning out like your mother. Chloe recollects the delusional paranoia she witnessed her mother endure as a child. Now as she reaches her mid-20s Chloe begins to suffer some of the same delusions.
Overall, this book was more of a character analysis than a “story” per se. You can’t escape the dark corners of your personality – no matter what. Anyone who has taken an Abnormal Psychology class would enjoy this book in my opinion. 4 stars xx
June 28, 2020
Not sure where to begin! Perhaps I missed the humorous parts (and I enjoy all flavors of humor). This was a slow read that I kept hoping might pick up at some point... it did not. For me, it felt as though Carter kept missing the point of her story and I was left swimming in a story of confusion and despair without any direction.
Focusing on the Ozarks for a good portion of the book felt like a mistake. I would have liked to read more of the inner turmoil the characters were going through, however Carter only really lightly touches on this, leaving you to draw your own conclusions. If you can't find yourself in any of the characters, it will be hard to enjoy them and their stories.
It may just be a personal thing - but I was frustrated that men played such a big part. When you're 20 something, it's bound to happen at some point. But given the timeline of the book, I would've at least liked to have seen some character growth.
Focusing on the Ozarks for a good portion of the book felt like a mistake. I would have liked to read more of the inner turmoil the characters were going through, however Carter only really lightly touches on this, leaving you to draw your own conclusions. If you can't find yourself in any of the characters, it will be hard to enjoy them and their stories.
It may just be a personal thing - but I was frustrated that men played such a big part. When you're 20 something, it's bound to happen at some point. But given the timeline of the book, I would've at least liked to have seen some character growth.
June 9, 2017
This book isn't exactly a thrilling page-turner, but I had a hard time putting it down. The story is told through the alternating POVs of the three main characters, Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel. I didn't particularly like any of them, but I was definitely pulling for them to get their ish together. I thought the writing was strong and even beautiful at times. I also really liked the way the author ended the novel, as sad as it was...I thought it was perfect. If you like Girls (the tv show), you'll probably like this!
February 3, 2017
This is the first book I've been legibly disappointed by in a long time. It was boring and unsatisfying. The characters are unlikeable and do not really change and nothing about it brings any joy whatsoever. I finished it because I always finish books, but I knew it was terrible early on. I really hoped I'd get a satisfying ending somehow at least, but...nope.
February 5, 2017
This book was definitely not for me. It was beautifully written but unfortunately there wasn't a plot. The story lead to nowhere and I really had high hopes. The concept of "un-health" and going off the grid is great but the presentation and ending result just didn't do it for me ☹️
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