Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett | Book Review

Hello, book lovers! 💕

The following is from Goodreads:

Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there.

What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame.

Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…

My Thoughts:

Okay, so I’m going to start off by saying I really liked this book. And I knew I would because I’ve liked a majority of Jenn Bennett’s books that she has published. Honestly, I’d probably read just about anything by this author at this point. She has become one of my auto buy authors, and I highly recommend reading her books if you haven’t already, especially if you’re a fan of Jenny Han, Nicola Yoon, or Becky Albertalli.

I didn’t know what this book was about because when it comes to YA contemporary, I like to go into it pretty blind since the summary of the book usually gives away a lot of the actual story. I just knew that it was a YA contemporary by Jenn Bennett. I knew it was most likely going to be cute and fun, and it pretty much was. Honestly, I don’t really know what stopped me from giving it a full five star rating.

The main thing I liked about this book, and pretty much all of Jenn Bennett’s books, is the main character and how relatable she was. Josie has communication issues with her mother, and pretty much everyone in her family. And that is the root to many of the problems throughout the book. Like what happens in the beginning at the pool party that Josie goes to with her cousin. And even what happens on her way home after the pool party (I won’t go into too much detail in case you want to read it, which you should).

Another aspect of this book that I really loved was the relationship. Josie and Lucky grew up together, but Josie moved away when she was twelve. A few years later, she moved back, and Lucky wants nothing to do with her. But obviously that’s not how to stays, and Lucky isn’t the town bad boy that he is rumored to be.

I want to note that there is a sex scene in this book, which is something that you don’t normally see if YA contemporary. For some reason, it’s usually a taboo topic that doesn’t get addressed at all. But Jenn Bennett handles it really well. It wasn’t graphic or anything, and it was tastefully done. While I do admit I feel like it happened a little fast, the characters were safe and it was consensual.

But I really enjoyed the romance in this book. I loved reading about Josie and Lucky’s interactions. I think my favorite was when Lucky teaches Josie how to swim and get over sea sickness. He’s so sweet about it, regardless of how the town views him.

The ending took me by surprise, but in a good way. Obviously I’m not going to spoil it, but it wasn’t all that predictable. The two characters do end up together, that’s a given. But the events that lead up to that weren’t what I expected And I really enjoyed that because it didn’t feel formulaic.

So there you have it. There are my thoughts on Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett. Have you read this book or any other books by Jenn Bennett? What were your thoughts on it I’d love to chat in the comments below!

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