While Love & Luck has been on my TBR for a couple of years now, it was not a priority. I likely wouldn’t have read it anytime soon if it didn’t fit a Year of Epic Reads weekly challenge, and honestly, it wasn’t worth the wait.

I was really excited to read a story set in Ireland, but unfortunately, this novel didn’t deliver. The Irish setting was more of a surface element, a backdrop for drama rather than a part of the plot. This was disappointing; although the trip lasted only three days, that’s no excuse to do Ireland dirty. As an Irish girl that hasn’t visited Ireland, I had high hopes, especially since I can’t think of any other YA with this setting. The descriptions of the Emerald Isle were lovely, but I wish Welch had done more.

One aspect I did like was the focus on sibling love, rather than romantic. Addie has a decent-sized family, with three brothers and her parents, and this story centers in on her closest brother, Ian. They’re usually close, but after a school scandal involving Addie, they had vastly different ideas of how to handle it, thus driving a wedge between them. While I acknowledge that this is realistic sibling representation, their constant bickering grated on my nerves. I appreciated the growth in their relationship as the story progressed, but not enough to overlook this.

The true treasure in this novel was Addie and Lina’s friendship. Though it was minor, I loved it. I could tell that the two had a genuine, deep connection, the kind many friends want but don’t always achieve. They were in different countries for most of the story, but that didn’t detract from their relationship. For this, I applaud Welch. Additionally, I discovered through other reviews that Welch’s debut Love & Gelato follows Lina, so I’m sufficiently intrigued.

I think Rowan was my favorite character. He was Ian’s best friend but not shoved into any stereotypical molds, a good friend with his own personality and problems. I appreciated that no romance developed between him and Addie, and feel that that alone prevented this from reading like any number of recycled contemporaries. Admittedly, there was a hint of something more in the end, but I’ll take what I can get. My biggest issue with Rowan was that he didn’t truly feel Irish. Sure, he had an accent. But otherwise, he resembled a sticker that bookstores put on their signed copies — if you peel it away carefully, you can’t tell it was ever there. Take away Rowan’s accent and you can’t tell he’s Irish. Same idea.

As for Addie, she was hardly anything special. It took a couple of chapters to get used to her voice, and once I did, I didn’t have any problems with her. However, she felt like a rather static character, undergoing little development throughout the story. Her only real quality, in my opinion, was her knowledge of cars and knack for mechanics. It was amusing to see Ian and Rowan turn to her when their piece of crap car broke down, completely clueless.

Possibly the most irritating element was the lack of information surrounding the incident with Cubby for the first eighty percent of the novel. Ultimately, it was a cliché, absolutely preventable scandal, and unfortunately, so very high school. Other reviewers call it a mystery, and while they’re entitled to their opinion, I disagree. Addie and Ian knew the circumstances the entire time, but readers are kept in the dark; I was not a fan.

At risk of sounding petty, I have two more minor grievances. The chapters were unnecessarily long, with the shortest still around or exceeding twenty pages, and the audiobook narrator was insufferably boring. I tried to push through but lasted less than a chapter. If possible, I recommend reading yourself.

I think I’ve covered all of my feelings regarding this novel. I considered giving Love & Luck a lower rating, but there’s something about it that prevented me from doing so; I can’t quite put my finger on it. This wasn’t a fun or impactful or even memorable read, to be honest, but it did add one more book to my Goodreads challenge.