As always, I devoured another Kasie West book!

The only thing Maddie has going for her is her academic achievements. She loves learning and is eagerly waiting to hear back from her top schools, UCLA, Stanford and San Diego State. But, she's constantly feeling the weight on her shoulders of how she will afford it, hoping for a scholarship. This story was true to teenagers who are about to graduate/have recently graduated high school. This is the biggest struggle and the hardest.

Maddie is also trying to fix her parents marriage. They're constantly bickering and arguing with each other over nonsense. There's speculation that Maddie's parents will get a divorce, and I liked seeing this side of a family dynamic rather than the usual parent scenarios West writes. West writes parental relationships very well and I love that her books almost always include parents!! Plus, Maddie has a brother, Beau who is depressed because he can't afford to go back to college.

On the night of Maddie's *boring* eighteenth birthday, she buys a lottery ticket when persuaded by the cashier, Maxine she isn't fond of. Everything changes in Maddie's life after she ends up winning the lottery. I really liked seeing how Maddie's character developed through the story as she went through tough times as the lottery winner. She quickly learns that people will only want you for your money & sometimes money does buy happiness. Winning the lottery does get to Maddie's head, but in the end everything eased out.

Maddie has a small friend group consisting of two girls, Elise and Blaire. Honestly, I really liked seeing the small friend group opposed to a large group of friends because it can be hard to keep everyone in order and it felt realistic! Blaire was a great character and a great friend, I loved her because she always kept it real with Maddie and told her straightforward what she was feeling.

Another thing I love about Kasie West is that her characters are realistic and have hobbies/aspirations. Maddie is an animal lover who works at the local zoo and is planning to become a veterinarian. She also has a deep love for the anteater at the zoo, which everyone thinks is weird. This was so great to see a character who is an animal lover but can't have pets because of money and her Dad is allergic.

THE ROMANCE. This may be one of the most realistic romances besides some predictability. The romance is a friends become romantic. Seth was hilarious and sarcastic - I LOVED HIM!! He's also a diverse character, he's Asian and Vietnamese. He even goes into depth about how people treat him because he's Asian. He's also an aspiring filmmaker, but his parent's don't agree with his choices to peruse film in college. He never makes Maddie feel different and he's super nice and sweet! Their romance develops gradually which felt realistic, to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel! I would have given this a 5 star but I don't think it's my favorite West and I didn't like how Maddie treated her friends and all of the sudden became vulnerable. But, I also haven't ever won the lottery.