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anyaemilie 's review for:
The Lucky Ones
by Liz Lawson
Thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
I’ve read stories about school shootings, and they are not my favorite. Once I read the description of this book, I was wary about it since the impetus of May’s story is a shooting in which her twin brother Jordan is killed, along with 7 other people.
However, The Lucky Ones is different. It’s about what happens after. After the initial horror, after the national media attention, after public interest has worn off. What happens when people have stopped caring about the lucky ones, the ones who escaped death and are left with the guilt of surviving when so many others didn’t?
May is angry. Constantly. Angry at herself for being the only one in the band room who survived. Angry at her parents for disappearing after Jordan’s death and leaving her to deal with the pain alone. Angry at Michelle Teller, the lawyer who takes the shooter on as her client. Angry at the world for not understanding anything she’s going through.
May has closed herself off from the world, convinced she doesn’t need anyone’s help dealing with her trauma. But things start to change when Zach comes into her life, and May slowly starts to unwind and let people back into her life.
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I have followed Liz Lawson on Twitter for awhile, and one of my favorite things about her is that she takes teenagers seriously. She has gotten backlash for how her characters in the book are portrayed, particularly the amount of cussing that happens, but she has repeatedly held fast on that. Teenagers cuss. A lot. Anyone who works in schools knows that. And that is just one part of what I love about these characters. They seem like real people. They are at the age where they don’t necessarily trust adults and don’t think they know anything about what they’re going through. And I remember feeling like that as a teenager. Many adults forget how hard being a teenager is, but I think Liz captures them perfectly in this book.
The subject matter is rough, but handled well. Liz touches on mental health—May regularly experiences panic attacks, and Zach’s dad suffers from depression. She portrays the complexity of relationships when you’re a teenager—relationships to parents, relationships with siblings, and arguably the most important of all to a teenager, friendships. May’s voice is authentic, and Liz’s writing really immerses you into May and Zach’s story.
This is a tough read, but a really good one. Five stars
I’ve read stories about school shootings, and they are not my favorite. Once I read the description of this book, I was wary about it since the impetus of May’s story is a shooting in which her twin brother Jordan is killed, along with 7 other people.
However, The Lucky Ones is different. It’s about what happens after. After the initial horror, after the national media attention, after public interest has worn off. What happens when people have stopped caring about the lucky ones, the ones who escaped death and are left with the guilt of surviving when so many others didn’t?
May is angry. Constantly. Angry at herself for being the only one in the band room who survived. Angry at her parents for disappearing after Jordan’s death and leaving her to deal with the pain alone. Angry at Michelle Teller, the lawyer who takes the shooter on as her client. Angry at the world for not understanding anything she’s going through.
May has closed herself off from the world, convinced she doesn’t need anyone’s help dealing with her trauma. But things start to change when Zach comes into her life, and May slowly starts to unwind and let people back into her life.
•
•
•
I have followed Liz Lawson on Twitter for awhile, and one of my favorite things about her is that she takes teenagers seriously. She has gotten backlash for how her characters in the book are portrayed, particularly the amount of cussing that happens, but she has repeatedly held fast on that. Teenagers cuss. A lot. Anyone who works in schools knows that. And that is just one part of what I love about these characters. They seem like real people. They are at the age where they don’t necessarily trust adults and don’t think they know anything about what they’re going through. And I remember feeling like that as a teenager. Many adults forget how hard being a teenager is, but I think Liz captures them perfectly in this book.
The subject matter is rough, but handled well. Liz touches on mental health—May regularly experiences panic attacks, and Zach’s dad suffers from depression. She portrays the complexity of relationships when you’re a teenager—relationships to parents, relationships with siblings, and arguably the most important of all to a teenager, friendships. May’s voice is authentic, and Liz’s writing really immerses you into May and Zach’s story.
This is a tough read, but a really good one. Five stars