Just My Luck delves into the dark side of what can happen when a life-changing amount of money comes along, in this case, a lottery win of just under 18 million pounds. For Lexi and Jake, it’s literally inconceivable. Living a quiet, working-class life with their two kids Emily and Jake, their lives are totally upended. But there’s a fly in the ointment, because they always played the lottery with their oldest friends - who pulled out of the syndicate just a week before the big win, and are now trying to claim a share anyway.
Lexi is the central character, a genuinely kind-hearted woman who works at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, doesn’t actually want her life to change all that much and plans to give the bulk of the winnings away to charity. Jake’s a bit more grasping, immediately buying himself a Ferrari, and quite clearly doesn’t understand Lexi to the point where it’s hard to understand how they’ve been married for 15 years. As the book goes on, more and more is revealed about both Jake and Lexi’s circle of friends, revealing just what lengths some people will go to when enough money is at stake.
Everything hung together logically and believably right up until the twist in the very last chapter, which honestly, I wish had just been left out. It was unnecessary and started me looking back at things in the book which suddenly weren’t logical. Jennifer and Fred’s actions didn’t add up in light of this revelation, and it also made Lexi an unreliable narrator; it felt like it was in there for shock value, and the story absolutely didn’t need it. There’d already been twists and turns enough; this gratuitous addition took the book down from a five to a four star read for me.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.
Comments