Windfall

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. 

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. 

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.  - excerpt from book.

Windfall by Jennifer E Smith talks about friendship, love, family and most importantly self-growth. A change in luck is all it took to change the fate of the characters in the book. The main character herself is one with issues and throughout the book she faces her flaws when pointed out by other characters. Events trigger her which causes her growth in the story. I love Alice's interaction with other characters as her personality shines from it. Her thoughts greatly depict her actions which makes her a realistic character. As for the people around her, they play a crucial part in shaping her, guiding her and also influencing her actions. Every time she interacts with Teddy, there's always an outcome that pushes the story forward. I felt I could understand the characters quite well even though they are not exactly fascinating or over the top.

As for the plot it's quite smooth having minor events/incidents happening occasionally hence it was not boring to read through. The story line wasn't predictable but it isn't too surprising at the same time. I would say the book is entertaining enough that I won't stop reading when I'm in a good mood yet it's not a great page turner. The aspects that I love about this book is how the author addresses issues that comes with easy money, family issues when you lose your parents and also the fear of having too good of a life. I think even though these issues seems small it shouldn't be ignored, it's definitely a good lesson to learn for the target audience of young adult contemporary. I would recommend if you like this author but it wouldn't be a great introduction for the author. It's a book that is between good and great, just needed a little bit more to push it to great. 

This is What Happy Looks Like

One day, Graham stumble upon Ellie's email address because he made a mistake while contacting his pig sitter. They exchanged emails for some time and it was much much fun conversations. Luck was on Graham's side as he is able to visit Ellie's town and he will meet her for the first time. Summer was just starting and Ellie was not really excited like everyone else in town. During this season, many tourist will visit which generates business for the town but this year the town is also involve in filming a movie.

People could not stop looking while the place is being set up for filming and also searching for the movie stars at the same time. Ellie did not bother to stop and went to work as usual as she needed money for a program that she managed to get in Harvard in august. Ellie's friend came in for the next shift at the ice cream shop and had an accident which messed up her uniform. Ellie offered hers since she was wearing a tank top underneath anyway. On her way out, she noticed a boy heading to the place and he had a look in his eyes but she carried on to her mom's store.

Graham was excited and he arrived one day early before the shoot just to see Ellie. He headed to the ice cream shop that Ellie mentioned she worked at. He was being followed by photographers as he enter the shop. He looked at the girl with the Ellie name tag on her shirt and then he asked her out to dinner tonight. The short girl which is Ellie's friend knows that Graham is a movie star and so she accepted the invitation since she liked him too.

This is What Happy Looks Like by  Jennifer E. Smith is about two teenagers meeting for the first time and how they continue from that. When I read the excerpt at the back of the book I was expecting those type of books with plenty email conversations but I was disappointed. I wished those few months that Ellie and Graham were conversing through email was more elaborated.  I do like the writing style where each chapter differs between their perspectives. I love knowing both side of a story instead of focusing on one character's thoughts and experience.

The book was slightly predictable at the start but it was okay and the from then I did not know what to expect which is a good thing. The background and personality of the characters are quite realistic which is another point that I like of this book. The events that occurred in the story line was realistic and the reactions of the characters were good. Overall this is a good book for summer reading since that is the season mentioned in the book. The love story and characters was okay for me because it didn't draw me in to love them. Compared to other contemporary young adult books, I thought this book's romance was just mediocre. The chances of me reading this book again is probably 40% but I didn't think that it's a book not worth buying/keeping in my collection.