Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith | Review

Posted August 14, 2017 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Books, Reviews / 14 Comments

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith | ReviewWindfall by Jennifer E. Smith
Also by this author: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories
Published by Delacorte Press on May 2nd 2017
Pages: 418 •Goodreads
three-stars

Let luck find you.

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.

I’ll admit I succumbed to major, major cover love with the purchase of Windfall. I had seen a LOT of mixed reviews, but the greens and blues were so my #aesthetic so I decided to buy it (I mean, if all else failed, I got a gorgeous Instagram photo of it). I was also intrigued to see how Jennifer E. Smith portrayed the winning the lottery premise, as another YA book released this year, Lucky in Love, also dealt with the same theme. There’s something so fun about wistfully talking about all of the things you’d do if you won the lottery, so I again caved to the wish-fulfillment promise of the plot and picked up my second lottery themed book of the summer.

 

Like Jennifer’s other novels, Windfall has some of her trademark elements: a quietly determined protagonist, introspective writing into the character’s insights, and a genuine warmth and sweetness and goodness that envelops you like a blanket- that everything will be alright in the end. However, these elements I loved so much were often brought on by the secondary characters in the novel- Uncle Jake and Aunt Sophia, who have served as Alice’s surrogate parents since the death of her own. Leo, Alice’s cousin who has been a brother to her and is navigating his own future and heartbreak. Caleb, the young foster child who Alice tutors in reading and develops a love for the message and relationships portrayed in Charlotte’s Web. All of these characters drove the story for me, were the glimpses I kept coming back for when I was underwhelmed by the protagonists of the story.

Alice and Teddy- the two main characters, represented by the gold bear and alligator figurines depicted on the cover of the book (which I have to admit, is a very cute touch once you realize the reference). Alice unknowingly buys Teddy a multi-million dollar winning lottery ticket as a joke present for his 18th birthday, thus serving as the catalyst for the rest of the novel. While seeing the snowball effect of the lottery win was fun, I had a really hard time connecting and empathizing with Alice and Teddy. Alice is almost too good, too wholesome- she spends almost all of her free time volunteering, constantly striving to make her deceased parents proud, gets accepted to multiple top schools in the nation, always does THE RIGHT THING, etc. This perfection honestly made her rather boring to read about (as bad as that sounds). Yet she still manages to fall in love with Teddy (the classic falling in love with your BFF trope) who is honestly quite impulsive and selfish even before winning the lottery, and does a lot of really crappy things (especially to Alice) without really facing any repercussions by the end of the book, and without Alice really taking a stand either against him or for herself and the way he’s treated her.

Overall: While it was hard for me to really enjoy a novel when I was irked by the main characters, this story does have the trademark sweetness of a Jennifer E. Smith tale. While it’s not my favorite novel by her and it dragged in some spots, the secondary characters were lovely and the gorgeous cover doesn’t hurt!

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14 responses to “Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith | Review

  1. I agree the cover on this one got me too!! I still have to get to it but want to put some space between this and Lucky in Love which I read recently. Sounds like it isn’t her best but something still worth getting to. Great review!

  2. I totally don’t blame you on the cover buy! This has a gorgeous cover, and I love the figurines. It’s cool they tie into the book!
    I’ve been curious about this, but it seems very similar to Lucky in Love by Kasie West, which I want to read first. I get frustrated by annoying characters too. Maybe I’ll try one of her other books too.
    Wonderful review !

    • Yes, it was such a cool tie in to have the figurines tie into the plot of the book! It’s actually very similar to Lucky In Love- I’m surprised that they came out in such close proximity to each other. I highly recommend trying The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by her!

  3. “I mean, if all else failed, I got a gorgeous Instagram photo of it.” This is SO relatable ha! I was torn about this one too since I’m not the biggest fan of her other books but since the cover looks different I thought there would be a chance that I would like it. I was finally swayed to pick up a copy after I heard that Lauren Graham’s production company bought the rights to the story! I still haven’t read it yet though >.<

  4. Being irked by or not caring so much for the main characters can really break a book, that’s for sure. I’m glad that you were able to get past it to look at the story, though! I haven’t read many books by Jennifer E. Smith but I did manage to get a copy of this one and I’m excited to finally get the chance to read it! Great review.

    • Thank you! The winning the lottery premise was fun, but I honestly enjoyed it more in Kasie West’s Luck In Love, I think. If you’re looking for other Jennifer Smith books I highly recommend The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sigh. It’s really magical!

  5. This is a fun premise and the side characters sound great, sorry that the two MC’s were a little iffy. Teddy kinda sounds like a jerk, unfortunately, and yeah Alice sounds a little too perfect. But otherwise it sounds like it has some good things too, and you’re right- the cover is very nice. 🙂

    • You hit the nail on the head- Teddy is definitely a jerk and Alice is definitely too perfect, lol. Honestly it just made them so inaccessible! And also one of those “I really don’t think opposites would attract in this situation” scenarios. But then again, I have to remember the protagonists are high schoolers, and most of us dated or liked people who probably weren’t a good fit for us at that age lol

  6. With the beautiful cover and interesting premise I can totally see why you picked this one up. The side characters do sound great in this book, but that’s a shame the protagonists seemed a bit underdeveloped.

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