Heartbreaking and all too timely. Liz Lawson sensitively tackles the subject of a school shooting and its aftershocks. The world of this book is beautifully drawn, and May's emotional landscape is deeply developed. A stunning YA debut.

Liz Lawson's "The Lucky Ones" is a book with its heart in the right place, one I appreciated but with some caveats. It definitely hurt for me to read, considering it's largely about a young woman grieving the loss of her twin after a horrible school shooting in which she was the only survivor. (I'm a twin myself, so this gutted me on several levels.) But "The Lucky Ones" presents a dual story with May's experience being on one end of the spectrum, while Zach's tumultuous experience after his mother takes the case in defending the shooter is on the other.

I go back and forth with my opinion on this book in the aftermath because I felt the experience pulled me in with showing both teens working through circumstances where they're put in difficult positions by people who don't understand the depth of what they're going through. I think this speaks well to teens who may feel isolated in the aftermath of a traumatic event, and often don't feel like people get where they're coming from, even it may be having to pick up the pieces for parents who aren't around as much as they should be. For instance, Zach's mom is absent due to the case and Zach's burden is more taking care of his sister, cleaning up their vandalized house, shouldering responsibilities that his father can't address because of ongoing depression. (Yet, I don't feel this book did a good job of showing Zach's father's depression and handling with the care it really deserved. It was honestly poor presentation that only really got explored towards the end of the book. For a book that explores so many mental health issues, that wasn't a fair run. Zach seemed to understand more of where his father was, I don't think the narrative supported that realization as much as it could've.)

May's parents are torn because of the loss of their son and layers of conflict that developed in the aftermath of that. May's brother was considered the family's "golden child" with May having feelings of fading into the background and guilt over things she said and did before her twin's death. May is left shouldering mental blame for many of the rifts in the relationships she's had, both before and after the shooting on top of this. I don't think her survivor's guilt is really treated as well as books that spent more room with having the character grow and grapple with these heavy emotions (i.e. Jennifer Brown's "Hate List"). I wish that it had, but I understand that May was resistant to get help and that it's a book that explores where she is mentally, with all the roughness that entailed. It often led to her doing pretty crappy things and treating others around her without regard, which at least she's somewhat self aware as the book moved forward.

What "The Lucky Ones" does well is in showing how both May and Zach are flawed, make mistakes, and that their grief can lead them to lash out and feel anguish and anger towards the changes and shifts in their lives. It shows how they deal with that anger, how that impacts their relationship between themselves and others, and shows a path forward even if it isn't completely figured out what the future holds.

What I didn't think it did well was being able to show how they were able to grow with the realizations they made over the course of the narrative. There's also a romantic storyline here between the teens. Some moments of that were stronger with their organic dialogue, while others felt like narrative distance took away from that closeness and shifted really only to highlight plot related conflict in ways that weren't always thoroughly addressed (the dinner with May and Zach's family was definitely cringe-inducing, though May's reactions to it were palpable, for example).

The side-characters in this story were decent. Of the standouts, I definitely liked May's relationship with her friend Lucy, and I felt she was one of the stronger characters this narrative had to offer. You could tell Lucy was a voice of reason, though some moments showed her frustration with May and even Zach's actions as the narrative went on.

In the end, "The Lucky Ones" was a story I appreciated, having many moments that were emotionally resonant in the handling of grief and trauma in the lives of both teens' voices brought to the table. However, for a story involved in the aftermath of a school shooting and having the opportunity to show layers of character and development, it missed many points that kept it from being a favorite story for me.

Overall score: 3.5/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher.

This was a hard, but gripping read. I think it packs a strong emotional punch and definitely played on my heartstrings.

What would life be like one year witnessing a school shooting? What if you lost a twin in that event?
What if your mom were the lawyer representing the shooter? May and Zach are grieving their "old lives" in their own ways. May, who walked out of the band room where her brother and friends were killed, is angry and lost. Zach, whose mother is defending the shooter, lost his friends and spends his time trying to shield his little sister from the hate the community is directing toward the family.

The novel does not dwell on the actual shooting or the perpetrator but focuses on those left behind. Readers are able to see how survivors process the events and perhaps get a glimpse into ways that we can help.

Unfortunately, all teens, parents, and educators need to think about what they would do in a school shooter situation. Recommend to all readers.

it can be very difficult to address tough topics, but I think Lawson did a good job of telling this story. In the aftermath of a school shooting, May is struggling. Zach is facing repercussions of his mom decided to represent the shooter. This read is emotional and heartbreaking, but you also experience healing, and the beauty of solid friendships.⁣

I get that May is a survivor and she lost people in the school shooting. In particular one person that’s been a part of her life always. But she’s so angry and doesn’t seem to want any help. She takes her anger out on people she shouldn’t. She’s a bit mean to others who aren’t at fault for what happened.
I felt bad for Zach and the way he was treated after his mother decided to take the case of the shooter. Kids are mean and cruel. And May is very messed up.
It was a good read. Read for yourself and see what you think of it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing me with a copy of The Lucky Ones in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Ones is the heart-wrenching debut of Liz Lawson, and wow, when it wasn’t kicking me in my emotions, I was in complete awe of Lawson’s writing. I absolutely love YA titles that tackle heavy subjects; I love opportunities where I’m forced out of my comfort zone and am able take a walk in someone else’s shoes. One of my favorite things about reading is that journey & those eye-opening experiences.

Liz Lawson takes on an extremely difficult subject & something that, strangely enough, I don’t see often in YA titles: school shootings. Lawson gives us the viewpoint of two characters — Zach and May. May is the survivor of a school shooting and the sister of a victim, and Zach is the son of the lawyer who took the shooter’s case. Both are dealing with the same event, but on two different ends of the spectrum. & of course, there’s tension between the two when discovering who the other is.

Grief is written so well in The Lucky Ones. Yes, there are times where May’s actions towards others is completely uncalled for — and you never get a free pass for treating another person like shit. However, it’s important to remember that May is a teenage girl who’s dealing with an incredibly traumatic experience. Grief does a number and people are going to react differently to it; this is May’s story and this is the story that Lawson wanted to share. I applaud her for that.

In the beginning, Zach is insta-in-love with May, and I was scared to see their relationship blossom in only a chapter or two. But at some point, I honestly forgot that there was a romance aspect in The Lucky Ones. There relationship wasn’t too in-your-face once they met, and it didn’t take away from the story being told.

Liz Lawson’s debut is one to read. Of course, if this is a subject that’s triggering, I urge you to be safe. But, if you can stomach the heavy-hitting topic of school shootings, then yes — 100% give it a shot. The Lucky Ones is a heartbreaking story that is so beautifully written and really gets you into the mind of our characters.

The Lucky Ones was poignant YA contemporary that revolved around May who lost her twin brother in school shooting and Zach whose life turns upside down when his mother took shooter’s case as defense lawyer. It was about grief, loss, guilt, depression, trauma, hope, friendship, family, and love.

Writing was great, easy to follow, and so gripping that I finished it in one sitting (of course, it took me more hours than fast readers but I didn’t sleep until I finished the book). Author put me in the middle of May and Zach’s life and made me to observe their emotions and what was going on in their mind without letting me hug them and talk to them or provide a hope and motivations they needed so much. Alternative first person narrative from May and Zach give this story personal and more emotional touch.

As synopsis said, both characters were struggling with how shooting changed their life. It had been almost a year, most difficult year for May and Zach. May was still not ready to start a school but she had to, she didn’t believe her parents and therapist that socializing, talking to someone, or by going to school will help her. She was walking panic bomb that might blast and break her down anytime. Only person who was helping her cope with school and life was her best friend Lucy. She wouldn’t talk anyone else until she met Zach at Lucy’s audition for band.

Zach was son of shooter ‘s defense lawyer. It caused him lose everything. His girlfriend left him, his best friend wouldn’t miss a chance to taunt and belittle him and started dating his girlfriend. Nobody at school would look at him or talk to him except Conor. Conor helped him to cope with school and hate he was getting from the world, encouraged him to live little until he met Lucy at Conor’s band audition.

Problem was Lucy was vandalizing his house. She hated his mother for taking shooter’s case. It was difficult for Zach to protect his little sister from it. He didn’t like his mother for taking case and he blamed her for what happened to him and his sister at house and at school but at the same time he didn’t like the person who terrorized their life, for giving his sister nightmare.

I was curious to see when they will learn about each other’s last name, how Lucy will react when she learns he is son of the person she hates most at the moment, how Zach will find out the person behind vandalism was Lucy, can they forgive each other, not blame themselves and other for what happened, if there is hope for them to find peace and solace with each other, and mostly what was in letters May kept receiving ever since the tragedy.

May was going through hell. It’s not easy to get over twin sibling’s death with whom you have shared everything since you were a tiny embryo and it gets even more difficult when you don’t get a chance to say goodbye, last few weeks or months before loss one spend fighting with twin, drunk in parties. The guilt of it, anger and regret don’t let anyone live and May was no exception. She didn’t feel she was ‘The Lucky One’ who survived. She felt she was coward and should have died with her sibling. The anger of it was thrown on whoever tried to come near her, get back the memory of her brother. My heart went out to her. I was shocked seeing her parents were never there and on reading what put distance between the twins. Her development was great and I loved the way she came out of her grief.

Zach was great throughout the book. He was sweet, cute, and caring guy. I didn’t like how everybody taunted him, intimidated him and hated him for something he wasn’t responsible for. I loved him the way he cared for his sister and took responsibilities when his parents failed to fulfill. Though it was sad what happened in climax, I feel he should have understood. But I still like him. I liked how he changed his mind.

I liked all characters in this book. Most of all Lucy and Conor, especially Lucy. They were the symbol of friendship. Nobody would stays in time like this, with the way May and Zach behaved and reacted throughout the book, especially May. If it was someone else they would have walked away from them within few weeks but not Lucy. It was Lucy and her words at the end that pierced through me, made me cry and everything that happened from climax to end.

Parents were not exactly likable but we were seeing them through grief ridden lenses of May and Zach. I agree with them and at some point I do blame them for everything but as parent I could feel their pain (not May’s dad). I could see how it might have been for both May and Zach’s moms and for Zach dad. It surprised me along with him when I read perspective of Zach’s mother. I wish she had said all those things earlier. It showed mistakes of parents and how they could have made things better by not pushing their kids, sharing equal love and more time and by just talking.

Relationship, which was more like friendship, was great. I’m glad author didn’t label it. Both were tentative with this new feeling and change, still spiraling in the tornado of grief and loss and yet holding onto each other that helped them to fight it, make it bearable and slowly coming out of it. They found solace with each other, brought smile and happiness back that they lost in that tornado. I was sad to see them drifting apart back to their grief and loss, especially Lucy, when she finally opened those letters, how it made her guilt and pain stronger than it ever was and what it caused between her and Zach.

Climax was heartbreaking and poignant. It scared the shit out of me. I was worried and thought worst might happen. But I was glad it didn’t go in the direction of my thoughts. I cried and smiled and felt hope along with characters. I loved how climax changed everything both in Zach and May’s life and how they found each other back at the end.

Overall, it was powerful, emotional and poignant YA contemporary with heavy topic that recommend to all readers.

This was a good book. It was very intense, dealing with survivors' guilt and the aftermath of a school shooting. I think school shootings, and the prevention of them, don't get talked about enough, and books like this make it obvious that America has a problem. And the people whose lives are touched by these types of events never fully recover. And it can take a long time to even start trying to - and that's the focus of this book. It takes unimaginable horror and frames it in a way that is messy and grief-stricken, but leaves the reader feeling like maybe there IS light at the end of the tunnel after all. 4.5 stars.

The Lucky Ones explores the aftermath of a high school shooting that resulted in the loss of seven lives, one including the twin brother of one of our main characters, May. Our other main character, Zach, happens to be the son of the defense attorney who ends up taking on the shooter's case. The story deals with what happens when May's and Zach's lives intertwine and unravel but also, the grief and psychological torment the students, staff and family members go through while trying to move on from this tragic event. Some other themes this book touched on were PTSD, toxic family relationships, drugs and alcohol.

For a book that tackles a heavy topic, I wish the book took on a more proactive approach. It's important to memorialize the ones that are lost and the book does a good job at highlighting community and coming together but what can we do to ensure it doesn't happen again? That this doesn't become a recurring thing across the nation. How can we guarantee that students and staff are safe? What kind of safety protocols can we implement? How can we ease the worries that family members may have when dropping their kids off to school? It may be wishful thinking, but these are the kinds of questions I would've liked the book to discuss more of. Also, I would've liked the book to have gone more in depth about Zach's mother and her situation. Being the lawyer of the shooter who killed her son's friend's brother and countless others? A person who just makes the decision to shoot up a school? That has to bring on some intense inner turmoil. The brief moments just didn't feel enough for me. I think it would have made the book all the more powerful since this is partly the basis for what the book revolves around.

It's heartbreaking to say that mass shootings have been more prevalent than ever in these past years. This is the first YA book I've read that has tackled such a sensitive topic and one I'm sure will definitely be talked about.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Ones reminded me of "The Hate List" in the best possible way. Messy, complicated and hard to read, it is a story that I think everyone should pick up.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

This book is hard for me to review. After reading the synopsis I knew it would be super interesting and that I would most likely love it. For the first few chapters, I couldn’t put this book down. I was super into it and wanted to keep going. Sadyly though, after about 10 chapters I just couldn’t get into it. The storyline was still good, but the characters made me lose interest. I just felt that with such a serious topic there would be more meaningful conversations and more in-depth character development. The ending of the book did bring me back in. I didn’t want to give up on the book completely and I am glad that I didn’t. Towards the end, there was more character growth for sure.

The main characters are May and Zach. May is the only survivor of the 9 kids that were in the band room the day of the shooting. She survived, but her twin brother was murdered. This has had a horrible effect on her. She is angry and lost and has so much hate in her heart. Zach did not attend the same school May did so he has not had to cope with that, but he is still being very affected by the shooting. His mother, a lawyer, has decided to defend the shooter and this has made Zach’s life a living nightmare. There was so much going on in this book and I wish I loved it, but the conversations between May and Zach, really all the characters, fell flat for me.

I would say that this book is worth checking out. There are a lot of great reviews of people that loved it, I just wasn’t one of them. The story was a good one, and you may love it. I appreciate the author, Liz Lawson, for writing this. I enjoyed the author's notes and her thoughts on school shootings as well.

Continuing the streak of fabulous 2020 releases I've devoured during shelter-in-place: THE LUCKY ONES by @lzlwsn. This dual-POV YA contemporary follows May in the year after a school shooting that left many of her classmates dead, including her twin brother. While the premise is serious, there's hope and humor in this story too. Above all, I loved that May was allowed to be messy, angry, and even (gasp) "unlikeable" on the page. 💛📚

I have to admit, I may have not fully realized what was going to happen in this book when I first read the synopsis. Because the idea of the relationship that’s the focus of this book makes me very angry. I’m call that one my bad, if I had realized that going in, I would not have selected this book. Unfortunately that meant that it soured my entire experience with this book and while I respected the ptsd rep, I did not enjoy many other aspects of it. I appreciate being given the opportunity to read this, I’m sorry it did not work out.

Oof. Dear Jesus. Two nights in a row there have been year jerker books 😭 #theluckyones #lizlawson #Netgalley we find ourself with May. She's a survivor of a school shooting. Hidden in a closet. Seven people whom she loved were lost that day. She struggles with guilt. With moving on. With living. Her twin brother was a victim. The emotional toll that this book takes. Even though it is so wrong to say I loved every moment of it. I couldn't put it down. #netgalleyreview #bookstagram #stoptheviolence #schoolshooting #bookreview #emotional #bookhangover

4.5 stars

This book was beautifully sad. As school shootings increase, so do the number of books written about the subject. But The Lucky Ones was different, it tells two different sides to the story and how these two lives become intermingled with each other. May, whose twin brother was shot and killed in a school shooting, is lost and at the end of her rope. Barely getting by with the anger she’s collected from losing her brother and everyone pitying her. And then Zach, whose mom is defending the school shooter, is just hangin in there too. As if fate has brought these two together to mend the broken pieces that linger between them, life slowly gets better. May and Zach have something the other is missing and slowly bring each other back to life, even though the road is a bit bumpy,

I really loved how the author took such a hard subject matter and used it to show how there is still some good in the world and a life worth living after death and grief. Although this is a hard subject to read about, because it does happen way too often in our country, I think the author did a fantastic job with this story. Her writing is really good and the story was true and realistic. What a fantastic first book! I’m definitely looking forward to more books from Liz Lawson.

I went into this book completely blind, which is to say I didn't read the back cover copy at all. The only thing I knew about the book was that it is YA, which is typically hit-or-miss for me, but intriguing all the same. I'd stumbled across the author on twitter, liked her authentic "tell it like it is" style, and decided I wanted to read her book based on her personality alone--I appreciate her voice.

Well, let me tell you... Liz Lawson's writing is as authentic as her social media persona. The way she captured the aftermath of a school shooting through the eyes of a teenager with raging survivor's guilt was raw, realistic, and captivating.

The hook involved a perspective I had never considered, when thinking about mass shootings. And that is the lawyer/family of the lawyer who represents the guilty shooter. It just so happens that in The Lucky Ones, this lawyer's son (Zach) is the love interest of our heroine (May), a survivor & twin sister of one of the victims. Throughout the book, Zach's mom is portrayed (thru May's POV) as this evil character...and why wouldn't she be? Only a horrible person could represent a school shooter--or so May thinks. After all, as long as May can focus her pain on someone else, she'll survive the otherwise daunting day-to-day life in her post-traumatic world.

But what's beautiful about this book is how May's perspective shifts through all these different phases and stages of grief as her experiences with close friends, her parents, her teachers, etc. mold that recovery process, forcing her to reevaluate and/or validate some of what she's feeling. And what this book reveals is the pain, confusion & questioning, and never-ending ripple effect of what experiencing something like this does to a person--especially our youth.

So yeah... the book was totally YA. Lawson nailed the attitudes, behaviors and language/lingo of a significant portion of today's youth...but she wrapped it in a package meaningful to teenagers and adults alike. Because if you don't take away something from this book that either inspires you to try to do better, be better/more aware of the force(s) driving these events, or to wrap arms filled with love, compassion and kindness toward "the lucky ones" struggling to process what's happened to them either directly (sister of victim) or indirectly (lawyer defending the guilty party)... you've missed the point.

A school shooting survivor struggles after the event to resume normal life. She deals with anger and guilt and tries to run away from it all. Instead, she discovers that what she feared the most is the only way to begin the healing process. Author Liz Lawson aims to add to the conversation of the effects of school shootings on young people with a story that looks too far inward in her new book The Lucky Ones.

In the suburbs of Los Angeles, high school senior May McGintee spends most of her nights one of two ways: planning to vandalize private property or actually doing it. May doesn’t just hit random homes, though. She has a specific target: the home of Michelle Teller, the defense attorney for the shooter who attacked May’s school.

While everyone has their own survivor story, May has the worst one of all. She hid in a closet of the band room when fellow senior, David Ecchles, came in and gunned down her brilliant twin brother, several friends, and her favorite teacher. Since then, May can’t deal with confined spaces. Or school. Or people in general.

In an effort to distract her from her destructive tendencies, best friend, Lucy, insists May accompany her to the audition for a band. May doesn’t care much about music anymore, but she knows Lucy is making an effort to help her so she goes. There she meets Zach, Michelle Teller’s son.

At first May doesn’t want to have anything to do with Zach. Despite her best intentions, they become friends and then maybe something more. That something more scares May. She doesn’t want Zach to find out that she was the one vandalizing his home. As Zach chips away at her defenses, May starts to realize that life might actually be bearable, even if she was one of the “lucky ones” to live the day her brother died.

Author Liz Lawson’s novel brings up important topics. With school shootings, unfortunately, becoming a common occurrence, the students who survive them need as many resources as possible. Lawson’s depiction of May comes across as representative, at times, of how many students may feel after such tragedies.

Unfortunately, May also seems so self-involved it becomes hard to sympathize with her. She blocks out the fact that other students lost loved ones in the band room shooting, and she pushes away, sometimes physically, their efforts to befriend her. Her belief that she alone has the right to feel pain goes from understandable to exasperating. In trying to portray May’s grief, the narrative errs too far on the side of aggression.

By contrast, Zach’s character feels more grounded. His anger at his mother for taking the infamous case will resonate with readers. Unlike May, who thinks she has no one left to care for, Zach does his best to take look out for his younger sister. Even with his own issues, he doesn’t let his ego get in the way. Lawson comes up with a winner in the way she constructed Zach.

The connection Lawson builds between May and Zach feels organic, as does the way their relationship develops. Readers will get to enjoy the natural evolution of two friends finding young love, and in the moments when she isn’t agonizing about how losing her brother makes her feel May is lovely.

On the whole, however, May comes across as the more dominant character. As a result, the book tips too heavily in her favor and doesn’t do its intended subject justice. An assembly meant to be a memorial for the shooting victims turns into an exercise of May’s vanity, and it comes off as self-centered at best.

The book doesn’t let the adults play any significant roles, giving in too easily to that trope of the genre. Lawson adds a minor subplot about the shooter and a possible connection to May, but it doesn’t quite hold up. In the end, the novel becomes just another story about school shootings and their aftermath. I recommend readers Borrow The Lucky Ones.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial review:
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It is rare, but my review of this book is not as unbiased as I would've expected. This story hit close to my heart and it made me face facets of myself that I usually lock up in dark places. It is definitely not a light novel, you must dive into it with a ready heart and be prepared to finish it with a heavy soul. But it is extremely important and a must read.
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4,5*
Pros: Utterly heartrending and very immersive. Fantastic description of mental and physical effects of PTSD. In-depth look into the survivors of school shootings in America, particularly the aftermath in their lives and how it affects their surroundings. Deals with PTSD, depression, suicidal behaviour, lack of self-worth, guilt and grief. Includes complex and flawed characters. LGBT representation.
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Cons: Some threads were left dangling. Secondary characters were terribly neglected. •
The Lucky Ones, by Liz Lawson was just released this month, so please grab a copy!