The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott is Lippincott’s solo debut. All of her other books have had a co-writer. Coincidentally it also is the first book I’ve read where Lippincott is one of the writers. I am pleased to say that I really enjoyed The Lucky List. It’s a thoughtful contemporary debut about a girl who comes to terms with the fact that she is gay and learns to stop suppressing that side of her.

Emily’s mom died of brain cancer three years ago. Since then, she’s been a bit of a shadow of herself. Emily doesn’t go to the events that she used to. She holds herself back and is not the adventurous girl that she once was. As The Lucky List opens, Emily is attending bingo for the first time since her mom died. You see, her dad’s best friend and his daughter, Blake, are back in town after ten years away living in Hawaii and they are meeting up at bingo.

As the book goes on, Emily is going through her mom’s things deciding what to keep and what to donate when she comes across a box with a list of items her mom wanted to complete during her senior year summer. So, Emily takes this as a sign that she too must also complete the list. And so, she does so with the help of Blake. The list helps her come back to herself, back alive again when she was previously in statis. She finds that while she’s completing items with Blake, she is more and more attracted to her. Still, Emily remains in the closet.

I really felt for Emily. You can see how her confidence was crushed and how she’s not as sure of herself because of the trauma of losing her mom. The only part that made me cry, however, was the end of the book. I thought that the character development and progression of Emily was on point. There truly was healing within this book as well as being true to one’s self. Additionally, the relationship between Emily and Blake is sweet and wonderfully paced. If you are looking for a quick contemporary book with superb character development, The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott is the book for you.

This author co-wrote other books, but this was the first one she wrote by herself. It was a YA novel about a seventeen year old girl who dealt with realistic problems such as the loss of a parent, friendships, and questioning her sexuality.

Emily basically had no friends left to spend her summer vacation with before senior year began. She did something at her junior prom that left many of her classmates supporting her then boyfriend Matt. Her best and only friend was away at summer camp. When a friend she had not seen in ten years returned to Huckabee, her summer was no longer spent alone. Emily and Blake worked on a bucket list they found in Emily’s mother’s yearbook. Her mother had written a list of twelve things to do the summer before senior year. Emily took this as a sign that if she completed this list, it would bring her closer to her mother and keep her memories alive. Blake enthusiastically helped Emily with this list, sometimes pushing her to take chances-something Emily always did until her mother’s death. As Emily completed each item, with Blake always by her side, she started to develop feelings for the carefree and out Blake. But Emily couldn’t make those feeling known since she thought her mom, especially after she got sick, wanted Emily to give Matt another chance and be with him.

I liked how Emily struggled with her feelings, not only about Blake and Matt, but with not being able to let go of her mother’s possessions as she and her dad were packing them up to donate and move to a smaller and cheaper house. Those scenes were very emotional and heartbreaking. I also liked how Blake understood and supported Emily with her tasks. She offered insightful advice having loss her own mother. It was nice how the girls connected on an emotional and mature level as their friendship developed into something more.

I really liked how the author used the bucket list to bring adventures and happiness back into Emily’s life and make her mom a part of her life once more. Also, with each item completed, there was that intense connection between Emily and Blake getting stronger and stronger. The ending scene was beautifully connected to all of this.

This well written YA book was one of the best I read this year. Teenagers will definitely relate to it, but I think most readers will find it entertaining and heartwarming.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

The Lucky List by Rachel Lippincott is a fresh, summery coming of age story that focuses on Emily during the last summer of her childhood. Emily finds a list her deceased mother made before her senior year of high school which changed the course of her life and decides to try the challenge herself. What follows is a sweeping quest for love, for self, and to unravel secrets of the past. As a genre, young-adult is not my go-to, but TLL challenged my views on the genre because of the deep themes that emerge from the list, including grief and sexual identity. TLL is not only a fun-filled summer romp but a story of self-love. The writing was incredibly vivid, making it easy to picture on the screen in the future (fingers crossed).

I love how luck is defined in this novel. Emily is struggling with her grief three years after her mother's death. She is losing the home she grew up in, her father wants to purge a lot of her mother's old belongings, and due to some of her own actions she has alienated a lot of her friends. Luck is not something someone would associate with her. Yet a summer that is filled with very little hope is turned around when an old family friend moves to Emily's town bring with him his daughter Blake. Blake embraces Emily and a friendship starts to develop. When helping Emily clean out some of her mothers old belongings she come across a list for the perfect summer. Blake challenges Emily to recreate the list, maybe it will make her feel closer to her mother. What could it hurt. This is a perfect teen novel focusing on self discover, facing truths that one might not want to face, and luck is what you make of it. Overall a great book thank you so much NetGalley, and Simon Schuster Books for letting me read an early copy.

I received a complimentary copy of The Lucky List from NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I LOVED this book. What a great coming-of-age novel! Emily finds herself in a sticky situation, where she has alienated most of her friends, closed herself off after her mom’s losing battle with brain cancer, and confused about her own identity. Rekindling her friendship with recently returned Blake, her dad’s friend’s daughter, makes her summer more bearable and even enjoyable as she figures things out and heads towards her senior year.

Emily seems to have everything - a father who loves her, a best friend who's always by her side, the perfect boyfriend - but then it all falls apart. She gets into a fight with her boyfriend at the junior prom; her best friend is away at a month-long back-to-nature camp and can only make phone calls for 30 minutes on Sunday evening; her father is selling the house she grew up in to pay for her mother's medical bills. Emily's mother died five years previously, and Emily desperately wants her mother's advice about all the things that are going on her life. Then her father's best friend moves back to town, and brings his daughter Blake. Emily and Blake were great friends when they were little, but lost track of each other when Blake and her father moved to Hawaii when the girls were six years old. The two teens bond over packing Emily's house and unpacking Blake's house, and in the process they find a list of activities that Emily's mother created when she was in high school - some of which involve things that Emily never knew about her mother. Blake challenges Emily to complete the list herself, and offers to help. Emily embarks on the quest to complete the list - and learns unexpected things about herself along the way. An enjoyable and touching coming of age story that teens and adults will enjoy.

The Lucky List is a wonderful story about friendship, loss, and love. It’s the summer before senior year and Emily is friendless, motherless, and now her father is selling the house she grew up in, the one with all the memories of her Mom. Her friend group, that includes her boyfriend, aren’t talking to her because she kissed another boy at junior prom. Her best friend, Keira, is away at camp, being a counselor for the summer. Things are looking bleak.

Then her parents’ best friend and his daughter, Blake, move from Hawaii back to the Middle-of-Nowhere, PA. These are people who knew and loved Emily’s Mom before cancer, when life was good. When she and Blake find a bucket list written by her mother the summer before her senior year, they decide that Emily should complete it.

As the summer progresses, Blake and Emily become close friends and learn a lot about themselves. And even though all summer Emily has been talking about getting back together with Matt, something still doesn’t feel right.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. Not my normal read, but I loved the idea of connections with the past by retracing journeys done by our parents. I loved it so much. The only quibble I might have is how great all of her friends really were, but that might be just jealousy on my part.

Ever since her mom died, Emily Clark has been living her life cautiously to avoid any more heartbreak. That all changes when she is packing some of her mom’s things and finds a summer list. Things her mom wanted to do before her senior year of high school. With the help of her new friend Blake, Emily decides to do the things on the list as well since it is also the summer before her senior year. As Emily is working on the list, she feels closer to her mom than she has in a long time. But it also makes her realize she hasn’t been true to herself since her mom died. With Blake’s help, Emily sets out on an adventure she never imagined. She learns so much about herself and who she truly is along the way.

This is a wonderful book for middle school and up. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

This is a charming story about losing, finding, keeping, living. Occasionally a bit whiney, but understandable as Emily has been through a lot. Good pacing and enough comic adventure to keep tweens reading to the end. I can see this being adapted for a summer movie.

This was a heartwarming, YA, coming-of-age story. Emily is dealing with her grief over the loss of her mother and coming to terms with her shifting identity. She isn't the daredevil and fun friend that she once was. Now, she is motherless, and in many ways, afraid. When Emily finds her mother's high school summer bucket list, her new friend Blake encourages her to cross off the items on the list for herself. This mission allows Emily to feel closer to her mother, to get back parts of herself that she lost when her mom died, but also shows her that she can be brave enough to step into a new side of herself.

I think YA readers will love this story. You cannot help but root for Emily and Blake. Emily's realization that she is gay and has known it for longer than she has been able to admit it to herself is a special kind of coming out story. Once she is able to see it for herself, it isn't so hard for her to admit it to the people around her. While I enjoyed reading this story, I didn't connect with these characters as much as I hoped to. I love to read YA as an adult, but this story is something I would have enjoyed a lot more when I was closer to 14. Still lovely and heartwarming, but didn't capture my heart or attention enough to be a favorite.

Let me start by saying I loved this book. I loved the pace of the story and how the plot kept developing throughout the story. Friendship in all its forms as well as its ups and downs were explored. The growth and maturing of several friendships were well done. The struggle with parental expectation and communication was also thoughtfully done. Sometimes we forget parents are people too.
Enjoy!

When I saw that Rachael Lippincott was writing a duet solo novel, I jumped at the opportunity to read it, plus the COVER.

A heartwarming novel about losing your mother and finding her bucket list - Emily lost her mother three years ago, had some drama happen at junior prom, friends are flakey, and she is just not having a good time. She meets a new friend (blake), finds her mother's bucket list in college, and decides she will try and complete it (with changes). A quick read that feels like a Sarah Dessen or John Green novel. Reading the journey of Emily and Blake's friendship bloom would be my favorite part of this book. Stress that teens go through now is written well in this novel. This is a nice half-day beach read for someone who wants a comforting story about learning who you are and living life to the fullest. I will be recommending this to my friends. Great first solo novel!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Absolutely loved this book. The characters were so adorable and entertaining. I absolutely will read this author’s books again

Cute read! I'm not sure it would be for all teens, but there are some that would really enjoy the journey that Emily takes and the realizations that she comes face to face with. I would encourage this one for older readers, not your younger middle school crowd as I'm just not sure they'd make as much of a connection as they could.

“The Lucky List” was an absolutely amazing read! I loved every single minute of reading this book. The character development was phenomenal and the love and passion shown in this book made my heart flutter. I would not adopt this book into my classroom however, I would definitely suggest it to students for a good summer read! If you loved “Five Feet Apart” you will absolutely adore “The Lucky List”

While predictable, this was a cute read that explored grief, building a new relationship and coming to terms with one's true self. I liked the all the adventures our main character went on as a result of a list discovered written by her late mother. This reminded me of other scavenger hunt YA books, but with a different take as it brought her closer to her mom and kept the memories of her alive through these experiences. The development of Emily's friendship with Blake was sweet and didn't feel rushed or forced. I was proud of Emily at the end when she came to realize who she truly.was and was able to admit it to her family, friends, and most importantly herself. The book's opening and closing with the Bingo scene was a clever touch, as was the twist involving which J.C. her mom kissed on the list. I would recommend this for readers who are interested in reading about the development of a female and female relationship and completing a checklist to guide their adventures together.

I really enjoyed this story about teenager Emily, who lost her mom to cancer three years ago. It's the summer before senior year. When Emily finds her mom's summer bucket list from her own teenage summer, she decides to try to complete all of the challenges. Along the way, you faces some of her fears and learns a lot about herself.

Emily Clark hasn't been herself since her mom died three years ago. When her mom was still alive, Emily was bubbly, energetic, and always playing a prank or doing something crazy. Now, she is cautious and always analyzing risks. She has just broken up with her boyfriend (again) in a spectacular way and all her friends are angry with her just in time for the summer before her senior year. If that wasn't bad enough, Emily's dad has finally decided to get rid of his wife's things and move out of their house. Emily is furious, sad, and other emotions she can't exactly describe, but every time she tries to talk to her dad, he shuts down. She is tasked with cleaning out her mother's closet where she finds her mother's list of twelve things to do the summer before her senior year. Emily decides to go through the list to feel closer to her mother and to find who she used to be before her mother's death. With the help of Emily's father's high school best friend's daughter, Blake, she starts to accomplish the list and come out of her shell. But accomplishing the list may help her more than she thinks and reveal more about her mother than she ever knew. Will Emily get back together with her boyfriend? Will she finish the list? Will she ever become who she wants to be?

I loved this book! I recommend it to anyone who has lost someone and wants to move on, experiencing grief, or just wants to read about someone discovering themselves. I loved the last chapter. I very much relate to those bingo people.

The Lucky List explores the life of Emily the summer between her junior and senior year. Emily is dealing with a lot: the ramifications of a choice she made at junior prom, her best friend being away at camp, her childhood home being for sale with a pending move, and the continued hole in her life with the death of her mom three years earlier. However, things take a turn when a childhood friend Blake moves back to town, and they discover a list that Emily's mom had made to accomplish the summer before her senior year. Will the list get Emily out of her endless winter?
This was a quick and easy read. At times I felt frustrated with Emily's choices, or perhaps more so her indecisions and was hoping for something a little different, but that's probably pretty realistic to teenage life, right?

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon Schuster books for Young Readers, and Rachael Lippincott for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.