I wish to thank NetGalley and Dial Press - Penguin Random House for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a very interesting novel about a young woman from Nairobi who comes to America to go to school in New York City. Her first love is photography and she aspires to work as a photo journalist but her very wealthy mother insists that she climb a corporate ladder and treat photography as a hobby. Her mother is very demanding and controlling all through the book. Soila finds life in USA as a black woman is entirely different from the life she had in Nairobi. The culture and food and lifestyles are totally different. She experiences racism that she never knew in Kenya. The way families at home take care of each other is something she misses. Soila finds it just amazing that Americans do not do the same. After the death of her father she was raised by a single mother with grandmother and aunts all in the same household. I found this book to be fascinating and learned so much about the differences in the two nations. The author has a beautiful way of presenting her characters and all their trials and tribulations. The book covers so many different life experiences.

I recommend this book. This one has strong characters trying to break free on their own as they mature and still try to hold on to the past. It certainly holds the reader’s interest.

We do well these days, especially in countries with a legacy of slavery, to view issues of race through a careful lens. There are so many stories, each unique, each contributing to the full tapestry. “Lucky Girl” by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu is an excellent addition to that close reading. In fact, it is a prime example of how that lens ought to be viewed as a kaleidoscope.

Soila really wants to get out of Nairobi as soon as possible. Though she has all the material privileges and resources that one could ever wish for at her fingertips, she can’t wait to leave. Her reasons are both aspirational and psychological. And where better to go than America, the land of “Dallas”, “Dynasty”, abundant opportunity, new beginnings? Her mom is desperate for her to stay. Her aunties help in a clandestine effort to find her a path out.

It doesn’t take long for Soila to discover that being an African in America is very different from being an African American. She stumbles often, but fortunately has people that are willing to help her understand and evolve. Those people are almost always women. Good men are hard to find. There are several segments where the “give and take” is highly authentic - emblematic of the race vs. class debate that Americans can’t ever seem to get enough of.

Nothing is easy. Being estranged and distanced from culture and family always risks leaving gaping holes. It’s most often best to find a way to resolve as many dichotomies as possible.

Muchemi-Ndiritu is a wonderful writer. Her pacing and tone are rich and lovely. The writing is fresh and smooth, bereft of melodrama. Characters are well developed and believable. “Lucky Girl” is a highly moving story that chronicles trials and tribulations, ultimately with abundant rays of hope winning out.

Thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

I was the luck one; to find this book! I loved this story. It flowed from start to finish with a strong plot and complex characters. Race was integral to the story but in a way I hadn’t reach much about before. Parts of the book were light; more of a beach read, but than parts were more intense and thought provoking.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Where do I even begin? Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu was an incredibly beautiful book that highlights many hot button issues in today's world. From the shame of a young girl violated by a revered adult to the Black experience in America as seen through the lens of a privileged Kenyan young woman, to the difficulty of pulling away from centuries old cultural norms, Muchemi-Ndiritu manages to take her reader on a journey of epic proportions. The story is of Solia, who loses her father at a young age and is subsequently raised by a houseful of women, including her mother who can only love her at a distance. When Solia is able to go to university in New York, her entire world view is changed. As months turn into years, she begins to mold herself to fit this new life that she is making. However, she is not able to free herself from the cords that bind her to Kenya and ultimately her mother. This is a story of self discovery, of love and of loss. It is a tale of family, both born and chosen and the love that binds us all.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for a gifted arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: May 2, 2023

I would have to rate this one as 2.5 stars. Based on the synopsis, this book would have been right up my alley- women's fiction with a touch of historical aspect plus cultural aspect. I love trying to find books that have a cultural aspect because I want to learn something.

Here is where the struggle came in, the writing in this book felt like so much telling. I want to be sucked into a story not just told what is happening. With this, the sentences felt choppy and I found that I couldn't stick with the story. Honestly, this book feels that it's in the same vein as "Maame" (another one I wanted to love but struggled with).

Be warned, this is a book of feels!

Soila has been raised in Nairobi by a stern and very conservative mother and aunts. Soila is not like them. She is stubborn and independent and very outspoken. After an assault, she leaves for New York to attend college. Swearing never to return.

It is the 1990s in New York and she is shocked by what she finds. Land of opportunity? Doesn’t seem like it.

She watches as her friend, a black American girl, endures racism and in doing so faces her own legacy of slavery and all the bad things she was shielded from by her family.

When she does find love, it comes with a heavy price that she may not be willing to pay.

A beautifully told story of immigrants and racism in America.

NetGalley/ May 02, 2023, RHPG DIAL

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

What a powerful book. I very much appreciated the opportunity to take this one in. Our book's heroine faces the dynamics of what it is like to come to America and how to navigate those processes. In doing so she has to overcome yet remember who she is and how she got here. I enjoyed this book. Thank you for allowing me access.

A wise woman tells us a story and it’s up to us to learn from it.

It’s through the eyes of Soila who came to NYC from Kenya to pursue a business career. She left behind a protected life and for the first time, she stepped into a world where her controlling mother was absent.

However, her invisible mother was still constantly inside her ear feeding her thoughts of religion, relationships and her career path. Soila’s passion was photography but her mother said she was given this opportunity in America to get a serious education in finance from the university. Her mother wanted her to make six figures. What a lucky girl, right?

Soila observed Wall Street as a drab place filled with a multitude of dialects, grey suits and heads down. She worked hard to please her mother with her choices: a roommate, boyfriends and classes. With her observations, Soila questioned poverty, wealth and being Black in America.

The story revolves around Soila’s love for her mother and feels the pain of guilt when she has conflicting thoughts. It is written well and moves along quickly with the girl who approaches life with bold conversations. The beauty is how she presented the characters. There is a lot of realism in this story – one that would be a great conversation for book clubs.

My thanks to Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu, The Dial Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this advanced book with an expected release date of May 2, 2023.

By all standards, Soila is a lucky girl. Raised by the women in her family in Kenya, she's watched as her mother took on the role of head of household, elevating their family's financial and societal position. Soila has never needed anything, but nonetheless, she can't help but feel constrained and burdened by the expectations and pressures placed on her, especially by her religious mother. Her only chance at escape comes with the chance to attend university abroad, and she's finally able to convince her mother to allow her to attend Barnard College in New York City, albeit a few years later than intended.

It's in NYC that Soila feels like she can finally breathe. She meets Leticia, a classmate who becomes her closest friend and roommate, and falls in love for the first. She also gets the chance to delve into her interest in photography, immersing herself in the art available to her across the city. Nonetheless, Soila knows there's a path that she's supposed to follow, and begins working for an investment bank on Wall Street. It's only after the events of 9/11 that she's able gain perspective on her life, her relationship with her mother, and her own future - and take the risks she's been too scared to take.

I loved "Lucky Girl" for so many reasons. On a personal level, I connected with Soila given my own experience attending a competitive school and working in finance in NYC. It's clear Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu is familiar with the city, and the pitfalls of working on Wall Street. Her struggles with finding her own voice and identity, juggling the different friendships and relationships, and ultimately making the decisions that are tough and scary are ones that many readers, especially minority women, will also understand. I appreciated as well the thought-provoking discussions on privilege and race, poverty and wealth, identity when one doesn't feel "African" but also not "African American" - topics that are especially important in this day and age. The writing is beautiful and emotional, and crafts a multi-layered protagonist determined to carve her own path in life.

Very much a recommended read when it's published in May 2023!

Lucky Girl gives an insight into the life of a young woman from Kenya and shows readers some fundamental cultural differences between Black people living in Africa and in the United States. The relationships between Soila and her mother and aunts are interesting; the love interest is a little "too good to be true." But overall, I enjoyed spending time with these characters and seeing New York in the 90s through Soilas's eyes.

A priviledged young woman from Kenya navigates life and relationships in the US as a woman of color.

I really enjoyed this book. It opened my eyes in so many ways. I love learning about new cultures and people.

A wonderful coming of age story of a woman from Kenya. Very thought provoking and complex. Very well written. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early read.

Soila is a girl raised in a fully female home in Kenya- it is her mother's home & her grandmother & her 3 aunts all live there. But Soila's mom rules the home, her sisters & of course Soila. They live a privileged life, and have a strong work ethic & own a family business. As Soila became an adolescent she knew this was not the life she wanted for her future. Her mother was overbearing, strongly opinionated & Soila felt no true love from her, no hugs, no tender moments.

Soila decides to apply to colleges in the US, unbeknownst to her mother & after much back & forth, her mother agrees to allow her to go to school in the states.

Once Soila gets the the US, finds her way at school & makes a few friends, we see struggles she has with being an African, vs what she sees or thinks of African Americans. She has never seen racism, doesn't grasp some of the issues that Black Americans have, especially young black men & people living in poverty.

She takes a job she doesn't like, can't share what her life is with her mom, has relationship issues. Most of Soila''s struggles come from trying to please her mom- her mom wants total control- job, church, men, & as Soila gets older she gets hurt & angry with her mom.

There's relationships, friendships, guilt & some life events along the way.

Through it all, Soila tries to be the dutiful daughter, until she always can't.
I really felt for her- guilt placed on anyone is an awful thing.

I really enjoyed this book!

A lengthy read but well worth it! Soila leaves Kenya to come to New York to obtain her education. She is an only child who has a dominating Mother and an absent Father. Soila has been raised in a multi-generational family home with many family secrets. I enjoyed her connection with her Grandmother and Aunts, at least she has someone to talk to who is not so critical and harsh. Once Soila gets to New York she becomes educated about American ways and the historical issues with black America, she realizes how naive she really is. I enjoyed the information on how Blacks feel in this country, gave me some new perspectives. I skimmed over the World Trade Centers information as it is still hard to take. (Sorry about her friend). I also skimmed over some of her conversations with her Mother, seemed repetitive and already discussed in previous chapters. I was very happy for Soila and Akhenaten to stick it out!! Overall, a well written (somewhat wordy) story about love, race and cultures. Thank you for a good read.

What an incredible coming of age story of a young woman from Kenya, Soila. We see Soila through trauma, grief, heartache, loss, and love. Muchemi-Ndiritu tackles some big topics throughout the book: from abortion, molestation, and suicide, to racism in America and cultural differences in Africa, to Alzheimer’s, the aftermath of 9/11, and what it means to follow your passion—- there is not much this story doesn’t weave into the plot line.

Perhaps what I found most captivating was the characterization of Soila. Her strength, passion, and zeal will inspire any reader, and kept me unable to put this down. In fact, the last several chapters I read aloud to my kiddos because I simply couldn’t stop reading it. It’s top of my list for fictions reads in the last few years.

Thank you to the author Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu, publishers Dial Press Trade Paperback, and Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an Advance Review Copy of Lucky Girl.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Still has lived a nice quiet life. When she was a adult, she decides to go to college in New York. Whike their, she befriended a girl who a girl who is like her. She later meets a man she knows her catholic mother would never approve of. She is at a crossroads in her life and is unsure of what direction she wants to go. I liked the many characters in this story

Ndiritu’s concise writing adds to the voice of Soila.

As Soila navigates life you feel for her in every way. Dealing with the disparity between Kenya and the US especially in the way of racism and the treatment of Blacks. Her tug of war between her mother and her yearning to have the life SHE wants is heartbreaking. You understand her dilemmas as her story continues as her culture has high demands and expectations while wrestling with her wants and needs. Soila is strong, quietly sensitive, and resilient. A woman who opens herself to learn more about herself and her one-dimensional beliefs while making tough life-changing decisions.

A very well-crafted story with a character whose struggles I found relatable in many ways. Palpable, eye-opening, and a quite provoking narrative. I look forward to more from Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu.

Muchemi-Ndiritu explores the difference between the experiences of African Americans vs a privileged Kenyan woman, particularly when it comes to the experience of racism. Soila grew up witnessing extreme poverty and suffering in Kenya, and doesn't understand the experience of her African American friends who grew up in a white dominated society where they were always treated as a threat. While educational to read, it felt like there was a lot of tokenism in terms of the experiences (a dash of gentrification, a moment of hair as identity) where there could have been greater depth. The pacing of the book was slow, but then there would be these dramatic moments that seem to come out of left field. While some moved the plot forward, they left the reader with whip-lash trying to consolidate everything. Soila was a rather unlikable character, being both naïve and self-righteous at the same time. It wasn't until the second half of the book, where we got more detail about the characters and relationships, that I began to feel any connection at all. There is a lot of potential here, I just worry the important messages are lost due to the way things were executed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu for an ARC of this book.