Lucky Girl is a coming of age story about a young Kenyan woman, Solia. The novel follows her life from the time she is a young girl living in Kenya, through her college years in NYC, and into adulthood. Throughout, we get many vignettes of critical life events -- both joyous and tragic -- that shape and mold Solia as she navigates conflicts with her mother, her college years, her first job, loss, love, and friendship. As a 29 year old, this story felt personal and close to home, as I am or have recently grappled with many of the feelings Solia expresses throughout her narrative. In a lot of ways, reading Lucky Girl was like watching a highlight reel of someone's life, but I was happy to be along for the ride. Almost from the start I felt invested in Solia as a character, as she is real and flawed in a way that is rare in fiction. Despite the novel taking place largely in the 1990s, the conversations the characters were having read as relevant and nuanced, and I really appreciated the many different perspectives and narratives portrayed in the novel. Once I started, I found it hard to put down, and highly recommend Lucky Girl to readers everywhere.

Thank you to Dial Press Trade Paperback, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for sending me an advance copy of Lucky Girl in exchange for an honest review!

When I first picked up Lucky Girl, I had a hard time getting into it. Once I got about 40% through it, I really started to feel for the main character, Soila. I was rooting for her to find true love, to find a place in the US, to reconcile with her mom and her culture, and ultimately, just to find peace and happiness despite what life threw at her.

We follow Soila's journey from her hometown in Kenya as a young girl to her adulthood in the US where she studies, experiences love, finds friendship, and battles with her opinions around race and faith. We also get to peak into the lives of her many aunts which was a highlight in the book!

I appreciate the author's boldness and her overall ability to discuss very big topics in this book. Without giving away any spoilers, the characters explore ideas, beliefs, and stereotypes in a way that makes you feel like you're in the room with them and are walking through these challenges alongside them.

Some of the drawbacks of the book for me were that there were a lot of plot points that were underdeveloped. Again, no spoilers, but by the end of the book it felt like we were rushing to come to a happy ending, glossing over moments in Soila's life that are only briefly mentioned.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review 💜

Lucky Girl is a coming of age story of a young Kenyan girl, Soila, who desires to leave her country and family behind to move to NYC for college. While in NYC, Solia meets an African American man whom she loves, but knows her family and strict Catholic mother will never approve of. When her mother develops a medical condition that requires Soila to return home, she is faced with the the difficult choice between honoring her relationship or honoring her mother, heritage and country.

Though some of this book felt long winded and off topic, after a few days of reflection, I can understand what the author was trying to convey. The importance of honoring your family and heritage while still making a way for yourself in the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Amazing book, full of true emotion. I know I could never rate to this book as much as other readers, but I admire the story and characters so much.

The ending was as perfect as a reader could ask for. I cannot wait to read more from Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu.

This was an incredibly rich coming of age story set in Kenya and New York City. The characters were larger than life and felt so real as I was reading.

It dealt with difficult topics in both an astute and sometimes dead pan funny sort of way. I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the e-arc.

This is the second "coming of age" book I have read recently. I do not know why I have a hard time with them. I didn't even finish the last one. It maybe that these stories are not relatable to me (anymore). The story line seemed to be more detailed in the beginning and then would jump catastrophic events, personal addictions and then boom..happily ever after.

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu was a stunning coming-of-age story!

Lucky Girl is a coming of age story about an African girl, Soila who lived a privileged life in Kenya.
Needing to get away from her difficult mother and have her own life Soila moves to New York.
She gets accepted to a University. And shortly after she falls in love.
She is finally happy living her own life.
Until tragedy hits she finds herself making some pretty hard decisions.

WoW! A beautiful, raw and thought-provoking story.
To be honest I wasn't expecting to be this consumed by Lucky Girl.... But damn if it didn't suck me in!
A story about life, race, family and love. I absolutely loved it.
IMO I did feel that was more of a slow paced read. With strong realistic characters.
I loved that author had real characters dealing with real life issues.
This character driven novel will make a great book club pick.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Dial Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I find it challenging to describe what this book is about. It addresses racial issues and differences between Black-Americans and Africans who come to the United States. The feelings are described from the perspective of the characters and are heart-felt, touching, traumatic and realistic. It is also about the relationship between a mother and a daughter and how daunting that can be especially when the mother is controlling (because of her own losses in life). It also talks about sexual violation from a priest and how that changes the perspective of a young woman for years and years and how secrets like this do tremendous damage. I wanted to condemn that priest so many times. The book describes the trauma of the 9/11 bombings in New York and the struggle to recover or even to go outdoors. To this day I think we all remember where we were (if alive) on that dreadful day. And for me the most poignant part was the end where the lead character, Soila, deals with “Mother’s” decline into dementia/Alzheimer’s. I have had that experience although my mother was quite sweet not abusive. And finally it’s about friendship of women, finding a good man, love, family, history and finding oneself. A fabulous book, epic in telling. An amazing first novel. I cannot wait to see what else the author writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the Advanced Review Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and random house publishing for the opportunity to preview this arc in exchange for an honest review! I have to say, I loved it. A bit slow to start but with an ending that leaves you cheering for your main character, crying with her and ultimately missing her at 5he end of the story! I loved seeing her growth however painstakingly each step was taken!

I loved this book. It explores the life of a young African woman who moves through a privileged but emotionally impoverished life in Africa, then immigrates to the United States to pursue an education and career. It’s a layered coming of age story with excellent character development.

The themes of mental health and enmeshment with an overbearing parent resonated with me. The main character’s mother is both an economically successful woman but a religious zealot who controls her daughter’s life. The main character’s struggle with this throughout her young adulthood is written in a nuanced way.

The book also artfully explores issues of race between African immigrants and Black Americans.

Highly recommend.

One can think that this book is just an exploration of the loss of a husband and its effects on the mothers left behind and how it affects of the mother-daughter relationship.

It's much more than that.

I can’t begin to explain how much I loved this book. Soila grew up as a privileged Kenyan girl. Her widowed mother is stern and has many strict rules that Soila must follow. Although Soila understands that her mother is showing her love in the only way she knows how, it’s still very difficult. And so when she gets the opportunity to study overseas, Soila packs her bags for New York City.

Unsurprisingly, Soila finds in 1990s New York quite a different reality for a Black young woman, however financially privileged she might be. Through the friendships she makes at school with fellow Black students, she starts to understand how her own privilege is blinding her to the racism she and other Black people face.

The conversation between an African immigrant to New York and African American descendants of slaves was incredible to read. I had to reread a number of sections, as I was flying through them way too quickly to truly appreciate them. The conversations were thorough and well thought-out, and didn’t shy away from the most difficult parts. The story ebbed and flowed beautifully and even the longer and more in-depth conversations about family heritage, privilege, and racism were intricately and naturally weaved in.

A book about balancing the life you want for yourself with family obligations and expectations. This is a slow paced, character driven novel. It would be a good book for book clubs and could lead to some great conversations. I’m glad I read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

I really enjoyed this story! I was captivated by the bright colors of the cover but really enjoyed the story. I loved getting Soila;s perspective and seeing the world through her eyes.

This story was heartbreaking, enlightening, and moving. I was excited to read this novel because I wanted to learn more about life in Kenya and Kenyan culture. While many of the events in the novel are very sad and difficult to read, I did still appreciate all the information and cultural references that were interspersed in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

This book was surprisingly good. I loved the characters and plot of the story. I do wish the book was bit longer and I would love to see this book turned into some kind of movie.

Soila is raised by a single mother and a house full of aunties in Nairobi in the 1990's and enjoys a life of prosperity; but there are many restrictions and expectations for how she will behave. Though her mother is adamant that she go to University in Nairobi, she secretly applies to a school in New York City, and is accepted. A huge battle ensues, but her mother reluctantly allows her to go.

It was incredibly brave of Soila to travel alone to a foreign country to which she'd never been, and she soon discovers that being Black in America is far different from being black in Africa. Racism and discrimination are still rampant and never far from her mind. She starts a relationship with a fellow student and they are in a committed relationship, or so she thought, but her best friend is another black woman with a free spirit who is fiercely loyal to Solia.

One relationship ends and another starts, with an open-minded, kind artist with dreadlocks, but they frequently disagree with what it means to be Black in America vs. Africa. He can't really see things her way, and she is frustrated that he is so complacent with things as they are. She is also torn between her relationship and the demands that her mother places on her to come back home to Kenya permanently.

The book was beautifully written with wonderful, strong language and fully fledged emotions. It certainly gave me a different perspective, which is the best thing that can happen from reading a book!

This was a tough read, but I could appreciate the social commentary. There was great character development despite the moments where the MC did things out of the blue that didn’t make sense. Pace and flow could’ve went better.

Lucky Girl is a coming of age story about Soila, an African girl who lived a privileged life in Nairobi. Her father died by suicide and her mother was overbearing and demanding. Soila dreamed of living in America and secretly applied to universities there, not for a better education, but to escape her dominating mother. She wanted to live life on her own terms.

While living in New York, working as an investment banker, she meets and falls in love with an African American man who she knows her mother won’t approve of. He’s an artist, he’s a bohemian type and he’s everything Soila’s mother disapproves of. Soila has never been happier. She has escaped the oppression of her mother, she has made some wonderful friends and she’s in love.

When tragedy strikes, Soila must make the hardest decision of her life. Will she choose her own happiness or will she do what is expected of her?

This is a beautiful, poignant, thought-provoking book about family, love and culture. The characters are multifaceted and complex. I give this book 4 stars with many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely yes! I really enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were fun, it held my interest, and provided an escape from reality. I would definitely recommend!

This was an eye-opening and wonderfully written novel regarding class, race, and sex. Not only did the main character win me over from the very beginning, but her heart-felt struggles in trying to find her place in this world shattered me to pieces. This has definitely found a place in my top ten.

Soila lived an abundant life in Nairobi with her large family. But not one to follow the rules, she felt stifled by her mother's high expectations and constant nagging and began searching for relief elsewhere. Hello New York.

As she navigates college life in her new world, Soila begins to acknowledge the vast chasm between the wealthy and poor, something she didn’t think she would be witness to in America. Amidst the racism, her inner turmoil, and her bourgeoning love life with a man that her mother would never accept into the family, Soila must figure out what she wants out of life and what would make her the happiest. Does she forge her own path and identity or fall back on and honor her heritage?

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.