This book was addicting and so so riveting. I gave it to my mom and she loved as well. The tension and wit of the writing was incredible, I couldn’t put it down until I knew what was going to happen next.

This is a powerful story of a girl, born in Kenya and raised in a matriarchal family of her mother, aunts, and grandmother. Her extremely religious mother is a successful businesswoman and very distant from her only daughter, but holds high expectations and is very controlling about her destiny. When Solia was able to make her way to America to go to college, her mother takes it as if she has abandoned her. Solia is torn between her culture as a Kenyan and trying to understand Black Americans, she questions herself, and seeks answers to what makes her happy (which certainly isn't becoming a business major like her mother wants.) Solia also finds love as she discovers herself and what makes her truly happy. I found this book riveting and interesting as Solia questioned her views and beliefs. Some parts were hard and I had to step away with the vivid description of a traumatic event that Solia experienced in NYC one fall day. It brought back memories for me that were profoundly sad. I rejoiced with Solia as she sought to grab her happiness, yet also admired her commitment to family in her respect to her mother. Solia grows in this story, from a privileged young Kenyan girl to an independent young woman, confident to speak out and stand up for what she wants and believes in. This is a story of friendship, family, traditions, cultural and personal identity, and love. I think eventually Solia realized she really was a "lucky girl". Lucky Girl would be great book for book club discussions; How important is family, traditions, and culture important in relationships and what role do they play in developing as a person. This book made me question myself and left me thinking. I highly recommend this book. Many thanks to #netgalley #luckygirl #randomhouse for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Absolutely loved this book! It was a great page turner from start to finish. Make sure you have free time because you won’t want to stop once you start!

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu was EXCELLENT! I loved the story, emotions, depiction of
a complicated mother-daughter relationship, being an African-Kenyan person in America Vs. an African-American, love relationships, friendships, careers, and deep family bonds. Just WOW! this novel was reflective and interesting. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

A debut novel about Soila who grew up in Nairobi and is awarded a scholarship to university in NYC. Soila wants to do as her mother wishes...going to college, getting a professional degree, and marrying a Kenya man. Soila has other desires but is pulled apart by her mother's desires.
This novel is a a tale of doubt, love, family, secrets, Kenyan procedures, American, racial viewpoints, differences between Africa and USA views.
Definitely read about Soila's struggles and triumphs. This would be a good read for a Book Group.

Lucky Girl is Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu's first novel. The plot revolves around Soila, a young Kenyan woman, who comes to NYC for college. Soila has been raised by her mother, a successful business woman, who has Soila's life planned out for her. Most important she has molded Soila to be a good, humble Christian girl. Soila longs to be a photographer, but promises her mother she will study business in college. Soila tries to live life for herself and not her mother. The character's are fascinating and the writing is easy to follow. Muchemi-Ndiritu is a great story teller and she makes her reader feel like the lucky one.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and NetGalley for an advanced. copy of Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu. This book is about Soila, a young Kenyan woman who leaves her family and home to attend college in New York City. She desperately wants to make her stubborn, hard-to-please mother proud, but finds that increasingly difficult when her own desires go in other directions. We follow Soila as she makes friends, dates, and learns what it's like to be black in America vs. black in Kenya. It took me a while to get into the book, but it picked up in the second half.

My library has purchased a copy of this book on my recommendation, which we will soon be lending out to our students.

✨Book Review ✨

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced copy!

Publish date: May 2, 2023

“Since I was a child, I had been searching for that place where I could just be me…My spirit was at peace. I had found home.”

I absolutely adored this debut novel. Lucky Girl is a coming of age story that follows our main character, Soila, throughout her life growing up in Kenya and choosing to attend school in the United States.

Soila seeks out her own happiness all the while worrying about her family’s disapproval. The character development, writing style, and descriptions were so strong and engaging. I especially loved Soila’s journey to find her true self as well as her friendship with Leticia.

The novel explores race relations across cultures, family dynamics, grief/loss, friendship, and perseverance. I am so looking forward to the author penning more works.

This family saga centers around Soila, a Kenyan girl and her journey to self discovery.
Soila's wealthy widowed mother, her grandmother and aunts live in a family compound in Nairobi. Her mother has managed the family business through hard work and an astute business sense, which enabled Soila and her aunts to exist carefree. However, Soila's religious mother is controlling and has high expectations for Soila which are not exactly what the young girl dreams of. Soila wants to escape the pressure and burdens and sees a way to do this by attending college in the US and finding her way.
Once she gets accepted at Barnard College, and finds a lifelong friend, Leticia, life changes for Soila and she immerses herself in her new life. Although her passion is photography, she follows her mother's expectation that she will go into finance, and when she graduates, she finds a job with a small investment bank.
Along the way, she finds a boyfriend, but as her perspective on life changes, she begins to look at what is important to her, and what will make her life meaningful to her.
I thought that the descriptions of Kenyan family traditions vs American family traditions were interesting - and I have to admit, that I was a typical white American, seeing all Blacks pretty much the same. The author defined the cultural differences well and made me understand them. I think that she also balanced Soila's dreams and desires with her mother's expectations without judging either to be correct or wrong.
The romances were realistic and helped Soila grow along the way. I thought that the ending was hopeful, and
showed that one can honor one's family while discovering oneself.

This story was very enlightening and the author did a great job of telling the story of what to do when your identity and culture is in question and you have to make a choice. I completely understand the culture shock of when you enter a new country. I really enjoyed this story and I find myself thinking about it from time to time. I highly recommend.

A big thank you to Corina at Random House for giving me the opportunity to read an advance digital copy of Lucky Girl. It's a book that wasn't on my radar and I'm glad I took a chance on it.

Soila was born and raised in Kenya. Her father died when she was a young girl. Soila's mother was able to turn the money they inherited into a sizable fortune through her business ventures. Soila lives with her mom, grandmother and aunts but has dreams of attending college in America. Her conservative mother is opposed to the idea but eventually gives her consent. The majority of the story takes place in the 1990s and early 2000s in NYC.

I'm impressed with how many subjects the author explored in this story without it feeling heavy-handed. Race is one of the main topics but there's other things going on as well such as parental and cultural expectations, poverty, religion, etc.. So many talking points here that Lucky Girl would be an excellent book club pick.

One of the things I loved about the story is how Soila's friends challenged her beliefs. It's important to have people in your circle who you can learn from because that's how you grow as an individual. Soila as a Black immigrant had a different perspective on what it is like to be Black in America than her friends who grew up in the United States. There were some really interesting discussions in the story.

Highly recommend putting this book on your tbr list as it's worthy of your attention.

There are so many different perspectives covered in this book. I learned so much about other cultures and how race affects everyone differently. The cast of characters are very realistic, and I think this would make a good book to use if you're looking for deep discussion of difficult topics.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu is a debut novel for this author. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it but my mind has been opened. I loved seeing Soila navigate life in America and learning how difficult being culturally different can be and difference between being African and African American. This story seemed very real and possibly pulled from true life experiences. This story is beautifully written! I feel this is a great read for anyone and probably needs to be read by many to open the mind and enlighten.

I wasn’t able to finish this book. About 40% I put it down. I couldn’t keep my interest in the book. It just wasn’t for me

A nuanced coming of age story of a wealthy young Kenyan woman moving to America for university and discovering all of the privilege and challenges she had been unconsciously carrying. The concise and quietly impactful writing style drew me in from the start; Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu’s debut novel is thought-provoking and heartbreaking.

The story begins in the 1990s, and we follow teenage Soila, whose mother is an enterprising Nairobi millionaire and a formidable young matriarch. Soila grows up surrounded by aunts and her grandmother, attending private school and being sheltered by her overbearing mother. When she gets older and begins to chafe under her mother’s many rules, Soila discovers a passion for photography and decides to go to university in America. Before leaving, she experiences a traumatic assault from a trusted family friend, and though she struggles with her self-worth, she knows she must leave her home to find herself.

In New York, Soila excels in school but is pressured by her mother into a soulless finance job. She makes friends, but soon realizes she has no reference point for the experience of being Black in America. She falls in love, but knows her mother will never accept her romantic choices. When disaster strikes, again and again Soila must choose how she wants to live her own life.

While this novel presented many thoughtful and unique perspectives, I found that sometimes the dialogue felt impersonal in its debates of polarizing issues like abortion, religion, and cultural differences. Our main character Soila went through an almost unimaginable amount of trauma and sadness, and though there were moments of happiness, I felt that each happy moment was just the calm before the storm.

Overall, this is a strong debut novel from an author with an assured voice, and I found myself confronting many of my own ideas about privilege while reading. “Lucky Girl” is undoubtedly a powerful read, and I’m sure I will be thinking about it for a long time.

Thanks to Random House - Dial Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow, what an incredibly written, well thought out and developed book. The story is very realistic, touching on real issues, some of which are difficult to read about (and experience!) Her characters are likeable and real - easily someone that you could live next door to, work with or meet at a coffee shop. At times the topics make you feel uncomfortable - but also will make you feel for the characters. In my opinion, this is a must read book!
Soila grew up as a wealthy girl in Kenya, raised by her aunts and over protective mother. After an assault by a family friend, she flees to NYC for college - and never wants to return home. Soila is shocked by the culture in America - entitlement, poverty, racism, When she falls in love, she begins to struggle with her identity and what she wants out of her life.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Random House Publishing for the gifted e-book ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read if you like: Coming of age, discovery, family stories

This is unlike anything I've ever read. A lot of it is almost unnerving, yet fascinating. Check the triggers because this book has shocking scenes. I love Soila discovering the differences in cultures with the people she meets at school. This is a beautiful coming of age story with interesting characters. I highly recommend it!

This book isn’t bad by any means, but I just found it so boring. We are just following Soila as she lives her day to day and acclimates to moving to the United States while still trying to please her family in Kenya. I can see this really appealing to many, especially those who enjoy literary fiction (which I don’t; I need plot). It felt very meandering to me, and I didn’t connect to any of the characters or the story.

Overall, for what it was, it was written well. I am sure it was a pacing/lack of plot problem and completely personal. I did enjoy some of her interpersonal relationships, but some also felt so glossed over. Some areas left me wanting more while others had me wondering when we were going to move forward. I was honestly surprised when I finished this and found out it was under 350 pages. It felt closer to 500.

There is a clever romance that I enjoyed, but did also contain a decent amount of lecturing on race and culture.

Soila was born and raised in Kenya by her domineering, widowed mother. Staunch in her beliefs and worried what others think, her mother has amassed a great wealth, but lacks the nurture element that Soila so desperately craves. When Soila is betrayed by someone close to her family, she’s unable to share the truth and convinces her mother to let her attend college in America. When Soila arrives in New York City she’s unprepared for the life around her. She doesn’t understand what black people in the US have been through, but her beliefs are challenged by her friends who help her to learn about the cultural differences in America. Soila dreams of becoming a photographer, but doesn’t want to disappoint her overbearing mother and instead graduates with a business degree. Working in the financial realm, she hates her job, but perseveres. Meeting a sculptor, she’s soon head over heels in love, but there is no way he will meet her mothers high standards for a husband. When Soila loses a dear friend, she’s ready to make some drastic life changes, changes her mother will not approve of, but doesn’t Soila deserve some happiness in her life? When her mother desperately needs her by her side, will Soila give up her hopes and dreams for her mother? What a beautifully written debut by Muchemi-Ndiritu!! I devoured this book as it hooked me from the first page till the very last. Covering so many important topics for today, this would be an excellent book club choice. Thank you to Dial Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.