Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Lucky Night.

I'm not a fan of literary fiction but I wanted to expand my reading horizons so I requested Lucky Night based on the premise.

I've never read this author before so I went into it with an open mind.

I knew this wasn't going to be for me when I saw there were non quotation marks for dialogue.

Nick and Jenny are really annoying; Nick is a d**k, his thoughts constantly revolving around oral and anal sex.

Jenny is kind of silly and not in a rom-com kind of way.

They don't have anything in common and I'm not sure why they hooked up in the first place, sexual chemistry? Boredom? Did I miss that part?

I struggled to get through this since the POVs jump back and forth between each of them.

It's not difficult to distinguish who is monologuing but it was still mentally jarring for the reader to switch back and forth between their mindsets.

I don't want to work hard to read unless it's a mystery featuring a serial killer who makes the detectives follow a bunch of grisly clues.

That's worth the effort.

I understand what the author is trying to say but the themes discussed are nothing new.

It was hard to care or empathize with two unlikable, uninteresting characters.

I had a difficult time getting into this one. The writing style here did not work for me, and I found myself unable to become attached to the story and the characters. Maybe this just wasn’t a book for me but at the same time, I am not entirely sure that I felt this book offered any new insight on the topics that it tackles. This is not one that I will be recommending, unfortunately.

One sign of a good book is not being able to put it down..., and Lucky Night is it. Twists and turns, or, more like, layers of an onion. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHouse for the ARC in exchange for honest review of #LuckyNight

I liked this story. It gave me an insight into two married couples and their relationships and self-discoveries in their forties. The writing is very good, and the setup for the bulk of the action was a pleasant change of pace. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was utterly unique and the premise was unlike anything I've ever read before - a man and woman having an affair are trapped in a hotel room together when a fire alarm goes off forcing them to confront what it is exactly they are doing. Given that this book is centered on cheating, I know it will be an immediate no for some, however, if you can stomach that, I'd highly recommend checking this out - as it really is an interesting book which left me dying to discuss with others the minute I finished!

This is such a difficult book to read. There are no quotes and I tried my best to follow, but they are there for a reason. Don’t make us work to read a book.

Unfortunately not for me. In a world with SO many books being published, I just don't see this as a must in our collection.

Just finished this book. Was my 2nd by this author. I made a notation in my spreadsheet for her previous novel that I thought it was hysterical.
This book had nothing hysterical, but man, it was action packed. The pacing was great, the concept gripping and what an ending! I gasped out loud when I turned the page and realized it was the last one!

I didn't love that it had no quotation marks, and would warn someone about that before I recommended it - because after 45 years of reading books in a certain format, it was hard to train your eyes to follow and catch everything.

What an interesting, crazy concept. Really a great book

To be honest, I struggled big time getting through this book. The writing wasn't great so the whole book felt slapped together. It's too bad because the plot is right up my alley and the characters were overall fairly likeable.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Crown Publishing/Crown for providing me an advance copy of Eliza Kennedy’s #literaryfiction novel, Lucky Night, in exchange for an honest review.

#LuckyNight is an amateur attempt to imitate the sweeping prose, allegories, and character introspection, specifically dissecting the dichotomy of the sexes within a heterosexual marriage, in the vein of a novel written by Lauren Groff.

Having briefly skimmed samples of the author's other novels, along with some reader reviews, I figured at worst it would be another contemporary romance novel. Chick lit, or a #beachread, if you will. I understand yearning to be the next Lauren Groff, but to invoke the southern twang of Jenny, the female protagonist, "This ain't it." And I loathe contractions nearly as much as I despise beginning sentences with a preposition.

The inferno is an allegory. I knew as soon as the name “Aloysius” appeared a mere two chapters into reading. How I hoped and prayed that the title of Part I would either lead to a hilarious satirization of a modern era #romcom or some type of #Sci-Fi erotica. Alas, no such luck.

There are no breaks when switching between the characters’ introspections or dialogue. While it doesn't exactly require rocket science to differentiate between the binary perspectives given the material is trite and rudimentary, it is bizarre and seems like the content was cobbled together with some slapdash editing. Like a Cormac McCarthy novel, which this book far from, quotation marks have been tossed out the window. Ironic, considering this is where I would have liked to toss the novel, and even myself at points, while struggling through it.

The concepts discussed are not revolutionary either. Nay, no moon-eyed or swooning of the critics here. Harkening back to my point of not rocket science to discern between the man, who is fantasizing about sodomy through the vehicle of baby oil (how disgustingly ordinary), and the woman, contemplating the cellulite in her ass. This is insulting to readers who actually enjoy literary fiction and/or contemporary romance novels.

The only reasons I even finished the novel were to write this review, and to find out whether the truly, insufferable characters—and not in the "this is brilliant writing" sense—perished, along with the hotel, which I prayed these annoying twats did from the first chapter onwards, or if this was the burning down of their "torrid" affair. Readers may never know...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this book is intriguing - a couple - both married to other people - sneak away for a night together and the hotel they visit catches fire. I wanted to enjoy this book - but didn't finish it. I didn't like the writing style and could not get involved with the story or characters.

Don’t skip over Lucky Night! This was a great book. It kept me turning the pages until the very last one. I didn’t want it to end.

Dazzling, gripping, moving, and unexpectedly tense considering the entire novel unfolds within a (luxurious) hotel room.

The writing is so good, the plot is compelling, and the characters are flawed and remain likable even as they bicker and make questionable decisions. Being able to read Jenny’s and Nick’s thoughts and how they contrast with what they are actually telling each other was delightful. I loved every moment and the ending was perfect.

Highly recommended, especially to readers who appreciate the magic of two people sitting in a room, having a long conversation about everything and nothing, as they consider their lives and their feelings for one another.

Thank you very much to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This was quite different than anything I have read. While at first you want to dislike Nick and Jenny because of the long affair and their selfishness and you grow to see them as real people. This book really looks at real life, marriage and people. I enjoyed it and the setting made it all the more better.