Liz Lawson

"In the aftermath of a school tragedy, May and Zach struggle with grief, survivor's guilt, and the complex emotional impact of the event, learning how to heal and hope in the face of it all"--

The Lucky Ones

No Spoilers. Just names. 

Wow. Honestly this was incredibly written. I got this book at my local library, purely because I like music and that was one of the descriptions : a new band. 
I didn’t expect this incredible work of art when I picked it up and I couldn’t put it down from the first chapter. 
Seriously. 
I read til 5am one morning and then went to school. 
Seriously, it’s great. Liz Lawson is an awesome author and though it is a romance type book, it’s also growth for Zach and May as individuals. 
I’ve always liked books that switch POVs and this one does, giving the reader a great sense of what’s happening in both of their lives. 
The author did an amazing job writing family situations, grief, anger and everything in between. 
I will be recommending this book to many of my peers. 

*** It is a bit mature (Language almost every chapter) but other than that it is an amazing teen book and you should definitely check it out! 
Go read it!!

Elena

Made me cry and laugh was overall amazing!!!

Alexis 

4.5/5 stars 

** This book had trigger warnings for: Depression, PTSD, panic/anxiety attack, school shooting scenario, loss of loved one, grief. 

This book is incredibly moving. It deals with so many emotions about grief and displaced guilt. It moved me so much cried. If you want something that will move you emotionally, I highly recommend this book. I honestly feel like this did a great job in bringing to life the grief of losing someone and hanging on to the fact that things were not perfect and that sometimes it's not so easy to move on. Now while I myself have not been through a traumatic experience but I connected personally to May (the female lead) because of feeling the loss of someone close to me. I feel like some of the side characters were extremely annoying because most of them expected the May to just get over it, be normal and live. My only issue is that I would've liked to see this book go into a little more depth to get some more emotion. I wanted to know more about May and the shooter and that perspective. I have questions left that we didn't really get. I felt like the ending wrapped up a little to fast for me, If the book was a little bit longer I think it would've been a full 5 stars. Overall a very moving book and relatable characters that make this book so much more.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Lucky Ones

Author: Liz Lawson

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 15+ (discusses and depicts gun violence/school shooting TW, some delinquent behavior, romance) 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: How do you put yourself back together when it seems like you've lost it all?

May is a survivor. But she doesn't feel like one. She feels angry. And lost. And alone. Eleven months after the school shooting that killed her twin brother, May still doesn't know why she was the only one to walk out of the band room that day. No one gets what she went through--no one saw and heard what she did. No one can possibly understand how it feels to be her.

Zach lost his old life when his mother decided to defend the shooter. His girlfriend dumped him, his friends bailed, and now he spends his time hanging out with his little sister...and the one faithful friend who stuck around. His best friend is needy and demanding, but he won't let Zach disappear into himself. Which is how Zach ends up at band practice that night. The same night May goes with her best friend to audition for a new band.

Which is how May meets Zach. And how Zach meets May. And how both might figure out that surviving could be an option after all.

Review: I really liked this book! I think the author did well to approach the subject with grace and sensitivity. I think that the writing was well done, the characters were likeable and well developed. The pacing was also well done. I also liked how the author showed how different grief is. Grief isn’t just tears and there’s no one way to deal with it. Sometimes grief manifest itself in different ways and each person has to come up with ways to deal with it in their own way.

However, I did feel like the romance was a bit forced, but it felt more natural as the book went on. The book also did well with the subject of school shootings, but otherwise there wasn’t much of a story outside of how characters deal with grief, which normally doesn’t keep my attention (but in this one it did for the most part). Ultimately, it’s just saddening to think that while these characters get to heal, the process will begin all over again with new children, some of them as young as 5, until we come together as a nation to figure out a way to stop these from happening to the next group of children.

Verdict: A well done book that, while doesn’t present ways to prevent gun violence, helps show how we can better help those who are “the lucky ones”.

Becca Futrell

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing me with a copy of The Lucky Ones in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Ones is the heart-wrenching debut of Liz Lawson, and wow, when it wasn’t kicking me in my emotions, I was in complete awe of Lawson’s writing. I absolutely love YA titles that tackle heavy subjects; I love opportunities where I’m forced out of my comfort zone and am able take a walk in someone else’s shoes. One of my favorite things about reading is that journey & those eye-opening experiences. 

Liz Lawson takes on an extremely difficult subject & something that, strangely enough, I don’t see often in YA titles: school shootings. Lawson gives us the viewpoint of two characters — Zach and May. May is the survivor of a school shooting and the sister of a victim, and Zach is the son of the lawyer who took the shooter’s case. Both are dealing with the same event, but on two different ends of the spectrum. & of course, there’s tension between the two when discovering who the other is. 

Grief is written so well in The Lucky Ones. Yes, there are times where May’s actions towards others is completely uncalled for — and you never get a free pass for treating another person like shit. However, it’s important to remember that May is a teenage girl who’s dealing with an incredibly traumatic experience. Grief does a number and people are going to react differently to it; this is May’s story and this is the story that Lawson wanted to share. I applaud her for that. 

In the beginning, Zach is insta-in-love with May, and I was scared to see their relationship blossom in only a chapter or two. But at some point, I honestly forgot that there was a romance aspect in The Lucky Ones. There relationship wasn’t too in-your-face once they met, and it didn’t take away from the story being told. 

Liz Lawson’s debut is one to read. Of course, if this is a subject that’s triggering, I urge you to be safe. But, if you can stomach the heavy-hitting topic of school shootings, then yes — 100% give it a shot. The Lucky Ones is a heartbreaking story that is so beautifully written and really gets you into the mind of our characters.

Aubrey Erskine

For the full review visit my blog:
 http://shelflifechronicles.com/2020/0...

The Lucky Ones is about the aftermath of those surrounding a school shooting. We get to see firsthand how May deals with being a survivor and it’s not well. There is so much guilt at being left alive and from her actions of hiding. This book is an emotional journey that had me crying at times because of May’s hurt and knowing that while she may not be real, there are others out there with similar stories to her. She was lucky to have the support system of her friends and meeting Zach might not be the worst thing to happen to her.

Ashlee

The Lucky Ones is an emotionally charged and hauntingly poignant novel that follows of the aftermath of a school shooting and the lives of those affected by it.

They call May the lucky one. She is the sole survivor of a school shooting that takes the lives of her twin brother, fellow classmates, and her favorite teacher. But May doesn’t feel lucky. She’s angry. She’s heartbroken. And she’s lost.

When May meets Zach, she sees in him a kindred spirit and they immediately click. They find themselves feeling both invisible and under the spotlight, only good for pity or anger. Together, they navigate the pain and loss around them, and find the courage to dismantle the walls they’ve built around themselves to let others in.

This novel focuses on some heavy subjects – such as mental illness, death, school shootings, trauma, drug and alcohol use, PTSD and parent neglect – but it’s also full of hope and little moments of joy. It’s easy to look at school shootings and focus solely on the event and what preceded it. Rather, The Lucky Ones examines what happens after, and how devastating these events are on the family, friends, and community of those lost.

This is a touching debut and I want to thank the author for bringing a gentle, yet realistic, voice to these stories without dramatizing them.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Tik Tok | You can find my review here


  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the authors in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.


What a beautiful, thought-provoking, poignant, wise debut novel. I'm truly in awe. Part of me is still adjusting to life after reading this beautiful book. The Lucky Ones was everything I wanted it to be and more. It is perfect for fans of Hate List and Underwater. Without a doubt, it won't be for every reader. It still feels like something truly special and I cannot shake the way it has made me feel.

The odds were definitely in Liz Lawson's favor the moment I read The Lucky Ones synopsis. This is exactly the type of book I love reading. My heart both ached and soared throughout the course of The Lucky Ones. Mostly, Lawson crafts a believable story about the aftermath of school shootings and the grief that is often left in the place of young lives.

School shootings are one of the toughest things to tackle in fiction. Because they are so prominent in life, and the lack of gun control in the states is not improving--there is so much tension in what needs to be done and what could be said. The Lucky Ones shows us the story of what happens after tragedy, and begs us to remember that something needs to be done. 

Lawson tackles difficult topics with grace and portrays the aftermath of tragedy in a way that is true to life and fully believable. Readers will easily see themselves sprinkled within the personalities and development of the characters featured in The Lucky Ones. Nothing about this story feels cheesy or overdrawn out--it feels sharp and in focus.

The Lucky Ones is about more than a tragedy--it is about life. The center is emotionally charged and focuses fully on those left behind. This makes the story a difficult one to pull through because it is an absolute honest portrayal of life. Lawson's prose reads like all YA contemporaries should--easily, full of emotion,and real.

You want to scoop up characters like Maya, who lost SO much in so little time and is processing her grief in varied self-destructive ways. Meanwhile, another student, Zach, is left behind in isolation due to his mother's association with the case against the school shooter. I'm highly impressed with how Lawson crafted this particular cast of characters--how each of them fit a specific archetype of grief and how it affects people.

Ultimately, I found The Lucky Ones to be a highly valuable novel that will surely capture an audience. I've said it before and I'll say it again: books like these are so important.

Irin 

The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson - 4.5/5 🌟
Thanks to @prhinternational #partner and @delacortepress for the free book! 
#bookreview 
 "People aren't just the some of their mistakes. The world isn't black-and-white. The best thing you can do for yourself is to look at the spaces between those poles, to see that extremes aren't useful to anyone. " 
The Lucky Ones is about two teenagers ~ May and Zach, who are dealing with the aftermath of a school-shooting. May lost her twin brother in a school shooting 11 months back and she can't still accept the fact that she survived when her brother didn't. Zach's mother is the lawyer who defended the shooter who killed May's twin. The story talks about the events that follow after they meet. 
This was such a heatfelt and impactful read. I rarely read books which deal with heavy topics but I'm so glad that I picked up The Lucky Ones. School-shootings are one of the deadliest situations that the world has been facing during recent times, which is why books like The Lucky Ones should be read by people from all ages. 
Have you guys ever read a book where you wanted to hug the main characters after every single chapter? The Lucky Ones made me feel that way. Zach and May's feelings, their anger and guilt were so perfectly expressed through their respective POVs. No one should be subjected to the level of trauma that Zach and May faced at such a young age, which just shows how unfair the world can be. 
I really liked how different relationships that Zach and May shared with other people was portrayed in The Lucky Ones.. Grief wasn't just the only topic that was dealt with it in this book, but we get to see how a single incident can change the course of family relationships and friendships. The book shows that sometimes people with flaws can draw a protective circle around you too. The author did an excellent job of adding depth to the characters which will make me remember them for a long time. 
Definitely recommend reading this book. It's a really important one.

Kate

A gorgeous and heartbreaking story that shouldn't have to be told. 

We shouldn't have to have stories about school shootings because school shootings (and any shooting for that matter) shouldn't be happening but they are and this book wonderfully explores the affects they have on the lives of those who are left behind, the people who have to live with the aftermath, the survivors, the 'the lucky ones'.

Both Maya and Zach's narratives were brilliantly explored. I particularly loved that the author allowed them both to be angry, without being looked down upon or seen as aggressive or 'bad', which is something I rarely see in YA. They were both real, raw, multifaceted teens who were given permission to explore their emotions and navigate their grief in the aftermath of the same traumatic circumstance, despite it having affected their lives in very different ways.

The relationships throughout the book were wonderful and once again, brilliantly multi-dimensional and given a depth that added so much to the story and characters. From friendships to family to romance, no relationship, old or new, was untouched by the trauma caused by one single person and I thought the author portrayed this really well. 

This was heart wrenching, heart warming, intense, poignant, sensitively written and packed with a wide spectrum of emotions that don't stop hitting you right in the gut from beginning to end. I don't doubt that this is a read that will will stick with me for a long time to come.

TW: school shooting, PTSD, panic attacks

The Lucky Ones

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