Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Pan Macmillan 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. 

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. 

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

What I Have to Say 

This is a great book about the ups and downs of life. Teddy and Alice haven't had the best of fortune in their lives, but when Teddy wins the lottery, it seems like their luck is going to turn, but it's not quite as easy as it seems. This book really looks into the expectations and media coverage that lottery winners get after their win. 

It wasn't as cute and relaxing to read as I've found Jennifer E. Smith's books before. It's not that the other books weren't deep, but I feel that because through most of the book Alice love for Teddy seems unrequited, it didn't have the romantic feel that the other books. I liked it a lot in other ways, but it wasn't what I'd been expecting. 

Alice's struggle was really interesting to read. I've read a lot of books about identity and trying to find out what you actually like rather than what you've felt pushed into and the fact that she honestly thought that she was happy until it was time to actually decide on a University felt quite realistic. Freezing when it comes to big decisions and putting it off because I don't want to face it, is something that I do a lot, so it felt very familiar to me. 

I'm not completely overwhelmed by this book but it was a good read. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with this copy for review.