June book club: Just My Luck by Adele Parks

I have received a code for an e-book. Unfortunately it can only be used on an Apple device and we don't have any.
Would anyone like me to PM them the code and instructions?

My copy arrived today.Thank you. I’m really looking forward to reading it. Not sure I can finish it before July arrives but will try my best!

Hi just received my copy today I assume it’s from you! Thank you will read and get back to you.

Thank you for copy, it looks an interesting story. Will get started on it tonight.

Thank you just received a copy. Good excuse for sitting in the garden.

I'm thrilled to have received a copy of Just My Luck today. It was a lovely surprise. I'm looking forward to reading it over the next few days.

My copy has found a new home with grannybear

Started my copy can't put it down. Thanks

Thank you for my copy of just my luck.I have started it already and it does not disappoint.I am a great fan of Adele Parks and I can not wait to see how this story pans out

Thank our very much - a copy arrived yesterday. As soon as I’ve finished the book I’m reading at the moment, I will start it and let you know my thoughts about it. Will there be a bit of an extension to allow us time to read it, as July is almost upon us?

Thanks for my copy, I will be excited to read this as my next book.

Was delighted to receive a copy of this book yesterday. Two chapters of my current book to finish and then I'm on to it. The blurb intrigues so hope it lives up to it.

Thanks for the book. I only received it yesterday, so the review will probably be later than the end of the month.

Thank you for my copy, received yesterday, which I'll be getting stuck into shortly. I'm glad I didn't choose the e-book option, if it's for Apple devices only. I can't imagine reading a book on my tiny iphone screen!

Thank you very much for a copy of 'Just My Luck'. Looking forward to this one. I am going to start on it just as soon as I have finished my current read, 'His and Hers' by Alice Feeney.

I thoroughly enjoyed Just My Luck. The twists and turns kept me hooked and I sped through the novel in just a few days. I particularly liked the gradual unravelling of the endless array of secrets and lies and the skilful portrayal of the characters' often contrasting reactions to the lottery win. It certainly made me think about how I might behave in such a scenario!

My questions for the author:

I'd like to ask Adele whether she has ever played the lottery and whether she would consider forming a syndicate with her friends.

I'd also like to know whether she spoke to any lottery winners or read up on lottery winners' stories while researching the novel.

Be careful what you wish for – it might come true!
Three couples have been friends for 15 years and have played the lottery every week. They sit round and fantasize about what they would spend the money on if they win, but there is a rift, over unrelated issues and the friendship appears broken. Lexie buys the ticket as usual, but this time the numbers come up.
The first part of the book concerns the rupturing of the friendship, affecting both grown ups and children and how the money should, or should not be divided. The rest of the book is concerned with the unravelling of a web of greed, lies, crime and deceit which lays bare the individual characters in the group. This part is fast moving, a real page turner, with many twists and turns before the final unexpected revelation.
Would a vast amount of money lead to consumerism and selfish greed, or would it be used to benefit others? I would ask the author which side she would be on – honestly!

WOW!! I have read a lot of Adele's books, this is the best yet.
Most people would think a huge lottery win would be a dream come true; but be careful what you wish for! the story shows what strong emotions greed and envy are, and can make people do the most unthinkable things.
Had me gripped for star to finish.
I would like to ask Adele if she thinks winning such huge amounts of money should be allowed and if the prize money should be split more evenly.

I was looking forward to reading this book. Hailed on the dust jacket as Sunday Times Number One bestseller and heaped with praise from fellow authors, it raised high hopes for a good read. And, not having read any of the author’s previous novels, I was looking forward to discovering a new writer.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a book which would encourage me to read more by this author. As mine is one of the early comments, I’ll try not to give away any spoilers in terms of details of the story except to say that I found it an easy read but unconvincing and lacking in substance. For me, most of the main characters were quite unsympathetic, the plot was implausible and, while there were quite a few twists and turns as the book reached its climax, the final one was for me simply a twist too far, just too out of character.

That said the storyline about Toma Albu got me from start to end. And, while the tie-up between the two threads is fairly predictable, I found this the most satisfying part of the novel. I was interested in him, his life and the developing relationship between him and Lexi and should have enjoyed more.

My question for the author relates to the dust jacket. While I try not to judge a book by its cover, the significance of this one was lost on me. Unless I’ve missed something, it seemed to bear no relationship to the story. All I can think is that it was intended to convey the impression of a good holiday/ poolside read? Was this the author’s intention....or the publisher’s choice perhaps?

Wow Adele..what a scary book ! A cautionary tale indeed !
Obviously you researched your story and spoke to some winners but did the seed grow from you wondering how you and your family would react to a win ? Did the way the characters developed scare you a little? I suppose none of us know how we would react to such a huge amount of money unless it happened to us, however if the personality already has a sort of deviousness or selfishness at it's core, then money would definitely increase those properties which may have ordinarily gone unnoticed or indeed unpunished as with Jake.
I wonder if you looked around at people you know, or people from the past who you have an inkling might have behaved the same way as some of the characters in the book?
From when the lottery was won, it felt like a rollercoaster of events spiralling out of control, without giving any spoilers away, Jake's sprees left me breathless and agitated !!
Well done, I enjoyed the book so much, finished it yesterday, and missed the deadline for the lottery !!!

Thank you for my copy of Adele Parks' 'Just My Luck', received very late in the month, hence apologies for a late-ish review.

The book led me quickly to what I thought was a fairly straight-forward story-line of greed revolving around a lottery win but as the book progressed, the twists and turns began to come thick and fast.

I did have an small inkling about the Greenwoods but as Lexi was a holier-than-thou philanthropist I dismissed it. Presumably the enormous gift to Toma was to salve her conscience as I couldn't really understand why she would endow him with so much money.

The book must have been successful as I gasped out loud:
'what's the matter?' asked my husband when the extent of the kidnappers was revealed on page 361. I didn't guess.

The final chapter was, of course, very telling too and proved my fleeting inkling was correct. The story was well told and kept my attention (although the party was perhaps slightly too detailed) throughout.

I will happily read another book by Adele Parks!

My questions to Adele Parks are: how on earth do you manage to produce one book each year and sustain your output? Do you have a strict daily writing regime and treat your day as if you work office-hours? How do your plots come to you?

A very thought provoking book about a large Lottery win. Made me wonder how I’d react to such a win. I found the first few chapters made me feel uncomfortable especially the rejection of the other syndicate members and what happened to Emily at school.
I felt that the character of Jake was very unlikeable and this made me wonder why Lexi hadn’t spotted all his awful traits before the lottery win. ( a bit unbelievable.) I also thought Emily’s chapters weren’t really written in fifteen year old’s language. (Very adult concepts in places.)
Apart from this, I did actually enjoy the book and the twists and turns of the plot. A good book for a holiday read .
My question for Adele is, what would she spend the money on if she won the lottery?

I am sure anyone who has ever bought a lottery ticket has spent some time dreaming of what great riches might allow them to do.
I enjoyed Just My Luck and found it an easy read with great page-turning cliff-hangers to keep me reading long after I intended turning out the light at night. However, as the story progressed, and another little secret crept out - or leapt out in some cases - I did wonder if it was quite credible for quite so many issues to affect one family. All the stories linked up and were resolved but there was one jump in the story which I won't share so as not to spoil it for those yet to finish, which I found a step too far.
Although the book largely follows the story through Lexi's eyes there are times when the story switches to a different viewpoint, a device used by the writer in an earlier novel of hers I have read, Spare Brides. My question for Adele Parks would be about this use of extra viewpoints within a novel. Does she think it could have worked without the change and is it a device she favors for future novels?

Thanks for my copy and I really enjoyed the book with it's twists and turns. I did think the kidnap was a bit far fetched but then it got quite gripping. I did suspect the father was involved but not the other family. I loved the story running through it about Toma and how it all connected in the end. I read Adele's Lies Lies Lies at the beginning of the year and enjoyed that too.