Windfall

When I first came across this book, I fell in love with the cover. It is hands-down beautiful. Then I read the blurb and though how unique it sounded. I mean seriously. I have never came across a book quiet like this. I know it couldn't have been easy to write about someone winning the lottery. I

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had high hopes for this book

But...the more I read...



It just fell so flat. From start to finish. I kept expecting SOMETHING to happen that would just blow this out of the water and make it so awesome. But, nothing happened.

The characters just about drove me nuts. I mean you have the main character Alice who is miss goody-two-shoes who buys a lottery ticket for a friends 18th birthday as a bit of a gag gift because she doesn't even believe in luck. Turns out, ding-ding-ding, she picked the winning numbers and her friend is suddenly a high roller. Who doesn't even offer her any money until someone ELSE says something about it, then he gets this bug up his butt about how she HAS to take it. Her being goody-two-shoes, doesn't dare take it. Lets be realistic here.... No one in their right minds would turn down money. No offence. But through this book she is just his rug mat but that is totally okay because she is in love with him. So I guess that makes being a mat okay! .....NOT!

{I want to touch down on the luck thing. That part kinda bugs me. The MC doesn't even believe in luck yet the endless quotes on this book are about letting luck find you. Man, let it find you would be nice, but I was raised to get off your butt and work for what you want. But I guess in her case, don't believe and you'll get all the luck. Go her.}

Lets talk about this "friend". The one she is in love with and ended up the lucky winner. Possibly the worst kind of guy you could have in your life. The whole time I read this book the ONLY vibe I got from him was the abusive possessive boyfriend vibe. He was a jerk from start to finish and just used her as a rug and gosh forbid she talk to another guy that she works with while volunteering. Ugh.
He reminded me so much of the kid from Blank Check. The one who ended up getting a million dollars and ended up spending it all in like 5-7 days. See, I would expect a child to go on a unnecessary shopping spree. I wouldn't expect an adult to do that. Especially one coming from a one bedroom apartment. I would think he would want to take care of his family, especially his hard working mother but hey! Giving away tons of free sh*t at high school it much better than helping. It pissed me off so bad because he never gave away anything selflessly. It was always "HEY LOOK AT ME! LOVE ME! I AM RICH! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" It's pathetic.

Lets not forget the gay cousin/friend. Who plays the middle ground for both sides. I think this group was a bit cliche honestly.

I really don't know what to say about the story itself. I don't think there is anything really to say. There was nothing and when it ended I just felt empty. Outside the cover, I felt nothing for this story or characters. :/

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What if you bought your best friend and love of your life a lottery ticket? What if they won the jackpot? That’s the exciting premise of the book Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith. Windfall is sweet and heartfelt with authentic characters and believable emotions. It contains tension, humor, romance

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and friendship. The author captures the emotional turmoil of the protagonist, Alice, quite well. At first I was not a fan of Alice’s friend and love interest, Teddy. I found myself rooting for the other guy. Then Teddy grew and changed for the better, so I was pleased when Alice and Teddy got their happily-ever-after. In many ways, Windfall is like a fairy tale.

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When Alice buys a lottery ticket as a joke for her friend Teddy's eighteenth birthday, she inadvertently changes both their lives when the ticket turns out to be a winner.

Uggghhh. I usually like Jennifer Smith's books, but I heartily disliked how the romantic storyline played out in this one.

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Beyond that, I had some problems with how charity is handled in the story. Perhaps this is where I, a cynical adult reader, am unsuited to the bright-eyed optimism of this YA book. I also dislike how the narrator of this audiobook does male voices. They all sound like caricatures of themselves, if that makes sense -- and as if she's trying so hard to make them sound male that she can't differentiate them in other ways. If you like Jennifer Smith's writing, you might not have the same problems that I had with the plot. Either way, though, I don't really recommend the audiobook.

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I had such excitement going into this story... as this is one of my favorite authors, the whole concept and summary of this book sounded exactly what she would write and it would be dreamy and amazing! Unfortunately, that's not how it went for me...

Alice is a very intelligent teen who works hard

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at everything - after the loss of her parents and having to move in with her uncle and his family, she has done nothing but to continue to try to make her parents proud of her by doing the things that she thinks that they would have liked her to do - excelling in school, volunteering, tutoring... Her best friend Teddy lives with his single mom in a modest one-bedroom apartment and is seemingly happy and content with what he has. When Alice gifts Teddy a lottery ticket for his birthday, and he wins, you can just imagine the excitement that ensues! Everyone wants to know Teddy and be his friend, even his father, who abandoned him, shows up on his doorstep... it takes Teddy a little too long to realize what everyone really wants from him and the truth comes out. Meanwhile, Alice sits on the sidelines waiting for Teddy to get a clue...
In the end, the one person, besides his mother, that Teddy wants to share his winnings with doesn't want it... confusion, miscommunication, and drama arise from there...

Parts of the story and the characters were too predictable. Alice is a goody-goody who has had a very sad and traumatizing past and is crushing on her best friend; Teddy is your typical popular/cute boy who gets by on personality and sports who then turns into an attention seeking and self-centered brat (as if he didn't already have enough attention by being popular, etc.); and Leo, the gay artist best friend who understands everything, is supportive and always says the right thing.

Overall, the main characters felt flat to me. Alice was just too good to be true. Even though things are explained, it still didn't seem right; and with Teddy, I just can't put it into words. He just didn't sit well with me. I wanted more from both. The "romance" connection wasn't there... I know that they could have been so much more, especially with their histories - their emotions just didn't reach me... the topics that arose could have been so much deeper and meaningful and it wasn't. I always expect so much when it comes to this author (she's one of my favorites!). Perhaps my expectations were too high...

Tthe overall moral of the story is thoughtfulness and kindness - and everyone magically delivers in the end. A perfect happy ending... again, predictable.

The one good thing out of this story is Leo. I would LOVE to have a WHOLE book on Leo, please! Leo is quite the teaser - he was mysterious, aloof and gave as much as was needed for Alice and Teddy's story, but kept his own story to himself. His relationship, how he truly felt about everything that was happening around him, his past... I really felt drawn to Leo and feel that his story would definitely be worth knowing about and reading! I hope that this is something that the author is thinking of writing considering that she has only ever published standalone books and not companions or series.

I would recommend this book to all who truly love contemporary's with quick happy endings! Those who need a smile and are looking to just get lost in a story for genuine fun!

*I acquired an ARC from another book blogger through #booksfortrade via twitter. All thoughts are my own.

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Thanks to Alice, Teddy finds himself holding the winning lotter ticket for 141.3 million dollars. The win brings changes in relationships. The characters’ idealistic belief random acts of kindness will change the world is unrealistic. The character seems to lack the depth or commitment to inspire

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personal change and triumph (i.e. Teddy’s father). While many issues with winning the lottery are glossed over, the story does recognize that money or the lack of money hinders people choice.

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Absolutely incredible.

Alice doesn’t believe in luck so much, but since she is older than her best friend Teddy by a month, she decides to surprise him on his birthday. She purchaseshim a lottery ticket using numbers special to them over their decade long friendship for his 18th. When he becomes the youngest lottery

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winner ever to split a mega jackpot, he says the 140 million won’t change anything. This was a great story , definitely going on my niece worthy summer reading list! Alice, Teddy and her cousin Leo make this contemporary very realistic. And even though Smith deals with the unbelievable—the lottery win--her take on how it changes their friendships and how they mature in this important senior year is very well done.

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Be forewarned: This book is SAD. The sweet, bright cover is mildly deceiving because of what its pages hold in between. I cried a lot. To be fair, it doesn't take much for me to cry. I am an easy weeper. But this had my nose red and runny for a good 50%+ of it. Genuine full tears running down my

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cheeks.

This isn't a spoiler: Alice, the protagonist, lost both of her parents as a young child. She lives with her aunt Sofia, uncle Jake and cousin Leo in Chicago. All of my tears stemmed from the fact that Alice is technically an orphan and I just thought of how awful that must be. To live with that pain every minute of every day. I'm readily aware of the fact of how lucky I am that I have both of my parents alive and well, but this book constantly reinforced that fact. I hugged my parents so much whilst reading this. Did I say I cried a lot? Because I did. I cried, a lot.

Alice and Leo and their best friend Teddy are all seniors in high school, and the typical 'I have no idea what choices to make, this is my WHOLE LIFE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT' senior year rhetoric definitely occurs. It's a little dramatic but it isn't too bad. My eyes only got stuck in the roof of my head once, which is a really good record.

But there's a Windfall, believe it or not. You have to suspend your disbelief to read this book, in my opinion, but it's worth it. It's honestly a very sweet story at its core, and I'm glad I read it. A little cliche, a little typical, but still. It was a solid, good read.

Thank you very much to the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book in advance.

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I received e-arc for an honest review, thank you!

I cried while reading the book more than once, it was heart aching at times and interesting at the same. It is a story about friendship, family and what happens when you have the little hope inside you for a change and at the same you know you

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don’t want any change at all, and you are not ready for any change at all, but it’s impossible to let the world freeze around you and control other person’s views and influences.

It is heart warming and I love the final ending, thank you so much! Will try to write spoilers free – Alice has been living with her aunt and uncle and her cousin since her parents died and although she has really enjoyed the friendship with her cousin Leo and their friend Teddy she longs the city she used to grow up, she longs the life she had back there, she longs her parents so much.

Alice are having a secret crush for Theodore for years now and he is her best-friend at the same and she is terrified and have tried her best to hide it all this time. Teddy on the other hand is macho when it comes to the girls from school, he usually dates 3 months and that’s where it stops, she knows this and knows he doesn’t feel the same about her at all.

It’s Teddy’s birthday and all classmates are there for the birthday party, Alice gives her gift – a lottery ticket and a card reveling her feelings, by accident or maybe meant to happen the gift giving situation is not exactly as Alice has planned it and party is different too… What happens next is a wheel spin, the ticket has actually won the absurd and impossible has happened.

I think the book gives us an example of staying who you and what your values are, not getting carried away because of lucky or unlucky events life gives you, staying honest and letting go, will it come back that’s another story, but giving your best when you believe in something and finding own way when growing up….

The book is my new favorite, as it allowed me to cry and have a joy at the same when the characters had them.

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This was a really sweet book.

I enjoyed the character growth and development of the characters. A unique story with great writing.

This has been sitting on my shelf for a while now. When I saw it on audiobook I decided it was time to give it a go.

I thought this was very cute, but way too long for what it is. I enjoyed the lottery winning, the friendships, and the tragedies the characters are facing. However; I think this could

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have been shorter and I would have given it 4 stars. I think there was too much filler which was not needed.

I was also not a huge fan of the narrator. She was an older lady, and I did not feel like I was reading the story about high school students. She also changes her voice for the male characters and I just did not enjoy it.

Overall, I feel this had so much potential but just went downhill the longer it got.

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What would you do if you won the lottery? I'd like to think I'd handle such a momentous windfall responsibly and logically. I think most of us would want to pay off our debts, set up college funds for our kids, buy stuff for ourselves and our loved ones, donate to charities, and put some in the

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bank. But in reality, if a ton of money suddenly landed on our laps, so to speak, it would be quite as easy to fall prey to its lure, throw caution and logic to the wind and act crazy. Which is exactly what happened to Teddy. And though Teddy irritated me majority of the time, he did redeem himself towards the end, mostly thanks to Alice. I find the character development in Smith's novels well-developed and realistic, and I also like that she ends her stories, though not exactly with a clearly-defined happy ending, but always with a note of hope and possibility.

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Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I bought at my son’s bookfair. Previous to this I had also read Smith’s “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight”.

Story (3/5): This was an okay contemporary YA romance. It's a quick and cute read. The premise is that Alice buys

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one of her best friends (Teddy) a lottery ticket for his birthday as a joke and he wins. The situation is complicated by the fact that Alice has been secretly in love with Teddy for years. Now, as Teddy is swept away in all the excitement, what will happen to their friendship? This was a fairly simple and predictable YA contemporary romance. It was okay but nothing special.

Characters (3/5): I didn't find myself especially drawn to the characters or their situations. Alice and her two best friends are well filled out and have complex pasts. However, I still felt like they were all a bit cookie cutter. I just didn’t really engage with them. Alice was too much of a push over and Teddy came off as kind of a jerk a lot of the time; I didn’t really like either of them that much.

Setting (3/5): Typical city contemporary setting, the setting really wasn’t the focus of the story.

Writing Style (3/5): The writing was fine and easy to read. It did take awhile for the story to get moving. Teddy doesn’t find out he won the lottery until almost 100 pages in. Things wrap up a bit too conveniently and the whole thing felt a bit forced and fake.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay; it’s a quick and cute YA contemporary romance. It was easy to read but fairly predictable and I didn’t really find the story all that interesting or engaging. I definitely liked “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” better than this book. Personally, I would skip this, there are much more entertaining YA contemporary romance reads out there.

Check out “When Dimple Met Rishi”by Sandhya Menon for a much more unique and quirky YA romance read. Or you could also try “The Distance Between Us” by Kasie West for a fun rags to riches type of YA romance. That’s just a couple recommendations out of many I could make of YA contemporary romances that were more entertaining than this one.

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Finally I have finished this book. Over all the storyline was great. but there were pieces missing in some places and the story dragged on in others. There were like 4 endings that were great but made the ending drag on as well. Oh, and I listened to the audio book. the girls voice was great so was

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the aunt. All the male voices sounded similar and like they were all droopy sad voices, like Eeyore.

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I really enjoyed reading this fun story. The first thing that really got my attention was the cover of this one. Isn't it gorgeous? After reading the description, I knew that this was a book that I would need to read. I just love the premise. I don't really play the lottery but anytime the jackpot

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is at an outrageous level, I do buy a single ticket. I know that odds are that I will never win but from the moment I put the ticket in my pocket until the numbers are drawn, I can dream about it. I have some pretty big dreams when it comes to lottery winnings. Usually by the time I find out that I didn't win, I have thought of twenty different plans for handling the money. While I read this book, I really thought about what would I have done if I had that kind of money as a teenager and it wasn't pretty.

Alice, Leo, and Teddy have been best friends for a long time. Alice has been living with her cousin Leo and his family ever since her parents died. Alice decides to get Teddy a lottery ticket for his 18th birthday just because he is now legally old enough to buy a ticket. Teddy is having party in the small apartment he shared with his mother and the whole group celebrates his birthday. The next morning when they hear the numbers that were drawn, they are in for a big surprise.

Alice lost both of her parents when she was only nine years old. She tries to make them proud through her actions. She volunteers at a variety of organizations and is very focused on getting into the college of her dreams. Leo is trying to decide which college he really wants to go to along with figuring out his relationship with Max. Teddy didn't really have a lot of plans before winning the lottery and he has a lot to figure out once he does.

I liked the characters in this story and thought that they felt realistic. Teddy handled everything better than a lot of adults would have but he was impulsive enough that it felt genuine. Alice was very reserved and not quite sure if she was making the right choices. Leo was supportive of his friends but also having a hard time making some of the important decisions that need to be made at this stage in his life.

This story really hits on all of the highs and lows of coming into a sudden fortune. There is also a small bit of romance to keep things interesting. All three of the main characters learn a lot about themselves and each other over the course of the story. They do open up about a lot of things that have been unsaid for a long time.

I would recommend this book to others. It was a fun read that moved quickly. This is only the second book by Jennifer E. Smith that I have read but I do enjoy her writing style. I hope to read more of her work very soon.

I received a review copy of this book from Delacorte Press via Blogging for Books.

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Overall, this novel made for a sweet story. Alice has loved her friend Teddy for ages, but she doesn't expect her feelings to be reciprocated. Everything changes, however, when Alice buys Teddy a lottery ticket for his birthday - and he wins. Teddy's sudden wealth changes how everyone views and

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treats Teddy and Alice's attempts to bring her friend back down to earth don't always go over well. Set during the final months of high school, this novel filled with the struggles of young adulthood and wrestling with choices about the future.

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