I received this ARC from Publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith Published by Delacorte Press on May 2nd 2017
Pages: 432
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads
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.
My Thoughts:
Goodness, I loved this book! That shouldn’t be surprising since I loved the other four books I’ve read by Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, This is What Happy Looks Like, The Geography of You and Me, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between.) Still, I didn’t think anything would top how much I loved Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between. However, Windfall has become my number one favorite Jennifer E. Smith book!
Oh, where to start, where to start. I stayed up way too late to finish this one because I was so smitten with Alice, Teddy, and Leo. They are perfectly imperfect. I loved how they challenged each other and called each other out when they were lying to themselves. Of course they make mistakes and sometimes they hurt each other. However, they always care about one another and honestly want the others to be happy. There are big changes coming up in their lives (even aside from Teddy winning the lottery!) and I loved seeing how they grew and changed over the course of the story. Each character comes to know more about themselves and the others, which is so important. I just loved each of them and the ways they interacted!
The family aspect of Windfall was another thing I loved. Both of Alice’s parents died when she was younger. She lives with her aunt and uncle, Leo’s parents. Teddy’s dad abandoned him and his mother. At one point Alice makes the observation that between the three of them they have half as many parents as they were born with. I appreciated the ways Jennifer E. Smith explored how this affected the characters. The loss of these key figures impacts all three, not just the ones who lost someone.
I almost finished this review without mentioning the lottery aspect. It was interesting to see how it affected everyone and the ways they viewed one another. Winning millions upon millions of dollars is a huge change. I liked how it was explored and how the negative and positive aspects were shown.
Finally, the swoon factor. This was so, so well done. It kept me guessing as to what exactly would happen and how it would all end up. The timing, the declarations, the feels… I don’t want to spoil anything but it so worked for me.
Also, kind of random but I love the cover even more now that I know why the figurines of a bear and alligator are there!
Basically, Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith is one of the best contemporary romance novels I’ve read in a long time.
Leave a Reply