With a Little Luck - Review

With a Little Luck (Fortuna Beach, # 2)

By: Marissa Meyer

Publication: February 13, 2024 by Feiwel & Friends

368 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--After being magically gifted with incredible luck, a boy discovers this gift just may be a curse when it comes to love, in this YA novel by #1 New York Times -bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

Jude is determined to fly under the radar. He just wants to draw his comics, host regular D&D night with his friends, work at his parents’ vinyl record store, and escape high school as unscathed as possible. That is, until the night he comes across a mysterious twenty-sided dice and finds himself inexplicably gifted with a bout of supernatural good luck.

Suddenly, everything Jude has ever wanted is within reach. His first art submission is accepted to his favorite fanzine. He helps his friend’s song become a finalist in a songwriting competition. And he’s the 100th caller to a local radio contest, winning him a pair of coveted concert tickets, which he uses to ask out the popular girl he’s been crushing on since elementary school. For a few blissful weeks, he feels invincible.

But when he loses the magic dice at a local music festival, his luck takes a turn for the worse. He struggles to reclaim his good fortune while fighting off long-buried feelings for his best friend―who is definitely not the girl he’s supposed to be in love with. Can Jude risk stepping into the spotlight long enough to win the true girl of his dreams? Or is he doomed to be unlucky in love forever?

The description gives too much away about With a Little Luck. But that also means that I don't have to keep all of that out of my review which makes things easier for me. I got the audiobook for With a Little Luck for review. And I have to say that I was stoked. I've reintroduced audiobooks into my life over the last couple of years, and I'm so thankful because I can probably increase the number of books "read" in a year by a third. At first, I was bummed to be denied the egalley of With a Little Luck, but this type of story is one that I enjoyed on audio probably more than I would have liked reading a physical copy of it. Stacy Carolan was the narrator, and he did an outstanding job.

I don't remember ever reading a contemporary book written solely from the male point of view. Usually, if a male voice is included, it is at least written as a dual or multiple narrative. Marissa Meyer's choice of writing only Jude's voice is probably best as it would have given too much away to have written from either Ari or Maya's perspectives.

As the description states, Jude finds a 20-sided dice, and his luck becomes undeniably good. He wins every coin toss. He is the 100th caller in a radio contest and wins tickets to a concert for the favorite artist of the girl he's been crushing on since elementary school. She agrees to go to the concert with him. And beyond that, they seem to have a great time. And even more, she's interested in joining his D&D group. I'm sure I'm missing a few other things that Jude's good luck provides him with, but you get the gist.

Things seem to be going well for Jude. While Jude is getting to spend time with Maya, his long-time crush, it's obvious to the reader that Maya just isn't interested in Jude the way that Jude wants her to be, even with the extra luck. On the other hand, Jude is helping his best friend Ari with a songwriting competition. She earns a spot to go to a live festival, and Jude, Maya, Ari, and Ezra (Jude's complete opposite, kind of friend, but also kind of nemesis) decide to go as a foursome. At the competition, Jude loses his dice. And his luck goes with it.

Of course, things were going too smoothly for Jude. And no story would be complete without conflict to overcome. I sure was beginning to feel sorry for Jude. His bad luck was almost worse than any of the good luck he ever had. In the end, Jude discovers that his crush on Maya was masking deeper feelings that he has for Ari. And I loved the idea that even bad luck can be good if it leads us to good results. Removing luck from the equation, this is how I believe God works in our lives. He works all things out for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

With a Little Luck was a fun read/listen. Jude's family is endearing, and I loved his relationships with each of his sisters. I am a sucker for tropes, and a good best friends to lovers trope is such a good one. I couldn't help but root for Jude and Ari...especially Ari. Bless her. With a Little Luck gets 4 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) With a Little Luck? What did you think? Let me know!