Showing posts with label lottery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lottery. Show all posts

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Book Review - Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Photo Credit - Amazon
Alice never really believe in luck as she had her fair share of bad luck. However, she still believes in love. Alice has been in love with her best friend, Teddy for years. When Teddy's eighteen birthday arrives, she buys him a lottery ticket attaching a note professing her love for him. The unimaginable happens and Teddy wins the lottery.

Teddy and his mother are overjoyed by the news because they have been struggling financially At first, they are stunned by their good luck but, then  Teddy gets swept up in the fame and fortune of being the youngest winner of $140 million.  With Teddy's sudden influx of cash, things between him and Alice begin to change.

I found the novel to be a fun and entertaining read. It was interesting to see how different people would spend their lottery winnings. I enjoyed most of the characters but, did find them to be a bit annoying. Alice was so blinded by her grief and then her love for Teddy that she didn't take the time to considered other people around her. While I understand and appreciate her need to give money to the less fortunate (I loved Teddy's idea in the end on what to do with his wealth), I didn't like that she was trying to force her way on Teddy. Especially when she mentioned her main motivation behind volunteering. I wish there was more development on some of the characters but, overall it was a nice cozy young adult romance novel.

 **Disclosure -  This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Book Review - The Windfall: A Novel by Diksha Basu

Photo Credit - Amazon

The Jha family has lived the comfortable life of in between poverty and rich, but when their son was accepted to an American business school, they looked forward to living out their golden years comfortably. But when Mr. Jha unexpectedly comes into a large sum of money after sold his website to an American startup,  their lives become turned upside down. He and his wife move to East Delhi, where the super-rich resides and he is eager to fit in with the rest of the upper class residents. However, this leads to a chain of unexpected events and causes the family to reevaluate what really matters in life.

This novel showcases the downfall of pride along with the human instinct of wanting to belong along with doing things to please others will only lead to your own downfall. As someone of Indian heritage I saw a lot of the common threads of my family and the Jhas. However, there were a few things where I couldn't relate to and felt like it was the exact opposite of what my family believes. There were things that were appalling that I could relate to as well. For example, Mr. Jha tells other people about how his son was an academic failure so Mr. Jha could fit in more with the neighbors. I personally don't understand how one can  sacrifice a child's emotional health just to fit in with strangers. I also felt some of the characters and bits of the story fell flat, like there was potential, but the author didn't go into more detail. On a side note, this novel is being billed as a comedy, but I didn't find myself laughing along with anything but rather smiling occasionally thinking of my own Indian roots.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion**