I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

May lost her twin brother eleven months ago, when a school shooting killed him and she's angry, lost, upset and she struggles to move on, dealing with PTSD and accepting her new reality. Zach's life was turned upside down by the shooting too, but not because he lost someone, but because his mother decided to defend the shooter, upsetting everything. Friends abandoned him, his girlfriend dumped him, he and his family are object of bullying and only one friend still remains with him. It's thanks to him, so needy and demanding, that Zach meets May at the same band practice one day. Both of them will have to learn how to deal with rage, anger, grief and survive.

The lucky ones is heartbreaking, heartwrenching and intense. It deals with so many important themes, like a school massacre, survival, grief, rage, loss, how to move on, how to keep living after such an horrible tragedy. It's the debut book of Liz Lawson and I was really impressed by the story. Told by two POVs, May's and Zach's, they are both "victims" of the same shooting (even if, of course, in different way) and they are really relatable in their feelings and actions. May feels that none could ever understand what she's been through and she's full of rage and pain, while Zach, because of his mother's choice, is alone and avoided.
This book is a story about grief and pain, rage and anger, guilt, struggles, moving on, survival and it's skillfully written.
It hits the reader because the story is realistic, it could be a story we read from newspaper, because, unfortunately, things like that happen and the survivors have to live and survive without their loved ones.

I'm on the fence about The Lucky Ones. Although I did enjoy it, I expected something more emotional. I don't know what it was but it just missed the mark. Don't get me wrong, it was a powerful story, but I just didn't feel it like I expected to. It does make me sad to think how this is possibly someone's life. That is really hard to swallow and all I could think about when I was reading. All in all a good read, just not as fantastic as I hoped.

4.5/5 stars

This book is incredibly moving. It deals with so many emotions about grief and displaced guilt. It moved me so much cried. If you want something that will move you emotionally, I highly recommend this book. I honestly feel like this did a great job in bringing to life the grief of losing someone and hanging on to the fact that things were not perfect and that sometimes it's not so easy to move on. Now while I myself have not been through a traumatic experience but I connected personally to May (the female lead) because of feeling the loss of someone close to me. I feel like some of the side characters were extremely annoying because most of them expected the May to just get over it, be normal and live. Overall a very moving book and relatable characters that make this book so much more.

This book is heavy but beautiful and hard to read. I questioned some of the adults' decisions, but I understand what the author was trying to do. I was surprised that May was never advised that she may need more intense treatment or that the family needs treatment, which I wanted to be more prevalent in the story. However, I really did love this book and it really touched me.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book SHOOK me. It talks about the aftermath of a school shooting and how May and Zach deal. I wish the story had gone on a little longer. Also, the language was pretty explicit.

In The Lucky Ones, May is a survivor of a shooter at her school that took the lives of 7 people including her twin brother.
Zach on the other hand is the son of the lawyer who is defending the murderer.
The two characters meet at this difficult stage in their lives as they try to deal with their parents, the people at school, and seek emotional support from each other.
The book was very easy to read but is not for everyone. In my opinion, the main character May was horrible with everyone, it was understandable that she suffers from PTSD and gone through horrible things after her brother died, but May is 60% of the book being manipulative and aggressive with everyone to a point that I got tired of reading the same thing in every page.
3 stars for me
thanks to Random House Children's Delacorte Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a painful, beautiful book about grief, anger, and the aftermath of trauma and violence.

May is the survivor of a high school shooting – the only person in her classroom to have survived. Among the victims, she lost her twin brother, and she's haunted by their last conversations and the unkind way she left things with him.

She's angry, and she's isolated, and she wants someone to hurt.

Zach, a boy at her new school, seems to be the only person she wants to connect with; but he's the son of the defense attorney who is standing up for the shooter who killed May's brother.

Like May, Zach is isolated and angry. He's mad at his mother for defending a shooter. He's mad at his former friends for abandoning him in light of his mother's job. Zach and May shouldn't be friends, and yet they seem to be bound together, in anger, and isolation, and grief.

I thought that this was a beautiful, nuanced read. It tackles grief and trauma, without seeming to exploit or focus on the highschool shooting. It's more about the aftermath than the shooting itself (though all content warnings do still apply). The book also addresses our public obsession with tragedy and grief porn, managing to create a meaningful story connecting to a too-common experience and fear, without turning real tragedy into high-stakes entertainment.

My only issue with the book is that I would have wished to see more diversity in the characters. I know that high school shootings are perpetuated almost entirely by white guys, but I think this element could have remained true while painting a more diverse body of students.

I really appreciate that this author did not try to make the lead character likable, which happens so often, especially with female leads. As if we are expected to be pleasant FOR other people. I mean, that seems like a no-brainer, as it’s a book about a school shooting and the aftermath thereof (or really just the after). But, I really appreciate how utterly real and awful she was because that is how she felt and will feel for, like, EVER! And if a book can be graded based solely on how deeply I wept, then it’s definitely a great one. Disappointing parents, absent parents, school violence, bullies, my gawd this book. It’s such an ouch and such an important read all at once. What guts it took to write this book, Ms. Lawson. Good on ya. 😢💜

THE LUCKY ONES was well-written and thoughtful, but never quite reached its full potential. The subject matter is very ambitious, and there just isn't enough room for nuance when the setting is really just a backdrop for high school romance.

It's after midnight and there's school tomorrow Michelle teller had motion sensor lights so they have to be careful about sneaking around. I didnt care for the cussing.I couldn't get interested.

“The Lucky Ones” by Liz Lawson is intense. It is emotional .It is dark. This story is about school shootings and those left behind to deal with the aftermath. The raw emotions that the characters went through include feelings of anger, sadness, guilt and more. I am not going to lie or sugarcoat things. This book was heavy…but it is also powerful. I cried while reading it. I love the author’s writing style. She handled this topic very delicately although the panic attack scenes could have been handled just a little differently. The subject is a tough one, but it Is sadly one of our realities. All in all, I do not want to say that I enjoyed this book because it is not one of those books that you “ enjoy”. Enjoy would be the wrong word in my opinion. I appreciated this book. Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

The Lucky Ones is so much more than I expected. It’s all the things that you don’t see played on the news over and over. It’s not focused on the shooter or just what happened that day. It’s the real stuff that people deal with and have to live with every single day after tragedy. The characters are so real and I feel for all of them! I could go on and on but I think it’s better that you do yourself a favor and just read this one.

The Lucky Ones is a gut wrenching and moving story about moving through trauma and loss and dealing with grief. It’s not an easy read and broke my heart. It had moments though. Moments that had me hopeful. I’m so impressed this is a debut novel.

Though this story deals with the aftermath of the ones left behind, the "lucky ones", after a school shooting, it doesn't go into a tremendous amount of detail of the shooting event itself. Instead, this story deals more with the guilt, depression, anger and hatred that the main character, May, feels towards the shooter a year after the devastating effects that tore through their high school.

May's twin brother, along with 6 others were killed by a classmate who opened fire in their school band building. Now, someone in their town has chosen to become the defense attorney for the shooter.

May is a ticking time bomb filled with all kinds of anger and hurt. She vandalizes the attorney's home with hurtful words. Though illegal, she feels it's her way of bringing justice to the one thing she feels in control of.

Then there's Zach, the son of the defense attorney for the shooter. May now goes to the same high school as him - though she doesn't realize that until after they develop a friendship. He has been ostracized by classmates because of the decision of his mother. His father is pretty much non-existent due to his own issues and so Zach also deals with an unhealthy amount of anger mostly directed towards his parents.

Yet in all of their individual struggles and grief, Zach and May connect and find a friendship that helps bring them out of their anger and hurt. Until the realization of who Zach is comes to light.

The most touching part of this story to me came from the author's notes at the end. Be sure to read that! This particular quote from Liz in her author's notes was perhaps my favorite part of the whole book:

"I wrote The Lucky Ones for those who have gone through horrific events like these, and for those who fear that they might endure a similar fate someday. For those who have made their way through painful, heartbreaking times and managed to find their way through to the other side. May's story is one of pain and fear and loss, but also one of hope. Without hope, we are lost."

Favorite Quotes:

In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.

"I hope you can remember that people aren't just the sum of their mistakes. The world isn't black-and-white - the best thing you can do for yourself is to look at the spaces between those poles, to see that extremes aren't useful to anyone."

She wishes she had stopped pushing Jordan, only thinking of the future and his potential, and instead seen who he was as a person and appreciate the present.

Language Rating: 2 (medium)

Mature Content Rating: 2 (medium)

Final Rating: 3.5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

I don't think I've ever come across a novel like this. I don't really remember ever seeing one that dealt with the aftermath of a school shooting.

While some of the major plot points are a bit predictable (maybe I'm just a cynical adult), this book is powerful. May and Zach are both dealing with SO MUCH. It's wonderful to see both sides of this. While you would immediately think May is going through and has lost so much more, this book shows you that loss is different, people process differently, and things can become very, very big.

Thank you Delacorte for the arc! What a phenomenal debut! Lawson’s prose sparkled and broke my heart in all the best ways. Will absolutely be recommending to everyone I see!

I just couldn’t put down. It was incredibly raw and honest. The Lucky Ones is Liz’s debut novel and an incredible story about May who is a survivor in a school shooting. This book deals with a lot of important themes and features some twists that make the plot so good but doesn’t stray away from the reality of the story that is being told . I would highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.

Delacorte Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Lucky Ones. I voluntarily chose to review this novel and my opinion is freely given.

May survived a school shooting, but does not feel lucky. Losing her twin brother, her friends, and her favorite teacher has made May feel tremendous guilt and anger. Though it has been only a year, will May find a way to leave her feelings behind and move forward?

Zach has feelings of tremendous guilt, but it is because of his mother. As the lawyer in charge of defending the school shooter, his mother has made life at exceedingly difficult for Zach and his sister. When Zach meets May, will the pair be able to put aside their differences and focus on a future?

Liz Lawson says it best in her Author's Note: "The lucky ones who are haunted by what they've faced and by what they have yet to face. The human beings who are collateral damage of these shootings, who have had their lives ripped out from under them, split open, used for media fodder, and then forgotten when the world moves on." I like the fact that the author chose to focus on the aftermath of the shooting instead of the actual event. Readers learn enough of the story and do not need the graphic detail. May's suffering and pain seems real, especially in the description of the panic attacks. There were holes in this story, however, that hold The Lucky Ones back from being great. Without getting into specifics, the shooter is given leeway that is just not realistic. May gets herself into situations and it seems impossible that she is not found out. Overall, The Lucky Ones is very timely and involves a situation which is all too common in today's society. Parents should read this book with their teens, as it can provide a jumping off point for real conversation.

I have mixed feelings about books centered on school shootings in general. On the one had, this has become a part of our culture, an experience that will be a part of many people's lives, something that weighs heavily on the minds of young readers. On the other hand, they can be kind of exploitative. I will grant Lawson this: we've got a unique perspective here. Not May. The twin grieving a sibling she fought with, with parents blinded by their own grief. That's become a fairly standard character. Zach, though is interesting. We see the affects of his mother's decision to defend the shooter and the relationships directly destroyed as well as the distance he's forcing, the self sabatoge.

May is a survivor. She is the "lucky one". A school shooter took the lives of her classmates, friends and twin brother. May is filled with guilt, rage and anger. Her family is falling apart, she's lost friends and has been expelled from school due to her behavior. Her only friend left is, Lucy.

Zack's mother is defending the school shooter and as a result of this his friends have alienated him, his girlfriend dumped him and with the exception of his one friend, Connor he is all alone. His mom is never home, his dad is distance and just sits around at home in his pajamas. Connor is caring for his sister all on his own and someone keeps vandalizing his home.

May and Zack's paths cross and then form a strong bond but once Maya discovers who Zack is she lashes out in anger and is forced to revisit the guilt and rage she feels, while Zack is left to once again deal with the ramifications of his mother's choice to defend a killer.

The Lucky Ones is told in point of view fashion, giving perspectives from May and Zack. This is one story of many about gun violence in our schools and society but this one shows what it's like to be the child of someone who defends a hated person and how it effects their lives and mental state.

This story isn't all heartache and grief as with real life there are moments of laughter and happiness. There are also secrets and profound grief but Lawson deals with it sympathetic and multidimensional way.

This is May's story. It's about hope, love and grief.

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.