1.5—This horror novella was not scary. What it was: boring and fatphobic, with unlikeable characters (every single one! with zero redeeming qualities!) and unexplained plot points. Plus a terrible ending. There was nothing in this that appealed to me.


Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

“You never know when you might want a monster.”

I’m honestly not sure what I thought this book was. Going into it, it felt initially like a Halloween story, which turned into a Christmas story, which turned into a Krampus story. A group of misfit teenagers meets for Christmas where Grayson tells a story about Krampus on his family’s estate. Roanoke, an aspiring horror author, believes it to be a fabrication, and uses it as inspiration for a novel that sends her to the best seller lists. Years later, after the death of one of their own, they meet for one last Christmas at Grayson’s family’s estate. The group soon learns that it may not have been a fabrication all along.

All of the characters in this book were unlikeable, which may have been the intention, but it made me not really care about what happened or the ending. There were a few cool plot twists, but some were predictable. It’s not always a bad thing, and I liked seeing where the story would go next. The 3 star rating comes mostly due to the fact that it was a confusing story. There were a lot of minor plot lines and not one main plot line to follow, and so much more could have been expanded on. Luckily, it was a quick read.

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

CW for murder, death of a parent, and eating disorder

I'll be honest - this one wasn't for me. It's slightly misleading as a horror novella. There are some creepy moments, but this is mainly a...Christmas novella? With a horror story woven in? It's a confusing one, to be sure. I'm not positive I could recommend this one.

I was expecting more from this novella, definitely something different than what it was. It wasn't at all a Krampus story. The synopsis doesn't fit and it doesn't seem like horror, maybe psychological thriller at most. I think it had potential, but it was packed into only a hundred some pages. If it had been longer, it could've been better. The characters also had some potential, I did like Ro and Adrienne.

TL;DR

Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer: A Krampus Story by M. Rickert tells the tale of five strangers sharing Christmases together. Rickert details the narrow misses of Ro’s life that keep her alone. Recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Lucky Girl by M. Rickert

When I was a teenager, my cousin and I were riding bikes down the long lane of his house. The corn was about eight feet tall; the stalks were a golden blonde with thick leaves so that we couldn’t see between them. As we approached the end of the lane, I squeezed the brakes. Nothing happened. Before I could think of what to do, I zoomed out into the two lane country blacktop and into the ditch across the road. When I stood from the crash, I heard a man cursing. Apparently, I’d flown out in front of his truck, and he’d had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting me. After a few seconds of him cursing at me and checking to make sure his kid was correct, he said, “You’re one lucky son of a bitch that I wasn’t distracted.” Was I lucky? Often, when we think of luck, we think of someone acquiring something, like winning the lottery, finding a $100 bill on the street, or learning that I shared a love of microbrews with the woman of my dreams. We talk about people getting a lucky break. Rarely do we think of luck as missing something. But it’s just as lucky to find free cash as it was for me to survive that encounter with the truck. People try to describe luck in terms of chance meetings: preparation meets opportunity or being in the right place at the right time. But these are after the fact rationalizations of fate tossing a coin and us being on the winning side. In Lucky Girl, M. Rickert looks at the long term repercussions of survival as luck. The subtitle to the book, How I Became a Horror Writer: A Krampus Story, details the narrator’s survival mechanism. But, as with all stories, there’s so much more than that. By the end, Rickert will have the reader asking if the narrator really is all that lucky.

Ro, the main character, invites four other lonely people to her place for an impromptu Christmas dinner. Two girls, two guys, all needing companionship in the depths of winter. Ro suggests they have a little gift exchange, and it’s in this exchange that we learn of their different circumstances. Before the night ends, Ro, Keith, Lena, Adrienne, and Grayson exchange ghost stories, which was a tradition in her family’s house. The best story of the night goes to Grayson about his family’s estate and a small, old church upon it. He stumbles in there and finds Krampus imagery and the family’s cook in a cage. Ro tells a story, but it’s not as good as Grayson’s. Everyone seems to enjoy themselves, and they make a pact to meet again next Christmas. As everyone leaves, readers learn the secret of Ro’s past. By sheer luck, she survives when her family doesn’t. But as the story progresses, we have to wonder if she’s really all that lucky.

Lucky Girl by Mary Rickert is a first person tale of Ro finding a family at Christmas time instead of being alone. Quickly, she learns that the family isn’t who she thinks they were. This short but excellent character study can be read in one sitting, and if you’re like me, you won’t want to put it down. Rickert excels at building character. I loved Ro. The book has excellent pacing as well; so, readers will be glued to the pages. We get a bit of Krampus imagery. From the subtitle, I was expecting more, and I still wanted more by the time the book ended. Rickert’s depictions of the Christmas legend made me want

Conclusion

By the time readers finish Lucky Girl by Mary Rickert, they’ll be asking themselves just how lucky is Ro. Really? Living through a horror story may not be lucky for Ro, but the audience is lucky that Rickert wrote it. Recommended.

Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer, A Krampus Story is a very run horror novella

It's literally 112 pages of horror vibes for the holiday season. Honing in on various Christmas nights spanning over a decade, M
Rickert writes about how Krampus is always lurking and waiting to show you the real monsters of Christmas 👹

I read this at the beginning of September and since I don't have the greatest amount of time for fun reading during the semester, the fact that it's fast paced makes it easy to breeze through. If you want a story about a really weird people-watcher with severe paranoia who goes to some rich guys mansion with a bunch of mysterious characters during a very off-putting holiday, take this one for a spin :)

It definitely shifted My entire reading mood into the ~horror~ vibe. The reason this gets a 3 is because I think there's a very solid story that could have been way for fleshed out and longer!


Thank you @tordotcompub for sending me a digital arc :)

I'm not sure 'like' is a term that can be used for this book. It's unsettling and disquieting and made me nervous. The main character, Roanoke (Ro) is a struggling author who invites five people she met at a diner on a snowy day to have Christmas dinner together, where they tell ghost stories and exchange gifts that must have been stolen. One of the stories told was about a Krampus, which I had never heard of. I looked it up and it is supposed to be a horned creature who punishes children on Christmas night who have been bad. The Krampus in this book was considerably worse. And it wasn't the only villain ...

Years later, when Ro has had some success as a writer, they plan another Christmas dinner where once more they exchange stolen gifts and tell their stories. This is a great book for horror fans. Some books you read and forget - this is not one of them.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from publisher Tor via NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this book.

Not what I expected, not all that enjoyable to read, I was bored for almost all of it. I just didn't like it all that much. It wasn't that much of a Krampus story.

Lucky Girl by M. Rickert is a delightfully spooky addition to any holiday to-be-read shelf. I wish it could be longer, as this one falls into the typical novella dilemma of being too short and needing a little more meat on its bones. However, it is still a worthwhile read, with some chilling moments throughout.

Lucky Girl turned out to be quite a chilling story overall. Between the darker turn on the holiday season and the unraveling of Ro’s story, there’s a lot to unpack in this horror novella. I really enjoyed the way this story was set around older holiday traditions, such as the telling of ghost stories and the overall simplicity of the friends’ celebrations.

However, I found the narration to be a bit too simplistic at times, making for a bit of lost interest in the main character’s story. I think this novella would have been better had there been some more pages that contributed to character development. This could have helped with all of the characters as well, since there were so many to start – it became easy to confuse the dialogue at times.

But overall, Lucky Girl is an ideal quick read if you’re looking for a darker twist to your holiday reading this season.

Thank you Tor/Forge MacMillan for this creepy story, I appreciate the review opportunity! Lucky Girl from M Ricket doesn't disappoint when it comes to scares and creepy tense mood, the writing develops an eery atmosphere well. This is a great choice for readers looking for a quick engaging Fall scare! I admit to not having a background in Krumpus lore so I enjoyed how the narrative gave background.

My one quibble is that for a novella it might try to just do a little too much, there are some points where the story feels like it gets bigger than a novella (which might be a testament just to an engaging story).

I recommend this for scary story fans and think it is a great choice for the spooky scary read season!

This story pleasantly took me by surprise. I have not read any of M. Rickert’s work prior, but if it’s as good as Lucky Girl, they could easily become one of my new favorite short story/novella writers.

Ro, a struggling writer, knows all too well the pain and solitude that holiday festivities can awaken. When she meets four people at the local diner—all of them strangers and as lonely as Ro is—she invites them to an impromptu Christmas dinner. And when that party seems in danger of an early end, she suggests they each tell a ghost story. One that’s seasonally appropriate.

But Ro will come to learn that the horrors hidden in a Christmas tale—or one’s past—can never be tamed once unleashed.

The entire story has an overall sense of foreboding, spreading swiftly over the course of two decades. Although their flimsy connection has never truly strengthened, they all reconnect once social media gains popularity. After the tragic death of one of the five, an invitation to spend the Christmas together again sounds much better than another holiday alone. But Ro, now a successful horror writer, comes to realize that there are things much darker at work than the ghost stories they told so long ago.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the opportunity to read and review this title!

While there were parts of this novella that I enjoyed, overall the structure of this story did not work for me.

We start out at Ro's house where she is hosting an impromptu Christmas party with four people she recently met at local diner. At the party, they all take turns telling ghost stories to pass the time.

I genuinely liked the main ghost story and wish it would have been fleshed out more and been the main focus of the novella. The main character was interesting and I really liked reading about her backstory. The rest of the characters didn't feel as fully developed though.

My main issue with the structure was how we would have these big jumps in time thought out the novella. It was too much for such a short book. There wasn't any time to sink into the horror of the story. Also, the ending was a bit abrupt. If there had been more time focused on the details of the ending, I think this would have been a stronger story.

I did enjoy M. Rickert's writing style and thought there were some great atmospheric moments, so I would like to pick up whatever the author writes next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tordotcom for a digital arc. My opinions are my own.

This was one of few books I devoured in almost one sitting. (As a FTM to a toddler, it’s hard to devour anything in one sitting be it food or a book 😅 Heck, I still have my morning coffee to finish.) I couldn’t put this book down though, I was so invested to see where it was going. However, I can understand why some people gave this a low rating but for me, I really enjoyed the story. Yes, the synopsis was kind of misleading. I thought the novella was going to take place all in one night, a few strangers turned friends sitting around telling horror stories during Christmas. Instead, it takes place over a number of years and so much is fit into such a short amount of time.

I think this definitely had the potential of being a longer story, with more creepy and scary scenes. But at the same time, I was satisfied with the shortness of it. Could the author have expanded on several scenes? Sure, but novellas are great in telling a story and leaving the reader wanting more. Do we ever find out why one of the characters did what they did? No, but sometimes monsters don't have reasons. And the bigger twist comes at the end, whether you see it coming or not, it's still the ending that the reader needed.

It's not the creature horror story I thought it would be, but the background story of Krampus was always there like a threat and shadow, so it provided a spooky atmosphere needed for such a book.

If you want to read horror, particularly Christmas horror, but don't want to dedicate yourself to 300+ pages then give this a read. I'd even recommend it to people who aren't used to reading horror books. It's great for Halloween but also Christmas time for those who like wintery spooky reads.

Okay. Alright, I see you Lucky Girl. This was such an interesting read! It's definitely not my usual genre but I really enjoyed this one. From the short blurb I wasn't quite sure what to think going into this one, but just trust that this short story works and it all will make sense....

Thank you Macmillan/Tor Forge for my gifted copy. This book is out September 13th and I recommend it.

This was a really creepy novella that had some terrifying moments. I was definitely on the edge of my seat for most of it, but I do feel as though there were some parts that could have used more development. I am both impressed by how much Rickert was able to fill the book with hints of creepiness and backstory for the book, but I was also very confused by some aspects of the plot (particularly by the ending - but then again, I kind of understand?). The parts of the plot that I enjoyed were really spooky and disturbing and I loved how they related to the title of the book. I think this could have worked SO WELL as a lengthier novel because I think there was some really interesting stuff. I would definitely recommend reading it all in one sitting because there are no chapters and you are really following a lengthy train of thought and the impact of the novella as a whole works better this way. I enjoyed this for what it was and it made me very, very keen to pick up another Rickert novella or full length novel because I think she has the eerie writing downpacked!

A spin off of the Krampus Christmas scary stories , this book is about a writer and how she came into writing horror stories.
I ate this book up! It was a fast moving and scary short read that any classic horror story fan will enjoy for the holidays! I would love to see more by this author as I think she did a great job building the suspense and developing characters that you can cheer on or boo from the sidelines.
Good and scary!


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This was ok, but not remarkable. It has somewhat of a creep factor, but it’s not overtly scary. It doesn’t ever really get to the point of being what I really expected, which was a Krampus story, but rather it’s about someone trying to tell a scary story.

I'm giving this three stars, mainly based on the fact that I felt really confused about this story after I was finished reading. I understood most parts, but there were some parts to the plot that I was just really confused about. I feel like this story should've been just a little bit longer to help flesh out some of the plot.

This book is spooky, but not too spooky— Christmas-y, but not too Christmas-y.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for the ARC!

I was worried that Lucky Girl was going to be an amateurish fan fiction about a not-very-good horror movie. However, I was intrigued enough to request a review copy. I was pleasantly surprised by this enchanting rom com/thriller/horror tale.

At only 112 pages, I dare you to stop reading once you start! It’s amazing how drawn in by the characters and the plot I became in so few pages. If you are a Krampus fan, which I decidedly am not, you may be disappointed a bit by his lack of being a main character. But if you are looking for some character-driven horror, don’t miss Lucky Girl. 5 stars!

Thanks to Tordotcom and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.