Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu. Pub Date: May 2, 2023. Rating: 4 stars. In this coming of age novel, a young woman moves from Kenya to America to pursue her dream of going to college and what she met with is a self reflection of her views of what it means to be a black woman and how it may or may not differ from others. This novel highlights family, self acceptance and reflection, growing up and experiencing new cultures. I loved the blend of Kenyan culture/expectations with the main character's new outlook on life once she is exposed to what America has to offer. I really enjoyed this novel. Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhousepublishinggroup for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Longing for independence, a young sheltered Kenyan woman flees the expectations of her mother for a life in New York City that challenges all her beliefs about race, love, and family.

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu was a very compelling read. I really enjoyed it.

*Lucky Girl* by Irene Muchemi is a captivating and thought-provoking tale about luck, ambition, and the price of success. The story is full of unexpected twists, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Wow very good read. Main character was a hero really. This story was both heartbreaking and empowering. I loved the writing. Overall a vey good book.

DNF - this just wasn't the right book for me as a reader so I decided to head out early & leave it for others who would be better placed to enjoy it.

Lucky Girl is an engaging read with a mix of strengths and shortcomings. The premise is compelling, and the book offers a warm, cozy atmosphere with a protagonist whose journey is relatable and touching. Muchemi-Ndiritu's writing style is accessible, if a bit overly direct, and there are moments of well-crafted dialogue that add charm to the narrative.

However, the story suffers from uneven pacing and some underdeveloped plot points. While the book tackles important themes, it occasionally falls into predictable patterns and doesn’t delve deeply enough into its ideas before skipping ahead by months or years. Other times, short time spans are dragged out for pages. Character development is decent but could use more depth to fully connect with the reader.

Overall, Lucky Girl is a good, if not great, read with enough heart to keep you interested, though it might not leave a lasting impact. It’s a good choice for an enjoyable story, but it doesn’t quite reach its full potential.

Kenyan Woman’s Journey to New York

Lucky Girl follows the journey of Soila, a young Kenyan woman who moves to New York City to pursue her education and seek independence. Raised in Nairobi by her conservative mother and a chorus of aunts, Soila's sheltered life is filled with high expectations and rigid cultural norms. Determined to break free from these confines, she enrolls in a college in New York, where she faces numerous challenges that test her beliefs about race, love, and family.

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu is a compelling debut that offers a thought-provoking exploration of identity, culture, and the immigrant experience. With its richly developed characters and evocative writing, the novel provides a powerful narrative that resonates deeply with readers. It is a remarkable portrayal of the courage it takes to forge one's path in a world filled with conflicting expectations and complex cultural dynamics.

3 stars

This was a character study that focused on social issues in two separate countries and explores the overlap where immigrants must exist. The descriptions of societal structure in Kenya were interesting,the family dynamics were fascinating, and the writing was solid.

The character of Soila was quite interesting, but the mother-daughter dynamic in this book frustrated me to no end. Soila herself was hared to grasp as she seemed to be stagnated in some aspect which I found to contradict her character development. It constantly felt like two steps forward and three steps back. However, this was not negative. It made for an interesting perspective to digest this story through, and I enjoyed that.

What I didn't enjoy, was the author's attempts to shoehorn in any and every bit of social commentary she could into this story. Characters were just constantly having discussions about cultural and social affairs every chance they got. The story started to feel like one obvious soap-box moment for the author and I was not a fan.

In the end, this story didn't stick with me at all. It was ok.

I'm sorry, I cannot finish this story. The religious trauma is the literal front-and-center and it is making me dread picking this up. If you can push through that, I can say the writing is fantastic and the characters are interesting, but the content isn't it for me.

**Thank you NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the eARC**

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Soila lives with her mom, her aunts and her grandmom in Kenya. They are from a wealthy family due to her mother's success running a business. Her father died when she was just a little girl and her mother is very controlling of all of them, but especially of Soila. We follow Solia's life as she grows into a teen and then a young adult who moves to New York City to escape her controlling mother. Once she gets to NYC, she meets many friends and loves her new life, but mother is still trying to control her. The rest of the story is about how Soila tries to balance her new life with American ways and her old life and Kenyan traditions. It was an interesting book that made me see things about racism that I didn't realize. I thought the end of it was a bit drawn out but overall I enjoyed this story. Thank you for the advanced copy to read!

I was initially interested in this story due it being a fight for independence from a mother who is also a person of color. I love diversity in my books and this also was a beautiful story.

Although the story is fictional, it reads as if it could be a memoir. The main character, Soila, goes from Kenya to New York City for college. The story focuses on how she tries to integrate the culture of her homeland with American culture, with the further challenge of trying to honor and respect her mother and the values she has instilled while also trying to become her own person, which means questioning or even going against what she has been taught. Particularly interesting was the discussions between her (as an African immigrant) and black American friends about racism and obstacles to advancement by minorities.

The first chapter of Lucky Girl was hard for me to get into, but once the establishing elements were in place, I had difficulty putting this book down. Soila was raised by her highly controlling mother, her aunts, and her grandmother in Nairobi. When it comes time for her to attend college, Soila wants to leave the country and escape her mother’s control. She enrolls in college in New York City in the 1990s, and finds that the reality of life in New York City is very different from what she imagined.

The pacing and character development was excellent. Soila confronts issues and questions that are as relevant today as they would have been in the late 90s. Highly recommend this book for readers who are fans of coming of age stories, books focusing on familial relationships, and those just looking for a compelling way to spend an afternoon or weekend.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

In many ways, this book felt like a memoir - a journey filled with exploration and resilience and finding peace with oneself. I adored this book and found myself relating to Soila in many ways, even though our lives are vastly different. Soila moves to New York from Kenya to pursue an American college education; I am a native New Yorker. Soila's mother struggles to show the love the feels for her daughter and inadvertently suffocates her daughter in an attempt to keep an iron grip on her; my mother is loving in gentle yet fierce ways and understands the need to let go. Soila is given rigid parameters of success when it comes to relationships and careers; I am encouraged to pursue happiness and fulfillment on my own terms.

However, I deeply resonated with Soila's struggles to navigate the world at a WPI such as Columbia and the various interpersonal and familial trauma she experiences throughout her life. I greatly appreciate the discourse and insight into cultural differences and how finding one's identity within unfamiliar terrains is shaped by the complexities of these cultural differences, Soila's growing pains made me ache in a familiar way, and the crossroads she finds herself at between honoring her homeland while yearning for a future on her terms is a dilemma all to familiar to me, immigrants, and children of immigrants worldwide. It felt like my own redemption when she is finally able to be at peace with the life she has created, a blend of her cultural roots and the future she has dreamed of.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for this ARC!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this book was! I haven't read anything by this author before and I will be looking for more books from her! I would definitely recommend this book.

Although the story is fictional, it reads as if it could be a memoir. The main character, Soila, goes from Kenya to New York City for college. The story focuses on how she tries to integrate the culture of her homeland with American culture, with the further challenge of trying to honor and respect her mother and the values she has instilled while also trying to become her own person, which means questioning or even going against what she has been taught. Particularly interesting was the discussions between her (as an African immigrant) and black American friends about racism and obstacles to advancement by minorities.

Soila was raised by a strict mom who ruled the actions of her and her aunties in Kenya. To create her own distinctive life, she moves to the US for college. But she still listens to her mom's voice and studies business rather than photography. She even dates men her mom would approve of. Until one day she must decide if she's going to truly go her own way or remain in her mother's grasp.
I appreciated the insights into one Kenyan family's life. The discussions about race were also somewhat interesting.
I couldn't connect emotionally with Soila or any of the other characters, though. And some of the content is preachy.

I loved this book-- it was really meaningful as a survivor of a lot of trauma and did a good job entangling cultural influences into those events, if that makes sense.

For whatever reason, this was not on the top of my books to read...hence why I'm reviewing it now rather than 7 months earlier!
While I did not love the book as much as I was hoping to, I also didn't hate the book. If that makes sense. I did feel as if the book was a little all over the place to me and that the ending was rushed. Amost like it was a good book but the author started running out of time and decided to wrap things up as quickly as possible. Not that the ending was bad, but it did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions.

Thank you again to NetGalley for the ARC