I usually love anything Marissa Meyer writes but this was her first kiss for me. I thought it was pretty boring and hard to get into.

I completely understand why so many of Marissa Meyer's books are popular! This book was LOVELY! As a Beatles obsessed person, I LOVED all of the Beatles themed names, Wings representation, song references, and MORE! There was also a lot of fun sci-fi references such as D&D, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Princess Bride.
This was such an interesting YA magical romance! From the POV of the MMC, Jude, this was an interesting take on a YA romance. There are graphic novel aspects to some chapters that illustrate Jude's comics and they are SO cute!
Also, I think that there are a lot of important stances and thoughts portrayed in the book that I think are SUPER important for a modern day teen/YA audience, or even all audiences! The book had themes of trying even if you do not believe in yourself because, chances are, you will still reach success AND if you don't, get back up and keep trying! I also think Jude is a really relatable main character (even if you aren't into things like D&D) because he doesn't like to be the center of attention but throughout the book he learns to branch out!
With a Little Luck is one of my favorite YA romances that I have read this year and I cannot wait to champion this book more closer to release day!💞 Thank you so much to Fiewel & Friends at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a free e-ARC!

This book sounded interesting but since it's a second book (kinda) I first picked "Instant Karma," about his sister, to see if I'd enjoy it enough that I should request this one. Obviously, I liked the book enough to ask for this one and wow, am I glad I did because "With a Little Luck," Jude's story, is even better.

Jude is a massive geek and a bit of a loner, happy to hang out with his D&D friends and work at his parents' record store while flying under the radar at school. All that changes when he finds a magical D20 that somehow lets him manipulate luck, winning VIP tickets to a concert and inviting his long-time crush (who he idolized from afar, a bit creepily as everyone would admit) to join him. The ups and downs of fortune that follow are sometimes great, sometimes terrible, but always lead him to make the "right" choices to find his place in high school society, make new friends, gain confidence in his art, and realize the actual girl of his dreams has been standing in front of him the whole time.

This is a great coming-of-age story as well as teenaged romance full of a magical realism, music, and (of course) D&D. 5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for this DRC.
This is a companion book to Meyer’s contemporary YA Instant Karma. Instead of Karma, Jude finds a lucky Dungeon and Dragons die. When it’s in his pocket everything goes his way, even finally asking out the girl he’s been crushing on for years. But is that what he really wants? When he loses the die, he has to come to terms with his real feelings and who they are really for.

Sweet book with lots of music, D&D, family, friends and nachos.

#WithaLIttleLuck #NetGalley

I love how Marissa Meyer can write anything from Darker Fantasy (like Cursed) to dystopian (Lunar Chronicles) to sweet teen romance. I had read Instant Karma and liked it, so when I saw a continuation it was a must read for me. I was not dissapointed. This book tells the story of Jude, twin brother of Pru, the MC in Instant Karma. Jude is a bit nerdy, DM to his D&D group, and has had a crush on schoolmate Maya since grade school. He finds a red 20-face die and puts it in his pocket, and suddenly he is lucky in all he tries. He even wins tickets to a concert he knows Maya wants to attend, and when he invites her, she says yes. Jude is all excited, but as he gets to know Maya, she is perfectly nice but he's not seeing the fireworks he expected. When Pru's best friend gets to share a little of his luck and winds up as finalist in a music festival, Jude has to face up to the fact that his long-term crush is not what he hoped for.

This was a cute read. I will note that this book is in the same universe as Instant Karma and takes place after that book. While it’s not necessary to read Instant Karma first, I would recommend it.
While this book was cute, there are things I didn’t like about it that led me to only give it 3 stars.
First, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Jude. I felt like he was a walking stereotype. I’m a huge nerd, too, but the fact that he referenced D&D constantly got really annoying. Even in his thoughts he referenced D&D all the time. I also felt like he acted younger than 16. The way he was absolutely in love with Maya since the one time she talked to him on a field trip in 5th grade but hadn’t really talked with her since was more cringe-worthy than cute. I know this is a common romance trope but the way Meyer went about it just didn’t work for me.
Second, I felt like the book was pretty predictable and full of tropes. The only real unique part of the book was Jude’s sudden surge in luck. And even that followed a pretty predictable path. Besides the lucky dice, this book didn’t feel super original.
One part I did find original and neat was the inclusion of Jude’s comic in the book. It was fun to see his drawings and how he was writing the comic as it came up in the story. Since that was included I feel like it might have been neat to see the other drawings referenced in the book. Maybe this book would have actually worked better as a graphic novel.
Overall, it was still a cute read. I did read the whole book since I’m usually a big Meyer fan. Part of it might be that I’m used to her more adult books. This book just wasn’t a great fit for me but I’m sure it’ll have plenty of fans.

this was a cool concept, but it was a little too cringey for me. i think teens will like the characters and how fun it is, but personally was a bit too much.

With A Little Luck is a story about a nerd, a lucky die, finding confidence, and, of course, love.

It follows Jude, a boy who wants nothing more than to play DND with his friends and avoid the spotlight - but that soon becomes difficult when he finds himself gifted with unusually good luck. Overnight, all of his dreams are within reach, but he soon discovers that good luck might not be everything it’s chopped up to be - especially when it comes to love.

I will admit, I was not 100% about this book at first. The concept does seem interesting, but I typically found myself reading high fantasy and science fiction, not contemporary romance.

But…

After Marissa Meyer’s impressive showings in both fantasy and science fiction, I just knew I had to read this book. - and It has since broadened my horizons. Plus, how am I ever supposed to write romance, in any capacity, if I never read books that are specifically about, well, romance?

First, I do want to mention that this is not her first contemporary romance - in fact, this isn’t even her first contemporary romance in the setting of Fortuna Beach.

I, in my infinite impatience and habit of getting-really-excited-and-way-ahead-of-myself, did not know this.

Her previous book, Instant Karma, happens to feature a similar cast of characters to this one… as in, the protagonist of Instant Karma is Jude's twin sister. But, what makes this book so awesome is that despite that, I had zero trouble getting into With A Little Luck. In fact, after reading it, I’m even more excited to go back and read the unintentional prequel that Instant Karma now happens to be.

Don’t judge me too hard, I’m embarrassed for myself too.

Anyways, enough tangents. Let's talk about why you are here.

Since this was not my typical read, I was skeptical going in. I think that mindset made the start feel a little slow, however, every time I turned the page I felt the speed pick up. Soon, I was flying through the pages, and then when I hit the halfway point, I didn’t stop reading until the book was finished and it was 1 a.m. in the morning.

It is currently 1 a.m. in the morning. This is all very fresh.

Meyer does something awesome with this book. She hints and she prodes at you, telling you where the story is going, but even with some idea of the story’s path, the emotions still hit and she still finds ways to surprise you.

So, to be blunt, I freaking loved it.

Sure, it didn’t have the (literal) mind games that The Lunar Chronicles did or the bombastic battles of Renegades - but it sure felt like it did. There were moments in the story where I was just as eager to see what happened next as any of her other books - and that’s what made it so hard to put down. Despite the “downgrade” of stakes, these character's problems still felt real.

Yeah, not life-threatening, but real.

This book was fun. It’s full of pop culture references and musical nostalgia that had me grinning from start to finish. I mean, the main character is Jude, named after The Beatles song. I couldn’t even picture someone named Jude as an actual person because of that same song - and now, because of this book, I can picture him just fine.

Now, if you somehow need one more reason to read this book, I have one.

I do not like ebooks. The screen bothers me and I can’t read them before bed without the whole blue light yadda yadda you get the picture.

I read this as an ebook.
It is 1 a.m.
Again, you get the picture.

Marissa Meyer set a path and followed it. She let you feel elated, teary-eyed, overjoyed, and on the edge of your seat the whole way down.

With A Little Luck is a charming story about confidence, following your dreams, and love. It will leave you grinning and feeling lucky to have been able to turn its pages.

I want to thank Macmillan Publishers as well as Marissa Meyer for this opportunity to read With A Little Luck!

I cannot wait until it’s fully released on February 13th of next year! Just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Okay, everyone. I need to go to sleep.

Happy reading!

This was absolutely adorable!

When Jude finds a 20-sided die, he becomes blissfully lucky. He aces quizzes, submits his art which is accepted, helps his best friend Ari get her song in a competition and finally has a chance with Maya, the girl he has had a crush on for years. Things are going great, but in true YA fashion when luck comes into play, it doesn’t last forever. When Jude loses the die his luck quickly plummets.

I loved Jude’s family and Ari!! The musical atmosphere of this book was great too. I cared so much for Jude, even when he was making poor decisions and not seeing the big picture. Ultimately, it was the unexpected love story I enjoyed the most! Jude struggled with buried feelings for his best friend even while he had the opportunity to win over the girl of his dreams.

There were some learned lessons, fantastic D&D moments and great music. What’s not to love?

We are big fans of Marissa Meyer here, so I was excited to see this new book by her! It definitely is different from her Cinder series, but so well done and enjoyable. My students will really like it.