Lucky B*stard by Christian Cianci
Reviewed by Sian
Anyone can wake up feeling happy. But we need an outlier to feel lucky. Now would be a good time to mention how much of a stubborn S.O.B I am. Let’s just say I have an extraordinary talent of making my life harder than it has to be. So when I was sentenced to Juvenile Detention, followed by an In-patient rehab program. I can’t really say I was that surprised. I landed in juvie as a 17 year old high school dropout. My hobbies included selling weed, smoking pot, and sleeping until 3 o’ clock in the afternoon. I wish I could tell you I was a product of my environment. It would definitely help justify things a little better. But, that just simply isn’t the case. I grew up comfortably in the suburbs of New Jersey. I went to a decent public school and came from a fairly normal family, if there is such a thing. The kids my age were all busy applying to colleges. The only real worry anyone had was “what are we doing this weekend?” But no, not Lucas. He’s waiting in line for a bologna sandwich, hoping not to get shanked with a spork from the inmate behind him. The only ‘recruiter’ that ever paid me a visit, belonged to a bootleg Aryan Brotherhood. I’ll get to that later. The bottom line is, I had just over 9 months of idle time to figure out how I went from a straight A hero to a drug dealing zero. Every day I asked myself. “Where the F did I go wrong?” Lucky B*stard is a coming of age tale about a boy named Lucas. This is his fight of perseverance, second chances and of course, luck.
This for me was another kind of book that I don’t read. I generally stick to the sci-fi / fantasy section of my library but after delving into this book I have to admit I was rather pleasantly surprised at what a great book it turned out to be. I struggled a bit with the way the book was written – different sized text and what seemed like different fonts was a bit daunting for me but I have to admit, Christian definitely had the right idea because it contributed to the story for me in a major way. I could almost hear the characters voice and feel his emotions. The story was a whirlwind for me; and I kept turning the page with mixed emotions over whether I wanted to continue reading or have a panic attack or both. I chose both and I was justly rewarded. The story was real. It was what I would imagine a “live” book should be. It made me introspect and taught me so many great lessons about life. I laughed; I cried… I deeply condemned the choices this character made but I enjoyed it. It was a fresh story that really woke up me up. I took a great deal from this book and it is my absolute pleasure to recommend it to anyone looking for a book that speaks to them.
