Windfall (vuoden 2018 painos)

Overall, this novel made for a sweet story. Alice has loved her friend Teddy for ages, but she doesn't expect her feelings to be reciprocated. Everything changes, however, when Alice buys Teddy a lottery ticket for his birthday - and he wins. Teddy's sudden wealth changes how everyone views and treats Teddy and Alice's attempts to bring her friend back down to earth don't always go over well. Set during the final months of high school, this novel filled with the struggles of young adulthood and wrestling with choices about the future. ( )

Everything Jennifer E. Smith writes, I know I will enjoy. This book was no exception. The story is an unusual premise and people act as you would actually expect them to act. That alone makes it worth it to me! ( )

“Well, I’m a niece,” I tell him. “And a cousin. And a best friend.”
And a daughter, I think, and for once the word doesn’t make me wonder whether that’s actually true, whether you can still be a daughter without having parents."


I was actually surprised that the cover of this JES book was different compared to her other YA romance novels (Happy, Geography of You and Me, etc.).

I have always enjoyed Jennifer E. Smith books for the little twists and added morals to the ordinary cliches. The cliche of this book was practically the "I'm in love with my best friend" or "my brother's best friend" but, again, with a twist.


This is probably one of her best books yet because it was also a book that had a plot that was much more than the love story. I learned so much things from this book and I cannot believe how blown away I was with this. I finished this in one sitting and I can definitely say this is worth it, even if you have not been a fan of her other books. I was not let down by this and it happily made me cry since it has been a while since a book has done that to me. ( )

If only there had been more of Leo, Sofia & Jake and less of Alice & Teddy... It's always a tough ride when you don't really like either of the main characters, and especially not their romance. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I bought at my son’s bookfair. Previous to this I had also read Smith’s “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight”.

Story (3/5): This was an okay contemporary YA romance. It's a quick and cute read. The premise is that Alice buys one of her best friends (Teddy) a lottery ticket for his birthday as a joke and he wins. The situation is complicated by the fact that Alice has been secretly in love with Teddy for years. Now, as Teddy is swept away in all the excitement, what will happen to their friendship? This was a fairly simple and predictable YA contemporary romance. It was okay but nothing special.

Characters (3/5): I didn't find myself especially drawn to the characters or their situations. Alice and her two best friends are well filled out and have complex pasts. However, I still felt like they were all a bit cookie cutter. I just didn’t really engage with them. Alice was too much of a push over and Teddy came off as kind of a jerk a lot of the time; I didn’t really like either of them that much.

Setting (3/5): Typical city contemporary setting, the setting really wasn’t the focus of the story.

Writing Style (3/5): The writing was fine and easy to read. It did take awhile for the story to get moving. Teddy doesn’t find out he won the lottery until almost 100 pages in. Things wrap up a bit too conveniently and the whole thing felt a bit forced and fake.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay; it’s a quick and cute YA contemporary romance. It was easy to read but fairly predictable and I didn’t really find the story all that interesting or engaging. I definitely liked “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” better than this book. Personally, I would skip this, there are much more entertaining YA contemporary romance reads out there.

Check out “When Dimple Met Rishi”by Sandhya Menon for a much more unique and quirky YA romance read. Or you could also try “The Distance Between Us” by Kasie West for a fun rags to riches type of YA romance. That’s just a couple recommendations out of many I could make of YA contemporary romances that were more entertaining than this one. ( )