Welcome Back, Booklovers! The Good Luck Girls was a book that pulled me in from the prologue and a very enjoyable 2019 read so I was glad to see the series continue in the sequel. Not a huge fan of the switch to illustrated covers with the sequel. It really doesn't match the tone of this series which is quite heavy. Diving back into this unique world we got to know some of the groups a little better which painted a more vivid and complete image in my mind. I received an arc from Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.
In the sequel to The Good Luck Girls Aster has been living with The Lady Ghosts for over a year helping them free Good Luck Girls from Welcome Houses. But their methods are too slow and not effective enough for Aster who wants a much faster resolution. Unfortunately an illegal risk just isn't one the women are willing to take. After hearing about a new Welcome House opening up that will be starting the girl's lucky nights at age 13, Aster makes a rash decision to burn it to the ground which ignites a reckoning of sorts.
Aster, Clementine, Zee, Tansy, Mallow and some new allies team up to try and force the hand of the landmasters by kidnapping them and destroying their businesses. The plan is to force change without turning into the types of people they're fighting.
Just as I was sucked in the the first book early this one also drew me in. When the reveal came about the Welcome House in Northrock lowering the lucky night age to 13 I gasped right along with Aster. While this book plays it safe in the language it uses to describe certain events you still feel the impact of what's happened.
This book is the same length as the previous book though it felt longer. There were some points in the middle that felt very repetitive. And while Aster was just as much of the lead as she was in the last book there was a much larger cast of steady characters. So sometimes it felt as if characters were barely featured. Especially with all the goings and comings as they moved within the different groups and made journeys across the country. And Aster's rash decision making despite having adequate time to form a plan always resulted in worse conditions for everyone else. Yet that didn't stop her from again jumping into things without considering the consequences.
As with the previous book there are allegories and allusions to slavery and they were further expanded upon here. There's one point in the story where Eli is lamenting on the scorpions attitude towards the Good Luck Girls calling them traitors. He explains it's easier for the men to believe the girls had it better off than them than admit they couldn't protect them from the landmasters. That parallels Black men being unable to protect Black women from slavery. There's also another passage that talks about about a massive revolution and how the government started recruiting dustbloods to the military to prevent further revolts.
I really like the relationship with Aster and Eli and was actually shipping them together. So it was shocking when Aster ended up with another character. One because I didn't feel that chemistry between her and that character due to how they frequently popped in and out. And two because much of the book Aster was getting over her fear of seeing men in a good light. She was still battling ptsd from her time at the Welcome House so just a man's presence could rattle her.
The ending also felt a little abrupt to me but despite the issues with the pacing this was still a very well done sequel.
Enjoyed the review. This series is on my TBR, but I'm not sure when I'll give it a read.
ReplyDelete