#94 So Lucky

So Lucky by Dawn O'Porter

I read The Cows last year and instantly fell in love with everything about it, the characters and the writing were perfect so i was hoping that So Lucky would be similar and it did not disappoint!

So Lucky follows three women Beth, Ruby and Lauren whose lives seem perfect from the outside but are they really? Beth has a four month old baby and runs a successful wedding planning business, she has just gone back to work leaving her husband at home looking after the baby, her marriage and new family look perfect from the outside but the truth is that she hasn't had sex in over a year and her husband is physically repulsed by her. Ruby has a three year old and also runs her own successful business altering images for magazines/social media using photo shop type software, her life too looks great from the outside but the truth is she suffers from PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome) leaving her body covered in hair, she lives in the fear that someone will see or find out and mock her for it, she has a very estranged unhealthy relationship with her mother and she struggles to parent as a result. Lauren is a social media influencer who is soon to be married to a millionaire, she spends her days posting photos on instagram and keeping her fans up to date. Everyone believes that she is living the dream but they dont know the secrets from her past that she is hiding.

The great thing about Dawn O'Porters writing is how believable it is, the characters are so flawed are feel so real to read about. I must admit i was more attached to Beth and Ruby than Lauren as i could really put myself in both of their shoes whereas Lauren's lifestyle is so far from my life that it was difficult to relate to her. Ruby was my favourite character, i too have an almost three year old so i could really relate to her struggle to parent, having said that she was pretty terrible towards her daughter. Her character growth and her learning to accept her condition as well as its side effects was so endearing to read, i really routed for her. I was a bit confuses at points with her ex-husband, he only had their daughter Bonnie on weekends but never argued this or tried to get a more 50/50 custody agreement. I also dont understand why he didn't challenge Ruby on why their 3 and a half year old was not potty training or at least trying to potty train, it was like he knew she was struggling with parenting and adapting but he didn't step in and try to help, he instead just let it all slide? That was my only gripe with her story line.

With Beths story line i found it pretty hilarious, obviously she was having a tough time adapting to being a new mother and being back at work so soon and missing her son but my god did it provide me with some laughs! That sex toy scene will stay with me for a long time. I struggled trying to understand why she didn't corner her husband and ask what his problem was! Everyone around her was telling her how lucky she was to have such an attentive husband looking after the baby whilst she worked but behind closed doors she was miserable.

I enjoyed how everything came together at the end too, i enjoyed how the story lines all wrapped up together, it was so satisfying. I loved how quietly feminist this was and that the message is 'not to judge a woman by her cover' and that you really dont know the ins and outs of someones life and shouldn't make a perception based only on what you can see. This was a fantastic read, i highly recommend it!