We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan (#112 in 2019)
The first thing that makes this book unique is the narrator's perspective... or should I say narrators' perspective. It's told from the point of view of a GROUP of MFA students at a fictional college called Fielding. The group-narrator, a limited omniscient narrator, tells the story of Hannah, Leslie, and Jimmy, three of the MFA students who have very distinct personalities. Each of these students, like all the students at Fielding, has the goal of becoming an acclaimed writer. All seems to be running smoothly until a new guest professor, Simone, a young, bestselling author shows up to Fielding. The narrator hints that "something" bad happened... but doesn't say what. We can infer, however, that whatever "happens" has something to do with Simone and her bullying nature.
Initially, I figured it would be a bit of a slow burn. "A bit" is an understatement. Out of 310 pages, we find out "what happened" on page 138... and then the students seek revenge. We don't find out what that revenge is until page 293. At first, I was frustrated with the amount of character development and unnecessary details of the ancillary characters because I genuinely wanted to get to the meat and potatoes of this story. I actually was ready to DNF this book, but I persisted because the writing was so well done. Zancan has such a great grasp on language and really draws you in. As much as I was ready to put this book to the side, I simply couldn't! I needed to know "what happened." Between pages 138 and 293, I was genuinely captivated, and I'm very glad I kept going.
I know that some of my book friends will argue that a book with a burn that slow isn't for them, and I completely understand that. If you don't mind a slow burn, check this one out. The ending had me nodding my head in full agreement going, "yessssss." 3 stars
Thank you to Riverhead Books for my gifted copy. Check this one out 1/14/2020!
Comments