Review: Lucky Fools

Book: Lucky Fools
Author(s): Coert Voorhees
Length: 292 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: July 2012
Why I Picked It Up: I received an ARC copy via NetGalley.com and had been in no rush to read it until I noticed a blogger I really like had read it on Goodreads.com

There's not much to say about Lucky Fools by Coert Voorhees other than it was fine. The characters were not particularly likable, but never gave me any real reason to dislike them wither. The main point in the book- that of the struggle and the nerves a high school senior experiences while waiting for college acceptance was relatable only in that I have lived through this myself. The book is set in a very wealthy community, were children drive their own BMWs and have no concern as to how they'll pay for college, two things I absolutely cannot relate to in the slightest, still having never owned a new car and sitting on a moutain of debt from bother undergraduate and graduate school as I am at the age of 27. I think my inability to not relate to this part of the novel is much more the standard reaction. I do also feel the characters (and I'm dating myself in this description) were a little "Dawson's Creek", in that they just sounded a little too much like sitcom characters in their late 20s and not real teenagers for me.

Here is the Goodreads description:

David Ellison dreams of acting at Juilliard, but he's expected to attend nearby Stanford University, just like all of his classmates at hard-driving Oak Fields Prep. As if wasting his private school education weren't enough, David is also on track to destroy his relationship with his girlfriend, Ellen, when he finds himself falling for his new co-star, Vanessa.

With David's Juilliard audition approaching, and his relationship teetering on the brink of disaster, Oak Fields is thrown into chaos as a mysterious prankster begins attacking the school's highest achievers, determined to sabotage their college aspirations. Anyone who excels is a potential target, and David, the star of every play, could be next.

From the author of the highly praised The Brothers Torres comes a dangerously insightful book about enduring the pressures of high school, surviving the ins and outs of love, and fighting for your dreams, no matter what.

 Minor complaints aside, I'm certainly not sorry I read this book. It did make me remember with fondness the absurdity of high school love/lust, as well as the completely warped and positively the most fun you'll ever have environment that is high school theater. Additionally, for as much as the characters did not sound like teenagers they were very witty and I laughed several times throughout reading this book. Related to the characters sounding too old was the fact that although their phrasing and vocabulary was too sophisticated, their reactions, motivations, ideas, plans, and emotions were delightfully sophomoric and everything an adult could want in a novel set in high school


My rating: If you come across it, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.


*Image from Goodreads.