Review: I Am Lucky Bird by Fleur Philips

Title: I Am Lucky Bird Author: Fleur Philips  Publication Date: May 27, 2012
Synopsis:
When her mother mysteriously vanishes from the small town of Plains, Montana, 12-year-old Lucky Bird’s childhood comes to an abrupt end. Left to defend herself against her suddenly abusive grandmother, Marian, and forced to endure the twisted predatory games played out by Marian’s lover, Lucky soon finds herself trapped in a nightmare.

Even when she manages to escape, the outside world can’t take away the brutal images of her past. Still haunted by her mother’s disappearance and the trauma that followed, Lucky is easily led down a path of self-destruction—a path that only the intervention of a young stranger and his family can guide her away from. But first, Lucky will have to confront her demons, and the dark truths kept hidden.

~My Thoughts~
!WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS.READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Found in a box as a baby, Lucky is now twelve years old and living with Marian, her "grandmother", and AnnMarie, her "mother". Right away we learn that this isn't a regular home. Marian is rarely home, drunk most of the time and puts her boyfriend Tom before anyone else. Tom is a creepy man, always trying to sweet talk the girls. Even though we don't know much about him, we know he is bad news. While AnnMarie is a very quiet person, she does the best she can to take care of Lucky. 
Then AnnMarie disappears and everything changes. Marian is violently beating Lucky for no apparent reason and Tom is coming around with his creepy self. We know things aren't going to go well for her but I couldn't imagine the dark turn this story was going to take.
I liked Lucky immediately and felt very sorry for her. Marian and AnnMarie kept their distance and she had no friends at school. She was very lonely and in desperate need of a friend. She was very naive about some things that I think got her into some trouble, but for the most part she was a good girl who just needed help. 
This was not the story that I was expecting. There is so much going on. Abuse, sexual situations, drugs and so much more. While I did enjoy it, I have mixed feelings about it. Somewhere in the middle, it took a turn towards the unbelievable. A big part of this story was that "everything happens for a reason and there are no accidental meetings." Meaning, people come into your life for a reason and everything is meant to be. While I understood this, it went a little overboard. I found it hard to believe that after all that Lucky had been through, she would want to get married to a boy she only knew for a few months. Not only that, but they immediately have this connection after barely knowing each other? He also wanted to sleep with her too quickly after hearing her life story. I know I was supposed to like this boy, but I just didn't.
I also found that some things were very far fetched. While I won't give them away here, I just didn't believe that any of these things would actually happen in real life. There seemed to be a lot of drama surrounding everyone and while I know that strange things happen to people, I just couldn't believe that all this would happen to one girl.

But even though I had a hard time believing some of the situations in this story, it still made for a pretty intense read. I even found it hard to put it down and read it within a day or two. 
If you are looking for a darker, intense read, that will suck you in and not let go, this is the book for you.

To learn more about Fleur Philips and I Am Lucky Bird, visit her website here.



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*I received this book for free in exchange of my honest review. This did not influence my opinion in any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.