How Lucky by Will LeitchMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Leitch's writing style (ever since I first read his YA novel Catch and always appreciate the central Illinois references, character development, and swift plot that reads like YA.
Like other reviewers, I felt like this book had too much about SMA though--too many of the flashbacks were about the disease as a main point. I wanted to learn more about SMA as Daniel experienced life or as he remembers his past--but not as if I'm being schooled about the topic.
The plot really reminded me of the 2017 case of Yingying Zhang, a Chinese woman who was a student at the University of Illinois. She, too, was last seen stepping into a vehicle on surveillance camera, but she was brutally murdered by a former PhD student from Champaign. It's a horrific story (google it), and I'm glad Ai-Chin's fictional story turned out better.
I'm hoping for a YA novel next--I still think Catch is one of the best coming of age books I've read.
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