Release date: October 15th 2019
Genre: YA Contemporary
Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas ‘n’ Go, who after school and work races home to take care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she–with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan–can find the ticket holder who hasn’t claimed the prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite…or divide?
➹ Rico Danger
Rico is a fiercely independent black teen who works incredibly hard to keep her family afloat. She is a flawed character that got slightly annoying to read about at times but she was a great lead for our story.
➹Alexander Gustavo Macklin
Zan is a wealthy bi-racial hunk who may or may not have a slight obsession with Rico. Like Rico, he got annoying to read about at times since he was so angsty and said the wrong thing a lot. I do have a soft spot for him though, don’t get it twisted.
➹ Jaxson Danger
Jax is Rico’s little half-brother and he is the cutest!! He honestly broke my heart a few times but I’m fiNE.
➹Stacia Danger
Mama Danger is a wholly flawed character but there is so much strength and resilience to her I couldn’t help but admire her, even when she made terrible decisions. Her heart was always in the right place and I think that’s what counts.
➹ Jessica Barlow
Jess lives in the same neighbourhood as Rico and is Zan’s friend. She has a lot of family issues and Rico and her form a bond over shared hardships. Jessica’s character did confuse me at times as her motives weren’t very clear.
➹ Finesse Montgomery
Ness is Zan’s best friend and Jess’ boyfriend. We didn’t see all too much of him but he seemed like such a sweet guy! I wish he had more page time.
➹ Rico and Zan
I really loved Rico and Zan’s relationship. They had great chemistry and they’re dialogue was hilarious. I laughed out loud several times. I liked how they challenged each other’s belief system. My one gripe with this though, is that I feel like neither character developed as much as I would’ve liked. I think they were both very stubborn and that’s fine but I felt like they never truly overcame that and had a conversation that satisfied me. I also wasn’t super clear on Zan’s opinion of Rico before the story started. We got hints that he liked her before they became friends but it wasn’t something they ever discussed between themselves.
➹Jessica and Finesse
Jess and Ness were really cute! There was a great conversation about mixed race relationships in here. I did notice the inconsistency with Jess’ relationship with Finesse’s family. At one point in the story they seem to adopt her as part of the family and then later on, one of Finesse’s sisters says to Rico, ‘I wish my brother would date someone like you, not Malibu Barbie.’
➹ Rico and Stacia
One of my favourite parts of this novel was Rico’s relationship with her mother. It was really honest and relatable (external circumstances aside) I’m a sucker for mother daughter relationships being depicted accurately so I loved it.
➹ Rico and Jax
Again, one of my favourite aspects of this novel. I always love to see familial relationships being brought to the forefront in ya contemporaries. It was more important than the romance and I really appreciated that because it’s more realistic.
➹Zan and Jax
They had the cutest relationship ever. Jax absolutely adored Zan and vice versa. Wholesome all the way around.
This book had an interesting format where interspersed between chapters, there was a chapter from the perspective of an inanimate object that was important to the story. It sounds weird but I think it added a lil pizazz to the story and I’m glad she included them.
The one thing that really bugged me about this novel was Rico’s hatred for girls that went to her highschool in general, whether they were white or not. I understand she was going through a tough time and thought they were judging her for her poverty but I’m just really over girls hating on other girls for no reason. Jess and Rico did form a close bond but it was kind of against Rico’s will and she judged her alot until she found out about her home life. There were also quite a few instances were Zan was hating on the ‘cheerleader’ type of girls and saying Rico ‘wasn’t like other girls.’ I feel like the intent of this was to highlight Rico’s independence and work ethic and it put a bad taste in the mouth, honestly.
Disclaimer:I understand there is a deeper race issue going on here but I’m not an own voices reviewer so I won’t get into that because I don’t feel educated enough on the on the topic. I did just want to put my thoughts out there because it was something that bugged me.
!!! Potential mild spoilers ahead !!!
Now, the ending. I was disappointed. This is a personal gripe but I really hate open endings. As well as that, the whole lottery ticket plot line felt really rushed to me. They brushed over a HUGE breakthrough. Also, Zan is a CLOWN. And *clenches fist* I just wanted more dammit.
Overall, this was one of the most entertaining novels I’ve read in a long time. It was such a quick read and it was hard to put down. I did have a few issues with this book but I had such an enjoyable time reading it I couldn’t give it anything less than four stars.
★★★★
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Content and trigger warnings for money problems, oppressive environments, talk of depression, race issues, family troubles.
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