Luckiest Girl Alive

I first read Luckiest Girl Alive back in 2016, and it still stands out as one of the most intense psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. This was my introduction to Jessica Knoll’s writing, and from the very first page, I was completely hooked. The story of Ani FaNelli—a woman who appears to have it all but is hiding deep, painful secrets—unfolds with razor-sharp wit, raw emotion, and shocking twists that I never saw coming.Knoll creates an incredibly complex and layered protagonist in Ani. She’s sharp, ambitious, and at times unlikable, yet her story is deeply compelling. The way the novel unpacks trauma, reinvention, and the pressure to project a “perfect” life is both unsettling and thought-provoking. The tension in this book is unreal—I flew through it, completely addicted to unraveling Ani’s past and discovering just how much she was willing to risk to reclaim her truth.I haven’t seen the Mila Kunis adaptation yet, but I can only hope it captures the depth and intensity of the book. If you love dark, twisty thrillers with a powerful emotional core, Luckiest Girl Alive is a must-read.

📚BOOK REVIEW📚Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica KnollRating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5Genre: Mystery ThrillerTropes: dual timeline, secret past, fake life, childhood traumaAni has a glamorous job at a magazine, a conventionally beautiful body, and a good looking fiancé from a wealthy family. On the surface, she looks completely put together.But it’s a lie. After a traumatic incident that occurred when she was a teenager at a prestigious prep school, she completely reinvented herself. She meticulously chose new features of her personality based on what would get her ahead in life.As her wedding draws near, she is invited by a documentary producer to speak about the incident that occurred at the prep school. She struggles with figuring out what to tell them, because telling the whole truth would destroy the “picture-perfect” life she has worked so hard to create.Throughout the story, we get to learn about what exactly happened to her as a teenager and how much of it she has lied about to everyone (including her family and the police).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This one was a very solid read. I think it definitely could be relatable for a lot of people, but also possibly a bit triggering. It definitely touches a lot on the bullying dynamic that can occur in schools.I really like the author’s writing style; it’s very entertaining. The way she weaves analogies into everything really adds to the story.Ani, the main character, is very interesting. She is definitely very multi-dimensional. This is one of those books where you end up not really liking any of the characters because everyone is kind of problematic.Overall, very solid read. If you like thrillers with an academy setting and where the details are slowly unveiled throughout the book, you’ll probably like this one.

It took me a while to warm up to Ani, aka TifAni, the narrator of this novel, and not just because of the random spelling of her name. She undergoes the angst of most teens, but still has some people she can rely on. Told in alternating time periods, one, when she is in her late 20s, engaged to a successful New York money man and herself an editor/writer for a Cosmo-like magazine, the other a recollection of her teen years at a posh private school, the novel slowly comes together, and the reader begins to see why Ani is plagued with self-doubt. Still, I was not expecting the terrible turn the book takes. By book’s end, Ani has gained a fuller understanding of herself and has made some big decisions that should reassure her that she truly is now able to live her life on her own terms. An intriguing examination of self-determination and of women’s power.

This girl. In the beginning of this book, there were so many things to hate about the protagonist. She was angry, sarcastic, cruel even. She clearly did not love her fiancé. He seemed more excited about their wedding than she did. She was always ready to attack, and if not verbally, she was often thinking cruel thoughts. As I got deeper into the book I began to realize that I’m actually guilty of some of her behaviors. The things I disliked about her were also the things I disliked about myself.Finally I became aware of some of the things she had to endure. Not just one horrific event, but TWO. Three if you count being suspected and accused of being a party to the horror that occurred at school.I came to realize she was the way she was in order to prove that she was a survivor. It was an extreme example of living well is the best revenge. But it wasn’t working for her. In the end, I think she finally realized the things she was striving for were not going to heal her deep wounds. She did the hard thing, but the right thing.

“By the end of it all I just assumed no one ever told the truth, and that’s when I started lying too.”Okay y’all this debut was dark. Released back in 2015, this story touched upon many difficult topics we still face today.With an unlikeable MC, I struggled to get through the first few chapters. I’ve never not finished a book and with the movie release I continued to give this one a try.We learned rather quickly why the MC, Ani (previously known as TifAni) isn’t all what she’s described to be at the beginning. We meet Ani as she’s planning her Nantucket wedding while working at a top women’s magazine company in NYC, but is her life really picture perfect?With alternating chapters between the past and present the story is told from Ani’s POV. I found Ani to be unfriendly and manipulative. Her social status is of most importance and she showed to lacked sympathy. (Now you understand why this book was hard to pick up) While there are some traumas we learn early in the book from Ani’s past there are some that build up throughout the book. We learn why Ani is the way she is but what I disliked the most was the way the 2 biggest reveals in this book was written. The structure of the Knolls writing just wasn’t there for me.Things I enjoyed about the film:🖤 Casting was spot on🖤 Chiara Aurelia who played a young Ani gave an amazing and compelling performance🖤 Change of endingOverall, give the movie a chance, skip the book. 🖤