Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee is a novel worth a read. It is oriented towards younger readers and would be a great gift for a young teen as the novel incorporates history, survival, family, and determination into a story any young teen would enjoy. Now, if you are a bit older like me, I still say this novel is worth a read. Because of how it is written, you will breeze through this novel and discover along the way a plot worth reading.

I really liked this novel. I don't know if it is because I like acrobats or because I like reading about the Titanic but this hit the sweet spot for me. I liked the plot and I am very glad that modern-day boats can detect icebergs. This novel has inspired me to read other works by Stacey Lee as personally, this was a bit hit so do I think Luck of the Titanic is worth your time? Yes! Have some fun, read this book.

Told over the span of four and a half days, this novel contains a fast plot. It starts off with Valora sneaking on to the ship, finding her brother, and attempting to convince the Ringling investor to hire them as acrobats whilst simultaneously trying to convince her brother to go with her.

Does anything else happen aboard the Titanic? You will have to read Luck of the Titanic to find out and if you can read fast, you will be done with this in two hours as it is a plot you can breeze through.

I liked the characters but like me, you may find it tough to know them over such a short period of time. You will have a full understanding of Valora as she is the protagonist and a decent insight into Jamie but I wish the supporting characters had bigger roles or better insight into their backgrounds but as it is a story about the twins, not the other passengers, the characters that matter contain enough insight to adore reading about them.

The ending is absolutely fantastic. Obviously we know the ending revolves around the sinking of the Titanic but what happens before, during, and after, you will not know until you read this novel. I think this is a novel worth your time especially for younger individuals.

If I was 15 years younger, I would have loved this book. I have an innate fasciation with the Titanic and boats in general and reading a book that combined that interest with another personal interest of mine - reading, was such a delight. Initially I found the novel to be too convenient in how quickly Valora was able to integrate herself on the ship in both the first-class and third-class deck and how she had such ease slipping between the two. It is this reason that at first I thought the novel was so-so but as it went on, I found myself enjoying it more and more.

And that ending, that is what cinched it for me. Honestly, it elicited a gasp. I assumed the whole time Jamie would not make it out alive and that Valora would watch him die BUT instead she forced the lifeboat to take him instead of her?? Which, I don't doubt they could have fit both but regardless, I was not expecting that and I give the ending a big thumbs up.

I think Lee did a wonderful job incorporating history with fiction. She did not gloss over how the Chinese were treated during the early 1900s and at the beginning before the novel actually begun, Lee wrote "of the eight Chinese passengers aboard the Titanic, six survived," which set the tone of the novel. I knew that out of the nine Chinese characters introduced, six would live but I didn't know which six and that terrified me throughout. I believed Valora would be a survivor and she wasn't - it was tough being introduced to characters I liked when I knew three would not survive the sinking.

There is a documentary called 'The Six' recently released in April 2021 that discusses the real Chinese survivors of the Titanic which, when I was reading the blurb at the end of this novel about how very few of them ever discussed the Titanic or how it shaped their lives, I assumed their stories would never be told but it turns out, they recently have. I will be watching this documentary and when watching hope that it is well-researched and insightful further fleshing out the history of Titanic and the survivors of the sinking.

Stacey Lee did a phenomenal job incorporating history into her novel to create a light, as light as it can be for a novel based around racial prejudice and the eventual sinking and death of hundreds, read can be as the plot revolved more around the importance of family and Valora's place in the world. It was a bit young for me personally but regardless, I did adore it. If you are looking for a book to gift someone, I think this is a great choice. The Luck of the Titanic is a fictitious story ingrained in truth and one about family, it was a great read and one I do recommend.