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Lucky Star
by
Teenager Ben Somerset has three great loves in his life: Sherlock Holmes, designer clothes and a certain song by Madonna. And then Susie appears.
Set in England in 1984 Lucky Star tells of Ben's introduction to the world of shoplifting, music, politics, love and heartbreak. ...more
Set in England in 1984 Lucky Star tells of Ben's introduction to the world of shoplifting, music, politics, love and heartbreak. ...more
Kindle Edition, 193 pages
Published
April 25th 2018
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Set in 1984, this story opens with a group of schoolboys who go on a shoplifting trip to Guernsey, keen to get their hands on designer sports gear they crave. Protagonist Ben is particularly desperate for a certain pair of trainers. This is intermingled with him seeing the gorgeous Susie and falling instantly in love with her, all set to a backdrop of Madonna's Lucky Star.
What I liked:
1. It's nicely written, and flows well; it's an easy read. The characterisation is very good, I thought, and the ...more
What I liked:
1. It's nicely written, and flows well; it's an easy read. The characterisation is very good, I thought, and the ...more

Lucky Star was like a trip down memory lane for me. Born in the 70s, I experienced my teenage years around the same time as the main character, Ben Somerset. I’d like to think we could have been friends.
Curtis moulds likeable characters with realistic ‘teen’ dialogue for the time, and the attention to detail is excellent; I’d almost forgotten about one pound notes!
The story was a bit slow for me, but I did like the 80s references. Being a parent of three teenagers, I’m not sure they’d ‘get’ th ...more
Curtis moulds likeable characters with realistic ‘teen’ dialogue for the time, and the attention to detail is excellent; I’d almost forgotten about one pound notes!
The story was a bit slow for me, but I did like the 80s references. Being a parent of three teenagers, I’m not sure they’d ‘get’ th ...more

4.5 stars
Lucky Star is a coming of age, young adult novel, set in a 1980s Portsmouth council estate.
Sixteen year old Ben Somerset is about to leave school, but like so many young people, then and today, he doesn’t know what he might want to do. Currently he mixes with a colourful collection of friends and acquaintances. They meet, most nights, outside a community centre, discussing clothes, music, girls and life.
The author paints a realistic picture for those on the cusp of adulthood. See here f ...more
Lucky Star is a coming of age, young adult novel, set in a 1980s Portsmouth council estate.
Sixteen year old Ben Somerset is about to leave school, but like so many young people, then and today, he doesn’t know what he might want to do. Currently he mixes with a colourful collection of friends and acquaintances. They meet, most nights, outside a community centre, discussing clothes, music, girls and life.
The author paints a realistic picture for those on the cusp of adulthood. See here f ...more

Finally – FINALLY – someone has written a realistic portrayal of how teenagers ACTUALLY talk to each other and what they ACTUALLY get up to i.e. drinking, hanging around on street corners, shoplifting and driving too fast in crappy cars. Ahhh, memories.
Lucky Star is the coming-of-age story of Ben, set on the South Coast of England during the 1980’s. Like a lot of teens, Ben has to cope with a number of problems, from raging hormones to peer pressure and an inability to converse with the opposite ...more
Lucky Star is the coming-of-age story of Ben, set on the South Coast of England during the 1980’s. Like a lot of teens, Ben has to cope with a number of problems, from raging hormones to peer pressure and an inability to converse with the opposite ...more

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I have given Lucky Star by Holly Curtis three out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An entertaining becoming of age story set in the UK during the 80s, about a teenager called Ben 'Somers' Somerset, which follows his mischievous and experimental teenage life with his friends.
This book has nostalgia written all over it! Now, I'm only 24 years old so I didn't grow up in the 80s however this story brought back a fond memory of when I went on a holiday trip
...more

An entertaining coming of age novel set in the UK during the 80s, Lucky Star documents the life of teenager Ben ‘Somers’ Somerset. Bored with small town life and uncertain what to do once he leaves high school in the next few months, Somers’ desire for branded clothing eventually leads him to accept an invitation to go on a shoplifting expedition to Guernsey.
Curtis conveys a convincing portrait of a teenager flushed with the excitement of first love and the thrills of shoplifting but Somers’ int ...more
Curtis conveys a convincing portrait of a teenager flushed with the excitement of first love and the thrills of shoplifting but Somers’ int ...more

Lucky Star is a coming of age novel, Set in the mid 80’s Ben Somerset is 16 and he has a big decision to make, what will he do once he leaves school?
This made me reminisce when I was his age, OK so I was a late 70’s child but to be honest not much changed from mid 80’s to the early 90’s and I was just as confused as he was and things he done, nicknames people had, it really was like that. Hanging around outside the community centre waiting for the crowd to turn up.
The book was very realistic it ...more
This made me reminisce when I was his age, OK so I was a late 70’s child but to be honest not much changed from mid 80’s to the early 90’s and I was just as confused as he was and things he done, nicknames people had, it really was like that. Hanging around outside the community centre waiting for the crowd to turn up.
The book was very realistic it ...more

This story introduces you to Ben Somerset, his friends, and their teenage lives in the 1980s.
With "Lucky Star", Holly Curtis transports us back into the 1980s to meet 'Somers', 'Harts', 'Jord', and further acquaintances. The story is told by a realistic teenager of that time, a nice journey into the past; especially readers who were teenagers in the 1980s will consider this book a nice reminder. As the story proceeds, Ben gains complexity, the other characters are of sufficient depth, according ...more
With "Lucky Star", Holly Curtis transports us back into the 1980s to meet 'Somers', 'Harts', 'Jord', and further acquaintances. The story is told by a realistic teenager of that time, a nice journey into the past; especially readers who were teenagers in the 1980s will consider this book a nice reminder. As the story proceeds, Ben gains complexity, the other characters are of sufficient depth, according ...more

Coming of age story based in the 80’s about a group of lads taking a few wrong turns before coming right. Ben and his friends are at that stage in life where they need to start making plans for the future. Jobs, Uni, the army, who knows, the only thing they do know is that they have the summer to get through before the real world begins.
One thing that they like to do is hang outside the Rec centre – not much has changed then. Not cool to go in, but wait outside, yeah that’s the stuff. It’s the b ...more
One thing that they like to do is hang outside the Rec centre – not much has changed then. Not cool to go in, but wait outside, yeah that’s the stuff. It’s the b ...more
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