Audio Review: The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
Narrator: Jeanette Illidge
Series: The Good Luck Girls #1
Published by Macmillan Audio, Tor Teen on 2019-10-01
Age Range: 13+
Length: 348 pages
Length: 11 hours and 57 minutes
Listening Speed: 2.25x
Reviewing Audiobook, eARC from Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: #NGEW2025, 2025 Audiobook Challenge, 2025 Beat the Backlist, 2025 Library Love, 2025 SFF Reading Challenge

Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this stunning fantasy adventure from debut author Charlotte Nicole Davis.

Aster, the protector
Violet, the favorite
Tansy, the medic
Mallow, the fighter
Clementine, the catalyst

THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS

The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls—they know their luck is anything but.

Sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed markings.

Trapped in a life they would never have chosen.

When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by Arketta’s most vicious and powerful forces, both human and inhuman, their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one Good Luck Girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.

It’s going to take more than luck for them all to survive.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis is a YA fantasy reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale and the Old West. Sold as children to a “welcome house” and branded with magic to keep them from escaping, the Good Luck Girls are anything but lucky. Trained in the art of seduction and kept under lock and key, the girls spend their days sleeping and their nights working. When Clementine accidentally kills a man on her debut night, her sister Aster, her two best friends Mallow and Tansy, and the girl none of them like Violet hatch a plan and escape before the man is discovered. Now running for their lives, the girls have no choice but to find Lady Ghost, a bedtime story of a woman who can help them, if they hope to live.

This was SUCH a good read! It’s haunting and fast-paced. I could not put it down, and the few times I did I was thinking back to the story. Mostly told from Aster perspective, we follow the girls on their trek across the desert lands of Arketta known as the Trap. The people and towns they encounter are like the stories of the Old West, right down to bar fights and bank robberies. There are some mystical/magical events in the stories, like the ghosts who haunt the trap (some friendly and some ready to kill) and the revenants, soulless men who track down girls and bring them back.

Aster is a fantastic person to see the story from. She is old enough to have bore witness to the atrocities of the welcome houses and angry enough to lead the charge. Her sole purpose in escaping is saving her sister Clem. Clem didn’t know what she was getting into when she turned 16 and could be bought. Aster feels like that is her fault for not preparing her enough. However, the murder gives her and the other girls a chance to live a different life if they can escape.

I liked Aster, but I loved all the girls. Clem is kind of quiet and a dreamer. Violet is sassy. Mallow and Tansy come as a pair, the first a tough girl and the latter a former healer. Together, they are scared, but determined. When they come across another traveler, Aster is skeptical of his offer to help, he is a man afterall. But Zee is truly there to help. He knows the Trap better than anyone and offers to get them safe passage out of it.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Good Luck Girls. This fast-paced adventure was filled with daring escapades and heart. If you are a fan of fantasy, looking for a thought-provoking story, or want an adventure in the Wild West, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen to the audiobook through the Libby app. I adored the narrator. She had voices for each of the girls, so it was easy to keep them apart when they were talking, or arguing as they did a lot 😂 If you are a fan of audio, I highly recommend this one.

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