The Reading Bud

Book Details:

Author: Stephanie Vaccaro & Louise Allen 
Release Date: 4 April, 2024
Series:
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Format: E-book 
Pages: 406 pages
Publisher: –
Blurb:
Penny never thought she’d have family. Penny lost family when Penny little. Penny scared when taken away from home. Penny stay quiet. Penny lost, Penny found. Now Penny have new family. Penny brave. Penny tell her story.
Julietta Milard’s life had been rather mundane up until a few years ago when she found herself in the small town of Waterwealt. Though she had intended to move on to bigger and better things, a beautiful museum preserved in time had her sprouting roots rather than traversing the Wastes further.
Having helped the sleepy town with its various mechanical-based problems, Julietta thought found herself in a smooth routine. That was until the universe decided to throw a curveball her way when about two cycles later a small girl shows up at her doorstep, sick, injured, and unable to speak with only a penny necklace as any identification.
Nearly a cycle and a half later, the young girl, whom Julietta named Penny, has recovered but remains mute despite her best efforts. On top of taking care of little Penny, restoring the museum, and trying to find a solution for the now increasingly weakening water pressure in town, Julietta is faced with another issue. A stranger has come to town, a ‘doctor’ named Charles Hawthorne, who seems to think the Arcane is real. Brushing him off, she finds herself questioning what the world is coming to. That is until the world as she knows it to come crashing down around her and vanishes in a cloud of dust.

Review

The Lucky Penny by Stephanie Vaccaro and Louise Allen is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel with a surprisingly tender heart. Set in a dust-scarred world still recovering from the devastation of the Great War, the story begins with Julietta, a young restorer living in an abandoned museum, and Penny, the silent little girl she has taken under her care. What starts as an intimate survival story gradually expands into a larger conflict involving lost knowledge, government-controlled “gifted” children, dangerous facilities, buried science, and the mysterious force known as the Arcane.

The strongest part of the novel is, without question, its central found-family dynamic. Julietta is practical, guarded, intelligent, and extremely protective; Charles Hawthorne brings warmth, medical knowledge, and a gentler emotional steadiness; and Penny, with her silence, her attachment to Nelson, and her extraordinary electrical ability, becomes the emotional centre around which the whole story turns. The relationship between the three grows with real sweetness, especially as Penny slowly begins to trust them enough to reveal fragments of herself. Her transformation from a frightened rescued child into someone loved, protected, and eventually claimed as family gives the novel its most moving thread.

The worldbuilding is ambitious and often engaging. Waterwealt, the museum, the dust storms, the ruined technologies, the fragile settlements, the Apolis Academy, Rho-597, the Curied children, and the recurring tension between science and the “Arcane” all create a layered dystopian setting. I especially liked how the museum functions almost like a character in itself. The novel is at its best when it combines restoration with discovery; when Julietta repairs machines, Charles interprets medical knowledge, and Penny instinctively understands old electronics in ways the adults cannot.

That said, the book does ask for patience. It is a long novel, and there are places where the pacing could have been tighter. Some conversations repeat emotional beats, and certain domestic scenes, while charming, occasionally slow the momentum of the larger dystopian plot. The prose is earnest and accessible rather than highly polished, and readers looking for a lean, fast-moving dystopian thriller may find the middle sections somewhat expansive. However, that same expansiveness also allows the relationships to breathe, which is clearly where the authors’ emotional investment lies.

Overall, The Lucky Penny is a heartfelt, imaginative, and emotionally sincere dystopian adventure. It blends found family, post-apocalyptic survival, and soft science-fantasy elements into a story that is sometimes rough around the edges but very earnest in its intentions. Readers who enjoy protective family bonds, gifted-child mysteries, ruined-world settings, and hope emerging through care and repair will find much to appreciate here.

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